 The Caribbean Digital Transmission Project, with funding support from the World Bank, moved a step closer to reduce the digital divide for clients of the San Lucia Blind Welfare Association, SLBWA. Project coordinated for the Caribbean Digital Transmission Project, Francilia Solomon, this week launched a two-week digital literacy training program for blind and low-vision clients of the SLBWA. Digital literacy opens doors for the marginalized and at-risk by bridging the gap between opportunity, knowledge, innovation and economic growth. We have the differently able, a large section of our population. We are hoping to equip them with the tools to be able to access these services, as we know some of them have physical and other disabilities. And so it is our hope that the provision of digital literacy training starting with San Lucia Blind Welfare Association will go a very long way in enabling as far and wide members of the population to access this training. The SLBWA has collaborated with the Caribbean Digital Transmission Project in the digital literacy component of the project. We are hoping that this training exercise is going to give you an excellent foundation as you pursue your studies at school. And we're hoping that it helps you to be able to excel, do the research that you need to do, be able to navigate the software and the internet so that you can get information with your assignments, etc. Saint Lucia has ratified conventions, such as the rights of persons with disabilities and the Marrakesh Treaty, which facilitates access to published works for persons who are blind and visually impaired. Anthony Avril is the Executive Director of the SLBWA. The technology is transforming the landscape for people living with blindness and vision loss. It is enabling us to access a larger volume of information, but not only accessing it, but being able to fit ourselves in the society because inclusion is the number one goal for the association. It was truly a proud moment for the SLBWA as one of its vision education support teachers, Jessica Jacoby, was selected to facilitate the training programme. As the facilitator, as someone who is blind, it makes me feel very humbled because growing up as a student, I was not exposed very early to what our students are being exposed to. And I'm happy to be the one to facilitate the programme. We talk about digital literacy and a lot of times our students are quote-unquote marginalised because they do not have the necessary facilities or necessary devices and assistive technology to use. And so teaching them the skills that they will be learning over the next two weeks will put them in a better place to be able to, you know, navigate throughout their education and I am hoping that it will not end at secondary school but go further as well as in the world of employment out there. The Caribbean Digital Transformation Project aims to provide digital literacy training for over 3,500 solutions before the end of the project in 2026. Earlier this month, local vendors were the beneficiaries of digital literacy training. For the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council, Glenn Simon reporting.