The Need For Computers In Trinidad and Tobago

I'll be getting back to intellectual usability tommorow, but there are a few things I need to write about - and this is one of them.

The article I wrote on August 13th, 2003 - 'On The Need For Computers In Secondary Schools In Trinidad and Tobago' has been pretty popular on the new rendition of KnowProSE.com, and I wondered why. So I tracked the referrers, and they've been mainly through Google, with searches such as:
computers in primary school

need for computers
Secondary school computers Trinidad
and so on...

The article really doesn't meet human criteria for some of the search results, or at least I believe so - and yet it's pertinent in a very important way. It's about putting computers where they are needed.

In Trinidad and Tobago, I've often thought that there is a lack of computers - but I've revised my opinion. There are computers in Trinidad and Tobago, they just aren't in the places where they would be most useful for individuals, government and businesses.

In talking with two people I know well, who sell hardware and who integrate systems, I compared some notes - and the common conclusion which we had all arrived at independantly was that the market is saturated. Just about everyone who wants a computer has one; there are people who do not have them but it's not because they don't have them available. It's a matter of priority. For students, parents must consider first more basic issues. I'd have to say that this applies to the majority of the world.

There's a certain amount of ego involved with we who wield technology; it's possible that we could compare it to the medical Doctor's 'God Complex'. We like to think that technology can save the world, or improve it - and that's not a bad thing. But it can become a bad thing when the tether to reality is lost; when one starts serving technology for the sake of technology.

Information Technology For People

Technology is supposed to help people. But tossing technology at people who have no immediate use for it can make more problems than anything else.

In Trinidad and Tobago, there's an endemic problem related to computers: the government doesn't seem to be using technology fully to assist the populace. This isn't just about computers; the same could be said about electricity, water and telecommunications - though these things are supposed to be remedied (and have been...). But I speak of computers, because I know more about computers than I know about the logistics involved with telecommunications, water and electricity (though I am fairly knowledgeable in these areas as well).

In the United States, as an example, I have gotten my driver's license in about half an hour. You stand in one line, you either take a test or hand in your old license or provide ID (having lost the old one). Tapping on the keyboard by someone, and you're sent to another line. You have your picture taken; your information is already on the card. The picture and the card are merged electronically, and you are sent to another line such that you may sign your ID. It is then laminated; you can get the ID and leave. That's it.

In Trinidad and Tobago, it's a bit more involved. First of all, there's no connection between the major offices - so wherever your license was issued, you have to go back to (even if you move), or pay to have your information transferred. If you've lost your license, you have to look through some old log books until you find it. If you're taking a test, you have to take a written test, proctored by an Officer and graded manually (instead of with a computer, like in other countries). An hour or so later - if you make it through before lunch - you hopefully have passed, and may now enter another line. So it goes on, perhaps for a full 8 hours - or maybe more, requiring you to come back the next day. The charm of the old typewriter for filling out the card is lost in the loss of personal time.

A full day? Some people who read this from other countries may go into shock, but there it is. I've done it. So have many others. And to add insult to injury, there *are* computers there, lieing dormant. Granted, they look like early 80s machines, but even those could be more useful to society than the present system. The only way to get through the present system is to know someone. Corruption is required to get anything done quickly; the person who simply expects service for their driver's permit is at disadvantage because they may not be related to the right people, or they may not socialize with the right people.

Consider also that an employer loses an employee's productivity for a full day simply because they had to get a driver's permit. It's a business problem as well, and one that is hardly solvable by the respective businesses. And this is just one example.

Is the problem a lack of computers? Maybe partly so, but the real problem is that the computers there have been made into paper-weights instead of something useful. That's money lost, I suppose, and I cringe to think about the amount of money wasted while businesses await their employees to crawl out the other side with a license. Meanwhile we have a National eCommerce Secretariat which still hasn't muddled a way for local small local businesses to collect international funds without - you guessed it - corruption of the system. You have to bend the rules, flex them or even outright break them to gain income - as far as Inland Revenue goes (taxes), anyway.

A simple process of obtaining a driver's permit cannot be done, and yet we expect to be able to handle eCommerce?

And yet, to date, the average high-average middle income person in Trinidad and Tobago probably has more computing power at their disposal than most government offices. This is actually something one could celebrate, but the lack of proper use of computers within Government affects the entire population adversely.

There Are Computers In Trinidad and Tobago

Aside from home computers that the middle class has, many businesses have computers as well - running unlicensed versions of Microsoft operating systems and Office Software, as well as - notably - unlicensed versions of Peachtree Accounting. I often joke about Peachtree Accounting, saying that there is probably one licensed copy in Trinidad and Tobago which everyone has copied, but someone claiming to have done some research stated that there were 3 copies. I don't really know, but it's apparent that there are a lot of unlicensed versions. As Lawrence Lessig wrote, this is Piracy. But this essay isn't about Piracy, though Piracy has allowed computers to be cheap enough for many to afford. Sadly, I have walked the halls of at least one multi-million dollar company which hasn't paid for the software that they are using.

The bottom line here is that there are computers, and there is software - licensed and unlicensed. People are taking 'short courses' throughout the country, so computer literacy is not as much of an issue as one would think - from repairing them, to using unlicensed copies of Microsoft Office and Peachtree, to networking them. Anyone making a case for a lack of computer literacy in Trinidad and Tobago stands on sand; the figures they may deal in lack the asphalt of the street. Most professionals dealing with these issues could probably use the exercise of crawling out from under their desks and through the society that they are trying to help.

When I teach installation of operating systems (at UWI SCS, we have licensed software), it's amazing how many students have Microsoft license keys memorized, or even stored in their cell phones. But this is the culture created by a society that is hungry for knowledge - which breaks the laws of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and I imagine the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). It's through the outright breaking of Intellectual Property agreements and license agreements that Trinidad and Tobago has gained it's computer literacy as a country. But it's a computer literate country, do not be mistaken.

There are many people who don't have computers, though. Are they computer literate? Some are, through the graces of CyberCafes. Most people between the ages of 12 and 30 appear to have at least a MSN account for instant messenging, and an email address through Yahoo, Hotmail, or what have you.

We regularly have to sanitize machines at The University of the West Indies School of Continuing Studies because, puportedly, Advanced Level students (equivalent of Associates Degree Level) download all sorts of things. This could be seen as perhaps a lack of literacy at a certain level, but to get these things downloaded requires a level of literacy which is equivalent to the majority of the computer literate world.

So there are computers. There is a certain level of computer literacy. What's really the problem?

Improper Placement and/or Use of Computers

When computers do not work for a society, it's apparent that they are not in the right places and/or that they aren't being used properly. Perhaps even the people who need to be computer literate - such as in government offices and schools - aren't computer literate. That's a big problem, since everything that a Government does affects the populace of a country.

I recently had the pleasure of having some email correspondence with a local politician who is computer literate, and I say pleasurable not because of politics but rather because of the computer literacy. He made a valid point; he stated that most people in Trinidad and Tobago over the age of 45 are not computer literate. It just so happens, as he said, that the majority of politicians are over age 45. And these are the people driving initiatives throughout Trinidad and Tobago. That's a problem.

I tell my students something similar regarding the age of business owners and therefore their computer knowledge. There are diamonds out there over 45 - my father has quickly become one of them - but the vast majority of people over 45 have little use for computers.

With businesses and government underutilizing computers, it's apparent that there's little market for people knowledgeable about computers - which is a serious problem. As I made the point in 'On The Need For Computers In Secondary Schools In Trinidad and Tobago', society cannot be dealt with in snapshots when it comes to such things. Society is dynamic. It has cycles, and even as I made the point of having Computers in Secondary Schools in Trinidad and Tobago, I realize that I should also have made the point that more computers are required in Government and Businesses. But wait - there are computers in many businesses and within some government offices.

They just aren't where they can do the most good. If the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago can receive and send email, that's of questionable value to the populace. But if everyone can get a driver's permit with 30 minutes, that's of high value to the populace.

Software, sadly, is also an issue. As an example, the biggest problem with the features of Peachtree Accounting relate to local laws and the way in which much accounting must be done. Instead of adapting the software to their needs, the software is pirated - and therefore Peachtree Software doesn't see a market worth adapting the software for. Inadvertently, everyone who uses Peachtree Accounting in Trinidad and Tobago without a license is shooting not only themself in the foot, they are shooting everyone who uses Peachtree Accounting in Trinidad and Tobago in the foot. There are alternatives that I advocate and use - and which can be adapted locally - but the bottom line is that many people are dropping dollar bills while picking up pence. That would fall under improper use of computers.

What many people in Trinidad and Tobago must realize, despite having American media beamed in through Cable Television and Radio - is that they are not Americans, and things have to work for them locally. Every time I see an illegal copy of Peachtree Accounting, I don't see it as illegal as much as I see it as a poor business decision. By not paying for it, they will always have to work around it's quirks for the Trinidad and Tobago accounting issues. For lack of a better word, this is unintelligent.

What's The Need?

The need for computers in Trinidad and Tobago is not a matter of adding equipment. It's not about adding widgets. It's about adapting computer use to the needs of the community; it's about understanding that every business and government office has specific needs that must be met for society to move forward. It's about creating jobs for people so that they can gain experience to stretch their literacy to new levels.

The need for Information Technology Professionals within Trinidad and Tobago is to become more transparent to their clients. An educated consumer is a better consumer - and encouraging the consumer to adapt systems to the way in which they do things is necessary for not only the consumer, but also for the entire IT field.

Trinidad and Tobago doesn't necessarily need more computers. It needs to adapt the use of the computers to the specific needs of business, government - and therefore society - within Trinidad and Tobago.