Recent legislative measures will be insufficient to create a 'third economic pillar' in the Bahamas based upon e-commerce and e-business, a leading economist said yesterday, despite the sector being 'bandied about as a liberator from our reliance on tourism and financial services.'
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\nDr. Olivia Saunders, a lecturer at the College of the Bahamas, said the only response tosuggestions that the e-commerce industry was set to propel the Bahamas into a new era, transforming the economic landscape and providing a wealth of new opportunities for young entrepreneurs, could only be "surely you jest?"
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\nShe said the Bahamas could not be serious about the role e-commerce will play in transforming theis society if the goal was merely to have a computer in every classroom. Currently, only 28 per cent of Bahamian population has access to a computer, and about 15 per cent have access to the Internet.
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\nIn New Providence, 21 per cent of households have access to a computer with 12 per cent having access to the Internet. In Grand Bahama only 4 per cent of households have access to a computer and 2 per cent to the Internet., while in Abaco only 1 per cent have access to a computer and 0.6 per cent to the Internet.
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\nDr. Saunders also questioned the Bahamas' ability to expand its tourism sector to include healthcare initiatives, Such a transformation could only happen with the complete overhaul of the education system to emphasis mathematics, science and technology.
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\nEven if the Bahamas had the political and financial will to make the e-business transformation, she said it was questionable whether it would succeed given the current state of affairs in bahamian society. Parental negkligence, sexual abuse and a level of greed that turned a blind eye to criminal activity had all subordinated eductaion to a lifestyle of easy gain.
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\n"I sugest that we stop holding onto the claims of uniqueness, of difference, of specialness, of better than, and get on with building a society that reflects the aspirations of its citizens – to have a better way of living, a secure society, a fair society, an innovative society, a self reliant society, a tolerant society, a healthy environment, a society comprised of people progressing towards a common purpose."
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Source: Yolanda Deleveaux, The Tribune<\/B><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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