President of the Global Services Association of Jamaica (GSAJ), Gloria Henry, addresses a reent JIS Think Tank.
#KINGSTON, February 3, 2020 — The Global Services Association of Jamaica (GSAJ) is urging young people to equip themselves with the necessary skills and knowledge for the growing outsource market.
“What we believe is important is to
develop high-niche skill sets such as artificial intelligence, machine
learning, deep learning, even block-chain technology and the development of
such technology for the fintech and logistics markets,” said GSAJ Vice President, Egbert Von
Frankenburg, at a recent JIS Think Tank.
Mr. Von Frankenburg, who is Chief
Executive Officer of Knightfox App Design Limited, said that also recommended
are courses in management and human resources, software engineering, data
management and data analytics.
Specialisations in areas such as law and
accounting are also beneficial.
President of the GSAJ, Gloria Henry, in
her remarks, said that the Global Services Skills Board has been working
towards identifying the competencies needed and informing the Association of
same.
“That Board is responsible for working
with a number of persons, institutions and organisations to ensure that we have
the correct curriculum that is designed with the kind of flexibility and input from
the Association members to represent the interest and the areas of demand
within the sector,” she said.
She noted that the Board has since
developed a model that will inform the apprenticeship programme.
The initiative, being undertaken by Government,
is aimed at equipping some 400 personnel for higher value-added jobs in the
Global Services Sector (GSS) over a four-year period.
The objective is to promote the growth and expansion of the sector by building
the capacity of existing staff and upskilling them from entry level to
supervisory roles.
Members of the GSAJ have been playing
their part by facilitating the training of staff and in some cases, covering
the cost of certification.
GSAJ member and Chief Executive
Officer of Vertis Technology Solutions Limited, Ryan Sterling, said that the Association
wants to ensure that its members can offer world-class service to clients.
“We are partnering with institutions
to let them know what to prepare their students for on a world stage, so that
we can offer clients that service, whether it is in technology, human resource
or legal services,” he noted.
The Business Process Industry
Association of Jamaica (BPIAJ) was rebranded as the GSAJ to make the Association
more representative of the diverse services being offered in the GSS.
The 70-member group represents firms involved in business process outsourcing, knowledge process outsourcing, and information technology outsourcing.
PRESS RELEASE by Charnele Henry, JIS, Jan 31, 2020