Jamaica aims to bridge digital skills gap with more training

 

Jamaica's digital skills gap is being flagged as a barrier to greater participation in the digital economy. 

 

Mariame McIntosh Robinson, co-founder of iamtheCODE Caribbean and former CEO of First Global Bank, says 36 per cent of Jamaica's workforce between the ages of 25 and 64 have a CSEC certificate but limited formal digital skills training. 

 

She also cites World Bank data showing fewer than 10 per cent of Jamaican digital businesses use platform based or data driven models.

 

Mrs. McIntosh Robinson said several digital skills initiatives are already under way, including iamtheCODE, but greater coordination is needed. 

 

"Because access to capital is often cited as a constraint to business growth, but lately the whispers have crescendoed into an outcry where businesses are saying I can't find access to human capital. And imagine what happens to our country when we now start to not have access to human capital," she reasoned.

 

She said Jamaica can achieve more when the various initiatives work together. 

 

Responding to the concerns, Education Minister Dr. Dana Morris Dixon said the government is moving to place technology at the centre of the education system. 

 

Dr. Morris Dixon announced that every high school has now been equipped with computers for its computer laboratories while each primary school is expected to receive 30 computers. 

 

She also called for corporate Jamaica to assist schools with retrofitting and modernising their computer labs, noting that stronger partnerships between the government and private sector could help to bridge the digital divide and give more students access to technology. 

 

"Looking ahead through a global lens, the skills projected to increase most sharply in demand are precisely those associated with technological change and the ability to adapt to it. The World Economic Forum's Future Jobs Report 2025 identifies AI and Big Data Networks and Cybersecurity and Technological Literacy as the three fastest growing skill areas through 2030. iamtheCODE is helping us to get towards that goal where we know we need to be, while also showing rising demand for creative thinking, analytical thinking, resilience and flexibility, curiosity and lifelong learning, leadership, talent management and environmental stewardship," noted Dr. Morris Dixon.