Government employees, business people and the general public will have the chance to bone up on "digital literacy" when the Virgin Islands Next Generation Network on Monday launches its V.I. Digital Literacy Training Campaign.
The network, known as viNGN, will partner with the Division of Personnel, the V.I. Department of Labor and the Bureau of Information Technology to provide the free program.
“This campaign represents one of the largest professional workforce educational initiatives that the territory has ever engaged in,” Gov. John deJongh Jr. said in a news release issued Friday by Government House. “This is a truly worthwhile public/private partnership, which not only benefits and uplifts our respective workplaces and our young people, but it also helps to uplift the overall education level and training of our entire collective workforce and population. I encourage everyone to get on board and participate.”
According to the announcement, two to three representatives from each V.I. government department or agency will receive "Train the Trainer" instruction via the program.
The campaign will also encourage employees from all businesses within the territory join the initiative and receive digital literacy training and certification.
Young people in the V.I. are also being asked to participate. Parents of children within both the public and private school systems are asked to have their children receive training to ensure that the youth of the Virgin Islands are included in the initiative.
The deadline to sign up and participate in the training campaign is June 30.
The V.I. Department of Personnel recently sent out a survey/questionnaire to all V.I. Government departments and agencies seeking two to three outstanding employees from each office. Personnel will collect the names and contact information of the representatives from each department or agency. That information will then be turned over to viNGN and its vendor, CyberLearing, which will send out an email invitation to the employees.
Selected employees will log into the viNGN website, www.vingn.com, and begin the “Digital Literacy Training.” Enrollment will require a code, listed below, which will enable them to properly receive credit and begin the training. Once the employees pass the online training course and exams they will receive a second email invitation and phone call, asking each employee to come down to the Department of Labor office on either St. Thomas or St. Croix, for a half-day “Train The Trainer” orientation session.
All of the employees who have been trained will be designated Digital Literacy Trainers with the the ability and opportunity to train others within their respective agencies and departments.
Those trained also will be expected to inform and encourage other employees within their respective workplaces to seek the training at their convenience.
For the private sector companies and businesses and for students within the public and private schools, the campaign does not contain the “Train The Trainer” component. Instead, it encourages users within those categories to simply go directly to the www.vingn.com website and begin their training, utilizing the appropriate training codes listed below, describing the user’s designation:
Below are the codes needed at the time of account creation:
Public or Private School Students – vistudents
V.I. Government Employees – usvigovt
Chamber of Commerce Employees – vichamber
EDC Beneficiary Companies – viedamc
Private Sector Business Employees – viprivatesector
Veterans – viveterans
Seniors – viseniors
Anyone participating in the V.I. Government’s Digital Literacy Training Campaign will receive an official certificate of digital literacy certification from Potsdam University of the State University of New York, confirming digital literacy competence and training.
“This is a significant undertaking, but one which we undertake with pride,” said Lawrence Kupfer, president and CEO of viNGN. “What we are seeking to achieve via our digital literacy training is to create a sizable pool of data and IT-trained professionals, through the specific education and training viNGN is providing. Once we have achieved that goal, the USVI will then become a hub for data and IT professionals within the Caribbean, along with the huge amount of bandwidth that we have via our fiber optic network."
Kupfer stressed that the program is not just for data and IT interests.
"Once you complete the digital literacy training, you will be able to access over 5,500 other CyberLearning courses, including business management, project management, SAT college preparatory training for students, as well as data-specific preparatory classes in Cisco Certification and Microsoft certification,” Kupfer said.
The viNGN was established in 2010 as a public corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Virgin Islands Public Finance Authority. The network is funded primarily through four grants provided by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration as part of a American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to improve the broadband capacity in the United States, its territories, and the District of Columbia.
More information on viNGN, the Public Computer Centers and viNGN’s services is available by calling 1-340-715-8581, or visiting the website, www.vingn.com.
