The announcement was made by Minister of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education Fazal Karim on Tuesday when he opened the 2011 National Institute for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (NIHERST) SciTecKnoFest at their National Science Centre, Churchill Roosevelt Highway, Maloney.
He said: “I will be taking to Cabinet a recommendation for a National Science Centre to be purpose built close to the heart of our oil and gas sector. Through private sector participation, NIHERST will be able to spurn new ideas as to how we can best leverage our depleting natural resources in diversifying our economy.”
The Minister also applauded NIHERST for moving in the ‘right strategic direction” as outlined in its Strategic Plan 2011-2015 which “calls for the organization to use science and technology to help diversify our economy away from its heavy dependence on oil and gas”.
Minister Karim said NIHERST “recognizes the critical role that science and technology can play in creating new growth poles, based on the development of knowledge intensive industries”.
He however noted that while Trinidad and Tobago had a long way to go to meet world technology standards, even though we can “boast of having the broadcasting landscape of 30 radio stations and 9 television stations established and maintained locally; of having one of the highest mobile penetration rates in the world, with almost 50% of the households in Trinidad and Tobago now owning a personal computer, of which 90% of them are able to connect to the internet”.
The Minister said on Thursday the Prime Minister will open the Workforce Assessment Centre of which one of its first task will be the assessment of 2,500 citizens in IT and Data Operations for persons who are competent but not yet certified.
He said “through the GATE programme this will be offered at NO CHARGE to you. In this way we will be able to measure our ICT capability over the next 2-3 years. This certification drive in ICT will also form part of a DDI – Digital Divide Initiative – a task that my Ministry will use to revolutionize the way we learn, the way we educate and the way we do business”.
Report reproduced from the T&T government news site
No comments:
Post a Comment