Above: Prime Minister Keith Rowley.

This afternoon, the Prime Minister announced changes to Cabinet which seem to foreshadow a fundamental change in the government’s digital transformation strategy.

In a message on the  Facebook page of the Office of the Prime Minister, the following notice was posted…

Prime Minister Dr the Hon Keith Rowley has today (Monday 12 July, 2021) advised the President, Her Excellency Paula-Mae Weekes to, with immediate effect, in accordance with the provisions of Section 3(9) and 79(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago:

i. Revoke the assignment of Ms Allyson West as Minister of Public Administration and Digital Transformation and re-assign her as Minister of Public Administration; and

ii. Revoke the assignment of Mr Hassel Bacchus as Minister in the Ministry of Public Administration and Digital Transformation and re-assign him as Minister of Digital Transformation.

That’s likely to be the first step in a split in the Ministry of Public Administration and Digital Transformation and the formation of an entirely new ministry dedicated to digital transformation led by Hassel Bacchus.

It is unclear how quickly this division of the ministry will be manifested in budget allocations, infrastructure assignments and personnel reassignments.

Nothing has yet been announced about how a ministry dedicated to digital transformation will coexist with the overlapping presence of iGovTT.

The Ministry of Public Administration was renamed in August 2020 to the Ministry of Public Administration and Digital Transformation in August 2020 after Hassel Bacchus was appointed a minister in that ministry.