The large number of recommendations for Guyana ICT development that resulted from the wide ranging stakeholder consultations and the ICT workshop held in March 28, 2006, have to be prioritized and formulated into a realistic ICT Strategic Plan for the country. The table below gives an indication of the number of activities that appear in the draft ICT4D Report.

Table 1. Summary of Recommended Activities and Actions to be Undertaken for ICT Development in Guyana.

Even after making allowance for the inevitable overlap that would have occurred from deliberations of the several groups that participated in the brainstorming sessions, it still would be a formidable task to deal with them all.

What Areas to Emphasize

Countries have taken different approaches in the task of selecting areas or ICT sub-sectors to emphasize in their ICT development process. In general they seek to implement ICT policies and programmes that support development objectives and leverage current strengths that may already exist in the country. Malaysia with its Multimedia Super Corridor to enhance high-tech Silicon Valley type enterprises and Singapore that declared its intention in 2000 to become an intelligent island with leading edge transshipment and port facilities are well known examples of such approaches. Closer home, Barbados has instituted extensive programmes to build and develop IT skills particularly in schools and Antigua always demonstrated a tendency towards development of its ICT services sector. Many other CARICOM member states have initiated significant programmes and projects for development of one ICT area or another.

An examination of all these cases however reveals some basic similarities of approach in that the focus of attention has been in one or other of the following sub-sectors:

(a) Infrastructure Development

(b) Human Resource Capacity Building

(c) E-government

(d) Legal and Regulatory Framework

Not surprisingly, these are not too different from the sub-sectors identified in our own ICT4D document.

Infrastructure Development

Infrastructure is key to ICT development. It enhances connectivity and stimulates business growth in phenomenal ways. Connectivity in the business sense implies that companies can have their operations at head offices, branches and remote locations countrywide enhanced through installation of local area networks (LANs) and that these can subsequently be linked into Wide Area Networks (WANs) that permit communications between all locations. A number of such facilities exist in Guyana today particularly in the financial sector and large manufacturing type businesses and most will agree that these developments over the past ten years or so have made quite a difference to our lives, generally for the better.

The cost of connection however is an inhibiting factor and as such it represents a key area where government can intervene either by direct participation or by policy initiatives to stimulate more competition in the communications sector. The incumbent telecommunications provider offers a number of solutions via Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL) and frame relay. The possibility also exists for connectivity via asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) technology in the Georgetown area using a fibre optic backbone that was implemented by GT&T in the mid to late 1990s to facilitate connecting several offices of a well known diplomatic organization that had its head office in central Georgetown and a number of annexes around the city.

Apart from GT&T that offers mainly wired connectivity solutions there are at least three private companies that can provide wireless connectivity for entities wishing to link their offices. The communications future for Guyana, given our geography and population spread is clearly linked to wireless technology. However the realization of full development potential is again hindered by the installation high cost per location that generally proves to be far too prohibitive for small to medium sized businesses, NGO's, non profit organizations and other such entities.

The Internet

Easy and affordable access to the Internet releases the creative potential of people in a way that is amazing and which cannot be predicted. This fact is well illustrated by a story often told by James Wolfensohn former Governor of the World Bank. Mr. Wolfensohn relates an encounter with a farmer while visiting a remote rural village in Ethiopia.

When asked what he did for a living, the farmer responded that he sold goats over the Internet. The Governor, intrigued by the answer and not being able to think how this could be accomplished asked the farmer to explain.

The gentleman then revealed that it was the custom in that part of the country to honour relatives or persons of high esteem, by presenting them with a goat on suitable occasions such as birthdays. The farmer was part of an arrangement whereby the Ethiopian Diaspora in the UK, USA and other countries, would make contact with him via e-mail, remit the required funds using a funds transfer agency and he would deliver the goat to the relative. In our own case, the sale of hammocks over the Internet by the Rupununi Weavers is a venture that has attracted international attention and renown.