From the abortive ICT-4D strategy and the One Laptop Per Family of the People’s Progressive Party to the ill-defined and unevenly deployed E-gov and One Laptop Per Teacher of the APNU+AFC coalition, the integration of information technology in the management of the public governance sector and as a central tool for development has continued to be poor at best.

What remains missing from public policy (and hence programmes) in this critical area is an overarching philosophy of cyber-governance and cyber-citizenship, particularly one premised on any deep familiarity with or affinity for information technology.  If it is that we have political leadership disconnected from modern technology, then we will continue to lag behind in meaningfully integrating technology into government in a way that fully benefits citizens.  What we have lacked until now is a comprehensive, intelligent philosophy on cyber-sovereignty.

TCI sees cyber-sovereignty as important enough to Guyana’s future to be included in our first pillar for transformation.  Our cyber-sovereignty plan has three main components.

Cyber-governance – this basically means the increasing role of ICT in the delivery of government services and the creation of a framework for general digital interaction within the country.

Cyber-citizenship – complementary to cyber-governance is cyber-citizenship which entails ensuring that the ICT framework is designed to empower citizens to be more involved in public policy formulation and implementation.

Cyber-security (See also Citizen Security: National Security: Signals Intelligence/Defense) – this, in brief, entails ensuring the continued integrity of the information systems upon which both cyber-governance and cyber-citizenship are based.

Even as we acknowledge that the rapid pace of ICT development places constraints on long term planning, there are some critical interventions we need in the short term to ensure that we close the digital divide gap between Guyana and the rest of the world.  The most important of these are:

Information systems coordination  – currently, even with the establishment of an expanded National Data Management Authority, government information systems remain scattered and disconnected, particular when it comes to citizen access.  There is, for example, no central portal to access government agency websites or online services.  The establishment and use of government e-mail accounts is discretionary at best.  Our plan will ensure that each government agency possesses a functional intranet, a functional website, and dedicated e-mail accounts to all supervisory and above staff, along with a protocol for conducting official business.

Government Information Digitisation, Collation and Categorisation – this means the systematic collection, digitisation (where necessary), centralising and organisation of all government information.  One benefit of this is the end of absence of continuity and coordination government policy wherein research papers and policy solutions are lost in the system without being applied and new actions without the benefit of the information contained therein.

IT systems for Free, Prior and Informed Consent – because of the remote location of most indigenous populations, the scarcity of accessible, participatory media, and the challenges with language (See Citizen Security, Inclusion and Equity: National Cultural Policy), the integrity of data in Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) remains a key concern in public policy making and information management.  Including IT in FPIC as a national standard, from site of engagement to storage ensures that what is actually said by the citizens engaged faithfully makes it into public policy.

AI Development and Application – artificial intelligence and its application represent the new frontier in technological development.  AI applications currently occupy a spectrum of sectors including agriculture, the economy, public health, the arts and law.  Our plan is to engage available local talent in AI programming and build their capacity in creating public sector AI solutions as a core component of our cyber-sovereignty agenda.

Digital Rights and Protections – at present, the state sector in Guyana is involved in an unprecedented level of digital data collection and surveillance of citizens purportedly for public protection purposes.  There are however no consequent protections afforded to citizens with regard to how their data is used or how they are being surveilled.  Even as we develop a robust cyber-sovereignty framework, we will also be ensuring that strong rights and protections are created via legislation that govern the collection and use of citizen data and citizen surveillance by both state and private actors.

A Constitutional Right to Internet Access

The Internet is an inescapable fact of modern life and the opportunities it provides are indispensable to development from the national to the communal to the individual.  Access to the Internet has implications for everything from the growth of business to keeping in touch with family to the competitive edge in education.  A child without access to the World Wide Web is a child to whom numerous avenues to knowledge are closed off.

The importance of the Internet to the average citizen is so critical that we believe that free access to the Internet, the standard of wireless, broadband Internet in particular, should be a basic constitutional right, as is the related constitutional right to free education.

While we understand that this might seem a radical concept, it is not an original one but one based in solid reasoning and solid recommendations, from the United Nations in particular.  As recently as 2019, American senator, Cory Booker pushed the idea as part of his plans for development as a candidate vying for the Democratic presidential nomination.   Our plans for Cyber-sovereignty, particularly truly participatory cyber-citizenship will only be partially completed if significant numbers of Guyanese are not guaranteed access to the Internet.