High Tech Boost

"The University of the Southern Caribbean has become the fourth member of the Trinidad and Tobago Research and Education Network (TTRENT), a privileged group of local tertiary institutions linked by high speed media and advanced information and communications technologies. This was made official at a formal signing ceremony at the Office of the President on Monday May 26th, 2014. USC is the only private institution that has thus far been included in this initiative by the Ministry of Tertiary Education and Skills Training (MTEST). Other members include UWI, COSTAATT and UTT.

The journey to eventual membership has been a steady and determined effort led by Mr. Rodney Rajkumar of USC’s Institute of Educational Technology and enthusiastically supported by the visionary leadership of the institution. In 2004, a body known as the Caribbean Knowledge and Learning Network (CKLN) was established by the CARICOM Heads of Government with the goal of encouraging the use of information and communication technologies and modern approaches to education. A mandate of CKLN was to assist regional tertiary education institutions in developing cost effective access to quality e-learning programmes. In addition, the body aimed to build the capacity of each institution to deliver regional educational offerings and services.

Upon its formation, CKLN mandated the creation of CARIBNET which was envisioned as a research and education network linking tertiary level and other knowledge creating institutions in the Caribbean. This would allow citizens, communities, governments, students and the business community to forge partnerships, collaborate and innovate as they harmonized activities across the region. In order to facilitate connection to CARIBNET, each Caribbean territory was tasked with the formation of its own local research and education network. Thus, the Trinidad and Tobago Research and Education Network was envisioned in 2010.

In the ensuing years, USC’s Institute of Educational Technology both supported the vision of a local research network and lobbied for the inclusion of USC in this privileged group. Our efforts were handsomely rewarded with the signing of the MoU between MTEST and USC earlier this week. Today, we relish our connection which has resulted in faster internet speeds and stand poised to participate in a digitally networked society in which each student would have access to vast repositories of information (text, audio and video) through a single sign-on process. In this networked society, both the capability and efficiency of content delivery to our stakeholders would be greatly enhanced. Furthermore, research possibilities and cross-institutional collaborations are now endless. We are indeed excited by the prospect of moving a step closer to achieving our strategic objectives in the spheres of character, curriculum, campus, community and capacity development as we seek to become a world class Seventh-day Adventist institution."

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