10 IT things I wish for in Trinidad and Tobago (2023)
There is plenty talk about going digital with grand plans but I think you need to have a true look at the current situation and see what small changes can have a big impact and give a good base to build on. Most of these ideas require little or no budget but simply a change in process or management. This is not at all political but simply seeing something obviously broken and wanting to fix it.
1. When will we have a call from WASA Trinidad & Tobago to Ministry of Works and Transport Trinidad & Tobago to schedule repairs before paving is done? We have trucks legally allowed on the roads which are heavier and cause greater vibrations than any paving equipment so the excuse that repairs need to be done after paving does not make sense. A follow up on repairs also needs to be done to make the final repair smooth as well.
2. When will WASA Trinidad & Tobago use the electronic tools they own to find leaks? They already own the equipment to find leaks without having to dig the ground. Is there a tracker for areas with potholes, leaks and landslides? If this is created, issues may not only get attention when a house gets a new address and makes a front page story.
3. When will WASA Trinidad & Tobago have an actual tracker to see where it does not have water so when someone calls WASA, they are not told the worker "forgot" to turn on the valve for the area when the schedule shows they are supposed to have water. Start with an internal tracker since I imagine it would be embarrassing if they had to show the public all the areas of the country with no water in the taps. This would drastically improve customer satisfaction and then maybe we would have less protests. The police can then focus on real crimes and the corporations can keep resources to focus on real work.
4. When will current processes be documented which would improve transparency and let people know what we can expect , eg. What is the process to follow when someone dies? Can there be waiting time estimates or a calculator.
5. Is any work taking place for review of current processes to see if they actually make sense?
i. The Ministry of Social Development and Family Services is sending an initial form for Life and Residential Declaration Form with some requirements then a person goes into the office and is told they need to bring in more documents, which are not mentioned in the first form, requiring a second visit.
ii. The Ministry of Health - Trinidad and Tobago recently introduced a new online appointment system for blood donations but you need to fill out a lot of the same information on 2 separate forms in order to complete the process.
6. Is there a centrlised list of public and private transport options available?
As a start can you add the stops on free services such as google maps, these can have pictures of the price lists with schedules and pictures of the taxi stands and maxi hubs so travelers can know where to go. Which locations have washrooms?
What are the standard operating maxi\taxi hours? What do the vehicles or uniforms look like? This would help people who are not from the area know what to expect and they can calculate the cost for a trip.
7. Public Transport Service Corporation - PTSC created a new and improved website which has less information than the previous one. It does not show where to buy tickets and their opening hours and the way the schedule for buses is presented is unclear. https://ptsc.co.tt/routes-and-schedules/
8. When will government ministries be required to have secure websites?
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eg. Housing Development Corporation - HDC https://hdc.gov.tt/ , points to https://hafs.housing.gov.tt/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2f where the page is not secured and you are required to enter the full complement of Personal Identifiable Information. I contacted the HDC and the reply was that nothing is wrong with their site.
Earlier this year the NIBTT finally implemented a security on their page to request contribution statements after leaving it in plain text for over 5 years.
9. There are multiple sites for some ministries which have outdated information yet it is left online.
a. The Ministry of Works and Transport Trinidad & Tobago has multiple sites with different advice, one may specify what qualifies as proof of address, one does not.
https://drivingtt.com/1611-2/ mentions booking an appointment on https://www.picktime.com/licencingappointment which is a broken link. One says you do not need a passport for a walk in renewal yet at the office it is actually required.
b. For over 5 years the Ministry of National Security Trinidad & Tobago passport renewal site has broken links for download the renewal forms to print it before visiting the office https://ttpassport.info/ . Is it painful for anyone else seeing a broken hyperlink because of how simple it is to fix?
c. There are multiple versions of the passport renewal form online, which one is correct? https://foreign.gov.tt/.../consulate-general-toronto-canada/ points to https://foreign.gov.tt/.../consulate-general-toronto-canada/ and a google search points to https://foreign.gov.tt/.../RENEWAL-APPLICATION-FORM-FOR...
d. What happened to www.ttconnect.gov.tt?
10. Various corporations and ministries use gmail and hotmail accounts for communication. Are all of these secured by strong passwords and multi factor authentication?
If you have any additional ideas please let me know so I can add it to the list. If anyone in my network is able to assist with any of these please let me know so it can be crossed off.
Rushton Paray What are your thoughts on these? I do not understand why the country would have to wait for an election to make any of these small changes.
Inshan Meahjohn BA, MBA, RFC, PhD Candidate I would like to hear what your team thinks of this.
I need to add #11 related to the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service - I tried to use your app to make a report but the text in my message was not visible. It seems my particular dark theme setting made the text white on the fixed white background in the app. If I switch the dark theme off black text appears. I took the time to check why this is broken but some people might skip making a report. I do not see an option in the app to report an issue with it. - I tried to make a report online after the app was not showing text. At the end of the process I was presented with a page which gave me a Submission ID and Submission GUID. The page also said I was sent an email of this report and I could click a link to get a PDF version of the report. Several days later I am still waiting on the email. The link to download the PDF is in the format https://portals/0/LiveForms/Extensions/PDF/Generated......pdf - which is a broken link. At this point I am skeptical that a report was really even made... I did take a copy of the page itself, but most people would assume the page works as expected. The reality is they will have no evidence of a report if they do not save a copy of the page before closing the browser.