“As
a government, we recognise that we have to embrace technology, and as we
improve the way citizens do business on the Internet, the Government has
committed to removing the barriers to facilitate use of these fantastic
services, especially as it relates to citizen-to-government interactions”
Minister of Science,
Energy and Technology Dr Andrew Wheatley announcing Free Wi-Fi CAP (Community
Access Points) and Smart Cities
Free
Wi-Fi may be coming to a town near you, all thanks to the USF (Universal
Service Fund). And if all indications are on point, the first smart city in
Jamaica may be New Kingston.
So
says Minister of Science, Energy and Technology Dr Andrew Wheatley as reported in
the article “Gov’t
to Provide More Free Wi-Fi Hotspots”, published November 30, 2016 By Chris
Patterson, The Jamaica Information Service.
He made this pronouncement during the fourth staging of the National Cyber Security Conference at the Regional Headquarters of the University of the West Indies, Mona, by CAIMAC (Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication) on Tuesday November 29th 2016.
The
two-day conference held under the theme ‘Mobile Money, Online Banking and
Citizen Awareness’ was a platform to introduce the initiative of Free Wi-Fi and
Smart Cities. These upgrades, including the move to Smart city status are also
free, costing the government nothing other than access to GOJ infrastructure
that is in need of a facelift, to quote Dr Andrew Wheatley: “It will not cost the Government anything -
apart from what we've invested in the infrastructure that has been there for
many years. We're simply energising that infrastructure and fully utilising it”.
So
where is this free Wi-Fi?
Location of Free Wi-Fi
in 2017 – Devon House already lit, more to come
Devon
House already has free Wi-Fi if you frequently visit this historical location,
most likely to buy their famous ice cream. But free Wi-Fi is also coming to
other locations around Jamaica:
1.
Half-Way Tree
2.
Emancipation Park in Kingston
3.
Spanish Town, St Catherine
4.
Montego Bay, St James
5.
Ocho Rios, St Ann
The
Free Wi-Fi, is being funded by the telecom cess to the USF, an agency of the
Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology. The USF will be doing the
installation of the CAP (Community Access Points) in rural centres across the
island.
This
is all in addition to free access to GOJ (Government of Jamaica) websites as
explained in my blog
article entitled “How
Unlimited access to Government of Jamaica Websites heralds Electronic
Transactions and Mobile Money”.
Smart City Initiative -
New Kingston and Montego Bay Guinea Pig for connected communities
But
there is more to this free Wi-Fi initiative.
The
Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology is also pushing to establish the
idea of Smart Cities, with New Kingston as the guinea pig as noted in the
article “More
Free Wi-Fi Hotspots Coming”, published Thursday December 1, 2016, The Jamaica Gleaner.
The
Smart City initiative will be rolled out in Q3 of 2017. Regular visitors to New
Kingston will be able to use the Free Wi-Fi in the area, which will be powered
by a consortium of companies including JPS Co and Digicel, whose Fiber Optic
capacity is being used to power the CAP in the area as noted in the article “Digicel
fibre network to help create 'smart cities' in Jamaica”, published
Wednesday, December 03, 2014, The
Jamaica Observer .
JPS
Co has already begun installing self-dimming LED Street lights in the New
Kingston since November 2016 to quote Director of Corporate Communications
Winsome Callum: “More than 200 LED street lights have been installed in the New
Kingston area in the last two weeks as part of the first phase of introducing a
smart street lighting system in New Kingston. Over the next two months, smart
modules will be installed to facilitate remote management, automatic dimming,
etc”.
There
may also be plan for a traffic management system in collaboration with the NWA
(National Works Agency) and is set to be launched in Q3 of 2017.
Back
in November 2014, the plan was originally for Montego Bay to become the first
smart city as noted in the article “Mo-Bay on Track
to Become First ‘Smart City’”, published November 27, 2014 By Marlon
Tingling, The Jamaica Information Service.
Albeit
they may not achieve Smart city status by 2017, they will definitely have the
first demonstration smarthouse, again built by JPS Co, to quote Winsome Callum:
“It is not likely to be for 2017”
However,
New Kingston, which is a part of Kingston, may benefit immensely from the Smart
city Status as the free Wi-Fi and other connected services would boost the foot
traffic and thus increase entrepreneur occupancy in the business district.
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