Carribean for Customer Service;India for Intelligence

Implications: This article is important because it describes the nearly five-fold rise in call center businesses in Carribean countries such as Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.  The article also details the positive economic impact that opening one call center can have on such small countries.  Finally, an optimistic prediction that such call centers can eventually evolve into more profitable work, such as creating web sites or assisting with IT problems is made along with the consequent mpact on the islands' employment levels and wages.

Analysis: While I heartily agree that Caribbean locals, who are used to providing impeccable customer service from being economically dependent upon tourism for so long, are excellent candidates for out-sourced call centers, they are a far cry from being considered a threat to India.

Answering customer service questions is one thing, building web sites, preparing US tax returns or providing computer programming services is quite another.  While the article cites one company's,Jamaica's e-services, evolution from providing data entry services to creating web sites and processing insurance claims - I doubt many others will be able to make the leap from simple customer service chores to assisting companies with developing IT sources or reviewing complex documentation and making recommendations. 

The reason why India has been so successful in attracting and staffing outsource centers is its educated workforce.  Indians providing complex outsourcing functions typically have postsecondary educations from one of India's hundreds of competitive IT schools. 

Educational Institutions similar to those in India simply do not exist in the Caribbean and creating websites and programs are simply not skills one can easily acquire "on the job".

If the governments of the Caribbean countries are sincerely interested in the long-term growth of their economies, they need to help their citizens develop the skills necessary to compete with India and other countries.  Transitioning to a knowledge-based economy requires the diversion of tourism profits to the creation of appropriate education and training facilities.