Kimberly King-Burns wrote: > At 12:27 PM 5/17/2005, you wrote: > >> I have had, though, correspondence with George Gobin and Ansar Mohammed >> through the Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society lists. I have found >> that Microsoft people are typically leery of entering discussion with >> me; I've challenged regional Microsoft employees to public debate on >> more than one occasion. Sadly, they haven't felt like doing that. > > > I'm sorry that you've had difficulty with the regional Microsoft folks > in the past, as they have typically been enormously supportive of our > various initiatives over the years. My first technology initiative in > Nassau began in 1980.
I don't think you understand, Kimberley. Microsoft doesn't want to deal with anyone who challenges their market share. Have you folks tried Software Libre? :-) > >> Frankly, the way things happen in the region is suddenly Microsoft >> announces a partnership with a government... out of the blue. Which >> means they seem to be afraid of public debate. At least, that's my >> opinion. My challenge still stands. > > > Our experience in the Bahamas and Caribbean has been more specific to > the development and management of public/private sector business and > education training initiatives in the region, and to date IBM, > Microsoft and Cisco have been exceptional partners. Our only issues, > frankly, have been with these company's associated VARs, which in our > experience has been due to some sort of jostling in the marketplace > somehow precluding 1. evaluation of the reality of the market, > vis-a-vis pragmatic software package price points in the area, and 2. > any sort of collaborative effort targeting an underserved aspect of > the business community. Well, this brings into discussion the real value of vendor specific certifications. There are a lot of Microsoft and Cisco certified people running around the Latin America and Caribbean regions. Unfortunately, most of them don't seem to have jobs. > >> As a sidenote, I find it somewhat amusing that Microsoft is going >> through all this trouble for an area where you can pick up Windows XP >> for less than $3. > > > See above. Our centres are offering MCSE accreditation throughout the > underserved communities, with respect to the power of the local > pocketbook. I'm curious - how many employed graduates do you have? > >> Could you give references? IT conferences, in my experience, are not >> generally related to the Digital Divide as much as they are about >> selling products with sometimes a cost of admission (granted, Microsoft >> typically gives away food). Perhaps your group does things differently. >> Is the focus on business, or Civil Society? > > > We participate in these regional conferences upon invitation, the most > recent being International Institute of Communications’ discussions of > the Caribbean and Latin America as e-commerce centers … with most > recent participation from local folks such as Selby Wilson, Executive > Director, CANTO, Trinidad and Tobago (Caribbean Association of > National Telecommunications); Juan Fernandez Gonzales, Commissioner > for Electronic Commerce, Republic of Cuba; Giancarlo Civita of Grupo > Abril’s New Media Division, et al. Our particular group operates > rather independently of these conferences, and instead focus on > developing public/private CTC partnerships with local island > government councils, which tend to operate independently of the > central government (capital) purview. Hmm. I expect that within CARICOM you may be challenged to do the same. Most of the ICT initiatives are politically controlled by governments in the Caribbean region. See you around sometime. -- Taran Rampersad Presently in: Panama City, Panama [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.knowprose.com http://www.easylum.net http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/Taran "Criticize by creating." — Michelangelo _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
