KINGSTON, JAMAICA -- With six weeks to go before assuming office, Principal Designate of the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies, Professor Archibald McDonald has clearly indicated his intention to assume a more pivotal role in the region’s development.
In a spirited conversation initiated by World Bank Country Representative Giorgio Valentini at the Kingston based campus yesterday, Professor McDonald outlined that the UWI was now focused on applied research to support Jamaica’s growth agenda.
“We have tons of papers from this University written for inclusion in international journals which nobody but intellectuals read. We need to shift our focus from traditional areas to things like animation and film making which provides so many opportunities both for employment and research. That is why I am so grateful to the World Bank for collaborating with us in terms of animation.”
Last month the UWI hosted the island nation’s first animation festival, KingstOOn at the Visitor’s Lodge on the Mona Campus. The event was sponsored by the World Bank in partnership with the Government of Jamaica, the Canadian High Commission and a suite of local and international private sector entities and colleges.
Less than a month after KingstOOn, the UWI through its Caribbean Institute of Media & Communication (CARIMAC) launched a hands-on training of 50 young persons to create more market ready animators to enhance Jamaica’s competitive edge. The World Bank is underwriting the costs associated with international trainers, leading animation software company Toon Boom is investing free licenses for use in the program and local studio GSW Animation is providing the real worl experience and local trainers. For its part the UWI is providing the training facilities and complementary tutelage.
“This ‘convening power’ of the World Bank Group is something that we intend to continue making available to Jamaica as part of our package of support as the country seeks to grow the economy. Of course there is the usual budget support, but at the end of the day sustainable growth is more about practical collective efforts through partnerships, like Digital Jam 2.0 last year and KingstOOn last month” said Giorgio Valentini in pledging to remain open to partnering on other projects in the future.
Professor McDonald also raised the issue of tapping into technical assistance which can enable administrative reform in Jamaica. “It is currently a nightmare to do business in Jamaica. One prospective investor in the energy sector mentioned recently that he had been trying for the past two years just to comply with the requirements of the bid”, he disclosed. This is reflected in the latest World Bank – IFC Doing Business 2013 study which ranks Jamaica a lowly 90 of the 185 nations assessed for the ease of doing business.
Mr. Valentini pointed to the surfeit of plans in many countries struggling to attain the competitive advantage needed for sustainable growth. “At the end of the day it’s not about making a plan. Competitiveness requires immediate responses to global realities. This is about concrete action that can have the desired effect in the economy very quickly.” He explained. Using the example of labor costs in the process engineering, he pointed out that with advancements in robotics it is not unrealistic to expect that 5 robots can successfully be assigned the tasks of 500 persons with more precise results. “It is about creativity and responsiveness which includes design and packaging… processes that have to be driven by human effort”
Apart from language, location and a shared time zone with the bulk of the lucrative North American market, both men agreed that Jamaican creativity could be the trump card for robust economic growth and by extension social development.
“If the Jamaican economy is to grow, we cannot accept the traditional conservative 1 or 2%. The Jamaican population is extremely creative, and CARIMAC is going to play a key role as the University moves forward in support of the private sector to drive growth. What we want to do is create programs that play a role in unlocking the creative abilities of the thousands of young Jamaicans who really are very talented but they do not have the ability to exploit these skills.” Professor McDonald emphasized.
In closing the discussion, the UWI Deputy Principal who takes over the top spot on September 1 this year “I am certain that as we go forward there will be other opportunities”, he added.
