In this our February 2021 Community Chat, and with members of the Caribbean tech community, Gisselle Ramsaran and Vincentius (Vincent) Kenswil, the panel discusses: how can we transform to a CARICOM-wide educational system using the ICT technology? And, how to manage business operations whilst adopting technology?

 

This episode is also available in Apple iTunes, Google Play Music and on Stitcher!

Although we might widely acknowledge the ability of ICT to influence virtually all aspects of our lives, the extent to which it has been incorporated, and It being leveraged  – in order to realise meaningful impact – might still be questionable. Over the past year, the move to online and remote learning, precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, brought some of the deficiencies in our education system into sharp relief. While some countries fared better than others, ultimately, children across the Caribbean region are being left behind due their inability to access digital education.

However, the situation is compounded when the quality of the education – and its relevance for today’s workplace – is considered. It has been a common cry among employers that school-leavers are not adequately prepared for the workplace, and still lack basic skills. Hence, in addition to a wide cross-section of Caribbean children still unable to participate in the digital and remote learning modalities that have had to be instituted, they are also likely to be not possess the requisite and desired skills for the job market.

In a different vein, COVID-19 forced Caribbean businesses to urgently revamp their operations and to leverage the Internet and technology more, in order to, at the very least, remain viable. In many instances, the changes instituted were a form of crisis management: with makeshift measures being implemented that were meant to tide the business over until normalcy returned. However, it is almost a year since the Caribbean region had to adjust to the pandemic. ‘Normalcy’ has not returned, but neither have we moved to improve upon the makeshift measures that were hurriedly implemented.

These two scenarios set the contexts for the discussions that occurred during our February 2021 Community Chat.

 

Introducing our guests

Vincentius Roue Kenswil

Vincentius (Vincent) Kenswil is an entrepreneur and business leader who wears many hats, one of them is Innovation Igniter at Creative Tech Hub Caribbean, which is based in Suriname. Creative Tech Hub Caribbean is a cluster of companies that aims to develop the creative technology ecosystem in the Caribbean.

As a native of Suriname, Vincent is committed to the development of his country, and of the wider Caribbean region. He is of the view that Suriname’s most valuable resource is its people, who are descendants from an unusual mix of countries worldwide, and so contribute to the rich culture and heritage of the country.

Vincent is thus concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on the Surinamese education system, and the children who have fallen between the cracks as it relates to digital education. He also recognises and has first-hand experience in the recruitment challenges employers are experiencing, due to the inadequate readiness of school-leavers for the job market – which is not unique to Suriname. He thus invited us to consider the question, How can we transform to a CARICOM-wide educational system using the ICT technology?, as a means of addressing key challenges that he has observed.

 

Gisselle Ramsaran

Gisselle Ramsaran  has been a Digital Marketing expert for the last 19 years. She brings a deep understanding  of traditional marketing models and an appreciation for the digital landscape. But, it’s her unique ability to anticipate changing consumer behaviour that allows her to keep track of new platforms and opportunities, influence and build better communication pathways for brands. Gisselle is currently a Digital Marketing Systems Consultant working with companies interested in building internal digital marketing teams to support their business and customer needs. 

In now working as a Digital Marketing Systems Consultant, Gisselle is observing the internal machinery of her clients, including the effort and resources that must be brought to bear to realise digitisation and digital transformation, which in many instances were precipitated by the pandemic. To a considerable degree, businesses must continue to operate – and must do so profitably, efficiently and effectively – whilst also trying to implement new systems and processes in order to realise the digital transformation envisaged. To that end, Gisselle asked that we discuss, How to manage business operations whilst adopting technology?

 

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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: V R Kenswil; G Ramsaran; Sasin Tipchai (Pixabay); Gerd Altmann (Pixabay)

Music credit: Ray Holman