Basseterre, St. Kitts, (SKNIS):

Officials at the Department of Technology are finalizing arrangements for the first mobile application development workshop which is expected to open a world of possibilities to locals.

The workshop runs from January 24 to 27, 2012, and will be held at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort. Participants will learn industry skills that demonstrate how to create applications, commonly referred to as apps, for smart phones and tablets that use Android, Apple and Blackberry platforms. Web Apps for traditional personal computing devices such as a laptop will also be covered.

The minister responsible for youth and technology Honourable Glenn Phillip
noted that the participants will be challenged in a fun and youth friendly
environment, to come up with solutions to fill existing gaps in society.
That could be designing an app that informs about the availability of
agricultural produce, or reminds parents and students about due school
assignments.

“It gives our people the ability to unleash their creativity,” Minister
Phillip stated.

Some of the applications will not be limited to St. Kitts-Nevis
experiences. The design functionality will allow users in various countries
to make the use of the apps relevant to their reality. With the Apple App
Store boasting some 500,000 applications and the Android Market not too far
behind, the new creations will have to stand out. As such, information and
technical mentors will be on hand, guiding the usefulness of the design and
defining the scope of the issues to be addressed.

Social skill training in leadership, ethics, problem solving and other
areas will also help guide the participants in identifying social gaps and
developing solution-oriented apps.

The workshop is open to the public, but there is emphasis on attracting
young people. Students from various high schools on both islands are
expected to attend in addition to a selection of marginalized youth.

Director of Technology Christopher Herbert encouraged persons not to be
intimidated by the “technobabble.” He described the process of creating an
app as relatively simple and encouraged interested individuals to register online for the free course at mobileapps.gov.kn or telephone the National ICT Center at 465-0610.

Mr. Herbert thanked a number of partners including the BrightPath
Foundation of Congress WBN of Trinidad and Tobago, and local companies
Digicel and SKNVibes.

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