The University of Belize is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and with that they have also launched a fully equipped digital connect center at their UB Punta Gorda Campus.
It's done in collaboration with UNDP and the Ministry of E governance, The opening ceremony was held this morning in the southern town and here are the highlights from that event.
Dr Vicent Palacio, President of UB
"This campus reflects out commitment to regional education to national development and we are proud of the progress we have made and also see the potential as we move forward. Those small in size the PG campus has always played an outsized role in the development of our university."
"Today we acknowledge 2 major mile stones for this campus. First the naming of the Stanley Nicolas conference hall I happened to be in that space, the Stanley Nicolas conference hall, his legacy lives on in the values and service and leadership that we aim to instill in every UB graduate. This hall will serve as a space for dialogue a space for learning and a space for engagement. Second we officially open the digital connect center. In today's world digital access is essential, this center will empower our students and community members with the tools and training needed to succeed and for this we are grateful for out partnership with UNDP and with the ministry of E governance."
Amilin Mendez, Inclusive Growth, Digitization and Governance Lead, UNDP
"The center is more than a building with computers and high speed internet it is a gate way for students, entrepreneurs, women and the elderly to access education, digital skills and online government services. It represents UNDP's commitment to the government of Belize national digital agenda. Particularly to close the goal of the digital divide. We are also proud to support the modernization of the prison and the forensic systems which were completely paper based and are now digital. UNDP is currently expanding their support to the Belize police department and the judiciary of Belize we plan to replace a 17 year old system at the police and introduce E-payments in the magistrate court. All of our digital initiatives are human centered they are designed to make government services more accessible too citizens while improving the productivity for government staff. Through the digital transformation project with the ministry of E-governance and the building resilient MSME's project with BELTRAIDE UNDP has supported a total of 14 digital connect centers serving rural and urban communities across Belize."
