ATTRACTIVE TAX REDUCTIONS on profits for international companies as well as exemption from import duties on information and communication technology (ICT) and related equipment serve to demonstrate Government’s understanding of the need to provide suitable policy, legislative and regulatory frameworks.
This is the view of Professor Hopeton Dunn of the University of the West Indies (UWI) at Mona, who led a regional ICT policy research project that included Barbados.
Dunn said that as a result of its level of foresight, international businesses ranging from banking firms, international insurance companies and high-end value-added ICT businesses flourished in Barbados.
“It is against this background that Barbados was ranked 38th in the World Economic Forum’s Networked Readiness Index for 2011 – the only Caribbean country to appear in the Top 50,” the professor told an audience of key stakeholders who were interviewed under the project.
“In terms of the main sub-indices, the environment, readiness and usage, the country is very competitive with the rest of the world,” he remarked.
Professor Dunn noted, however, that the elements highlighted for greater attention included Government usage of ICT, eParticipation, and the availability of finance.
He added that based on the reports, Barbados had made tremendous strides in providing the infrastructure and some resources necessary to maximize the ICT impact on growth and development.
“Based on the general findings of this study and comparative analysis with some other countries such as Jamaica, there is evidence that Barbados seems to have been able to incorporate modern ICT policymaking principles by integrating ICT with wider development considerations, particularly in the areas of education and business,” he pointed out.
Among the main areas of concern cited by respondents to the study, however, were the need to consider
a more harmonized policy and regulatory framework with the resources and trained personnel necessary to ensure proactive regulation of the sector.
“Training at the highest level of policymaking was identified,” said Dunn, who is also director of the Telecommunications Policy and Management programme at the Mona School of Business in Jamaica.
Another concern from the study was a perceived lack of policy responsiveness to the “ever-changing dynamics of the ICT environment, arising in part from the fragmentation of the institutional framework”, the professor noted.
“Broader involvement of citizenry in the policymaking process, including identification of a role for the media and academia, were articulated,” Dunn reported to a forum of senior Government officers, regulators, service providers and civil society representatives at the Courtyard Marriott.
“The incompleteness of the policymaking process, given the often sporadic evaluation of policy and policy outcomes – this represents a significant missing link,” he remarked.
