FREEPORT, Grand Bahama -- The Office of the Prime Minister in Grand Bahama is partnering with Fulbright Scholars, as well as the United States Embassy to host an Application Development Course in Grand Bahama.

The program will get underway on Monday, July 5th, with 60 participants between the ages of 18-30.

Minister of State for Grand Bahama, Minister Kwasi Thompson welcomed special lecturer for the Program, Aaron Saunders, during a courtesy call on Friday, July 2, 2021 in the Office of the Prime Minister.

“We understand that developing the Apps that are on our cell phones have not only become a way to communicate, but it is become the way of commerce, banking, business and even transferring money,” said Minister Thompson.

“So, one of the skills that we wanted to ensure that our young people can get into is that of developing their own Apps. You can imagine, this skill can be used throughout the island of Grand Bahama and every business and institution can use some form of an App, because it is an easy and convenient way of communicating with customers and with the general public. It is a skill that we elieve that young people in Grand Bahama should have.”

Minister Thompson pointed out that the Application Development Course will go a long way in helping to further expand and build Grand Bahama’s technology hub, as well as build human capacity within the technology field. He added that it will also help to create more young entrepreneurs.

“So, we want to welcome and thank Mr. Saunders, who will be in Grand Bahama over the next few weeks to facilitate this program,” said Minister Thompson. “We know that at the end of this program, we will have more young people who are well-versed and experts in this field, who will go on to create their own business in the technology field.”

In fact, according to Racquel Beneby Hart, from the Office of the Prime Minister, who is the lead coordinator for this Application Development Program, upon completion of the six-week program, participants will not only walk away with a certificate and begin building Apps, but the Office of the Prime Minister has also agreed to provide seed funding to eligible individuals.

“We are excited to be able to afford this opportunity free to these participants,” said Ms. Hart. “A course of this magnitude would usually cost thousands of dollars. So, we are grateful to Minister Thompson and the Office of the Prime Minister, Grand Bahama, the United States Embassy, who are the lead sponsors and also our Stakeholders -- Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute and Aliv, who have partnered with us to successfully offer this program to young Grand Bahamians.”

The program will begin on Monday, July 5, 2021, with two cohorts. Classes will be available for Beginners and Advanced participants.

Facilitator of the Application Development Program, Aaron Saunders, is also the CEO and founder of Clearly Innovate Ink, a mobile development firm which he started 11 years ago in Washington D.C. Mr. Saunders said he started his company after 25 years of working in the tech business and recognizing that in the United States there was a lack of diversity in the tech industry.

“I look forward to working with the young people in Grand Bahama to provide them structured guidance on how to build a mobile solution and sometimes not get lost in a lot of the noise that’s around, when it comes to App development,” said Mr. Saunders.

“Hopefully the outcome from the advanced class is that we will have some applications that can be deployed to the Apple and Google Play stores. In the Beginners class, we hope to plant the seed that they can learn the lessons, have the support that they need and then go on to the next step. At the end of the day, to me, it’s really about building technical capital in this community.”