ITE 1100

INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY FUNDAMENTALS 2021
GROUP ASSIGNMENT #1

UNIVERSITY OF GUYANA
FACULTY OF NATURAL SCIENCES
1
DECEMBER 17, 2021
Topic: The impact of COVID-19 on Guyana's IT Philosophy

Problem: In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the mass percentage of the population's computer

illiteracy is front and center.

Instruction:

Identify an IT related issue in Guyana, or are interested in but related to the Guyana context and

write a 2500 – 3000 word paper on this issue. The assumption here is that we do not yet now

(there isn’t systematic data or evidence) much about this problem, in other words it must be a

topic and problem that we need to learn more about using data.

Group Members: USI Number:

1. Ajay Somai 1039038

2. Keshanie Ghansiam 1039627

3. Khushal Lam 1041006

4. Vickash Persaud 1039975

 Abstract

The evolution of Information Technology is moving at an increasingly rapid rate with more and

more advanced forms of automation as time progresses. Much of what is required by the

populace of Guyana is not yet accomplished; a horrifying signal that the country may still be

decades behind. If the current pace continues for an indefinite period of time, lots will be lost

with what the country hopes to achieve in terms of budding Information Technology

infrastructure and massive oil boom in the coming years. As such, it is imperative that the

significance of such information technology within a country is emphasized, as well as the

industries that currently lack these state-of-the-art technological evolutions. Identifying

weakened industries will offer comparisons of Guyana’s current state of affairs to similar

countries, where gaps can be highlighted to outline the importance of Information Technology

for nations. Once the importance of such innovation is outlined, the technological deficit of the

country will be addressed, thereby, seeking to enhance international collaboration with states and

organizations worldwide.

Keywords: Information technology, evolution, significance, innovation, local,

Guyana, international.
 Table of Contents

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1
Literature Review............................................................................................................................ 3
Methodology ................................................................................................................................... 5
Results ............................................................................................................................................. 6
Discussion ....................................................................................................................................... 8
Conclusion and Implication .......................................................................................................... 11
References ..................................................................................................................................... 12
 Introduction

The Coronavirus pandemic has impacted the world, not only in its financial and

economic sense, but also in the technological arena of the nation. In Guyana, the effects of the

pandemic on the Information Technology’s know-how exists even after two years of its reign.

The prolonged impacts revealed, in its true light, the percentile of the population that still

struggles with grasping basic IT skills, leaving much of the technological magic a mastery which

is yearned for. A direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic offered dramatic shifts to businesses’

modus operandi, with great demands to operate virtually, thereby, eliminating human contact.

This eventful occurrence placed many prestigious enterprises across Guyana on the back burner

with calls to resume normalcy amidst a battle of safe economy reopening. This stance took

differing opinions from policy and law makers to Private Sector Commissions as the world, let

alone Guyana, must be willing to accommodate and welcome the new normal. As the pandemic

forced businesses and individuals to be more efficient, that is, utilizing the existing virtual

platform and push forward to be paperless, and in other words, reduce the handling of documents

and files among people; many of our people are not yet ready for this move. The mere presence

of the technological infrastructure and possibilities signal a great force that the population should

have already been informed, aware and capable. On the contrary, as schools and universities

closed, and businesses initiated ‘work from home,’ the computer illiteracy of those who hid

behind the curtains were exposed, leaving stains of a much bigger problem which exists. As

Guyana prepares to accommodate a flurry of rapid economic growth in the coming years, the

technological capacity of the nation becomes a necessity and must be strengthened. With the

massive oil boom, operations are underway to become more automated, efficient and just one

click away. As the country is committing to greater international collaboration with states all

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across the world, it is a backward move to be stuck on mundane and manual practices. With this

problem at hand, the research questions posed are as follows:

Research Question 1: What industries in Guyana are lacking Information Technology

expertise?

Research Question 2: What is the significance of Information Technology development for

business in Guyana and around the world?

The research questions posed are vital in addressing the broad topic of ‘The Impact of COVID-19

on Guyana’s IT Philosophy,’ and will seek to offer literature on how information technology is

crucial to the country’s development.

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 Literature Review

Tech savviness constitute much more to being versatile on the computer. It stretches

beyond Microsoft Office skills to handling and operating a smartphone, a tablet or the various

other electronic devices. Today, the degree of tech savviness varies across demographic, age and

are constantly changing over generations. While the millennials are complaining of neck pain

and other health problems evidenced by their widespread use of technology, baby boomers are

on a much slower road to incorporate the use of computers, smartphones and technology as a

whole into their daily lives (Alexander, 2020). Baby boomers are going digital, but this

percentage spiked when businesses switched to a virtual environment during the global pandemic

(NCR Corporation, 2021). According to Mobiquity (2020) many people within the baby boomer

generation, that is, persons born between the years of 1946 and 1964, resorted to greater

technological engagement and their social media presence have doubled since the year 2015.

Approximately 68% of this generation owned a smartphone and were exhausting online

platforms and its virtual tools. Research indicated that despite this small percentage, people of

this generation indicated that they preferred if businesses had more digital options available to

consumers (NCR Corporation, 2021). This is the international outlook of a generation that

embraces what technology has to offer. An analysis conducted by Pew Research Center revealed

that the older generations are being pushed to use technology by the generations that turned 23 to

38 years old this year. Finally, research into the Silent Generation, those aged between 71 and 94

years, revealed that only a small percentage of 40% were pro digital (Horrigan, 2003).

When it comes to what people really knew about technology, it was not as much as

perceived. Despite the fact that millennial grew up with computers and access to the Internet, a

report published by Change the Equation revealed that much is yet to be learnt about being

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computer literate. Even after spending approximately thirty-five hours on the computer per week,

60% of persons were unable to complete basic tasks such as search or sort data from a

spreadsheet, or even send an email (Motroc, 2016). Jakob Nielsen, User Advocate and principal

of the Nielsen Norman Group, explained that one person may know how to do these things, and

other person may not, and the simple reason for this is the information technology skills that one

has over the other (Nielson, 2016). The OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and

Development, a club of industrialized countries) published an international research in 2016

which highlighted the divide between the tech-savvy and the general populace. The OECD

classified technology skills into four categories: below level one, level one, level two, and level

three, ranking the most skilled. According to the results, 14% of the adult population ranked

level one tech skills. According to Dr. Nielsen, people in this category were able to delete an

email on an email app, while only 29% possessed level one computer skills which meant that

they were able to use a web browser or email browser.

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 Methodology

This paper aims to address the Impacts of the global pandemic, COVID-19 on the

Information Technology Philosophy of Guyana over the years, inclusive of its emergence to its

current existence. The literature in this research paper will be based on the research objectives to

identify the industries in the geographic that are desperately lacking expertise in IT, and where

that gap is identified, to later grasp the importance of Information Technology for the

development of the country and the world at large. In order to meet the research objectives of

this paper, the methodology deployed will be the use of secondary data. Qualitative methods will

be utilized to make observations through the use of internet data gathering and information

sourced from news articles, across local and international borders. In order to provide a

reasonable conclusion on the issues addressed within this paper, information will be interpreted,

and later compared to offer an insight of businesses’ performances during a post and pre-

pandemic state. This type of methodology will aid in achieving the local objective of the problem

outlined in this paper, and will offer a framework for a specific discussion. These methods were

chosen to be used in order to provide sound judgment and establish credible solutions and

conclusions to the research objectives of this paper. The research was limited due to the lack of

information available in sufficiently addressing the IT related concerned, and the initial

assumption of the absence of empirical evidence, as well as the stance that the problem that

existence is yet to be researched. Despite these statistical challenges, the topic was fully

researched, in its entirety, with sufficient data, accurate sources and in-depth analysis.

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 Results

Most industries around the world now demand information technology expertise. While

the level of IT expertise range from basic to advanced, this type of skill is dispersed differently

among the varying departments of firms all across the globe. Based on the research, it was found

that innovation is a mere concept that paves the path for new and improved mechanism in

businesses (Purcell, 2019). Regardless of the newness or emergence of a particular product or

service, innovation is what promotes success and ensure continued growth in the business

industry. This mechanism has been able to keep companies within the top fifty most successful

companies over the years. According to the Boston Consulting Group, “79 percent of surveyed

executives claimed innovation ranked among their top three business initiatives—the highest

percentage since the survey began almost a decade ago” (Ringel, 2015). Additionally, this new

conceptualized method has managed to keep companies as relevant as they need to be in the

world today. This has resulted in a business environment where approximately 600 websites are

created every minute (Purcell, 2019). Purcell also indicated that it is through technological

innovation that businesses are able to stand out and attain a competitive advantage in the industry

in which they operate. Without the utilization of this type of technology, and its unique

stratification to achieve successful dominance, businesses will no longer have the capacity to

remain competitive in a rapid growing environment. In addition to the utilization of technology

in this manner, it is something that must not be ignored, but rather, embraced. Despite the

tendency for some ideas to flop, and inevitably, lack the power to be pursued, it must be pressed

on by business executives.

Technological infrastructure in schools are highly important elements in the world today

and this must be considered, not only at the level of secondary and primary school years, but also

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at higher educational levels. These types of technological infrastructure extend to laboratories,

libraries, individual classrooms, and computer labs. This directly affects the learning capacity of

students and the lack of it fails in its educational objective (Kapur, 2019). The implementation of

technology by its teachers aids in the efficient understanding of key learning concepts and brings

out indispensable knowledge in the furthering and advancement of learning. Library facilities

and laboratories are also vital infrastructure that must be revolutionized by schools to ensure that

the right information is accessible to students in the most advanced and efficient manner possible

(Kapur, 2019).

In a local context, Guyana’s educational industry is characterized by a lack of adequate

technology and a struggle for educational dispense. A number of interviews have revealed that

the technology is simply unavailable to continue the learning process in a virtual mode, and in

person classroom resumption is of utmost importance to ensure that the country’s students get

the education they need. This is evident in experiences by students from primary and secondary

students as well as students studying at tertiary levels.

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 Discussion

Information technology fuels business innovation. It is the technological aspect of the

business environment that birthed what innovation is and what businesses around the world are,

and the capacity of businesses with technology. There is not much that can be done without its

existence. A number of businesses in Guyana lack the simple technological presence that is

currently prevalent in many industries across international borders. Apart from a complicated

and manual process that the country harnesses, very few businesses maintain a virtual presence

and move forward with transactions in an automated state. While financial institutions are

pushing for the use of more online services, only one out of nine banks in Guyana offers a fully

automated banking experience where customers can complete any transaction without physically

being at the financial institution. Other banks offer some level of online transactions, but still

require the physical signature or the actual presence of customers to ensure that the transaction is

completed effectively.

In a business environment where approximately 600 websites are created every minute,

according to Purcell (2019), where does this leave Guyana? What does the statistic say about

local companies and its virtual footprint? According to the statistics, approximately 80% of

people will research a company before shopping, however, only an alarming 64% out of 30

million businesses in the U.S created websites for their businesses.

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 Figure 1: The below shows a visual representation of areas that small businesses need to

improve on. It is becoming of many small stores in retail to establish social media

platforms, but often times; these platforms are not regularly updated or maintained to

offer exclusive service to customers.

(PR Newswire, 2020)

In the manner that technology must be embraced, how does one decide whether or not the

country is welcoming to an influx of technological opportunities? The global pandemic resulted

in the closure of millions of school around the world, with over 1.2 billion students being out of

school (Stabroek News, 2020). Very few schools were able to grasp the technological

opportunity and successfully continue the required schooling. Other schools and students

suffered from the lack of resources including information technology expertise. Teachers were

unable to operate a computer system in its basic form and struggled to navigate through Zoom

platforms and Microsoft Office Teams, two of the many software that emerged to provide

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assistance to the learning population. As this was not utilized, and the untimely pandemic was

not scheduled, Guyana was not ready for this.

This did not just happen in schools, as many businesses failed during the pandemic and

was unable to maintain operations via the virtual world. Outside of Guyana, nine million small

businesses in the United States of America feared that surviving the pandemic is an impossibility

(Brooks, 2021). Federal Research Reports indicate that small businesses had excess of $100,000

United States dollars in debt, and this percentage rose from 19% in 2019 to a whopping 20% in

the year 2020; that is, the year when the pandemic started. Je Donna Dinges, entrepreneur of

Margaux & Max, a clothing and accessories boutique were forced to close her store when

COVID-19 cases climbed nationwide in Michigan (Rogers, 2021). Extensive research revealed

that the technological footprint of this store was almost non-existent, with no available website

or means of conducting business on a virtual platform. From a wider perspective, many small

business owners in both Guyana and worldwide have decided to close their doors permanently in

daunts that normal business will never be resumed. Majority of these businesses had no

technological trace of their operations during their existence, compared to the businesses that

managed to survive during the pandemic. On the other hand, for the small businesses that

remained in existence, it was called survival mode, citing that technology had become a

“lifeline” for industries in their will to survive. As all in-person activities and affiliations were

prohibited in the face of a deadly pandemic, access to the online world was the only safe source

to ensure that businesses were continuing and the world was still operating (Business Reporter,

2020).

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 Conclusion and Implication

It is evident from the findings of this research that businesses which failed to incorporate

the essence of information technological evolution into its operations struggled to survive the

wrath of a global pandemic. This is seen through the direct comparison of other businesses that

survived, and hailed its survival due to the advent of technology. While schools closed

permanently across the world, there were others that managed to keep up with the pandemic by

switching to virtual classrooms and hosting online classes on Zoom and Google Teams

platforms. Further to schools, businesses initiated work from home policies and engaged in a

virtual work environment by staying connected through the Internet and other means of virtual

communication. Given the fact that many small businesses, in Guyana and around the world,

had provisions of never restoring to open doors, even long after the pandemic, and the linkage to

these findings that those businesses had an absence of a virtual presence, the research offered a

vivid image as to what is lacking in businesses’ key survival. If the lack of technological

resources cannot be seen as the absence of critical business operations, then it will take the

country a much longer time to restore to normal working practice. It is unjustifiable to dictate

this issue as applicable to only a local context since the research points to wider implication that

exists in other countries as well. As mentioned in the previous sections, and as the literature

proved, the entire world at large will be many steps behind and would be rendered incapable of

operating their businesses as a going concern. In a way that seemed as a mere business

investment, the rapid evolution of technological infrastructure can be the single most factor that

can make, break or shake the entire sustainability of businesses, both locally and abroad.

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 References

Alexandar, Roberta. (2020, April). Is Technology Causing a Lifetime of Pain for Millennials?
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/is-technology-causing-a-lifetime-of-pain-for-
millennials-050415

Business Reporter. (2020). How technology will help to save businesses during the Covid-19
pandemic
https://business-reporter.co.uk/2020/09/18/how-technology-will-help-to-save-businesses-
during-the-covid-19-pandemic/

Brooks, Kristopher. (2021, February). 9 million U.S. small businesses fear they won't
survive pandemic
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/small-business-federal-aid-pandemic/

Fairlie, Robert. (2020, August). The impact of COVID‐19 on small business owners: Evidence
from the first 3 months after widespread social‐distancing restrictions.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7461311/

NCR Corporation. (2021, February). Baby Boomers are going digital - here’s what that means
for business
https://www.ncr.com/blogs/baby-boomers-going-digital

Horrigan, John. (2003, November). Tech-savvy Americans are increasingly attached to

their computers, the Internet, and cell phones
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2003/11/23/tech-savvy-americans-are-
increasingly-attached-to-their-computers-the-internet-and-cell-phones/

Kapur, Radhika. (2021). Infrastructure Development in Schools.

Mobiquity. (2020). The Rise in Digital Adoption Among Baby Boomers

https://f.hubspotusercontent10.net/hubfs/1868764/The%20Rise%20in%20Digital%20Ad
option%20Among%20Baby%20Boomers.pdf?__hstc=232285504.ed48326ac2422eed9f5
b77aa8ab01d72.1609276768191.1609276768191.1609276768191.1&__hssc=232285504
.1.1609276768192&__hsfp=3259168925

Motroc, Gabriela. (2016, November). Users are not as tech savvy as you think
https://jaxenter.com/users-not-tech-savvy-think-130255.html

Nielson, Jakob. (2016, November). The Distribution of Users’ Computer Skills: Worse Than
You Think
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/computer-skill-levels/

Purcell, Will. (2019, October). The Importance of Innovation in Business

https://www.northeastern.edu/graduate/blog/importance-of-innovation/

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PR Newswire. (2020). Small Businesses and Websites.
https://www.prnewswire.com/

Ringel, Michael. (2015, December). The Most Innovative Companies 2015

https://www.bcg.com/publications/2015/growth-lean-manufacturing-innovation-in-2015

Rogers, Kate. (2021, February). Main Street business failure fears rise again in pandemic
whipsaw
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/12/main-street-business-failure-fears-rise-again-in-
pandemic-whipsaw.html

Stabroek News. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has changed education forever. This is how.
https://www.stabroeknews.com/2021/10/13/guyana-review/the-covid-19-pandemic-has-
changed-education-forever-this-is-how/

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