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SAMUEL HENRY presents. THE TOBAGO STORY. INTRODUCTION. Policies and regulations cannot be made in a vacuum. They must drive a particular vision, goal or objective. In the Trinidad and Tobago context, the vision is to attain “Developed Country Status” by the year 2020.
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SAMUEL HENRYpresents THE TOBAGO STORY
INTRODUCTION Policies and regulations cannot be made in a vacuum. They must drive a particular vision, goal or objective. In the Trinidad and Tobago context, the vision is to attain “Developed Country Status” by the year 2020. Policies and regulations in the telecommunications sector, like any other sector, should assist in the realization of Vision 2020.
DEVELOPMENT The literature tells us that development is influenced by a country’s Capital Stock which is said to be comprised of: Natural Capital Physical Capital Human Capital Social Capital
A CRITICAL VARIABLE OMITTED “INFORMATION CAPITAL” The flow of C.A.R.E. information to the people of a country. C Current and Communicable A Accurate and Accessible R Relevant and Reliable E Economical and Enough
COMPUTER AND INTERNET In the current technological environment, the computer and the internet facilitate the flow of “CARE” information, help to build Information Capital which impacts positively on a country’s development.
INFORMATION FLOW Information flow in a country is operationally defined as “the percentage of that country’s population that has access to the computer and the internet.”
COMPUTER ACCESSFive of the top six countries fall in the UNDP High Human Development Category
COMPUTER ACCESSThe five countries with the lowest computer access fall in the UNDP Low Human Development Category
INTERNET ACCESSThe five countries with the greatest internet access are in the UNDP High Human Development Category
INTERNET ACCESSThe five countries with the lowest Internet access are also in the UNDP Low Human Development category
KEY OBSERVATION In success as well as failure, the data suggest that there is a distinct correlation between information flow and a country’s development.
KEY OBSERVATIONS • Urban Tobago has greater computer access that all five countries in the UNDP High Human Development category • Rural Tobago lags behind Urban Tobago in Computer Access as well as Internet Access. • As an island, Computer Access stands at 68.8%, which is less than the five countries in UNDP High Human Development category • As an island, Internet Access stands at 49%, which is less than the five countries in UNDP High Human Development category.
CONCLUSION Since information flow is positively correlated to a country’s development, given the results, policies must be developed to bridge the information divide between Tobago and developed countries as well as to address the information divide between Urban Tobago and Rural Tobago.