Growth & Jobs | Jamaica Computer Society growing in Canada

Organisers of The Jamaica Computer Society (JCS) believes that the successful launch of a chapter in Canada recently signals an effort to encourage key partnerships to sustain innovation and growth.

Dr. Sean Thorpe, president of the JCS, contends that it is critical that partnerships are developed with local and overseas technology -driven industries, in order to enhance development.

"The move to launch this new chapter was both important and timely. The Jamaican innovation environment has to be both vibrant and relevant given the fast pace of digital disruption within our global markets. Importantly, it is these partnerships that can support opportunities for developing a relevant and current national skills registry," he said.

He noted that the only way to fulfil the country's mandate of supplying the over 1,000 or more highly skilled software engineering jobs required for in the business process outsource sector, is to deliberately engage the Diaspora markets as a form of collaborative intervention.

"By virtue of the partnerships, the harnessing of talent by way of mentoring through education and training becomes great possibilities. The opportunities for enterprise and knowledge transfer in areas like Artificial Intelligence, Cyber-Security, and business process automation among other endeavours, can create the type of force needed to drive increased human capacity for both our current and future Jamaican workforce."

Thorpe further shared that, "these new partnerships will act as a real time catalyst and to assist government policy, particularly as it relates to defining the country's information communication technology road map and innovation ecosystem."

Dr. Richard Pyne, the newly appointed chair of the JCS Toronto Canada chapter, noted that the efforts of the Canada chapter have to be measured through the need to drive impact, based on the types of projects to be adopted.