The Minister of Finance, Honourable Colm Imbert presented the 2016 Budget Statement in the Trinidad and Tobago Parliament on October 10 2015.

This post will focus on the ICT related aspects of the 2016 Budget Statement.

The ICT related aspects of the 2016 Budget Statement :

The 2016 Budget Statement and related documents can be downloaded at http://finance.gov.tt/budget-statement-2016-presentation/

Page 18 under “Information and Communication Technology”

“Madam Speaker, a first-world information technology network will need to be a critical part of the Trinidad and Tobago International Financial Centre. We will commence the process through the implementation of a national broadband network which will represent a central pillar for driving economic and social development. We cannot improve our productive capacity and create a vibrant and competitive economy without a nationwide high-speed broadband network –  the centerpiece for creating a knowledge-based andinnovative society. This country has in place a fibre optic broadband network; but we are suffering from
inadequate broadband service coverage in many areas which remain unserved and underserved.

We will continue to collaborate with the World Bank Group to widen our broadband infrastructure as well as to eliminate the risk of having international connection in only one station.

All schools will now be equipped with a technological capability with adequate training for our teachers.

We will ensure that all students have free and easy access in all schools to fast broadband internet and not just laptops. This early use of technology will
underpin an expanding knowledge-based society.

The Government will foster usage by providing a free national public broadband wireless network beginning with free hotspots in popular areas.”

Page 37 under Home and Business Security

Madam Speaker, we believe that every citizen and every business should be encouraged to take an active part in enhancing their own security.
Unfortunately, the existing incentives for CCTV and alarm systems have proven to be highly ineffective with many technical loopholes. I propose to revise
immediately the existing technical specifications for these systems to make them practical and workable, so that we can implement an appropriate suite of
incentives and concessions to encourage actively citizens to install suitable CCTV and alarm systems in their homes and businesses in 2016.

 

The Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society is pleased to announce the release of the TTCS OSSWIN DVD v1.54, a collection of the latest version of Free and Open Source Software for Microsoft Windows (XP/Vista/7/8) and available for download.

Our collection features a web based interface for browsing programs organised into several categories:  Desktop Applications, Educational, Games, Graphics, Internet, Server, Sound and Video and Utilities.

For TTCS OSSWIN DVD v1.54, many software updates were done, and this version includes LibreOffice 5.0.2, Mozilla Firefox 41 and Virtualbox 5.4

See the changelog for more details.

Visit the TTCS OSSWIN DVD page at http://www.ttcsweb.org/osswin-dvd/ for more details and to download the DVD as an ISO file for burning onto a DVD or extracting to your harddrive or USB storage device.

Adobe Flash has a security update. According to the Adobe security bulletin dated September 21, 2015:

“Adobe has released security updates for Adobe Flash Player.  These updates address critical vulnerabilities that could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.

Many conferencing solutions (like Adobe Connect) and Flash games use the Flash plugin. So if you have Adobe Flash installed, UPDATE ASAP!

However, consider uninstalling Flash if you’re not using it. If you were only using Adobe Flash to watch YouTube videos, YouTube now defaults to HTML5 instead of Adobe Flash for playing videos in Google Chrome, IE 11, Apple Safari 8 and Mozilla Firefox. So you can uninstall Adobe Flash if you are using these browsers (and not worry about keeping Adobe Flash up to date).

The latest update bumps the latest version of Flash Player for Windows and Mac OS X to version 19.0.0.185.

To determine what version of the Adobe Flash player you have on your Windows, Macintosh or Linux system, visit
http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/

To download an offline version of Adobe Flash Player for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux without any adware or bundled third-party offers, visit
http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/distribution3.html

Opera and Chromium browser users, you’ll have to download the flash player installer from http://www.adobe.com/go/getflash.

Windows users should take note that

• the Flash Player in Microsoft Internet Explorer v9 and earlier versions of Internet Explorer,
• the Flash player in web browsers like Mozilla Firefox and Safari.
• the Flash player in web browsers in Chromium and Opera.

are separate installs. You should install and update versions of Adobe Flash for all three browser variations if you have all three installed.

For Internet Explorer v10 and Internet Explorer v11 (for users for Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and Windows 8), these browsers have Adobe Flash Player built-in and users should update their Internet Explorer browser versions.

For Microsoft Edge, the default browser in Windows 10, this browser has Adobe Flash Player built in and users should update their Edge browser.

Google Chrome browser users has Adobe Flash Player built-in and users should update the Google Chrome browser to the latest version.
See https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95414 on how to do so.

The first ever Caribbean Technology and Innovation for Digital Economy (TIDE) conference hosted by The Ministry of Science and Technology, along with the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the World Bank Group will be held in Trinidad and Tobago from 25-27 August 2015 at the Hilton Trinidad, Lady Young Rd, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago.

The Caribbean TIDE conference will explore the latest trends in the region on the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for Economic Development, with a special emphasis on the importance of broadband infrastructure for supplying connectivity, and the economic and social value of open data as a tool for increased governance and transparency, and a driver of innovation and entrepreneurship.

The Caribbean TIDE conference will gather together government officials, policy makers and international experts to promote collaboration among technology innovation initiatives in the Caribbean, share experiences and lessons learned, and gain knowledge about relevant global trends for digital economy. The conference will host a variety of sessions for participants throughout, including panels, hands-on workshops, and TIDE Talks, which will feature leaders in technology and innovation sharing stories in TED-style talks.

Full details including the agenda, speakers and how to register and attend for free can be done at the Caribbean TIDE website at http://www.caribbeantide.org/

The 11th annual Caribbean Internet Governance Forum (CIGF) organized by the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) will be held in Trinidad and Tobago from August 26-28 2015 at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, Invaders Bay, Audrey Jeffers Highway, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago.

The Caribbean Internet Governance Forum (CIGF) is a regional, multi-stakeholder forum initiated by the CTU and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat in 2005 to coordinate a regional approach to Internet Governance. The forum has since met annually and the primary products of its work have been the formulation of a Caribbean Internet Governance Policy Framework (currently at v2), the proliferation of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) and capacity building in Internet Governance Principles across the Caribbean.

The 11th CIGF will focus on realising the new thrust, as announced at the 10th CIGF last year, to enhance Internet governance expertise and capacity at the national level in the Caribbean through the development of local multi-stakeholder structures, groups, fora or teams as appropriate. The 11th CIGF will also address areas of high priority for further policy development and continue the work of identifying appropriate amendments for incorporation into the next revision of the policy framework (Issue 3.0).

You can review the provisional agenda and register for free to attend the CIGF at the CTU’s CIGF event page at
http://www.ctu.int/event/11th-caribbean-governance-forum

You can also contact Ms. Brenda Julien at the CTU at (868) 628-0281 or (868)-622-5871 ext 243.

The Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society is pleased to announce the release of the TTCS OSSWIN DVD v1.53, a collection of the latest version of Free and Open Source Software for Microsoft Windows (XP/Vista/7/8) and available for download.

Our collection features a web based interface for browsing programs organised into several categories:  Desktop Applications, Educational, Games, Graphics, Internet, Server, Sound and Video and Utilities.

For TTCS OSSWIN DVD v1.53, many software updates were done, and this version includes LibreOffice 5.0.0, Mozilla Firefox 40 and Virtualbox 5.0

See the changelog for more details.

Visit the TTCS OSSWIN DVD page at http://www.ttcsweb.org/osswin-dvd/ for more details and to download the DVD as an ISO file for burning onto a DVD or extracting to your harddrive or USB storage device.