Finally...Some evolved & informed Yappin on Education

[Don1]

Better late than never... Yappin is ok...But will politicians actually implement an intelligent STEM education policy...backed with significant resources to drive wide acquisition of innovation skill sets ??

Jamaica to host conference on STEM, TVET
Monday, April 13, 2015

THE second International Con-ference on TVET in the Caribbean will be held May 13-15, 2015 at the Hilton Rose Hall Resort & Spa in Montego Bay, Jamaica. An international panel of presenters will explore the theme "STEM Education in TVET: Imperative to National and Regional Development".

The conference is being hosted by the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona School of Education in collaboration with the UNESCO Kingston cluster office for the Caribbean; the Caribbean Association of National Training Authorities (CANTA); the Ministry of Education in Jamaica; the HEART Trust/NTA; and the University of Technology Jamaica.

Dr Disraeli Hutton, chairman of the conference planning committee, said that the general objective of the conference is to establish a platform for re-engineering the traditional education process, and strengthen academic discourse as it relates to the implications of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)

[Jawge]

There was a debate on this site a few months ago. It had to do with why Costa Rica hasn't moved beyond the periphery of IT. I was looking for the main answer but no one provided it. It has do to with the fact that CR has no military. If you notice the countries that made deep strides in IT; one can also see that they have a military (which demands a certain expertise in electronics).

With the above said Cuba will play an important role on the hardware side. This is in terms of providing vocational training in electronics. On the software side one only needs a strong mathematics program.

The caribbean has serious potential. Obama told that to the region at the youth forum.

Note: IT on the hardware side is mostly a subset of engineering and physics (which explains Wall St.'s thirst for engineering and phsyics majors)

[Don1]

There was a debate on this site a few months ago. It had to do with why Costa Rica hasn't moved beyond the periphery of IT. I was looking for the main answer but no one provided it. It has do to with the fact that CR has no military. If you notice the countries that made deep strides in IT; one can also see that they have a military (which demands a certain expertise in electronics).

With the above said Cuba will play an important role on the hardware side. This is in terms of providing vocational training in electronics. On the software side one only needs a strong mathematics program.

The caribbean has serious potential. Obama told that to the region at the youth forum.

Note: IT on the hardware side is mostly a subset of engineering and physics (which explains Wall St.'s thirst for engineering and phsyics majors)

I agree with most...But I don't think a native military is a prerequisite for driving IT.

I agree that military industry does help greatly... but they're examples of countries that don't have that military advantage. Singapore is probably the best. It's a top tier IT player.

You don't have to have a big military...but be tapped into the supply chain of military powers

Also many of the maths/phys/engineering etc people on Wall Street (quants) are engaged in developing trading algorithms for Big Data to get insight into deal flows, trends and to make educated projections about pricing securities

So they're more into software than hardware

[Jawge]

Point taken. Careful with Singapore and military. See Singapore's military history.

Quants are for software yes but there is an area in communications that deals with wiring, distance and seconds (as it applies to high frequency trading). This is where the physicists and engineers come in.

[Don1]

ok boss

[Muadib]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Armed_Forces

The SAF utilises technology as "force multipliers", especially in the area of C4I integration, which will enable its various units to fight in an integrated manner.[32] The Army, Air Force and Navy are linked via advanced data-links and networks to enable coordinated attacks and support for various units and forces. Technology is an important element in the SAF's transformation into a 3rd Generation Fighting Force.[33]


There is a lot some of you need to learn about Singapore.. try and get over your Yewphobia first..

[Don1]

Yuteman yuh quick Wikipedia search nuh mean nutten. Yuh nuh know nutten bout military affairs. You have proved that comprehensively in the past

Singapore is NOT a big military power with big military industrial complex nor does it have a significant export of high tech military equipment. So it cannot use its own small military as a big driver for its IT industry ...That's the point

Contrast that to Israel with merely 2+ million more people...it has a VAST military-industrial-complex serving its own HUGE needs and a HUGE export market. Based on its own IT industry and transfers from the US & Europe ..Israel has world leadership in several military IT sectors...drones, air defence systems, missile tech, robotic warfare systems, sensors, milcom land, sea, air & space systems

Now that is a native military significantly driving IT development

Now yuh an' yuh Google finga juss guh oneside cause unnu nuh ready fi dis yet

[Muadib]

Your initial qualifier made no mention of 'BIG' military power with a 'BIG' military industrial complex..

Whatever that means..

<The SAF acknowledges that technology is crucial for overcoming the limitations of Singapore's small population. Having consistently had one of the largest defence budgets in the Asia-Pacific region, Singapore has focused on maintaining its spending on sophisticated and superior weaponry.[34] Research and experimentation to develop a technological edge began as early as 1971, even though the SAF then had only rudimentary capabilities. The effort started off with a three-man team. At present,[35] MINDEF is one of the largest employers of engineers and scientists in Singapore and the SAF continues to devote considerable resources to defence research and development (R&D) and experimentation – 5% and 1% of the defence budget, respectively. Singapore's education system has also produced national servicemen who can be trained to operate SAF's sophisticated platforms and systems.>

One more wolverine heel tuh yuh jaw bone..

[Don1]

Your initial qualifier made no mention of 'BIG' military power with a 'BIG' military industrial complex..

Whatever that means..

Clearly you don't understand the issue. This is understandable because your knowledge of military affairs comes from Wikipedia..... LOL! woooiieee

What "that" means is ...when a country is without a big military industrial complex supplying high tech weapons to a big native army AND/OR significant export markets... it is NOT possible for the military to be a BIG driver of IT development.

That was the issue... and the point I made to Jawge before yuh injected yourself & Wikipedia (LOL) into affairs you are completely ignorant about

The point WAS NOT whether or not Singapore had a modern and capable army....or advanced IT capability. In fact I intimated that it did.

You may or may not understand the above distinctions but begone wid yuh foolfool Wikipedia tings same way

[Muadib]

Define 'BIG' driver ?

Dem seh di military complex in Singapore is one of the largest tech employers..

<At present,[35] MINDEF is one of the largest employers of engineers and scientists in Singapore and the SAF continues to devote considerable resources to defence research and development (R&D) and experimentation – 5% and 1% of the defence budget, respectively. Singapore's education system has also produced national servicemen who can be trained to operate SAF's sophisticated platforms and systems.>

Dem call dat a 6 over long on boundary...

lol ! woiee !

[Don1]

The issue is specifically IT ...not defence research, development & experimentation. See if Wikipedia breaks out the scale and nature of defence IT sourced within their small military industrial establishment.
Then come back with those numbers

Israel is the poster child for a small country's defence-related IT helping to create world class Military & COTS tech with global applications.

By comparison Singapore's MIC doesn't move the IT needle ...no matter what LKY hero worship you like to parrot

When my opponent is determined to remain ignorant there's no use wasting more time with them

Gwaan in ignorance an' duh yuh Wikipedia ting yute

[Karl]

Are the or a 'driver' here?
...some lead from behind...????

[Don1]

...some lead from behind...????

Muss Ben yuh ah tawk

[Muadib]

Yuh fail yute.. Singapore is NOT a good example of a country that does not the advantage of a Military advantage to help drive IT.. they are certainly not the best example..

<The SAF utilises technology as "force multipliers", especially in the area of C4I integration, which will enable its various units to fight in an integrated manner.[32] The Army, Air Force and Navy are linked via advanced data-links and networks to enable coordinated attacks and support for various units and forces. Technology is an important element in the SAF's transformation into a 3rd Generation Fighting Force.[33]>

Everyone makes mistakes.. ah nuh nutten.. try, try and try.. you'll succeed at last..

[Don1]

As far as military drivers of IT...Singapore does some work but doesn't move the needle much beyond its narrow little borders. Small potatoes.
But it's trying recently to grow the industry internationally...and that's commendable.
So you're not exactly crazy to be impressed by their efforts... not bad at all for a minnow

However when it comes to miltech driving IT, my standards for being impressed are far higher.... As in world leadership & global market penetration. Israel is the poster child for that

To each his own doh... Standards differ suh ah nuh nutten