Heh. Food for thought. Went to the fastforward lecture. This was the most
important part by far.

Don't say allyuh didn't know. I'm just the messanger. I'll put my notes on the
whole thing a bit later.


-RJ





ADDRESS BY
SENATOR Dr. THE HONOURABLE
LENNY K. SAITH
MINISTER OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
AND INFORMATI0N
AT A BREAKFAST MEETING
WITH Mr. JONATHAN MILLER, CHAIRMAN AND
CEO OF AMERICA ON LINE,
TRINIDAD HILTON
MONDAY 26th JANUARY 2002.

Mr. Chairman,
Honourable Patrick Manning, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
Honourable Ministers of Government
Mr. Jonathan Miller, Chairman and CEO of America Online
Ms. Gillian McIntyre, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public
Administration and
Information
Other Permanent Secretaries
Professor Ken Julien, Chairman of the Property and Industrial Development
Company of
Trinidad and Tobago
Senior Executives and Managers in the Public and Private Sector
Students
Members of the Media
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen

Towards the end of last year, as a result of a policy directive by the Prime
Minister, the Government launched fastforward, the National Plan for Information
and
Communication Technology in Trinidad and Tobago. We have now moved to
implementation and one of our objectives is to lift the level of awareness of
the
importance of this project to national development. Today's event is part of
that strategy
and we are very fortunate to have had as our feature speaker, Mr. Jonathan
Miller,
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of America Online. Mr. Miller's address and
responses have left us both enlightened and inspired.

The main goal of our fastforward is to connect our citizens to each other and
the
world. This is pivotal to transforming our country into a developed nation over
the next
decade and a half. Our plan has certain specific targets.

One of these is the growth of E-Commerce, an area where Trinidad and Tobago
must now catch up with both developed and emerging economies. We know that no
twenty- first century economy will be viable unless electronic business becomes
an
integral part of its economic activity. We must therefore ensure that every
facet of our
business community recognizes that it is going to become absolutely necessary to
do
business online in this new century. Now is the time to get started.

The Government shall do its part. As part of our drive towards electronic
government, we shall pave the way by conducting the State's transactions on
line.
Fastforward envisions Enterprise NeTT as the "online home" for E-Business. It
will
provide a common space on the Internet where buyers, sellers, investors, and
venture
capitalists can post and exchange products and intellectual capital in real time
and where
real opportunities for business growth can ~e obtained. In addition, it will
provide
assistance to local businesses in exporting their goods and services to markets
worldwide.
Enterprise NeTT will also provide a global listing of trade events, Internet
market
research and practical tools to help local businesses, including Small and
Medium
Enterprises with every step of the export process.

We shall also develop an online guide for businesses wishing to engage in
ECommerce.
This will be branded under the fastforward theme and published on our
website. It will be a comprehensive guide, providing legal, business and
technical advice
together with appropriate e-business tools. This entire effort shall give our
business
houses a greater capacity to penetrate the foreign markets that are becoming
available
through the trade agreements that the Government continues to negotiate.
There is the need to establish a stable and clear regulatory and legal
infrastructure
to manage this new environment. The Electronic Transactions Bill will be taken
to
Parliament to give legal recognition to electronic documents and signatures and
to deal
with issues of validity of electronic contracts and liability of intermediaries
such as
Internet Service Providers. In the pipeline also is the Data Protection Bill to
provide
protection for individuals regarding their rights to the privacy of their
personal
information as well as the Trademarks Amendment Bill and the Copyright Amendment
Bill. Early next month, as a first step in developing the appropriate legal
framework, the
Ministry will host an E-Commerce Legal Workshop in association with the
Commonwealth Secretariat. All relevant legislative areas will be examined. A
special
focus of this Workshop will be developing legislation for the protection of
Children
Online.

This brings me to the true beneficiaries of fastforward, the children of
Trinidad
and Tobago who are represented here this morning. The provision of Broadband
capability will bring to the classroom, high-speed access to knowledge for the
education
of the nation's children. Our young people out of school and adults will also
benefit
because broadband will further democratize access to higher and life-long
learning by
making it available, to all our citizens in all walks of life. One of the very
exciting aspects
about this development is the variety of options it presents for the pursuit of
skills
development and higher learning. Students and adults will no longer be limited
to the
choices available at anyone institution. This will be a significant development
in our
progress to the knowledge based society that we must build in Trinidad and
Tobago.

Of course fully developed broadband infrastructure will stimulate development in
many other areas like Communications, Health, E-Commerce, Banking, Culture, and
Information Services. Broadband capacity will stimulate the diversification of
the
economy with a whole new range of service industries like data processing,
software
development, call centres and technology manufacturing, to name a few. It shall
foster
improved efficiency and productivity in the delivery of goods and services from
both the
public and private sectors and therefore increase our competitiveness as a
nation. It will
encourage the development of ICT skills. And it will help to bring disadvantaged
rural
and urban communities into the mainstream of national development.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Students, there is so much more that can be said about our
fastforward Plan. I wish to simply add that it is comprehensive enough to ensure
that all
our citizens will benefit from the opportunities that shall abound from the
positive
transformation that shall take place in Trinidad and Tobago. On behalf of the
Government, I wish to thank Mr. Miller for coming. His contribution, I am sure
has
stimulated interest in this sector and our plans for it.