Telecommunications Infrastructure
Liberalization and Deregulation
IT Labor Market
The labor force in the Bahamas is highly concentrated in the main industries of tourism (60%) and off-shore financial services (16%). To compete in the technology world economy, the country has the advantage of English as the primary language and a high literacy rate. However, the country’s educational system has supported these traditional industries and does not have a history of training future IT professionals. Currently, there are programs at the primary technical institution and college in the Bahamas to train students in information services and technology.
Education
The 1994 National Investment Policy states that the government will provide special training and retraining for Bahamian workers to ensure the continuing availability of a highly skilled work force. There is little if any information or statistics available on the IT workforce specifically.
English is the primary language.
Education (free and compulsory for those between 5 and 14 years of age):
Primary enrollment 95%
Secondary enrollment 85%
Literacy:
Male (% of people 15 and above literate) 95%
Female (% of people 15 and above literate) 96%
Post-secondary Institutions
School of Nursing at the Princess Margaret Hospital
University of the West Indies Centre for Hotel and Tourism Management
College of the Bahamas
Bahamas Baptist Community College
The Success Training College confers Diplomas and Associate Degrees in a wide range of subjects including Computers, Electronics and Business Studies.
Degrees are offered in the following subjects
Department of Computer Science Computer Information System
Computer Programming Science Computer System Management
Office Automation Department of Technology
Electronic Technology Electronic Engineering Technology
Computer Engineering Technology Computer System Technology
International Business Management Electronic Technology
Computer Repair Technology Data Processing
Computer Programming
The College of the Bahamas is a publicly supported tertiary level educational institution established in 1974 by an Act of Parliament. The Act was revised in 1995 to give the institution greater financial authority to seek private funding and grant degrees. Aproximately 3,500 students enroll each semester, about half of which are part time.
There are seven departments administering instructional programs including: The Business and Administrative Studies Division, Humanities Division, Natural Sciences Division, Nursing and Health Sciences Division, Social Sciences Division, Teacher Education Division and Technology Division.
Courses offered at COB in technology can be found at: http://www.cob.edu.bs/admis/techdiv.html
Management Information Services currently operates six laboratories. The M.I.S. Department is responsible for the registration of domain names ending in " .bs " The College currently offers internet service to the entire community.
http://www.cob.edu.bs/dept/mis.htmlLabor Force Statistics
SOURCE: The World Factbook HomeTotal labor force: 148,000 (1996)
Unemployment rate: 9% (1998 est.)
Unemployment rate in 1994: 13.3%
Net Migration
There is a net loss of migration of -2.67 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Private and government initiatives
Nortel and BaTelCo donated computer equipment and Internet access to 12 libraries and high schools throughout the Bahamas in January 1998. Nortel furnished computer equipment while BaTelCo provided telephone access and Internet connection to the libraries and high schools.
Strategic Partnerships
SRG offers technology solutions in concert with several product and solution partners.
http://www.srg.com.bs/business.htmlSRG established a corporate merger in 1998 with KPMG's consulting division in the Bahamas to bolster its Professional Services unit. High technical skill sets are developed through business relationships with organizations such as Microsoft, Computer Associates and Lotus Development, together with training programs for certification by leading vendors.
