The Grand Bahama Port Authority has brought on British IT Consultant Alex Cameron to create what will be called a ‘Digital Paradise’, a plan that is expected to catapult Grand Bahama into a new era.
Speaking to the Journal yesterday at East Villa, President of Grand Bahama Port Authority Ian Rolle explained Mr. Cameron’s involvement in stimulating Grand Bahama’s economy.
“Alex, will be engaging a number of initiatives for Grand Bahama. We have a 90 day plan that will roll out a number of initiatives.
“In Freeport and Nassau, we have this Graphical Information System (GIS) or data points; data regarding streets and longitude and latitude of various different businesses.
“However, a number of agencies have not shared their data with the general public.
“One of the initiatives that Alex is working on is the release of all of this GIS data to allow developers to actually create applications that will make life easier for locals and foreigners who live in and visit Freeport.”
Mr. Rolle feels that such initiative should be adopted by the rest of The Bahamas. Additionally, he believes creating GIS will stimulate Grand Bahama’s economy, which has attracted young, talented Bahamians.
Mr. Rolle was in Nassau to attend Rotary Club of Southeast Nassau’s weekly meeting held at East Villa.
At this meeting, Mr. Rolle introduced his new initiative that he will be presenting to the Government; a model called ‘One Stop Shop’ which was created by Grand Bahama Port Authority.
“My initiatives will not only help Freeport, but it will help the entire Bahamas and it’s really to create an ease in doing business.
“This concept that we (GBPA) are presenting to the government is called One Stop Shop.
“What we have here is a business portal and the intention is for anyone, local and foreign, if they want to get involved in a business they can come to this portal,” Mr. Rolle told attendees.
“For instance, if I were an investor who wanted to do business in Freeport, I would select ‘business guide’ (a drop down arrow on the website), which will encourage you to answer a number of questions as to what you need to do to start your business,” Mr. Rolle displayed.
He then explained starting a business at the moment is a cumbersome process.
“Everywhere in The Bahamas, an investor comes into a particular organization, you then tell the investor, they are required to do ‘x, y and z’. An investor does it, comes back and then you say, “what about ‘a, b and c’.
“So, the idea is to create a business portal that eliminates a lot of this frustration for investors,” Mr. Rolle explained.
After his presentation, Mr. Rolle also provided suggested improvements the government should consider in all business endeavours, such as employing an efficient IT team and ensuring due diligence is conducted across all business boards.
