49 new standards for products and services published last year

Durrant Pate/Contributor

Jamaica continues to advance its standards architecture with the process entering a new phase last year with more standards being developed as a driver toward a digital, knowledge-based economy and to improve Jamaica’s global competitiveness

In the area of standards development, 49 new standards for products and services were published, covering areas such as food safety, motor vehicles, telemedicine, labelling of toys for safety, bamboo, and toilet tissue. In addition, the Jamaica National Agency for Accreditation (JANAAC) was recognized as an accreditation body (AB) by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and 19 accreditation certificates were issued. 

In this process of advancing its standards architecture, the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) reports eight Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) were accredited at different stages of the accreditation process. To this extent, eGov Jamaica, the full-service Information Communication Technology (ICT) company providing services for the Government Of Jamaica (GOJ) has obtained the ISO 27001:2013 Standard certification for Information Security Management System (ISMS).

In its 2022 Social and Economic Survey recently tabled in parliament, the PIOJ notes that eGov Jamaica is the first GOJ entity to achieve such a designation. 

Building standards in education

Ongoing developments in the area of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education included undergraduate programmes in Electronics and Automation; Agricultural Engineering; Agro-spatial Technology (Precision Agriculture); Statistical Science; and Mathematics and Modelling Processes. Also, the expansion in the ICT infrastructure, and the use of technology to improve service provision and enhance business efficiencies, remained an important initiative in building Jamaica’s standards architecture. 

The Government Wide Area Network (GovNet), which provides connectivity within state entities has progressed with 118 schools, 13 parish courts, six police stations, five community centres and 51 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) connected to the network. ICTs continue to enhance the ease of doing business across all sectors, including the electronic banking sector. 

The PIOJ has assessed that the combined value of transactions processed at Automated Banking Machines and Point of Sale machines for last year was $3.21 trillion for Jamaican dollar transactions and $1.47 trillion for US dollar transactions.