The Tribune

By FAY SIMMONS

TRIBUNE Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Philip Davis KC yesterday said improved connectivity is critical economic infrastructure for this nation, arguing that The Bahamas must strengthen its networks, connectivity pathways and cyber security as the economy increasingly comes to depend on digital systems.

Speaking at the opening of the Strategic Dialogue of the Seventh World Telecommunication/ICT Policy Forum (WTPF-26), Mr Davis said infrastructure resilience and digital development must be treated as inseparable, particularly as The Bahamas prepares for future disruptions.

“For The Bahamas, then, infrastructure resilience is inseparable from digital development,” said Mr Davis. “That is why we continue to make investments today anticipating tomorrow’s storms, and that is the kind of progress we are building on.”

Mr Davis said resilient digital infrastructure requires redundancy in networks, diverse connectivity pathways and cyber security to protect the systems increasingly underpinning the economy and communities.

He added that the Government has also been using regulation to encourage investment in emerging communications technologies, including 5G (fifth generation), fibre and satellite services.

“Through our Communications Fee Reduction Scheme, we have used regulation to encourage investment in 5G, fibre and emerging satellite technologies,” said Mr Davis.

He also pointed to the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority’s (URCA) newly finalised technology-neutral framework for satellite services, including low-Earth-orbit, direct-to-device and Internet-of-Things technologies.

“This is what enabling regulation should do: Create space for innovation, encourage investment and competition, and ensure that new technologies can serve the public interest,” said Mr Davis.

The Prime Minister said The Bahamas has already established a strong connectivity foundation, with nearly 95 percent of the population connected to the Internet and more than 96 percent having access to mobile connectivity.

But he said the next phase of digital development must focus on turning that connectivity into wider economic and social opportunity. “The next step is ensuring connectivity is meaningful, reaches every community and creates opportunity for every Bahamian,” the Prime Minister said.

Mr Davis said that means ensuring people have the skills, affordability, confidence and access needed to participate fully in a digital society.

Free public Wi-Fi is now available in more than 85 public parks and community centres, he added, while government services are increasingly moving online and connectivity continues to expand across the Family Islands.

Mr Davis also linked the country’s digital push to the Government’s broader innovation agenda, pointing to the establishment of the Ministry of Innovation and National Development (MIND).

“The establishment of the Ministry of Innovation and National Development (MIND) reflects a simple conviction: Innovation is central to national competitiveness, government modernisation and the future readiness of our people,” he said.

Mr Davis said the broader objective is to build an innovation economy in which Bahamians become developers, entrepreneurs, creators and leaders in the industries of the future.

“For countries like The Bahamas, resilience is a way of life,” he added. The Prime Minister's remarks came as The Bahamas hosts WTPF-26 for the first time, marking the first occasion the international policy forum has been held in a Small Island Developing State.