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BitDepth#1511
Mark Lyndersay
DOMINIC SMITH is the new Minister of Public Administration and Artificial Intelligence, a ministry that reintegrates public administration with the established in 2021.
That bold but ultimately underwhelming effort to create a purpose-built ministry to drive technology adoption in government did not have the impact that anyone might have hoped for.
Some of that is because the ministry was, to put it bluntly, terrible at communicating what it was actually doing, choosing to parade its achievements as a series of completely forgettable openings and reopenings of community centres with technology components.
Its most visible project was D'Hub, which is still online, but about which little is known. That's certainly not the fault of the new minister.
The digital transformation ministry last issued a comprehensive press release about the competition announcing its proof of concept awards in September 2023. Winners in the categories were announced, sotto voce, in April 2024.
The ministry's Facebook page mentions that a pilot project for the Noise Tracker app was launched last month for residents of Woodbrook.
What's happened to those projects since? Where is the code? Is there a plan to make use of the solutions commissioned to enable digital government?
And this is only one complication that the new minister faces.
Dominic Smith spoke for the first time publicly about his plans for the digital arm of the ministry on May 13 (link.technewstt.com/smith).
While that speech leaned in heavily on the subject matter of the conference, spectrum management, Smith made it clear that current buzzwords are receiving his attention, promising to "embrace emerging technologies such as fifth generation or 5G networks, AI, and the Internet of Things (IOT), ensuring Trinidad and Tobago and the rest of the region become leaders in economic growth through digital adoption."
He further promised to improve TT's ranking on the ICT Development Index.
Ministerial speeches aren't generally designed to deliver clarity about the governance mission and Smith has barely had a chance to warm his new chair.
We can glean some insight based on who he's been meeting in his first two weeks on the job.
That roster includes the CEO of iGovTT and TATT, who will probably fall under the AI ministry.
But what of the TTIFC, which has largely abandoned any presence of being any kind of financial institution in favour of enabling digital technology in governance and for financial institutions? Will it remain in Finance with a fuzzy mission or find direction as a technology enabler in the AI ministry?
The emphasis on AI feels like a more decorative than performative mandate, given the need for core infrastructure and interoperability to create a functional backbone for digital governance. How will the new ministry integrate its operations with other ministries seeking digital governance?
Ho
