Source: Gleaner
The Connected Caribbean Summit, now in its third year, has been hailed as a highly organised event with compelling ideas and presentations that rekindled hope for the prospects of an integrated Caribbean bloc for improved trade and business.
For businessman Dermot Morris and his colleague customs broker Ann Brown-Chang, the conference was unlike any they have ever attended. “The summit was well organised, timely, with smooth-flowing sessions – mirroring the efficiency required for a business to be more competitive in our Caribbean space,” said Brown-Chang. “The speakers were on point. My only wish is that the sessions could’ve been longer and repeated so that everyone could get a chance to attend each session,” she added.
Sharing his perspectives, Morris was visibly emotional as he described how the Connected Caribbean Summit rekindled the passion he felt for Caribbean integration and solidarity when he studied abroad. “Living and studying in New York City, you come to value your West Indian culture for guidance and the bolstering of your identity. Upon returning home to Jamaica to work in the family business, I gradually lost the zeal for Caribbean activism as there was not much need for it,” opined Morris. “Unexpectedly, this summit has put the fire back in my belly, and I am actively thinking about what role I can play to advance Caribbean integration, especially on the business side of things,” said Morris.
Besides a strong turnout of businesspeople to the four-day summit (December 9-12) opened by Grenadian Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell, also present were senior leaders and top professionals from government, justice and law enforcement, as well as the ICT and data governance sectors, among other stakeholders. The annual event is organised by a team of regional leaders under the banner of the Connected Caribbean Foundation.
Lead convenor of the summit and advocate for regional integration and digital transformation, Bevil Wooding described the event as being intentional in setting specific targets, timelines, accountability, and action plans to accelerate further transformative action for Caribbean development for 2025. “We have committed to establishing a Caribbean Digital Knowledge Hub to centralise resources and best practices, initiating mentorship and internship programmes to build human capacity across sectors, and tracking the commitments made by partners at the summit in specific areas of development,” said Wooding.
The Connected Caribbean Summit was hosted by the Caribbean Agency for Justice Solutions, the Network of Caribbean Chambers of Commerce, and the Caribbean Telecommunications Union in partnership with regional and international organisations, including the American Registry for Internet Numbers, Congress WBN, the Caribbean Network Operators Group, and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States Commission, Arkitechs, and the Unit Trust Corporation.