Chief executive officer of AMCHAM (American Chamber of Commerce of T&T) Nirad Tewarie is recommending accelerating the implementation of the regulatory sandbox as announced by the Central Bank.
This, he explained, will advance financial inclusion via technology innovations within the financial sector and will allow for local fintechs to roll out to beta users, before completing lengthy regulatory processes.
It will also allow them to attract funding from both local and international investors, thereby creating economic opportunity for the technology sector, Tewarie said, as he gave opening remarks at AMCHAM T&T’s Tech Hub Islands Summit (t.h.i.s.) 2021 held yesterday.
“While this has been announced, it has not been effectively implemented thus far. Collaboration with trade associations such as AMCHAM T&T will be important for this to be effectively rolled out,” Tewarie said.
Another important policy, he said, will be the revisiting of the framework governing digital and electronic signatures and fully proclaiming the Electronic Transaction Act, specifically the implementation of the electronic authentication service providers.
“Promoting the use of digital signatures with the general public is necessary to inspire greater confidence in the use of and reliance on digital signatures, as this will be key to facilitating legal arrangements going forward across all industries,” Tewarie said.
Also suggesting that Government establish a data interoperability framework, Tewarie said, the goal is to help the Government find the optimal strategy that is sustainable and appropriate for a small island developing state and factors in resilience.
Tewarie also suggested a National Unique Identifier and Legal Digital Identity.
This number, he explained, should be used as the single citizen electronic interface and to track the State’s interaction with citizens from cradle to grave – ie birth certificate, death certificate, passport, IDs, schooling, vaccination etc. and the legal digital identity should give legal protection of the digital presence of the individual.
“We can’t afford to make marginal and incremental steps. We need bold and decisive leadership and action to unleash our potential. ‘We need to ensure that we use technology not just to solve our ‘now’ problems,” he said.
He emphasised that technology is most beneficial when it helps create solutions for the problems which cannot be seen or are yet to be experience.
Tewarie also added that solutions to move the country forward will require collaboration and critique.
He said criticism or calls for action are not unpatriotic, noting that constructive criticism and identification of solutions are some of the most patriotic actions.
“The Government cannot do it alone. Nor can the private sector. We need to work even more collaboratively in genuine partnership.
“And, at the very top, the Government and Opposition must find some common ground to chart a way forward,” Tewarie said
He also noted that confidence will return once there is belief in a national plan.
“A coherent vision into which we can all buy. A vision with actionable steps,” Tewarie explained.
Technology, he said, will be a critical enabler to achieve this vision, adding that developing a tech sector in T&T must also be part of the strategy for economic recovery and growth.
According to Tewarie, there are also a number of digital strategies, policies and frameworks which impact Government’s digital transformation initiatives.
He said a co-ordinated approach to the completion and adoption of policies should be incorporated including open source policy, remote working policy suite,data strategy, policy and framework, Government asset management, open government policy, cloud computing, e-Government omnibus technical standards (e-GOTS), e-Government Interoperability framework (e-GIF) and change management policy.