A five-year plan to improve access to information and communications technology has led to the modernization of government’s operations, and increased ICT access in rural communities.

Minister for the Public Service, Information and Broadcasting, Sen. Hon. Dr. James Fletcher, said the Government of Saint Lucia is aware of the importance of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and as such, has developed a five-year National ICT policy and strategy.

The policy, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in 2013, included mandates to facilitate universal accessibility to Information and Communications Technology.

“Our Cabinet provided incentives to the service providers to encourage the roll out of 4G data services with the provision that the implementation [of these services] had to be island-wide,” Dr. Fletcher said. “As expected, both mobile providers took advantage of this opportunity and high-speed wireless broadband is now available across much of the island. We also embarked on a Community Access Program to broaden the use of technology by citizens in rural communities.”

The Minister said these strategies have led to the modernization of government’s operations.

Among the changes were the installation of GPS tracking devices on government vehicles to reduce costs and digitizing large volumes of reports and data to increase efficiency.

The Minister said the initiatives are also designed to encourage digital entrepreneurs and the growth of the new digital economy.

“Under the Caribbean Communications Infrastructure Program, we launched a Business Incubation and Training Grants project that aims to spawn and grow successful ICT-enabled businesses.”

He added that government’s next move is to work with the CXC and other educational bodies to provide easily accessible educational content, digitally.