GOOD INTERNET CONNECTIVITY is necessary in order to facilitate research and educational development, says Minister of Education Ronald Jones.
Speaking yesterday at a symposium held by the Higher Education Development Unit (HEDU) of the Ministry of Education to address the development of the National Research Education Network (NREN), Jones said that Barbados deserved better Internet connectivity, suggesting that Barbados may not be as well served as it should be in that regard. He challenged the current providers to find mechanisms and greater capital to improve the efficiency of Internet access.
On the subject of NREN itself, Jones said the network brought research and education right “before your face” which could be utilized to advance development.
The NREN will be a platform for sharing information and accessing digital resources essential for collaborative research and learning between researchers in the Caribbean and around the world. It will allow the seamless sharing of information at the national and international level between Government and educational institutions.
The institutions involved in Phase I of the Barbados NREN are Barbados Community College, Caribbean Examinations Council, Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic, the Erdiston Teachers’ Training College, the Higher Education Development Unit and University of the West Indies.
Director of HEDU, Dr Patrick Rowe, said that people needed to be ethically responsible in their use of information accessed so as to avoid issues of copyright infringement and plagiarism.
He explained that as the NREN was rolled out HEDU would have to work with the institutions to ensure that all the stakeholders make the users aware of the responsibility that comes with accessing the information and the importance of giving credit to authors for their work.
The NREN is a part of the Caribbean Knowledge Learning Network project, which was established in 2004 with the objective of enhancing the global competitiveness of the Caribbean by upgrading and diversifying the skills, knowledge and human resource in the region through greater collaboration and connectivity. (LK)
