KINGSTON, Jamaica; Qualitative 2014 research done in two communities in the Mona Valley has revealed that a significant number of residents are participating in the global internet revolution but suffer from lack of adequate accessibility. In addition, the UWI Mona study shows while the residents may have profit-making opportunities at their fingertips, for various reasons they are unable to convert the opportunities into actual ventures.

Following this research, the university is proposing the establishment of a Source Centre and Mona Valley Innovation Centre in the community. The goal of the project is to enhance the residents’ computer skills and competency, as well as to increase their employability and job readiness with the newly acquired skills. The Source is a resource facility established by the Jamaica National Foundation in communities across Jamaica including August Town. It has been an information hub for residents who require knowledge to help inform decisions and actions related to job seeking, employment and skills training. The Source in Mona Valley will be equipped with computers for providing training to residents in information and communication technologies. This facility will also be a platform for educational and health outreach to residents, offering adult education classes and computer based training for overall improved educational and skills attainment for residents in Mona Common.

“The aim is to make ICTs (information communication technologies) accessible to community members in order to fulfill needs such as visa, birth, death and marriage certificate application services and improve their general ICT skills. We try to meet their economic ability and offer the services at a significantly lower rate,” said Dr Olivene Burke, senior researcher from the UWI Mona Campus. The Innovation Centre will provide valuable information that residents can use to start or improve a business venture and consequently improve their standard of living. Community members will have the opportunity to benefit from technical advice, and also to present projects to influential, experienced private sector personnel on a quarterly basis. An annual ‘Doing Innovative Business’ Expo will also be held.

The innovation centre will provide resources such as chairs, desks, multi-media equipped conference rooms and smaller meeting rooms that members can use to work on their business ideas. The 2015 staging of the UWI Mona’s Research Days, February 9 – 11, will demonstrate this and other ways that residents of the Mona Valley and Mona Common communities have been benefiting from research findings and innovations. Under this year’s theme ‘Innovating for Development through Science, Creativity, Production and Governance’, the exhibits and events will show how the UWI Mona, seeks to maximize the application of research outside the academic environment, and practical ways the university is using its research to aid in development and solve everyday problems