FROM THE GUEST EDITORS RESEARCH ARTICLES

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Volume 5, Number 2, Summer 2009, iii–vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FROM THE GUEST EDITORS

Deconstructing ICT Skills and Employability PDFMaria Garrido, Akhtar Badshah, Chris Coward pp. iii-vii

RESEARCH ARTICLES

Skills Are Not Binary: Nuances in the

Relationship Between ICT Skills and

Employability

ABSTRACT PDF

Rebecca Walton, Cynthia Putnam, Erica Johnson, Beth Kolko

pp. 1-18

Training on Communication and Information

Technologies, Employment and Youth: The

Case of Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico

ABSTRACT PDF

Judith Mariscal, Antonio Jose Junqueira Botelho,

Luis Gutierrez pp. 19-30

An ICT Skills Cascade: Government-Mandated

Open Source Policy as a Potential Driver for ICT Skills Transfer

ABSTRACT PDF

Andrea Tapia, Edgar Maldonado pp. 31-51

Teleworking the Mobile Caribbean: Emerging

Patterns of Broadband-Assisted Remote Work Among the Marginalized in Jamaica and

Trinidad and Tobago

ABSTRACT PDF

Hopeton Dunn pp. 52-66FORUM

E-Inclusion Policies and Initiatives in Support of

Employability of Migrants and Ethnic Minorities

in Europe

PDF

Stefano Kluzer, Gabriel Rissola pp. 67-76

Give For-Profit Rural Business Centers a

Chance to Diversify Into Service-Led

Employment and Village BPOs

PDF

Robert Schware pp. 77-80E-Skills: Who Made That Big Dent in My Flat

World?

PDF

Bruno Lanvin, Martin Kralik pp. 81-84

From the Guest EditorsDeconstructing ICT Skills and Employability

IntroductionEconomic empowerment for marginalized people is one of the core interests driving ICTD practice andscholarship. Many non-governmental organizations state that improving the economic livelihood oftheir communities is one of their most important missions. Many training programs, from those whichare donor- and public-supported to those which are privately operated, have been built with the ex-press purpose of providing people who come into the centers with the skills they need to be hired bya local company, obtain a better-paying job, or start a microenterprise.

While numerous studies have documented the labor markets for high-end ICT skills (programmersand other IT specialists), surprisingly little research has been conducted on basic ICT skills—those skillsneeded to perform the common tasks associated with almost any job—especially among underservedcommunities in developing countries. It is for this reason that we organized this special issue, to cap-ture and encourage research in this area.

This topic is now all the more poignantly relevant due to the current global economic crisis. Aroundthe world, people are re-skilling and up-skilling themselves in the hopes of becoming more competi-tive in the labor market. In the United States, for example, the older workforce, many of whom wereretired and must now return to work, cite information technology as the number one skill where theyrequire training (AARP, 2007). This is in an environment where more than half of today’s jobs requirethe use of a computer (Workforce Development Council of Seattle—King County, 2007). Whether it isfor an underserved member of a developed or a developing country, how will such skills translate intoemployment opportunities? What are the most effective ways for people to learn and apply ICT skillsacross diverse population types and socioeconomic contexts? Are educational institutions, NGOs, andother organizations applying effective strategies? What is the role of national policy?

Employability Is Not the Same as EmploymentOver the last two years, the Center for Information & Society at the University of Washington has con-ducted research into the above questions to understand the role of basic ICT skills1 among the myriadof factors that affect employment prospects, the practices of NGO training programs, and the path-ways people take into the labor market. In framing this issue, we posit that employability is not thesame as employment. Employment is a binary concept—you can count employment rates. Employabil-

1. Deªned by the Commission of the European Communities (2007): “The capabilities required for effective applicationof ICT systems and devices by the individual. ICT users apply systems as tools in support of their own work, which is, inmost cases, not ICT. User skills cover the utilization of common generic software tools and the use of specialized toolssupporting business functions within industries in addition to the ICT industry.”

iii

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Volume 5, Number 2, Summer 2009, iii–vii

ity, on the other hand, describes “a set of factors, processes, [and training opportunities] that enablepeople to progress towards or get into employment, to stay in employment, to move on in the work-place, [or to ªnd entrepreneurial opportunities]” (Government of Scotland, 2007). We believe thisbroad deªnition of employability provides a more appropriate construct to explore if, as well as the ex-tent to which, ICT skills play a role in helping low-income groups improve their economic opportuni-ties.

There are a variety of factors that inºuence the progress toward employability beyond an individ-ual’s ICT knowledge, skills, and attitudes, such as level of formal education, social networks, a regionor community’s economic viability, social class, caste, gender stereotypes, learning styles, and labormarket dynamics, among others. A community’s social and cultural fabric also plays a decisive role inattracting and retaining the most competitive workers (Sullivan, 2009; West & Garrido, 2007; Chap-ple, 2006; de Grip & Zwick, 2005; Houston, 2005; Fugate et al., 2004; Brown et al., 2003; Peck &Theodore, 2000; and Hillage & Pollard, 1998). Precisely because employability encompasses the combi-nation of factors that demand contextualization, it creates a fertile ground for innovative research thatexplores the role of ICT skills in this process. The challenge for researchers in this ªeld is to talk aboutemployability by drawing from particular cases and examples, but also by extrapolating the ªndings tomake them relevant and transferable across settings.

Basic ICT Skills and Employability—Do They Play a Role?Our research has further identiªed three roles that basic ICT skills play in promoting progress towardemployability:

1. Gateway skills. People can be excluded from consideration for employment just by virtue of not be-ing able to demonstrate basic ICT knowledge, such as might be shown by a certiªcate. In thesecases, no amount of effort to conduct an online job search, write a résumé, or receive assistance inother areas will make a noticeable difference. ICT skills are often a gateway that enables the possibil-ity of employment.

2. One among many necessary skills. ICT skills can be a necessary element of the set of requisiteskills. Communication, critical thinking, and teamwork are examples of others that are frequentlycited (Conference Board, 2006). Many organizations that promote employability weave ICT skills intoa larger curriculum of such foundational skills. In these cases, ICT skills may tip the balance, or theymay “keep the applicant in the running,” so that some other variable can come into play.

3. Catalyst for key skill development. In some settings, basic ICT skills have become so prevalentthat, once the gateway function is satisªed, ICT skills are never referenced again. They are taken forgranted, like reading and numeracy, particularly in settings saturated by training opportunities andexposure to technology. In these settings, domain expertise or some other differentiating characteris-tic is the key. Computer training sometimes attracts students, catalyzing the pursuit of other skillsand services. For example, someone may enroll in a computer class because it is modern and attrac-tive. Perhaps they may have a positive learning experience and decide to pursue advanced educationat a trade school or community college. In instances like these, the computer skills did not tip thebalance per se, but the computer training program catalyzed a series of events that did.

At the same time, we should caution that basic ICT skills are rarely the missing link that miraculouslytransforms employment prospects. Lower wage, lower skill workers typically face multiple barriers,many of which are more complex than unfamiliarity with email or word processing. ICT literacy cannotbe isolated from larger social and personal contexts. Soft skills are important, as are solutions to chal-lenges such as childcare, affordable housing, transportation, time, and appropriate attire. Homelessand immigrant populations operate under additional constraints. The hurdles are diverse and individu-

iv Information Technologies and International Development

alized, and ICT must be integrated into this larger context of needs to credibly advance employabilityand economic opportunities for low-income groups.

Papers in This Special IssueIn November 2008, the guest editors invited submissions that address the relationship between ICTskills and employability. The four research articles and three forum pieces selected for publication pres-ent ªndings highlighting a diverse range of local contexts, nuances, social forces, policy directions, andother factors that contribute to employability capabilities and outcomes.

Walton, Putnam, Johnson, & Kolko examine the role of ICT skills and employment in the context ofthe Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan. Their ªndings indicate that, while ICT skills can be a predictorof employment and higher income, the levels of ICT skills required to obtain these jobs are not as highas one may expect. They argue that what are perceived as basic ICT skills in a developed nation areconsidered sophisticated skills in developing countries and transitional economies. This ªnding has im-plications for policy and program development aimed at improving employability, and they suggestthat training efforts should focus on contextualizing the meaning of basic skills to local socioeconomicsettings.

Mariscal, Botelho, & Gutierrez analyze the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in pro-viding ICT skills training to improve the employment opportunities for youth in Brazil, Colombia, andMexico. The authors argue that NGOs play important roles as liaisons for effective adoption of ICTsamong youth and for the development of some of the professional skills required to enter into the la-bor market. However, most NGOs in these countries are small and fragmented, and they have onlylimited capacity to understand the trends and demands of the labor market and form partnershipswith potential employers. These limitations hamper their ability bridge the gap between ICT skills train-ing and employment.

Tapia & Maldonado use the mandatory migration to open source software by the government inVenezuela to explore the extent to which a policy-oriented approach to universal skills can provide op-portunities for ICT skills transfer to traditionally underserved populations. Although the data to meas-ure the success of this approach is still limited, the authors argue that the strategies employed by theVenezuelan government have the potential to begin a cascade of change throughout the country.

Dunn examines the experiences of the Caribbean nations of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. Theauthor argues that extensive penetration of mobile telephony in the islands can potentially open eco-nomic opportunities for poor and marginalized communities and make the region more competitive inthe global economy. He proposes to use telework as a strategy to exploit the advantages of a Carib-bean workforce and the use of the mobile phone as a bridging technology to encourage more ad-vanced usage of other ICTs by marginalized groups for a wider range of work-related activities.

Kluzer & Rissola discuss the European Union’s e-Inclusion initiative, and in particular, the policiesaimed at improving the standing of marginalized groups in the labor market. The authors state thatthe shrinking labor force in Europe demands concise and orchestrated policy actions that help improveICT access and digital literacy among underserved populations. Using the experience of immigrantsand ethnic minorities in EU countries, the authors argue that a bottom-up approach to ICT skills devel-opment would enhance the chances for integrating these minority groups into the labor market bybetter matching their competencies to job-task needs.

Volume 5, Number 2, Summer 2009 v

Schware discusses the role of Business Processs Outsourcing Centers (BPOs) in promoting economicdevelopment for rural communities using the “rural business kiosk project” known as Nemmadi in theState of Karnataka, India. He argues that the build-own-operate model that Nemmadi uses can helpaddress, to some extent, sustainability problems that many telecenters face. In addition, rural businesscenters can promote economic activities by outsourcing services and increasing employability prospectsin rural areas.

Lanvin & Králik argue that, as global competition is becoming highly knowledge-centric, the skillsrelated to information-intensive societies (e-Skills) are becoming increasingly strategic. This trend ismaking more visible the growing gap in the ability of existing educational systems to produce e-skilledworkers. The authors propose a multi-stakeholder approach to skills development as a key conditionfor narrowing the e-Skills gap. Adjustments of educational systems, promotion of career prospects forIT jobs among women, and other steps are required in order to improve access to both the labor mar-ket and to upward mobility opportunities.

We thank the ITID editors for the opportunity to publish the special issue and Arlene Luck for allher support throughout the process.

ReferencesAARP. (2007). Investing in Training 50 Workers: A

Talent Management Strategy. AARP ReportKnowledge Management Department.

Brown, P., Hesketh, A., & Williams, S. (2003). Em-ployability in a Knowledge-Driven Economy. Jour-nal of Education and Work, 16, pp. 107–126.

Chapple, K. (2006). Networks to Nerdistan: The Roleof Labor Market Intermediaries in the Entry-levelIT Labor Market. International Journal of Urbanand Regional Research, 3, pp. 458–463.

Commission of the European Communities. (2007).European i2010 initiative on e-Inclusion: To bepart of the information society. Brussels. Re-trieved from: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/einclusion/docs/i2010_initiative/comm_native_com_2007_0694_f_en_acte.pdf

Conference Board, Partnership for 21st CenturySkills, Corporate Voices for Working Families, andthe Society for Human Resource Management.(2006). Are they really ready to work? Employers’perspectives on the basic knowledge and appliedskills of new entrants to the 21st century USworkforce. Tucson, AZ: Partnership for 21stCentury Skills. Retrieved from: http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/documents/FINAL_REPORT_PDF09-29-06.pdf

de Grip, A., & Zwick, T. (2005). The employability of

low-skilled workers in the knowledge economy.Retrieved November 13, 2008, from: http://www.fdewb.unimaas.nl/roa/cv/Degrip/De%20Grip%20%20Zwick%20Sep23.pdf

Fugate, M., Kinicki, A., & Ashforth, B. (2004). Em-ployability: A psycho-social construct, its dimen-sions and applications. Journal of VocationalBehavior, 35, pp. 14–38.

Government of Scotland. (2007). Deªning Employ-ability. Communication from the Scottish Govern-ment and the Scottish Center for Healthy Living.Retrieved from: http://www.healthyworkinglives.com/advice/employability/what-is-employability.aspx#deªnition

Hillage, J., & Pollard, E. (1998). Employability: De-veloping a framework for policy analysis. Suffolk,UK: DfEE.

Houston, D. (2005). Employability, Skills Mismatchand Spatial Mismatch in Metropolitan LabourMarkets. Urban Studies, 42(2).

Peck, J., & Theodore, N. (2000). Beyond “employ-ability.” Cambridge Journal of Economics, 24(6),p. 729.

Sullivan, J. (2009). Constructing Employability. Cen-ter for Information & Society Thought Piece Se-ries. Retrieved April 20, 2009, from: http://

vi Information Technologies and International Development

cis.washington.edu/employability/2009/04/16/constructing-employability-framing-outcomes-to-analyze-basic-computer-skills-training/

West, M., & Garrido, M. (2007). Bridging the e-skillsgap in Central and Eastern Europe: The growthof e-skills and employability initiatives in thenewly expanded European Union. Seattle, WA:

University of Washington Center for Information& Society.

Workforce Development Council of Seattle—KingCounty. (2007). State of the Workforce. Informa-tion Technology and the Workforce. August. Re-trieved January 2008 from: http://www.seakingwdc.org/pdf/sow/sow-it.pdf

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Hopeton S. Dunn, [email protected] DirectorTelecommunications Policy andManagement ProgrammeMona School of BusinessThe Alister McIntyre ComplexBuilding IUniversity of the West IndiesJamaica, West Indies�1 876 977 6035/4649/2666

Teleworking the Mobile Caribbean DUNN

Research Article

Teleworking the MobileCaribbean: Enabling Remote WorkAmong the Marginalized inJamaica and Trinidad and TobagoAbstract

The 21st century is characterized by the rapid growth of information and com-munication technologies (ICTs) and their assimilation into all aspects of theglobal political economy. The Caribbean is characterized by a heavy infusion ofmobile telephony in the day-to-day lives of its people. Proªciency in the use ofsuch ICT tools is of real value in this emerging information economy, andmany governments have pursued the policy of enhancing their peoples’ ICTcapacities and capabilities as a means of attaining economic growth underdifªcult global circumstances. This article argues that more wide-scale and se-lective adoption of these technologies could help make the Caribbean regionmore competitive and enhance the lives of the poor and marginalized. Onemeans of creatively utilizing these technologies is through telework, a conceptextensively discussed in the paper as an emerging and relevant work arrange-ment. The implementation of telework through the use of mobile broadbandis seen as an opportunity to exploit the advantages of a Caribbean workforcewith virtually universal access to mobile telephony.

The paper is grounded in the experiences of Jamaica and Trinidad andTobago with the widespread use of mobile telephony. It argues for greaterpolicy action and more policy-relevant research into how the cellular phonecan be used as a bridging technology to encourage more advanced usage ofbroadband applications by marginalized groups in a wide range of work-related activities.

Introduction“The quickest way to get out of poverty right now is to have one mo-bile telephone.”

—Muhammad Yunus

For the Caribbean, a region nearly saturated in access to mobile telecom-munications, the existence of vibrant cultural forms and the increasingavailability of the Internet have come together to create an opportunityfor the region’s quest to reach global markets and to competitively show-case its individual and corporate products and services.

From this vantage point, we advocate the development of teleworkand its related ICT capacity in Caribbean countries such as Jamaica andTrinidad and Tobago. Success in this initiative, however, is dependentupon greater policy action and more policy-relevant research into bothhow mobile telephony can contribute to this model, and how it can be

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Volume 5, Number 2, Summer 2009, 52–66

used as a bridging technology to more advanced us-age by marginalized groups.

The central argument of the paper is that withclose to universal access to mobile voice communi-cation in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, the nextlogical policy emphasis should be on personal andeconomic development using cellular broadbandtechnology.

Primary research ªndings from studies conductedin both these countries support this central thesis.The studies by Dunn (2007) and Mallalieu and Cam-bridge (2007) indicate that the economicallymarginalized are already using their mobile phonesto engage in business and work-related transactionsto enhance their economic survival. The studiesshow that the three leading forms of mobile eco-nomic engagements include:

1) A strengthening of ªnancial support networks,social bonds and the consolidation of trust betweenfamily members and friends using the mobilephone. This largely falls within social capital theoryand would appear to be an instrumental policy vari-able in enabling new work opportunities throughnetworking, especially for skilled people, such asmechanics, carpenters, plumbers, etc.

2) Mobile telephony provides “address anonym-ity” for some of the respondents sampled from vola-tile communities in Jamaica. As employers tend todisfavor the so-called “wrong address,” these pro-spective applicants ªnd it very difªcult to access em-ployment through formal job application letters.Since the arrival of the mobile phone, and hence alessened emphasis on addresses as a source for con-tacting freelance service providers, these persons areªnding it much easier to secure jobs, as their cellphone numbers do not disclose their actual residen-tial or business location.

3) Finally, some key socially disadvantaged opera-tors of micro-enterprises have attained and main-tained viability because of their use of the cellphone for marketing, for personal security, and forcoordination of stock procurement. The ªndingsalso indicate that with adequate education andtraining, in the context of a slow but constant diffu-sion of ICTs in both countries, the economic andoverall well being of the poor and marginalized canimprove signiªcantly.

The paper’s core contribution is that the existingwidespread use of mobile telephony in the Carib-bean can be leveraged to create wider and more

convenient occupational engagements throughtelework. Recently conducted research studies de-bunk popularly held views that low-income users ofthe mobile phone are primarily interested in this toolfor social chatter. Instead, the research ªndings fromthe two largest countries in the Anglophone Carib-bean suggest that people are beginning to make thetransition from a social and conversational usage oftheir cell phones to more business-oriented and eco-nomically driven engagements.

Conceptual FrameworkIn this section of the paper, we outline some keydeªnitions and concepts which help to guide thediscussion on telework in the Caribbean. Surveyingthe general literature on telework is necessary, sincethere is a dearth of similar studies done on the Ca-ribbean. The ªndings from the general literature arethen used as benchmarks against which we can as-sess the feasibility of remote work among themarginalized in the region through bridging technol-ogies, such as the mobile phone.

Concept of TeleworkWithin the last two decades, traditional notions ofwork have changed as the worker’s physical locationin relation to the “central ofªce” has become lessimportant in the worker’s execution of particulartypes of tasks. This transition describes the emergingoccupational practice called telework. Globally, in-creasing numbers of people are working from a vari-ety of alternative locations that offer greaterconvenience, improved competitiveness, and little orno reduction in productivity.

The facilitation for the emerging telework trendhas involved the rise of mobile broadband commu-nication, including Internet-ready cellular phonesand portable computers, as well as global satellitecommunications and secure corporate databases.Some activities previously requiring the physical pres-ence of the employee at a central work-site cannow be reallocated with even greater efªciency tohome-based employees or mobile contractors whoare based “on the road” or at any other remote lo-cation. But telework is not without its challenges,something to which we will return later.

Deªnitions of TeleworkThe International Labour Organization (ILO) pro-posed a deªnition of telework as far back as 1990,

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which is cited by Di Martino (2004, p. 4) as “a formof work in which (a) work is performed in a locationremote from central ofªce or production facilities,thus separating the worker from personal contactwith co-workers there; and (b) new technology en-ables this separation by facilitating communication.”The European Union Framework Agreement onTelework (2002) deªnes it as, “a form of work ororganizing and/or performing work, using informa-tion technology, in the form of an employment orcontract relationship, where work, which could beperformed at the employers’ premises, is carried outaway from those premises on a regular basis.”

Milles, Carlson, Gray, and Hanneman, as cited byAtkin and Lau (2006), were the ªrst proponents oftelework, or “telecommuting,” as it is described inthe United States. They believed transportation sav-ings from the substitution of communication tech-nologies for some or all aspects of commuting couldbe realized, hence reducing the demand for oil.Tofºer (1980), another early proponent, argued infavour of a form of “cottage industry” built oncommunication technologies, while Huws, Korte,and Robinson (1990) pointed to organizational re-structuring and new corporate strategies as earlydrivers of the practice of telework. Di Martino(2001) believes the signiªcant growth in ICTs andthe digitization of some forms of work provide clearavenues for ºexible work, thereby allowing countriesto optimize their resource utilization and reducetheir dependency on oil from fuel commuting. Theunderlying implication of Di Martino’s argument isthat not all types of jobs are suitable for telework,just those with core inputs or products that areamenable to digitization, which can be performed atany remote location, as long as there is Internetconnectivity and computing facilities. Some exam-ples of jobs amenable to digitization include archi-tectural services, ªnancial services, educationalservices, writing and editing, data processing, andmusic editing and production, among others.

Huws, as cited by Bibby (1996), has outlinedsome major categories of teleworkers and the loca-tion of their work:

1. Multi-locational teleworkers who work fromdifferent locations such as home and em-ployer’s premises;

2. Telehomeworkers who work entirely fromhome;

3. Freelance teleworkers who work from home,but work for different employers;

4. Mobile teleworkers who work while travel-ing using mobile technologies.

Telework: Trends and IssuesThe need to balance professional and personal lifehas been cited as an important reason for the adop-tion of telework, especially among the elderly andthose with children. Higgins et al., as cited in John-son (1999), suggest that in eliminating commutingtime to the ofªce, telework enhances an employee’sability to “control, predict, and absorb change inwork and family roles.” Nilles (1996) indicates thatthere is some empirical evidence suggesting thatteleworkers are more satisªed than non-teleworkerswith their ability to schedule child-care arrange-ments and with the opportunity that telework offersto spend more time with family members.

It is known, however, that while, in theory,teleworking may enable more time and closer rela-tions with family, it is a real possibility that, whenworking from home, teleworkers may in fact haveless time for their families. This may happen as someteleworkers often work longer hours than their non-telecommuting counterparts, to the detriment offamily relationships. Furthermore, the issue ofwhether or not telework contributes positively towork-life balance is still contested. Some researchers(e.g., Hill, Hawkins, & Miller, 1996; Johnson, 1999)maintain that the virtual ofªce is a “cyberspacesweatshop” that blurs the boundaries betweenwork and home life. One study (Olson & Primps,1984, cited by Hill, Miller, Weiner, & Colihan, 1998)concluded that there may be little distinction be-tween work and home life, and so telecommutersmay exhibit characteristics of “workaholism.” It hasalso been argued that teleworkers may work harderthan those stationed at the central ofªce because ofthe lack of face-to-face supervision.

While telework as a concept has been around forover two decades, it has grown in signiªcance in thelast few years. In a news release by AT&T in 2002,the telecommunications corporation reported thatthe real estate and job retention savings arising fromtelework was in excess of US$100 million annually.In its annual telework productivity survey, AT&T alsoreported that

1. 82% of teleworkers said that balancingwork and family responsibilities was asigniªcant advantage of telework;

54 Information Technologies and International Development

TELEWORKING THE MOBILE CARIBBEAN

2. About 70% of teleworkers are moresatisªed with their current job and their per-sonal and family lives; and

3. 56% of teleworkers who received compet-ing job offers said that they factoredtelework into their decision to accept or re-ject the offer. (AT&T, 2002)

On the other hand, there may be downsides. Onemajor example relates to the security of transmissionof company data (Lafferty & Whitehouse, 2000;Mills, Wong-Ellison, Werner, & Clay, 2001; Schnei-der, 2004). The transmission of unprotected data onthe Internet can make an organization vulnerable tomalicious software (malware) attacks that can po-tentially damage its software and hardware infra-structure. Another genuine threat (not unique totelework) lies in the possible unauthorized or acci-dental dissemination of sensitive, mission critical in-formation through acts such as misdirected data andindustrial espionage (Baratz & McLaughlin, 2004;Schneider, 2004).

Widespread use of telework may also disruptteamwork and organizational culture, creating nega-tive synergies that could lead to reduced productivity(Canadian Teleworkers Association, 2005). The often“conªned” lifestyle of teleworkers may lead to theloss of professional interaction and camaraderie as-sociated with the traditional work setting. Somestudies suggest that the growing use of the Internethas encouraged isolation, as workers are estrangedfrom the work community where they can offereach other support or learn from each other (Oz,2002, p. 235; Fairweather, 1999, p. 45). This is sup-ported by Mills et al., who have observed that:

. . . Some customer-service or sales activities gainexponentially from the team spirit and motivationthat is generated by the leaders and managers sit-ting in with the teams and “leading from thefront.” A telework arrangement would not offerthe same synergistic advantages. (Mills et al.,2001, p. 52)

For vulnerable data entry or computer-boundteleworkers, there are health concerns relating to re-petitive strain injury such as carpal tunnel syndrome,but again, these concerns may not be unique toteleworkers. Working from home can convert somesecure traditional employees into contract workers,operating ostensibly as self-employed persons lack-ing job protection and staff beneªts. In some cases,it is also argued that certain company costs could

actually be transferred to the teleworking employee,including the costs of infrastructure, communica-tion, and utilities.

Despite these constraints, teleworking ortelecommuting is of particular interest from the per-spective of public policy and the society at large.This is due to its implications for transportationplanning, fuel costs, air quality, and congestion re-lief. Urban trafªc congestion can cause personalstress, delays, and corporate productivity losses. Thepractice of telework may provide a strategic meansfor reducing the carbon footprint of certain key sec-tors and energy-intensive industries. Commuting bycar or bus, particularly in peak-hour congestion, is amajor source of exhaust emissions and air pollution.While telework offers a solution to trafªc conges-tion and pollution, its likely attractiveness for policymakers and governments, especially those of emerg-ing economies, is the possibility of more rapid eco-nomic growth and sustainable development.Allowing companies to occupy less space and con-trol the ªxed overhead costs of their infrastructurewould likely create more proªts and provide a spill-over effect for the local economies.

Researchers such as Cowell and Dunn (2006) andDi Martino (2004) have also explored the potentialfor telework to generate new self employment op-portunities, especially in rural and inner city areas ofLatin America and the Caribbean.

Telework and the CurrentInternational EnvironmentThe technologies that power telework deploymentare global in nature and origin. Digital technologyand the Internet provide global options for research,marketing, publishing, archiving, and producing dig-ital products and services. These innovations areamong the leading motive forces of the process ofglobalization. By deªnition, globalization may be re-garded as an intensiªcation of the ongoing historicalprocess of global human interaction. It derives fromnew means of creating and exploiting the intercon-nectedness and interdependence of heterogeneouspeoples and communities of interest anywhere intoa single global technological, economic, social, andcultural space.

The current manifestations of globalization arenot unique to the present era, but are technologi-cally and politically different. In 18th and 19th cen-tury Europe, the innovations of the magnetic


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telegraphy, electricity, railways, new weapons sys-tems, the steamships, and Morse code, among oth-ers, all converged to help reduce worldwidedistances, and in practice, to facilitate European im-perialism and colonial control. Geography as an ob-stacle to conquest and communication was tamed,although over a longer period than it took the con-temporary global communication networks such asthe Internet to conquer global space (Dunn, 1995;Winseck & Pike, 2007).

In the present era, globalization is intensiªed bydigital communication, which facilitates real-timetransmission of weightless bits of information acrosscontemporary global networks. Digitalization pro-vides an innovative method of conveying voice,data, images, and text in a seamless and compactºow of zeros and ones. As a substitute for the leg-acy of analogue systems, digital communication hashelped to create the basis of the converged, so-called “next generation networks.” It is the speedand vastly enhanced capacity for global informationprocessing that differentiates the globalization ofthe present to that of previous eras. It is the Internetthat has given this new wave of globalization its dis-tinguishing features, including its transborder reach,the ability to transmit voluminous amounts of data,the ability to enhance research and development,and the capacity to facilitate more efªcient distribu-tion of goods and services.

Castells summarizes the gamut of these issueswell, stating that:

In our age, the Internet could be likened to boththe electrical grid and the electric engine becauseof its ability to distribute the power of informa-tion throughout the entire realm of human activ-ity. Furthermore, as new technologies of energygeneration and distribution made possible thefactory and the large corporation as the organiza-tional foundations of industrial society, theInternet is the technological basis for the organi-zational form of the Information Age: the net-work. (Castells, 2002)

Neoliberalism: The Networked Societyand the MarketToday, globalization is taking place within the frame-work of the transcendence of systems of neoliber-alism. The mobility of capital in the present contextunderlines the reality that neoliberalism is primarilyan economic doctrine. It advocates the supremacy

of the free market as a tool to drive economicgrowth and to confer welfare in preference to gov-ernment intervention in the market. It advocates thederegulation of global markets, including those oftelecommunication, education, and informationtechnology services. Libertarian economics believesin the rationality of man as an economic agent whowill always pursue a course of action that will yieldhim the greatest utility. Secondly, this same doctrine,commonly expressed as neoclassical economics, be-lieves in Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” hypothesis,which holds that invisible forces work in perfectcongruence to equilibrate demand and supply in allmarkets, whether they are for land, labor, capital, ornatural resources.

In light of the growing networked society, capitalmobility has increased principally because of itsdiffusible nature as a result of ICT applications. In areal sense, cyberspace, which seamlessly connectspersons anywhere and anytime, has become thenew battleªeld for corporate rivals, as well as a newreservoir of opportunities for those who aredisempowered by traditional systems in their realgeographical localities.

But the new face of digital globalization alsosubsumes many of the inequalities and conquests ofthe past, resulting in a digital divide between thosewith constant and regular access to the informationsociety and those without. The digital divide hasbeen narrowly deªned in terms of access to thephysical resources necessary to enter that informa-tion society, namely computers and the Internet.Van Dijk (1999) refers to four kinds of barriers whichrestrict access. These include a lack of elementarydigital experience (mental access), a lack of comput-ers and network connections (physical access), a lackof digital skills (skills access), and a lack of signiªcantusage opportunities (usage access).

Within the Caribbean space, e-exclusion and thedigital divide are reºected in access by less than20% of regional citizens to Internet-based computersystems and big screen broadband services. How-ever, with close to ubiquitous access to mobile voicecommunication through the cellular phone, theavailable technology of choice among the majorityof Caribbean people is being re-purposed as an in-strument of personal and economic development.From this vantage point, one can better understandthe imperative of developing telework and its re-lated ICT capacity in the Caribbean countries.



For many societies, such as those in the Carib-bean, without government intervention and someform of government regulation, digital dividends willnever be realized. The survival of disempowered in-dividuals and sectors of society could be endangeredby being left to the consequences of the market. Itis both the doctrine of competition and the powerof governmental regulation that have led to therapid and organized growth of the new telecommu-nications sector in both Jamaica and Trinidad andTobago, laying the foundation for virtual saturationof mobile telephony internally, as well as stronginter-modal network delivery systems into and outof the region.

Telework and the CaribbeanContextThis paper focuses on two Anglophone Caribbeancountries, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. Whilethese countries have important national peculiarities,they also display many of the attributes of the ma-jority of the English-speaking and other countries inthe region. They are all small, open, vulnerableeconomies striving to come to terms with a post-colonial legacy of under-development. Their mostlyinherited political systems accommodate frequentelection of political and civic leaders and reºect, forthe most part, the popular will.

There are differentiated levels of economicgrowth and development trends among countries inthe region, but a common factor is their historicaldependence on traditional agricultural products andtourism as the main sources of income. Accordingto the Caribbean Development Bank, tourism wasone of the three major contributors to growthacross the region in 2006, followed by constructionand services. Against the context of continued reli-ance on traditional sectors, two issues are drawninto sharp focus which have serious implications forthe future earnings and viability of the region. Thesetwo issues, discussed in the following sections, arethe liberalization of monopoly sectors and thegeospatial separateness and balkanization of Carib-bean territories.

Liberalization of Monopoly SectorsThe World Trade Organization’s (WTO) 1995General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)

provided for the systematic liberalization of monop-oly sectors in all member countries, as well as theremoval of subsidies and tariffs on particular goodsand other artiªcial barriers to free trade. This in-cluded the telecommunications services sector,where monopoly had reigned for more than a cen-tury.

The rapid growth of the mobile user base in Ja-maica rose from about 300,000 mobile subscribersin the year 2000 to more than 2.5 million at the endof 2007 as the result of the governmental policyshift from monopoly to a competitive market and in-creased foreign direct investments. After more thana century of monopoly telecommunications serviceprovision in the region by the incumbent Cable andWireless PLC, Jamaica led the move into a competi-tive framework with the adoption, in 2000, of anew Telecommunications Act. Trinidad and Tobagofollowed in 2005.

Consumers in both Jamaica and Trinidad and To-bago welcomed the break in the Cable and Wirelessmonopoly as governments introduced new laws andregulations, which were backed by WTO commit-ments and ministerial policy directives to liberalizethe markets. As a result, in Trinidad and Tobago,mobile subscribers accounted for more than 50% ofall telephony subscribers in that country (Mallalieu &Cambridge, 2007), and over 70% in Jamaica by2007.

Both Dunn (2007) and Mallalieu and Cambridge(2007), in separate country studies done for the Re-gional Dialogue on the Information Society (DIRSI) ofmobile telephony in Jamaica and Trinidad and To-bago, indicated respectively a rapid growth of thatsegment over the period 2000–2006. As an exam-ple, in Trinidad and Tobago, mobile telephony expe-rienced growth of 1,069%, compared to the growthin ªxed telephony (19.9%) over the same period. InJamaica, a rapid process of ªxed to mobile substitu-tion rendered the mobile sector the largest andfaster growing segment in the regional telecomindustry.

The liberalization process has brought sig-niªcant returns to the telecommunications sector.In Jamaica alone, total spectrum fees collectedsince the beginning of the liberalization process,from April 2000 up to March 2007, are estimatedat JM$4.74 billion1 (JM$4.364 billion2 for cellular li-


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1. Approximately US$72.9 million, at US$1 JM$652. Approximately US$71.3 million, at US$1 JM$65

censes and JM$380 million3 ( for other mobile spec-trum licenses). The total general consumption tax(GCT) collected since liberalization was estimated atJM$40 billion.4 The total revenue realized by theGovernment from the sale of cellular licenses toDigicel, Oceanic Digital (Miphone), and AT&T Wire-less is US$98.5 million (PIOJ ICT Task Force, 2007).

Digicel, an Irish-based ªrm, entered the market in2001, and within 100 days of the start of opera-tions, they had secured an unexpected 100,000 mo-bile subscribers. Unlike the incumbent Cable andWireless, Digicel quickly provided mobile telephonyservices to remote and rural parts of the island andsold cellular handsets for between US$30 andUS$50, which, at 2001 currency exchange rates,was more affordable for low-income earners.

Two other crucial factors allowing this rapidgrowth in penetration levels were that Digicel in-troduced the low-cost mobile handsets with pre-payment plans and calling cards denominated in aslittle as US$ 2.20, and that Digicel introduced persecond billing compared to per minute billing by in-cumbent Cable and Wireless. With low handsetprices, the process of citizen ownership of a piece ofthe digital mobile revolution had now been well andtruly embarked upon by even the marginalized so-cial classes in the region.

By late 2006, the provision of a wired service byColumbus Communications, trading as Flow, addedcompetition in the provision of landline services, in-cluding the so-called triple-play option of landlinetelephone, cable TV, and Internet services. Thesecompeting entities, providing more diverse offerings,have contributed to an expansion in a burgeoningnew telecommunications landscape, one which of-fers greater access for the low-income or unem-ployed inner city residents and remote rural userswho were previously excluded from the network bycost and technology.

This process of opening up of the Jamaican and“Trinbagonian” telecom markets had the critical ef-fect of expanding access to telephony beyond thepreserve of the rich and upper classes in both socie-ties, to include those at the lower tiers on the eco-nomic ladder. However, as indicated earlier, large-screen, Internet-ready tools and computers have hada much slower rate of diffusion and assimilation inboth countries. Mallalieu and Cambridge (2007) in-

dicated that, at the end of December 2006, Internetsubscription rates were at only 6.2% in a Trinidadand Tobago population of over 1.3 million people.Similarly, Dunn (2007), in the Jamaica country reporton mobile telephony, found that just over 20% ofJamaican respondents had large-screen Internetaccess.

The Caribbean Discourse on TeleworkIn a large sense, for the marginalized of our socie-ties, access to ICT is fast becoming the currency ofthe digital economy in this “digital millennium”(Dunn, 1995). While Caribbean nations remain atdifferent levels of underdevelopment, sharing acommon incidence of digital poverty, displacement,and marginalization, it is conceivable that improvedaccess to education, as well as new forms of work,such as telework, may well be key catalysts in theregion’s transformation.

The idea of telework entered the Caribbean dis-course quite late, although the concept had beenunder discussion in the industrialized North for adecade and a half prior. For the Caribbean region,initial reference to its prospects and challenges onlyemerged at the start of the new millennium. In anarticle on Jamaica published in 2000, entitled“Globalization, Tele-Working and new Trade UnionStrategies,” Dunn (2000) addressed the attractiveprospects of telework for off-shore employment,noting that “if productivity-related problems of theregion are to be successfully tackled, all participantsin the social context will need to contemplate newand innovative ways to achieve and sustain employ-ment levels within the limits of acceptable occupa-tional standards . . .” Continuing, Dunn observedthat emerging technologies were creating tele-working opportunities, not just within, but also fromoutside of Jamaica. “Suppliers of information inten-sive services can now engage in cross border trade,in the re-location of work sites, and in the concen-tration of certain jobs within speciªc cost effectivesocial, economic, and geographical zones” (ibid.).With respect to conventional trade union practicesof centralized collective bargaining, it raised thechallenge of alternative methods of organizing. The2000 paper established that the issues arising fromtelework for the Caribbean trade union movementand for employers included the need to restructure



3. Approximately US$5.8 million, at US$1 JM$654. Approximately US$61.5 million, at US$1 JM$65

work organization and management, to review con-ventional shift working, and to re-think employees’career development and training, as well as to pre-pare for future changes in employment trends(ibid.).

The meteoric rise of mobile telephony in the re-gion would suggest that people are not technologyaverse and will acquire communication tools withintheir budget. The slow rate of computer acquisitionand Internet access and usage in both countries ap-pears to be the result of affordability factors, asmany low-income families have been found to indi-cate interest in buying computers for their children’sresearch and homework, if the families were able toafford it (Dunn, 2008). The policy of seeking to de-crease the price of computer hardware and otheraccess costs appears to be a necessary one if thedeclared expectations by the governments ofe-commerce, e-government, online education,teleworking, and other economic applications are tobe adopted by wide sections of the populations.

Telework and Mobile Telephony inthe Caribbean: Existing ResearchThis paper draws on several major research projectsabout ICT development and applications in countriesof the region. The ªrst was a signiªcant researchproject on the subject of telework in Jamaica, Barba-dos, and Trinidad and Tobago by Cowell and Dunn(2006), entitled “Telework: New Forms of Work andEmployment Opportunities in the Caribbean.” Therewas also a series of research studies carried out bythe Regional Dialogue on the Information Society(DIRSI) entitled: “Mobile Opportunities: Poverty andTelephony Access in Latin America and the Carib-bean.” From this series of studies, this paper mainlydraws on four major studies: the Jamaica CountryReport on the National Household Survey amongLow Income Mobile Users (Dunn, 2007); its counter-part country report from Trinidad and Tobago writ-ten by Mallalieu and Cambridge (2007); and ªnally,two qualitative research studies on mobile telephonyand poverty in Jamaica.

The Telework ProjectIn this study, Cowell and Dunn (2006) sought to ex-amine the prospect of telework in the Caribbean,with a focus on three countries: Jamaica, Trinidadand Tobago, and Barbados. The study exploredstakeholder perceptions of the extent to which the

Caribbean technology infrastructure, labor policyframework, and attitudes could support the growthof telework in the region, which might thereby cre-ate more employment opportunities. The approachto information gathering was qualitative, includingin-depth interviews and focus groups. A componentof secondary research was also included, providingan extensive review of diverse literature on thetopic.

This study found that, despite further advances inthe region’s ICT industry, the practice of teleworkhad gained little corporate or governmental atten-tion. Cowell and Dunn suggested that several pre-disposing economically and socially beneªcial factorsremained unexplored by the main industry playerswith regard to the deployment of telework in Carib-bean economies (ibid.). Consequently, despiteemerging patterns of use at the individual level, thesuccessful adoption of telework is dependent uponthe adoption of government policies geared to growthis sector.

Mobile OpportunitiesMuch of the data on regional mobile telephony pat-terns in this paper have been garnered from theMobile Opportunities Project executed by DIRSI in2007–2008. Dunn (2007) and Mallalieu and Cam-bridge (2007) were the conductors of two of sevencountry studies on mobile telephony usage in LatinAmerica and the Caribbean. The studies indicate theresults of national household surveys of mobile tele-phony usage among low-income respondents inboth countries. Both surveys were executed ataround the same time, using an extensive question-naire of more than 100 questions related to mobiletelephony and other telecommunication and ICT us-age patterns. There was also a qualitative studywhich delved further into the results that came outof Jamaica, entitled “Wha’ a Gwaan: Research Re-port on a Qualitative Study of Mobile Telephony andPoverty in Jamaica.” With the objective of gainingclearer understanding of the usage patterns,thoughts, nuances, and experiences of Jamaica’s ur-ban and rural poor, the study made use of in-depthinterviews, focus groups and research diaries. Theªnal, related study was a working paper entitled“Genderstanding Mobile Telephony: Women, Menand Their Use of Cellular Phones in Jamaica,” whichbrought together varied qualitative perspectives onusage patterns by different social groups (Dunn &Dunn, 2007).


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Telework: Emerging Patterns of Use

Teleworking the Mobile PhoneWith existing cost constraints among the poor, thecell phone appears to be the best interim option to-ward empowering its users to be even more activeparticipants in the global and local informationeconomy. Low-income people, in Jamaica for exam-ple, are already using the cell phone in their questfor economic survival by keeping in touch sociallywith friends, family, and associates who could assistin times of special economic need. Others use thephone to combine social calls with inquiries aboutservices and job opportunities, for marketing ofideas and products, and for informal business net-working (Dunn, 2008). This is the ªrst stage ofteleworking among the marginalized.

In “Genderstanding Mobile Telephony: Women,Men and Their Use of Cellular Phones in Jamaica”Dunn and Dunn (2007, p. 10) found that “Peopleare combining in a seamless manner an economicusage with their social communication. As one re-spondent Inez indicated in her interview, she usesher phone to call her friend, and what may appearto be a social call also functions as a business link.Others send or receive overseas calls related to re-mittances, child support, house-keeping income,and cross-border business trading. It is clear thatwhere users are involved in self-employment orsmall businesses, the phone is used to garner newbusiness and to make their services more timely andefªcient, while also maintaining social contacts withfriends and family.”

Social capital theory provides another way tolook at the feasibility of the mobile phone helpingto both make the region more competitive and tomake the life of poor people and marginalizedgroups more prosperous. This theory holds, by em-phasizing the intangible value of social groups, thatthe nature and extent of social interaction can shapeeconomic performance (Sinha, 2005). Mallalieu andCambridge (2007) found that, “of all the mobilecalls made in the month prior to the survey, themost frequent recipients were friends and in-countryrelatives, followed by work place.” This provides evi-dence of a strong social networking application ofmobile telephony. Similar ªndings were reported inJamaica. It is perfectly understandable that fewercalls were made to work places, as the survey wasconducted among bottom-of-the-pyramid, low-

income households, who have a higher rate of un-employment than other social groups. But despitethese disadvantages, work-related and economic ac-tivities were emerging as part of the universe of callsmade.

This supports the argument that social network-ing is crucial to the survival of these marginalizedpeople, as the vicissitudes of life at the bottom ofthe pyramid dictate that survival is not about whatyou know, but about whom you know and whoknows you. As one respondent in Jamaica indicated,“it’s not just who you know, but who you call, andwho calls you.”

Mobile Telephony and Small and MediumEnterprisesSmall and medium enterprises (SMEs) are critical pil-lars supporting the bottom-of-the-pyramid economyand therefore are an indicated avenue for systematicand sustainable poverty reduction (Botelho & Alves,2007). Poor people and marginalized groups oftenengage in micro enterprise as a form of entrepre-neurship and for survival. These activities arereºected in market stalls, artisanship, building andmaintenance trades, street stalls, corner shops, itin-erant vending, taxi and hand-cart services, and pi-rated music and video sales, among other legal andillegal activities. A Jamaican taxi driver interviewedfor our survey, for example, said he could not oper-ate his independent taxi service without his mobilephone (Dunn & Dunn, 2007). While he uses it tokeep in touch with his parents, his family abroad,and girlfriend, it is more central as his business tool,on which regular customers reach him for transpor-tation. Among these and members of the lower in-come strata engaged in these activities, the use ofthe cell phone is inescapable as a micro-businesstool. As income increases, the opportunity exists tobuild upon these enterprises, and when affordable,to transform simple usage such as voice telephonyinto more sophisticated usage. This pattern, how-ever, calls for more expensive computer hardware tosupplement the basic tools and create expandedpersonal and family opportunities for work.

Representatives of low-income marginalizedgroups, such as people with disabilities, have a spe-cial need for these technologies. They get connectedto, and participate in, the global economy throughmobile phones. A wheelchair-bound market traderstill manages to secure her “load” by mobilizing her



farm produce through an old-fashioned mobilephone, a source of transportation and communica-tion with regular clients that she has used for years(Dunn & Dunn, 2007). Another disabled person inTrinidad and Tobago operates a phone repair busi-ness from his sedentary position in Port of Spain.

Address AnonymityWhile some persons are physically or mentally dis-abled, there are other marginal groups that suffer asocial disability from their domestic or workplace ad-dresses. In a focus group conducted as part of aqualitative investigation in patterns of phone usage,several inner city respondents reported using the cellphone to gain address anonymity in trying to seekemployment or market skills and personal services.The call recipient does not have to know the homeaddress of the caller, which could otherwise be a de-terrent in both business and social contact withmore upwardly mobile correspondents. Telecom-muting can thus be both symbolic and virtual if thereality proves too difªcult for socially disparate per-sons involved in such a work-related transaction.

A series of consultations5 with industry experts toget their feedback on the feasibility of the uptake oftelework in the mentioned countries elicited the fol-lowing from one IT consultant from Jamaica:

. . . some of the work I do is to set up computerlabs for schools that teach children with disabili-ties how to use computers. At one of the organi-zations I work with, Caribbean Council for theBlind, the majority of workers in the organizationare visually impaired, but they communicatethrough email with software programs that en-large the text or generate speech from the text.They have no different level of productivity frompeople who have all their abilities. One of the so-cial implications is that persons with disabilitiescan be brought into the workforce . . .

Similarly, Dunn (2007) has found in a workingpaper that the cell phone is being used extensivelyamong the deaf and hearing impaired, and alsoamong people with visual disabilities. All these indi-viduals have cited the importance of the cell phoneto them—particularly the texting feature, which as-sists with communication for social networking andfor conducting business. It is in this context thatemerging mobile broadband features can be lever-

aged to present a real opportunity for marginalizedgroups to be included in the mainstream of digitalsociety. For instance, the opportunity exists for en-trepreneurial applications of software such as JobAccess With Speech (JAWS), to be utilized by theseindividuals to engage in outsourcing opportunitiessuch as data processing and administrative work(Dunn, 2008).

The previous discussion clearly shows that thereare emergent work-related patterns of use of mobiletelephony in both Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.These patterns, however, only point to the possibilityof wide-scale forms of telework, which do not yetexist. The catalyst for this transformation lies in rele-vant public policy-making.

Policy Applications to SupportTeleworkICT capacity building can be undertaken on two re-lated fronts: developing human capital and develop-ing infrastructure and networks. We have alreadydemonstrated how developing nations such as Ja-maica and Trinidad and Tobago can build out theirnetworks and infrastructure, as well as their humancapital capacity in ICT, as a means toward attainingeconomic empowerment and the digital inclusion ofmarginalized peoples. The serious challenge whichmany developing countries now face, given theacute economic downturn in the global economy, ishow to signiªcantly increase the percentage of theirworkforce that is educated and computer literate,and who can earn incomes independently of threat-ened traditional workplaces.

Case Studies of Policy Applications:Ireland and Costa RicaThe experiences of Ireland and Costa Rica in pursinga technology lead model of economic developmentis relevant and useful to small-island, developing na-tions such as Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago intheir quest for greater ICT diffusion, as well as inplanning for the long-run competitiveness of theirpeoples. As context, O’Riain as quoted by Green(2000) reminds us that:

the experience of the Irish ICT cluster seems todemonstrate that skills and training are a neces-sary but not sufªcient condition for success in


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5. This was part of the exploratory study on Telework in the Caribbean (Cowell & Dunn, 2006).

global markets. There is also a role for targeted,ºexible industry policies in the context of an ac-tive partnership with unions, business, and thecommunity. The role for the Government in thiscontext has been characterized as the ‘FlexibleDevelopmentalist State,’ which is ‘deªned by itsability to nurture Post-Fordist networks of produc-tion and innovation, attract international invest-ment, and link these local and global technologyand business networks together in ways whichpromote development. (O’Riain, 1999)

Against this background, we may brieºy examinethe strategy employed by Costa Rica in its ICT devel-opment, framing it as a foundation on which wecan now pursue telework and other conceptual, pol-icy, and technological applications. The Costa Ricangovernment undertook a three-pronged approach—building capacity in health services, empoweringpeople through education, and making extensive in-vestments in ICT. The government systematically in-vested in skills and capacity building among CostaRicans through careful investments which startedfrom an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)loan in 1974. Costa Rica now boasts one of the bestsoftware engineering and computer science schoolsin all of the Americas.

They have also managed to foster an amicableenvironment where public and private sector collab-oration on projects is the norm. Finally, they havealso continued the consistent building of their net-work infrastructure in telecommunications. Also ow-ing to their political stability and investor-friendlyenvironment, they have attracted a number of hightech companies interested in software development(Accenture, Markle Foundation, & UNDP, 2001).

Ireland has moved along a similar path as CostaRica by investing in education and training. Green(2000) suggests that:

the evolution of Ireland’s ICT sector has beendriven not only by market conditions, but by theconscious design and delivery of public policy overa number of decades in the context of EU mem-bership and, more recently, a social partnership.This consisted of measures to attract knowledge-intensive FDI through support for indigenous com-panies and networks; through Enterprise Ireland’spromotion of education and training at all levelsin schools, universities and technical colleges;through development of a sophisticated telecom-

munications infrastructure; through increasedfunding support for research in third level institu-tions; and through strengthened linkages be-tween companies and the education sector.

The combination of public and private sector in-vestments and emphasis on education has certainlytransformed Ireland’s fortunes, as suggested byOECD (as cited by Green, 2000), “Past nationalstrategies for investing in education and traininghave paid off in terms of faster productivity growthand higher levels of productivity at the aggregatelevel, and higher earnings and employability at theindividual level.” Given this context, one can easilyunderstand why Ireland had the fastest growth rateof output and employment of any of the OECDcountries in the period 1990–1999, during whichthe number of jobs increased by 42%. Also, thesoftware industry had the largest market share ofFDI (foreign direct investment) ºows in Europe, ac-counting for 55% of the total ºow.

ICT Policy Applications and theRelevance to the Wider CaribbeanEven from this limited exploration, it is clear that theexperience of Ireland and Costa Rica indicate partic-ular directions which the policy makers and leadersof Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago may wish toconsider, in order to both gain a foothold in the vastand growing global knowledge economy and to ex-pand local engagement in telework practices. TheJamaican government has initiated this process withthe development of a national ICT Strategic Plan,which delineates critical areas in which the govern-ment and industry should focus for the ªve-year pe-riod, 2007–2012, in order to empower as manyJamaicans as possible through access to, and usageof, ICT. In their draft submission for this national ICTPlan, Dunn and Duggan (2006) have ºagged, in Fig-ure 1, eight interlinked thematic areas which theyargue deserve priority attention, should Jamaicansfully take advantage of ICT opportunities:

1. e-Inclusion: Open Access to ICT

2. Education and Training

3. Network Readiness and Infrastructure Devel-opment

4. e-Government



5. e-Business and ICT Industry Development

6. Research and Innovation

7. Cultural Content and Creativity

8. Legislative and Policy Framework

While these areas go well beyond more limitedframeworks commonly available to comparablestudies, one could further group them into two dis-tinct dimensions: the infrastructural/technological di-mension and the institutional/policy dimension. Theinstitutional dimension involves the political, legisla-tive, and educational processes that contextualizeand maximize available technologies. They speak tothe human element of ICT diffusion. The infra-structural/technological dimension involves networkexpansion and technical issues surrounding the dif-fusion of technologies.

According to Wilson (2004), “since institutionsare much weaker in poorer countries, a revolutionthat is mainly institutional and not technical is noteasily achievable.” The empirical data seem to cor-roborate this observation, as has been seen in Ire-land and Costa Rica, which ªrst pursued thelegislative and policy framework, as well as educa-tion and training, as the most important phases oftheir ICT development strategy. Essentially, they in-vested in the human dimension ªrst, and the techni-cal dimension second. After Ireland and Costa Ricadeveloped their human capital, issues of network

readiness and infrastructure de-velopment were then achievedthrough deliberate public policiesthat emphasized the suitabilityand attractiveness of the countryto knowledge-intensive foreigndirect investments.

While Caribbean ICT infra-structure and policy develop-ments have unfolded differentlyto date, the available Caribbeanresearch and policy recommenda-tions suggest that the regionshould consider similar strategies.Countries such as Jamaica andTrinidad and Tobago, which havesigniªcant levels of unemploy-ment and, especially in the caseof Jamaica, a heavy debt burden,

must also initiate their ICT strategic implementationby focusing on education, with an emphasis on in-formation literacy and technology training. This isthe model applied by Ireland and Costa Rica with somuch success. Education and training will empowerpeople to engage in more sophisticated usage ofICT, which can, in turn, expose them to betterteleworking opportunities within and outside of theregion.

In corroborating this approach, Dunn andDuggan (2006) suggested the following strategicobjectives as an initial phase toward building the Ja-maica information economy:

1. Integrate computer education into the pre-primary, primary, and secondary school cur-ricula as a compulsory component.

2. Ensure open access and experimental learn-ing environments at the primary, secondary,and tertiary levels of education.

3. Encourage public/private sector partnershipsin ICT training and structure programs for in-dustry-facilitated learning.

4. Develop ongoing systems to align vocationalskills in ICT development to the changingneeds of the public and private sectors.

5. Provide opportunities for “second chance”literacy and lifelong learning through struc-tured programs in educational institutions.


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Figure 1. Strategic Roadmap to ICT Development.

Source: Dunn and Duggan (2006)

6. Establish more regional ICT training centersto equip unemployed citizens with skills forself-employment or re-entry into theworkforce.

They also call for important policy and legislative re-forms:

1. Update the Copyright Act and related intel-lectual property laws to protect innovationand investment.

2. Establish an evaluation and compliance unitfor WTO and other international competitionlegislation relating to ICT.

3. Create a joint Cabinet sub-committee de-signed to ensure ownership and involvementin ICT policy making by all other ministries,agencies, and departments of the govern-ment.

4. Enhance the pace and effectiveness of im-plementation of the Access to InformationAct.

We could now add to this list the recognition andpromotion of telework as a critical additional dimen-sion, given the ubiquity of mobile work-related de-vices.

Concluding AnalysisThe interplay between telework and mobile broad-band can be the tool to put ICT to work in the Ca-ribbean. As mentioned earlier, research ªndingsfrom Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago are indicat-ing that poor people are using their mobile phonesto engage in business- and work-related transac-tions to enhance their economic survival. We havealso demonstrated that, with adequate educationand training, in the context of a slow but constantdiffusion of ICT in both countries, the economic andoverall well-being of the poor and marginalized canimprove signiªcantly.

Cowell and Dunn (2006) have found thattelework is not prevalent in the target Caribbeancountries of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. How-ever, while the concept is neither prevalent norwidely practiced, the ªndings suggest that the op-portunity is there to educate people about itspotential.

The factors necessary for the diffusion oftelework in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago among

the middle and upper classes are already in place toa large extent. Both countries have a tertiary leveleducated group of citizens. However, amongmarginalized groups, the factors conducive to thedeployment of telework practices are sparse; mostmembers comprising marginal groups, such as peo-ple in dire poverty and people with disabilities, havelimited access to primary or secondary education.Also, members of these disenfranchised groups haveunequal access to ICT, speciªcally, computers andInternet technologies. However, the mobile phonecan become a bridging technology for bottom-of-the-pyramid users who may transition through it tomore sophisticated usages that may make moreelaborate and high-level telework services possible.

The mobile phone penetration rate among low-income users stands at 95.5% in Jamaica and closeto 86% in Trinidad and Tobago, which indicates ahigh degree of comfort and willingness by low-income people to adopt new technologies. Tele-workers could have a similar uptake under anappropriate policy and a context of employee-employer trust.

In the meantime, where telework is not possible,a policy of ºexible working could be adopted to varythe start and ªnish times for work, to deploy jobshare systems, allow for multi-tasking, and developspecial “on the job” information literacy trainingprograms to prepare suitable and trusted employeesfor company-provided computer systems to workfrom home or another suitable remote location. Aprogram of widespread wireless public access to theInternet would also help to prepare those withlaptops or other advanced mobile tools to readilygain online access. Systematic school- and college-based training, as well as public education andworker orientation programs would help to counterany unwarranted resistance.

While formal telework practices are limited in Ja-maica, ºexible working arrangements could be asurrogate policy until there is more widespread tech-nology access. However, initial efforts by the Jamai-can government to implement ºexible workingarrangements were resisted by a number of sectors,including church groups and some trade unions.Some resistance is based on regard for the tradi-tional day of religious worship, being either Sundayor Saturday. Employers, trade unions, and the Minis-tries of Labour and Social Security will need to ªndshift-scheduling arrangements that avoid such



conºicts. These institutions also need to be enlistedin the technology education process, as well as theongoing discussion about the beneªts and chal-lenges of telework and other ºexible workarrangements.

It is clear from the foregoing that the adoption oftelework can bring a number of beneªts tomarginalized groups, including parents involved withchild-rearing, the under-employed, persons with dis-abilities, and freelancers. It is also concluded that,while computer-based telework is far-fetched for themajority of low-income or unemployed citizens atpresent, a measure of telework through the use ofmobile broadband is possible, and is already occur-ring around the region. This is being done viaInternet-ready phones, voice services, texting, andother features accessible to all demographic groups,particularly the poor, many of whom already use thecell phone for income generation. More widespreadopportunities among disabled people could beachieved through specialized training and specialtechnology designs that facilitate those with physi-cal, visual, hearing, or other forms of humandisability.

The concept of telework and the scope of its po-tential are not clearly understood in the Caribbeanregion. Further research and extensive public educa-tion on the productivity potential of telework in theregion are needed to better ascertain its impact onwork practices, industrial relations, and peopleempowerment.

There needs to be greater coordination betweengovernment ministries and agencies with responsi-bilities for education and ICT in order to arrive at acomprehensive policy document establishing the pa-rameters for an active telework and ºexi-work envi-ronment in the countries highlighted, as well as inthe wider region. The harmonization of Caribbeanlabor laws and practices would enable the processto proceed on a regional scale. Other key issues inlabor policy also need to be resolved, including mak-ing appropriate provisions for employed teleworkerswhere pension issues and occupational health areconcerned. ■

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