Director of The Centre of Excellence for IT-Enabled Business Innovation Dr Maurice McNaughton, started his career in engineering. However, shortly after pursuing his masters in electronics engineering in the Netherlands, he joined the team at Alcan Jamaica. He recounts the job as his first mainstream job in tech, “working with a great team and having the most enriching experience”.
Subsequently, McNaughton served as the chief information officer at the Jamaica Public Service (JPS). He admits that being in a senior-level position presented significant opportunities for triumphs but there were also challenges and mistakes.
During his tenure, McNaughton recounts learning lessons about the importance of strong collaboration between the IT and business sides of the organisation. He learnt this lesson from his mentor, who he described as “user ownership”. He also learnt how critical it was to see IT as a service and a partner in the organisational ecosystem.
Dr McNaughton also learnt that one's life trajectory is formed around the essential decisions one makes, a mantra he has applied in industry and academia.
Pursuing academia has allowed him to apply what he has learnt in industry to impart and enrich knowledge; therefore, being a “prac-ademic”, a practitioner and an academic, he can bring a practical perspective to the discourse.
Dr McNaughton regards it as a privilege to be involved in impactful, relevant, and practical research, mainly digital literacy. He says that the scope of digital has become our reality, accelerated by the novel coronavirus pandemic. The onset of the digital economy coupled with our interactions with commerce, social, economic, are now taking the rightful place in the digital domain.
“Therefore, there is a need for Jamaica and the Caribbean to have the ability to be digitally literate for us to be competitive as individuals and as a collective Caribbean society,” Dr McNaughton said. He is currently engaged in research projects to facilitate and advance digital literacy at all levels, from marginalised youth to the enterprise level. The Caribbean School of Data is one such initiative focused on addressing the deficits in digital literacy and skills identified as the most significant barrier to digital inclusion in our region. The initiative has been well received and forged a partnership with Google and Flow.
Article & Photo from: Jamaica Observer