To a considerable degree, and across almost every aspect of our lives, technology has been a driver of change. In this our July 2019 Community Chat and with members of the Caribbean tech community, Liselle Yorke and Shannon Clarke, the panel discusses on the uneasy tension between technology and preserving the local cultural heritage of Caribbean countries, and implementing Tech4Good projects to drive digital transformation in the region.

 

This episode is also available in Apple iTunes and on Stitcher!

As much as we have embraced the advances and opportunities that have emerged thanks to ICT, there can be niggling questions and concerns that we also challenged to address. Two were discussed in our July 2019 Community Chat.

 

Liselle Yorke

First, “Can technology help or hurt local cultures?”, which our guest panellist, Liselle Yorke, submitted for discussion. The impetus for the topic was a debate that erupted in Tobago following recent comments by the Secretary for Culture at the 2019 Tobago Heritage Festival on the potential of children being drawn away from local art forms by the bright, flashy lights of tech devices.

Liselle was on our March 2019 Community Chat, and is originally from Trinidad and Tobago, but currently lives in the US, where she is a Communications Specialist, who has written extensively on technology for development. Liselle was eager for us to explore how technology can help and/or hurt local cultures, and how this can be addressed.

 

Shannon Clarke

Second, “Implementing Tech4Good’ projects to drive digital transformation” was discussed, which Shannon Clarke guided us through. Essentially, the term “Tech4Good” tends to speak to leveraging technology towards social good and social development. Shannon is of the view that we in the Caribbean region could use the “Tech4Good” framework to drive government innovation, and thus the digital transformation envisaged.

Shannon is based in Barbados, and the CEO of CarePoint Solutions, which is a messaging and workflow management platform for the healthcare industry.  He is also a software developer and electrical engineer, and is a member of the Barcode Network, a non-profit initiative which “aims to empower aspiring and experienced software developers with the training and tools needed to market their skills internationally as well as launch their own tech start-ups”.

 

We would love to hear your thoughts!

Do leave us a comment either here beneath this article, or on our Facebook or LinkedIn pages, or via Twitter, @ICTPulse

 

Select links

Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that either were mentioned during the episode, or otherwise, might be useful:

 

 

Image credits:  StockSnap (Pixabay); L Yorke;  S Clarke

Music credit:  Ray Holman