Telecommunications official warns…Beware of losing ability of face-to-face communication in ITC age

Jul 16, 2018 News

Secretary-General of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), Bernadette Lewis has warned about the pitfalls of becoming disconnected in this era when Guyana is forging ahead with expansion in information, communication technology (ICTs).

Bernadette Lewis, Secretary-General of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU)

Speaking at the ICT Roadshow which concluded on Saturday, Lewis noted that while many laud the benefits of ICT, she cautioned that safeguards must be put in place.
“I want to just put this word of caution that we also need to look at the potentially negative societal dividends, and provisions must be put in place to protect persons, their intellectual, digital and physical possessions and also their privacy,” Lewis noted.
The CTU SG also shared that due care must be exercised to ensure that in this era of heightened connectively ‘we do not become disconnected and isolated from our fellow men and Caribbean neighbours.’
She cautioned that ICTs should be used responsibly and productively to improve life, country and region.
According to Lewis, in this age of communication, ‘we must not lose our ability to communicate face-to-face with our children, our colleagues, our peers and our neighbours’.
“In this new global world enabled by ICTs, we must not lose our cultural identity, our individuality, our humanity or even worst, that in this technology age we lose our souls,” Lewis stated.
The Roadshow wrapped up on Saturday with an e-agriculture forum at the Nand Persaud Complex in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
During the Roadshow, there was a robotics presentation by STEM Guyana at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, showcasing the new technologies available in Guyana.
Young people were given the opportunity to interact with experts from the CTU, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and other local ICT clubs.
Minister of Public Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes, expressed satisfaction with the participation at the Roadshow, especially at the e-agriculture forums.
Most participants, she noted, left the workshops with a renewed sense on how to refocus the traditional agriculture sector into new avenues of earning revenue and expanding family agricultural ventures.
“How we can really take agricultural production to another level, to give it its rightful place in a world that is geared towards technology,” the Minister alluded.
Minister Hughes said the e-agriculture forum also provided fresh perspectives on how Government, in partnership with the business community and civil society can take agriculture to a new level by incorporating ICTs.

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