A Caribbean Tech Mover and Shaker: Dr. Kim Mallalieu (Part 2)

We continue our Caribbean Tech Movers and Shakers series with Part 2 of our interview with Dr. Kim Mallalieu of Trinidad and Tobago.

Dr. Kim Mallalieu

In the first half of our interview with educator and game-changer, Dr. Kim Mallalieu, we learnt about the Master in Regulations and Policy in Telecommunications degree programme she developed, along with her thoughts on the changes that have occurred in STEM education over the last 20 years. In this the second and final part, we discuss her involvement in mobile application development and Open Data; her views on how telecoms/ICT are evolving in the Caribbean, along with her thoughts on opportunities in the tech/ICT space in the region.

ICT Pulse:  Many persons might not be aware, but you are one of the “movers and shakers” behind the mFisheries project, which has won a number of regional and international awards. In a nutshell, what is the mFisheries project?

Kim Mallalieu:  mFisheries (“mobile fisheries”) is a project that was conceived within the Caribbean ICT Research Programme (CIRP), launched towards the end of 2009. The general objective of CIRP is to promote multi-stakeholder knowledge exchange and dialogue about the potential contribution of ICTs for economic development and poverty alleviation in the Caribbean.

The Trinidad and Tobago arm of the programme, CIRPTT, sought to explore the opportunities for mobile innovations among the region’s poor and to develop capacity to pursue these opportunities. It also sought to provide related advice to policy makers, regulators and other relevant stakeholders; and to recruit, cultivate and encourage young Caribbean ICT researchers and entrepreneurs to adopt pro-poor research and development agendas as well as   pro-poor business strategies.

On an approach for mobile training support for fishers by the Director of the Distance Learning Secretariat in the then Ministry of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education, I decided to make small scale fisheries the focal point for the CIRPTTmobile research. The mFisheries project itself comprises several components including:

mFisheries mobile app user interface

1. Development of a map of mobile application and service use among fisher folk, with particular emphasis on the Caribbean, based on desk research and stakeholder consultation
2. Analysis of mobile opportunities among Caribbean fisher folk, based on extensive empirical data and stakeholder consultation
3. Collaboration with MIT’s NextLab Team on mobile application development
4. Development of a suite of mobile applications, “mFisheries”, designed to address key livelihood challenges of Trinidad and Tobago small scale fishers
5. Development of a mobile service cost model for mFisheries
6. Implementation of a resource pack for development-focussed mobile innovation
7. Facilitation of a number of training programmes and competitions aimed at encouraging pro-poor research agendas and business strategies amongst existing and potential mobile application developers.

The mFisheries project is most known as the mobile application suite that was designed and implemented for, and deployed amongst, local small scale fishers. The mobile suite, with its Web companions, revolves around five application components, variously implemented for Android smart phones with data service; regular phones with SMS service; and the mobile and fixed Internet, as follows:

1. A Virtual Market Place comprising Got Fish Need Fish and Prices applications
2. At-sea Navigational and Safety facilities comprising a Compass as well as S.O.S and GPS applications; and a Location Tracker with a companion Web application for monitoring by the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard
3. Training Applications comprising multimedia First Aid Training Companions and audio podcast Tips covering several themes related to operations, safety and regulations
4. A Citizen’s reporting Camera Tool with logging, annotation and transmission facilities
5. Info Zone comprising an online survey tool (mTellUs), an open-ended mFisheries Feedback facility and several Web Links to fisheries and related online content and information services.

The suite was bundled with a number of open source applications that provided real time weather and tidal information as well as multimedia training in Spanish.

mFisheries is an action research project which, by design, was able to build new knowledge while at the same time facilitating a community intervention.

ICTP:  In what ways are you involved in the project?

KM:  I am the principal investigator of the umbrella Caribbean ICT Research Programme (Trinidad and Tobago), CIRPTT, within which the mFisheries project was conceived and conducted. As principal investigator, I formulated the concept and sought resource support for it. I have directed all research aspects and led the multi-disciplinary Team of Kevon Andrews, Candice Simonta-Dyer, Candice Sankarsingh, Mark Lessey, Tremayne Flanders, Jevon Beckles, Yudhistre Jonas, Amanda Suraj and others who pitched in at various times along the journey.

Dr. Mallalieu at an mFisheries pre-trial event

ICTP:  At what stage is the project? Has it been fully implemented as yet?

KM:  The first cycle of the mFisheries project is now complete, with all relevant CIRPTT objectives met. At present three lines of analytical investigations, informed by mFisheries’ empirical studies, are underway. These include strategies to strengthen information security amongst low digital literacy mobile users; strategic frameworks for building digital literacy amongst traditionally marginalized users; and techniques to extend mobile coverage at sea. Following the current phase of analytical work, further empirical studies are expected to be articulated and pursued.

ICTP:  What successes have been realized to date?

KM:  To date, the project has led to a number of meaningful outcomes amidst the rich portfolio of outputs and findings. Even among the varied profiles of field trial participants (vendors, processors and fishermen) changes in livelihood-related behavior, capacity and attitude have been observed. For example:

• 

  Rasta fisherman with cell phone

  Over 70% of mFisheries sea farers use tide and weather applications on the mobile phone for planning trips to sea

• Half use GPS for marking and recovering the locations of fishing gear and catch sites
• 78% rely more on market prices than before mFisheries when they buy or sell fish, with almost all using “Prices” to get an idea of fish market pricing before buying or selling fish (90.6%), and for setting their own wholesale and retail prices (96.9%).
• 84% indicate that mFisheries tools responding to operational matters can save them a minimum of a quarter of the time it takes to conduct fishing activities
• 78% did not know prior to mFisheries that smart phones could be used for navigation and their work-related information management needs. 9 out of 10 are now confident that smart phones with the right mix of apps could be used to improve their fisheries-related work.

Another remarkable outcome of the intervention is that fishers from the northern village of Blanchisseuse used their mFisheries phones to capture video of interviews which they edited and compiled [video clip is shared below], during a participatory exercise, to advocate for a gas pump in the area. Their approach to private and public sector agencies yielded prompt and satisfactory resolution of their cited problems in the form of a gas pump for sole use by the fishers, storage bins for ice, and coverage of utility bills.

Other outcomes of the first cycle of mFisheries research include: customization of mFisheries training and at-sea applications for the Cook Islands in the Pacific, with translation of content to Cook Islands Maori; the local incorporation of mFisheries SOS facilities into the regular Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard operations; concessionary rates for mobile data service for fisher folk; penetration of research outputs into Government-led social programmes and planning instruments; direct advice to Government Councils; and new knowledge and awareness amongst policy makers and other stakeholders in response to direct dissemination of research findings. ; ; . The project has also facilitated rich institutional collaboration between UWI’s mFisheries team and several teams at MIT; as well as with teams at other universities abroad, such as ITESM in Mexico. Outside of the research and academic sectors, the project has facilitated the establishment of important new relationships linking research to policy and community intervention.

In the innovation and entrepreneurial space, our team has facilitated a number of national and regional software development competitions that have spawned a great deal of enthusiasm about development-focussed innovations. We are taking it one step further in the upcoming, first ever, Startup Weekend in Trinidad and Tobago, 22 – 24 May. The event, whose tagline is No Talk, All Action. Launch a Startup in 54 hours, is a high-powered competition that has been replicated across 300 cities in more than 100 countries. Over 54 hours, startup ideas are pitched, multidisciplinary teams are organically configured and ideas developed with the support of high profile industry coaches. Software developers, engineers, designers, marketers, product managers and startup enthusiasts who team up at the event generally proceed to formalize their startups. You can read more: www.trinidad.startupweekend.org or join the buzz at  twitter.com/swtrinidad and www.facebook.com/StartupWeekendTrinidadTobago.

ICTP: Having been a Regulator, as a former Board Member of the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad & Tobago, how do you see telecoms and ICT evolving in Trinidad and Tobago, and in the wider Caribbean?

KM:  Regulatory trends are tightly linked to the changing nature of policy, technology and the market. Chained regulatory reaction will flow, for example, from increasing policy emphases on universal broadband access, digital literacy, inclusivity and open access; the increasing reach, versatility and computational power of broadband mobile; and the increasing shift in competitive advantage from voice quality to agility and flexibility in service choice, as business models gain deeper reach into the digital value chain.

Regulatory interventions will be associated with different zones in the digital value chain and with various aspects of environmental impact. Without regard for where the sectoral regulatory powers lie, the regulation of telecommunications and ICT will increasingly have to treat with matters of intellectual property, electronic / mobile payments and related transactions, and a range of environmental concerns. Management frameworks for shared resources such as spectrum will have to be reviewed and I suspect that dynamic spectrum management schema may follow on developments in cognitive radio.

ICTP:  In what ways can the Caribbean play a greater role in the area of computing and communication technology to perhaps be seen more as a leader, rather than just purely a consumer of technology?

KM:  Of course the keys to the Caribbean leading in technology are niche and agility. Niche planning should be built out across the immediate, short, medium and long term: what we are best known for (immediate), what we can do best (short/ medium) and what we ultimately set as our defining leadership niche (long). Various focal points in the immediate, short and medium terms include leveraging ICT to redefine access to; engagement with; and analysis, visualization, distribution and promotion of Caribbean business, ecology, sport, music, cuisine, raw and processed produce, language, literature, intellectual thought, art, dance, theatre, cinema. Important focal points also include the leveraging of ICT to redefine surveillance and mitigation of, as well as engagement with, vexing matters relating to crime and various forms of abuse and exclusion.

Developers participating in Code Sprint at the Developing Caribbean Conference (January 2012)

The art is in the redefinition of new, compelling ways of engagement using ICTs. The engineering is bringing products swiftly to market using ready skills and existing technologies, devices and services (smartphones, tablets, the cloud, NGNs, digital content forms and functions, social media, applications, e/m-commerce, etc. etc.) in lean, agile, dynamic and reusable ways. The deal maker and breaker is placing the product within reach, with a compelling value proposition, at the instant it hits the market. Dynamic inter- and multi-disciplinary teaming is a necessity. Other imperatives are the entrepreneurial senses (sight, hearing, touch and intuition); thinking and acting lean, pivoting when necessary; building quality and security into every aspect of design, development and deployment; and prompt, competent and courteous responsiveness. Timescales are real time and there is no magic bullet. Differentiate, deliver, support, in real time, with agility, quality and sensitivity. Take the lead.

ICTP:  Are there any areas or opportunities in the tech/ICT industry in the Caribbean that you wish people would be more prepared to focus their attention and efforts?

KM:  Opportunities change over time and derive their meaning from one’s value system. The applicable motives which I most highly value are Caribbean entrepreneurial differentiation along quality lines (without regard for scale, scope, target consumer demographics, industry, sector, thematic focus, etc. etc.); enduring and wholesome global Caribbean branding; and social and economic impact, particularly amongst traditionally marginalized Caribbean peoples. I would like to see a critical mass of developers and designers who are willing and able to focus their attention and efforts in these areas as technology in general, and ICTs in particular, offer rich and ready opportunities. I would like to see in this critical mass of developers and designers a strong and enduring spirit of commitment, integrity and selflessness: tangible evidence of a driving source that is bigger than the individual.

ICTP:  Finally, how do you balance your personal/family life with what we are sure is a very busy schedule, based on your long list of achievements?

KM:  You know this is a tough one. There are several days when I tell my husband that I should have stopped working when our boys were born. Other days I am happy that I continued working and proud to be able to give them insights from the lessons I have learnt, as a mother, as a professional and as a fighter. I cannot tell you whether I made the very best decision but I am suspecting that for many the full time vocation of parenting is balanced with full commitments of one sort or other. In my case, every day I stress test information and communications technology to enable the balance. I rely heavily on my husband as an equal partner in parenting and I count on the support and friendship of my helper in the home. I have generally been blessed with good health and a high metabolic rate :-).

Image credits:  K. Mallalieu

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