Barbados keeping up with technology

Any use of technology which will improve the efficiency of how business is conducted in Barbados should be welcomed.

That is the view of Minister in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Maintenance Peter Phillips, who has wholeheartedly supported the introduction of kiosks at the Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA).

While saying that the new kiosks would remove the sometimes lengthy wait in lines at the airport, Phillips said all departments of Government needed to be up-to-date with technological advancements.

“We have come to the time in this country where we have to make full use of the technology that there is available to us and we want Barbadians to know that we are working on this,” Phillips said during debate on the Immigration (Amendment) Bill 2019 in Parliament this morning.

“It is a work in progress. It is not something that will happen overnight as there are many areas and aspects you have to consider and even in that you have to make sure that the security is tight. Everybody wants to make payments online and so on, which is good and which is the intention, but in doing all of that we have to make sure that all of the systems are in place.

“This Act would have gone through several processes, several reviews and even went through a pilot project to ensure it was working the way we want it to work,” he added.

Phillips said that even at his ministry, they were currently looking at ways in which to introduce technology in an effort to speed up processes.

“The truth is that with the introduction of any new system there is more often than not some teething problems and we want persons to bear with us and to actually share with us comments on the experience, so that if something needs to be tweaked or corrected it can be improved.

“That is where we want our country to be. We must be at the cutting edge where technology is concerned and where the use of technology is concerned in all areas, not just at the airport or at the seaport, but in all areas across the business area within the country,” Phillips said.