Republic Bank’s executive director: Covid19 creates ‘virtual’ opportunities

REPUBLIC Bank executive director Derwin Howell said the covid19 pandemic presents an opportunity to develop innovative solutions to better serve the population.

He said this during the recent virtual launch of the American Chamber of Commerce's (Amcham) Tech Hub Islands Summit 2021.

Howell referred to recent comments by Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh about an online registration system for covid19 vaccine appointments.

"Immediately I saw that opportunity for that to be extended to a mobile-based vaccine record system which will allow vaccinated citizens to display a certified record of their vaccination status on their smartphone.

"Let’s not let a good crisis go to waste and find a way to introduce systems that can have life after the pandemic."

He recalled that since March last year, people around the world have been forced to "shelter in place" because of covid19.

"Fortunately, technology has come to our rescue to bridge the gap between friends and family, between home and work, between consumers and businesses and between governments and citizens."

Howell cited FoodDrop, WiEat and Skip D Line as examples of this.

"You can now order groceries for curbside pickup or even home delivery."

He said the bank was proud of the local design and construction of several isopods by local company Laser Solutions Ltd for the regional health authorities.

"An isopod is an individual patient isolation system that helps transport patients who have an infectious disease."

Howell said, "While during the pandemic they will largely be used to transport covid19 patients, they can be also utilised for cancer patients and even burn victims."

While many changes at this time may be a matter of survival for most, and a knee-jerk reaction to the pandemic for others, Howell said, "It proves that Trinidad and Tobago has the potential to make 'virtual' a bigger part of our reality.

"Virtual has infiltrated our workplaces, our schools and even our places of worship. For those who may be sceptical and suspicious of a virtual workplace, we should see the digitising of operations not as a threat to employees, but as a way of freeing them to do more rewarding work in interacting with our clients."