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hen the global recession hit in 2007/2008, the first local sector to suffer was the bauxite/alumina industry. All across the country, pockets of the population that depended on mining began to struggle as operations slowed down or ground to a complete halt. Such was the case in Manchester, when UC RUSAL ceased production at its WINDALCO-Kirkvine plant in 2009. Left without a major industry, central Jamaica has focused its energy on forging a new path for job creation and has chosen technology as bauxite’s replacement.You’ve heard about Silicon Valley in San Francisco where many of the world’s largest tech companies, such as Apple, are based. Well, Jamaica is working to replicate the same level of success in ‘Silicon Mountain’. “All of Manchester is known as Silicon Mountain.We have pockets of innovation all over in the schools: Northern Caribbean University, DeCarteret College, Belair School, Knox Community College and Manchester High,” explained Kerrie-Ann Richards, project administration manager for ICT4D (information and communication technology for development) Jamaica. In a speech to the Manchester Chamber of Commerce in March of this year, Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Phillip Paulwell identified the Greater Mandeville area as one location possessing the necessary human resources, health, education and infrastructure to create a thriving near-shore information communication technology (ICT) industry.
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According to the minister’s speech, the local technology industry employs some 11,000 people across 26 local and international companies and is projected to grow by about 10 per cent annually over the next three years. In 2008/2009, for the first time ever, investments in ICT outpaced investments in tourism, at 43 per cent of total capital expenditure (J$32.34 billion) and accounted for 3,500 of the 9,089 jobs created. Richards believes that Mandeville is ready to become a business process outsourcing (BPO) hub. “The BPO industry is on the cusp of a huge boom. Jamaica has an advantage as we speak English, we have a huge population of under-employed persons with varied skills and call rates are coming down. The emergence of cloud computing as well reduces the cost involved in setting up BPO centres,” she explained. Silicon Mountain has certainly produced a number of stars recently, most notably NCU’s 2010 Imagine Cup champions Team Xormis. The university also won the tertiary prize in the inaugural Blackberry Developers Competition last December, where DeCarteret College claimed the top prize in the secondary section. Knox Community College also placed second in the EduVision 2011 app development competition, hosted by ICT4D Jamaica. ICT4D Jamaica, launched in March 2004, is a key partner in Silicon Mountain’s development. The organisation’s mission is to enable sustainable wealth creation, social and community development through ICTs. With a network of 450 members both locally and internationally, ICT4D Jamaica has already had a positive impact on the local tech industry. Its most recent project was June’s DigiJam 2.0 where the organisation hosted the Sports Hackathon workshop at the Mandeville Hotel, where coders prepared for the 24-hour competition.
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