At 12:27 PM 5/17/2005, you wrote:
I have had, though, correspondence with George Gobin and Ansar Mohammed through the Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society lists. I have found that Microsoft people are typically leery of entering discussion with me; I've challenged regional Microsoft employees to public debate on more than one occasion. Sadly, they haven't felt like doing that.
I'm sorry that you've had difficulty with the regional Microsoft folks in the past, as they have typically been enormously supportive of our various initiatives over the years. My first technology initiative in Nassau began in 1980.
Frankly, the way things happen in the region is suddenly Microsoft announces a partnership with a government... out of the blue. Which means they seem to be afraid of public debate. At least, that's my opinion. My challenge still stands.
Our experience in the Bahamas and Caribbean has been more specific to the development and management of public/private sector business and education training initiatives in the region, and to date IBM, Microsoft and Cisco have been exceptional partners. Our only issues, frankly, have been with these company's associated VARs, which in our experience has been due to some sort of jostling in the marketplace somehow precluding 1. evaluation of the reality of the market, vis-a-vis pragmatic software package price points in the area, and 2. any sort of collaborative effort targeting an underserved aspect of the business community.
As a sidenote, I find it somewhat amusing that Microsoft is going through all this trouble for an area where you can pick up Windows XP for less than $3.
See above. Our centres are offering MCSE accreditation throughout the underserved communities, with respect to the power of the local pocketbook.
Could you give references? IT conferences, in my experience, are not generally related to the Digital Divide as much as they are about selling products with sometimes a cost of admission (granted, Microsoft typically gives away food). Perhaps your group does things differently. Is the focus on business, or Civil Society?
We participate in these regional conferences upon invitation, the most recent being International Institute of Communications’ discussions of the Caribbean and Latin America as e-commerce centers … with most recent participation from local folks such as Selby Wilson, Executive Director, CANTO, Trinidad and Tobago (Caribbean Association of National Telecommunications); Juan Fernandez Gonzales, Commissioner for Electronic Commerce, Republic of Cuba; Giancarlo Civita of Grupo Abril’s New Media Division, et al. Our particular group operates rather independently of these conferences, and instead focus on developing public/private CTC partnerships with local island government councils, which tend to operate independently of the central government (capital) purview.
> In any case, we would love to become more involved in the regional > mailing lists to which you refer. Our admittedly boutique working > model has resulted in several successful public/private sector > business development initiatives, since its launch in 1999.
That would be excellent. You can start here: http://www.dgroups.org/groups/icacaribbean/
I am BCC'ing the moderator of the ICA Caribbean list. New members are typically asked to give a description of themselves and the organizations they work for - if you call a few names, I may not know them but it's a fair assumption that someone will.
Thank you for the invitation to participate in the ICA Caribbean list. We look forward to learning more as we work with local government councils to extend our program's imprint locally and regionally.
Regards Kimberly http://www.brilandmodemfund.com http://www.briland.com http://www.networkbahamas.com http://www.caribenetwork.com http://www.wiredislandnetwork.com
Presently in: Los Angeles CA
Raised in: Harbour Island, Bahamas
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