In this our January 2022 Community Chat, and with two members of the Caribbean tech community, Mylène Colmar and Andrew Olton, the panel discusses:  what are essential tools, formats, subjects, trends for Caribbean content (media) creators in 2022; and thereafter, opportunities in fintech within the Caribbean.

 

This episode is also available on SoundCloud, Apple iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify, Amazon Music (NEW!) and on Stitcher!

Welcome to our first podcast episode, and our first Community Chat for 2022! In April, the ICT Pulse Podcast will be celebrating its fourth anniversary, and fingers crossed, its 200th episode!

However, before we get to the balloons and party favours, let’s set the tone for what to expect from the Podcast this year. First, and similar to what we have done in previous years, throughout the course of the year, hope to explore one or more key topics from multiple angles. We will also continue our monthly Community Chat conversations, which allows members of the Caribbean tech community to share topics of interest to them, which in turn enriches the regional tech conversation.

In keeping with previous Community Chat episodes, our guests have submitted Caribbean ICT/technology-related topics for discussion. In many instances, and although the topics are diverse, either commonalities surprisingly emerged during the conversation, or they just complement each other in wonderful and interesting ways, which is the case in this episode.

 

Introducing our guests and their topics

Mylène Colmar

Mylène Colmar is based in Guadeloupe and is a blogger and journalist. She is the Consulting Editor and a Freelance Journalist for Plume Caraïbe, an editorial consulting and digital media company. She is also the Director and Editor of the Flamboyant Agency, which publishes Foodîles, le magazine totalement #FOOD, a print and digital magazine, which aims to highlight the Caribbean culinary world.

Mylène blogs at mylenecolmar.com, where she discusses a broad range of topics, and has been a #Caribbeanblogger since 2007. She is also a member of GuadeloupeTech, a digital economy cluster in Guadeloupe.

As a content creator and someone who works in media, who also has her own online platforms, Mylène is acutely aware of what it takes to not only develop a platform, but also to grow it. Based on her observations, she was concerned that Caribbean content creators have been one-dimensional in the tools and strategies they have been applying. She thus posed the question, What are essential tools, formats, subjects, trends for Caribbean content (media) creators in 2022?, so that we could discuss key trends and tactics Caribbean content creators could be applying and leveraging in improve their reach and impact.

 

Andrew Olton

Andrew Olton is a dataanalyst, who is a Technical Services Consultant at FreeBalance, which is headquartered in Ontario, Canada. His undergraduate degree is in Computing and Information Systems, from the University of Greenwich, and he also has a Master’s degree in Information Systems and Technology Management from the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business (Trinidad and Tobago).

Andrew has over decade of experience and has worked in the education, banking and tourism industries. He also serves as the Membership Director for the Trinidad and Tobago Chapter of ISACA.

As a ‘data guy’, and consequently someone who has been tracking various trends, Andrew had observed that in conversations about fintech opportunities, the focus has been on the opportunities for businesses. In the topic he submitted for discussion, Opportunities in fintech within the Caribbean, Andrew wanted us to focus on the consumer and consumer needs, as it relates to to fintech.

 

We would love to hear from you!

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

Also, if you or a member of your network is interested in joining us for a Community Chat episode, do get in touch.
Let’s make it happen!

 

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: M Colmar, A Olton; M Colmar; Blogtrepreneur (flickr); CafeCredit.com (flickr)

Music credit: The Last Word (Oui Ma Chérie), by Andy Narrell

Podcast editing support: Mayra Bonilla Lopez