UWI Software Engineering Students Praised for Creating Database
April 21, 2022
L to R - Ashray Soares, Joshua Alkins, Assistant Registrar Justin Seale, Jason Charles (front), Shane Okukenu, Tevin Taylor
Students of The UWI-China Institute of Information Technology (UWI-CIIT) BSc. Software Engineering Program are receiving high praise for creating a new database to aid the Barbados Overseas Mission to collect information. Former Ambassador of Barbados to Beijing, H.E. Francois Jackman lauded the work of the students in creating the online registration system of travelling nationals and Barbadians living abroad.
“I had the great good fortune and pleasure of working with a number of UWI Students and one of their administrators in what was a really important and urgent project for us. Previously we had a fairly rudimentary registration process. But in reaching out to The UWI and in particular The UWI CIIT Software Engineering program which was based in Suzhou China, we were able to develop – with their help – a more sophisticated and efficient internet tool. With the help of Justin Seale, the Assistant Registrar and a number of students, we got together to work on this internet platform. Within a few months the team had produced a most effective and efficient registration system,” said Ambassador Jackman.
Now Permanent Representative of Barbados to the United Nations in New York, Ambassador Jackman lauded the hard work of the students as “exemplary”, stating he was so impressed with the project that he would welcome the opportunity to work with them again.
“Were the opportunity to arise again and perhaps it will in this new posting of mine, it would be a great pleasure to renew the experience,” he said.
Assistant Registrar of The UWI CIIT Justin Seale echoed the Ambassador statements, praising the students for their diligence in creating such an efficient and critical system.
“I feel a deep sense of fulfillment and gratitude for our civic-minded youth in developing this solution, and for working steadily with the Government of Barbados in realization of this project. The special mix of formal and informal training they have received in our program, combined with the team’s innate tenacity and initiative have produced talent which is vital to pursing Barbadian interests. We clearly have a cadre of young, solution-oriented thinkers and doers in the Caribbean!” said the Assistant Registrar.
Seale shared his commendation for the student team of Shane Okukenu (leader; Jamaican); Tevin Taylor (Jamaican); Joshua Alkins (Barbadian); Ashray Soares (Jamaican), and Jason Charles (Barbadian) who worked with Ambassador Jackman and 2nd Secretary Mr. Corey Archer of the Embassy of Barbados in Beijing on the project. He noted that the team did not undertake the project for academic credit but solely as a means to give back to the Caribbean community.
The project’s urgency was amplified by the circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic and in quick response the students worked tirelessly towards its completion in six months. Seale pointed out that the need for the project was primarily recognized during the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in Suzhou and the resulting government-mandated lockdowns.
“This initial spate of the pandemic magnified the need for a more efficient database of Barbadians abroad and the initial scope of project was for all Barbadians travelling abroad to register with the Ministry of Foreign Affair’s to be easily reached in the event of an emergency.”
According to Seale, not only was the database well-received when it was handed over early in 2021, but it has since been expanded beyond the scope of the Barbados embassy in Beijing and is a key feature in the re-launch of the website of Barbados’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The BSc in Software Engineering program is the flagship program of The-UWI-China Institute of Information Technology (UWI-CIIT). The institute was established in 2016 as a partnership of The UWI and the Global Institute of Software Technology (GIST) with a mission to produce a generation of software engineers for the Caribbean, to support the region’s much needed digital revolution. The Caribbean students spend their first two years of study at The UWI’s Cave Hill or Mona campuses, then continue their final two years at GIST.
Seale proudly shared that the program has already proven useful to the region, even though relatively young, with a legacy project of benefit to the governments and people of the region.
“The system is currently useful in service of the safety of the region’s citizens, as we navigate the uncertainties of the world beyond our borders,” he added.
