Cisco, Digicel sketch digital vision for Caribbean countries with new agreement
Cisco and Digicel announced they have signed a Caribbean Countries Digitalization Frame Agreement, detailing each company’s plans for advancing the digital agenda and policies for 26 countries in the Caribbean and Central America. As a mobile network provider operating in 31 markets across the Caribbean, Digicel intends to stimulate economic growth and competition in the countries in which the company operates.
As part of the agreement, the companies said they will work together to sketch a digital picture for each country. The organizations will focus on key projects within the realms of healthcare, telemedicine, smart cities and connected schools. In addition, the companies will outline an educational initiative founded on Cisco Networking Academy, an IT skills and career building program for learning institutions.
“Digitization is a key driver for economic development in any country,” said Alison Gleeson, senior vice president of the Americas, Cisco, in a prepared statement. “Through this partnership with Digicel, our goal is to grow GDP, create new jobs and invest in a sustainable innovation ecosystem across public and private sectors in the Caribbean and Central America,” says Alison Gleeson, senior vice president of the Americas, Cisco. “The Cisco and Digicel collaboration will map pathways to growth for countries throughout the region, positioning them for long-term prosperity in the Digital Age.”
The Frame Agreement highlights cooperative efforts to determine the goals and challenges of each country in an effort to develop initiatives and foster innovation. Cisco said it would make available the organization’s core technologies for enterprise networking, collaboration, wireless, datacenter and software. Under the agreement, Cisco is also calling for the development of an IT educational strategy, which will be applied at a national level based on its Networking Academy programs.
Among the initial list of countries Cisco and Digicel intend to focus on include: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, El Salvador, French West Indies, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Panama, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the Turks and Caicos Islands.
“Digicel and Cisco share the mutual goal of helping the region become more efficient and globally competitive through digital transformation,” said Vanessa Slowey, CEO of Digicel Caribbean and Central America, in a prepared statement. “Digicel will focus on projects in the Caribbean that are aligned with Cisco’s country digitalization agenda and will partner to develop these projects in specific Caribbean countries in order to transform telecommunications services and create sustainable solutions.”
