Dunn urges gov’t to fast-track legislation to regulate Internet transactions
MONTEGO BAY, St James – Dr Hopeton Dunn, director of the Telecommunications Policy and Management Programme at the University of the West Indies (UWI), yesterday called on government to fast-track legislation to regulate Internet transactions and allow for prosecution of Internet-related fraud.
Dunn, who is spearheading the revision of government’s National Information and Communication (ICT) Strategic Plan, was speaking at a consultative meeting with IT business interests in Montego Bay, where there have been reports of employees selling credit card and other personal customer information to outside sources.
“I am making a call for the speeding up of the passage of the e-Commerce legislation as well as the Cyber Crimes legislation,” Dunn told the Observer. “Those are critical things that the community of ICT business interests, as well as the Jamaican people, want to protect ourselves from fraud, scams and also to facilitate business transactions using the Internet and other electronic tools.”
He said that while companies had their own regulations to ensure confidentiality of customer information, a legislative framework had to be in place to deter such activities and encourage investor confidence.
“We must make a very solid example of those who breach those rules because a lot is hanging on the credibility of our industry,” said Dunn.
Yesterday, IT business interests warned that the lack of a legislative framework to allow for the prosecution of Internet-related fraud, such as selling personal information for fraudulent means and defrauding individuals using electronic means, could jeopardise the entire sector.
“When activity like that happens it not only affects a company, it affects jobs,” warned site operations manager for ACS, Lynda Langford.
ACS is a leading outsourcing firm for major North American companies, employing nearly 1,400 persons at the Montego Bay Free Zone.
“When companies feel unsafe that is when they will move to other locations,” added Langford, who admitted that the company had not yet detected any instance of employees selling personal customer information to outsiders. “They move to safer locations where they feel the government regulations and the judicial system has their finger on the pulse of the true impact of e-fraud,” he said.
She warned that the country would take the greatest hit, if companies felt that Jamaica was no longer a safe place to do business. “We have operations in over 100 countries. If our clients pull out then we can move our operations to another location, but that means 1,400 Jamaican jobs lost,” she said.
Aside from the need for IT legislation, other key issues coming out of yesterday’s consultation included the need for training of potential IT workers, English Language competency, voice and speech and basic computing, plus the facilitation of increased early familiarisation and use of IT technology by the general population.
“The industry in call centre and the industry in higher-end ICT outsourcing work is growing tremendously in Jamaica,” explained Dunn. “The government has recognised that traditional industries will be replaced by ICT industries in order to increase productivity.”
He said the key issues coming out of yesterday’s consultation, which included representatives from IT firms, the Montego Bay Free Zone, Jamaica Digiport and Caribbean Institute of Technology (CIT), would inform the policy draft that should be completed in another two months.
Yesterday’s meeting was the first in a series of public consultations, interviews and focus group discussions in preparation of the plan.