17 April – June 2022 | VOICES Bi-Monthly Magazine of the University of Technology, Jamaica Technology Innovation Centre (TIC), University of Technology, Jamaica client companies; Smart Technologies Jamaica Limited, Jamsol Technologies Limited and ThinkBrite Solutions Limited have been awarded the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) IGNITE Grants, in the sum of $17 million. The IGNITE grants, which began in 2016, are offered by the DBJ to start-up companies to provide funding for commercially viable inventions and business solutions. Smart Technologies Jamaica Limited is an innovative software solutions design firm offering ICT-related products and services, primarily for human resource management, time and attendance monitoring and payroll integration; Jamsol Technologies Limited develops patented tools specifically designed to work for tropical environments and ThinkBrite Solutions Limited provides software consulting and intelligent messaging services and other software services. The grants are channeled through Business Service Intermediaries, such as the TIC, that offer business support services to Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs), and assist by monitoring the progress of grant recipients, whose project are supervised for a twelve-month period. Through the initiative, the DBJ aims to assist businesses to achieve “growth along their business life cycle, enhance economic returns in terms of level of investments, revenue, employment and export, improve business capacity, business processes and sophistication and increase the start-up survival rate after two years of creation.” To qualify for the grant, applicants must be a startup or newly incorporated business, registered and operating in Jamaica for one year, with a new or significant improvement on an existing product or service, who present a business model or product representation to the DBJ. The College of Health Sciences (COHS), through its School of Allied Health and Wellness, hosted its 3rd Health Information Management (HIM) Conference and Symposium on May 19, 2022, via Zoom. The Conference, themed “Transforming Healthcare with Health Data” brought together experts and professionals in the medical, ICT and data management fields to share emerging developments in Health Information Management and to provide a forum to highlight the impact and significance of health data, particularly in light of the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Conference Chair, Dr. Nola Hill-Berry, Lecturer, College of Health Sciences, noted the Conference was timely given the “realities and complexities of today’s health care environment,” which have created unease, and have also been accompanied by “changing data needs, new health information management processes, and a superfluity of information.” Mrs. Sonia Richards-Malcolm, Vice Dean, COHS, who brought greetings, underscored the significance of health data, particularly as a means to guide medical best practices throughout the pandemic. She applauded the Conference organizing team, for “pivoting systematically” and inviting experts in the Health Information Management field to provide guidance in organising, overseeing and protecting health data. Dr. Vanessa White-Barrow, Head, School of Allied Health and Wellness, also lauded the timeliness of the discussions, noting that health information is “an area of emphasis that is required to ensure that Jamaicans successfully navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the age old challenges that are posed by our resource constraints.” Keynote speaker at the opening ceremony, Mr. Charlton McFarlane, Chief Executive Officer,Registrar General’s Department, brought to bear his extensive Dr. Nola Hill-Berry, Lecturer, College of Health Sciences Three Technology Innovation Centre Client Companies Awarded DBJ IGNITE Grants 3rd Health Information Management Virtual Conference and Symposium Development Bank of Jamaica IGNITE grant awardees (from left) Damian Chambers, Founder and CEO, Smart Technologies Jamaica; Anthony Williams, Programme Developer, and Mark Bennett, Founder and CEO, Jamsol Technologies Limited and Aldrean Smith, Founder and CEO, ThinkBrite Solutions Limited received $17 Million in grant funding for their innovative business solutions.
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