Country cannot leapfrog technology development

NOTWITHSTANDING THE country’s robust Internet penetration, Dr Golding, professor of management information systems at the University of Technology, believes Jamaica cannot leapfrog to the next level of its development in respect of its Internet usage. Golding says the country’s development must be incremental. “Access is now at a point where you need to make the next step. You can leapfrog, but you’re not going to leapfrog where you are going to leap and then be at the top of the line,” he said.

“Development, for us, in this is going to have to be progressive,” he argued, noting that First-World countries are too far ahead and have far greater resources to invest in technology.

“We are not going to be able to leapfrog without resources,” he said.

Golding noted that there are political realities with which Jamaica must also contend that hinder its progress in leveraging ICT for development.

“If you fully leverage technology, it is going to reduce employment, at least in the short run,” he said.

“Politically, no one wants to do that, because you can’t get reelected. So there is this conflict between political realities and ‘do you really want to increase productivity and be efficient’.”

Golding said what private sector and Government need to do is look at how the country can leverage technology more in its current business and economic undertakings, rather than race against more developed countries. However, pointing to the development of the ICT Policy in 2014, he noted that while policy is necessary, improving the sophistication with which Jamaica uses the Internet may have to be encouraged by providing incentives for desired behaviour, rather than implementing strict policy measures.

“Access is now at a point where you need to make the next step. You can leapfrog, but you’re not going to leapfrog where you are going to leap and then be at the top of the line”