Cyber city in SVG, in next few years?

St. Vincent and the Grenadines may have a cyber city in the next few years.{{more}}

According to Director in charge of Special Projects in the Prime Minister’s Office Dr. Jerrol Thompson, upon completion of the Argyle International Airport, Arnos Vale will be transformed into a high-tech city.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, October 4 at the Telecommunications Conference room at the CLICO Financial centre, Kingstown, Thompson said: “We expect that with the landing of the two submarine fibre cables at Arnos Vale that exist now, Arnos Vale is going to be a site where we are not only going to have a new city, but we are also going to try and create a cyber city.”

Thompson said that this is one of the government’s long-term plans to further advance St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the field of Information and Technology.

“This city will be high-tech, highly wired and one that will help in terms of promotion investments that will attract investors to Arnos Vale.”

The Argyle International Airport is presently scheduled to become operational in 2014.

A number of other short-term projects that are scheduled to start in 2012 were also revealed by Dr. Thompson. These include the extension of the government intranet service from Kingstown to the outskirts of the country.

It was disclosed that the government has acquired additional funds from the World Bank, US$3M, to finance these upcoming projects.

According to Thompson, “the government is seeking to extend its backbone as far out as Georgetown and to the Leeward side of the island.

We are hoping to connect the modern medical centre in Georgetown to the hospital in Kingstown. We are hoping to ensure that the Community College, Teachers College and Technical College are also connected to the government intranet.”

Presently there is an ongoing project that will allow public servants to communicate and collaborate more efficiently and effectively, with the provision of a fibre optic link to all ministries.

The project, which is being implemented by Karib Cable at a cost of EC$432,389, is a component of the Electronic Government for Regional Integration Project (EGRIP).(AA)