In our March 2022 Community Chat, and with members of the Caribbean tech community, Amit Uttamchandani and Chad Fraser, the panel discusses: Russia-Ukraine War and potential impact in the Caribbean from a cyber perspective; and thereafter, Web3 and its potential for creating new opportunities in the Caribbean.

 

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

In this moment in time, the world is a hotbed of change and development, the impact of which Is likely to be experienced for years – even decades – to come. We are still dealing with the pandemic, which although may no longer be as ‘top of mind’ as it had been, it is still a very present situation. We are also grappling with, among other things. blockchain technology, robotics, artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, along with the services and platforms that have been emerging, including cryptocurrencies, Web 3.0, Non-Fungible Tokens and Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAOs), to name just a few. However, and amidst all of these exciting developments, and in recent weeks, a war had broken out in Eastern Europe, for which an end is not yet in sight.

Our March 2022 Community Chat is juxtaposition of these two tensions:  getting lost in the excitement and potential of these still emerging tech developments, whilst at the same time, appreciating that thanks to the very sophistication of the internet and by extension, the global tech space, we are susceptible to a broad range of vulnerabilities, for which there can be dire consequences.

 

Introducing our guests and their topics

Amit Uttamchandani

Amit Uttamchandani is an experienced technology and business professional, who has worked in a broad range of roles and sectors across the Caribbean region. Currently, Amit is based in Barbados, and is an ICT Consultant, and the Principal Consultant of Caribbean Corner Office (CCO), a Caribbean-based organisation that provides management consulting and IT services.

Amit is also the Founder and writer behind CaribbeanSignal.com, where he writes data-driven articles on topics that either tend to be rarely noticed, or are ignored by Caribbean media. He holds postgraduate qualifications in Business Administration, from Durham University, and an undergraduate degree in Information Technology, from the University of Liverpool.

As a keen observer of the Caribbean tech space, Amit had observed the apathy in the Caribbean business community for the Ukraine-Russia conflict. The premise for the indifference has been the perception that the war is far-removed from the region, and by extension, from their businesses. However, with fuel prices and the cost of grains increasing, which has already begun to have a knock-on effect on the cost of other goods and services, the impact of the war is already being felt.

More importantly, and from a tech perspective, the internet is now part of a country’s critical infrastructure, and is as vital as electricity, potable water, road and transport. Hence, we cannot ignore the fact that not only is it vulnerable to attack, but it can also be a strategic target in cyber warfare. To highlight the issue, Amit suggested that we discuss, Russia-Ukraine War and potential impact in the Caribbean from a cyber perspective.

 

Chad Fraser

With over 15 years of experience in the IT industry, Chad Fraser’s professional experience spans ICT solutions development, research and advisory, business process reengineering, digital transformation consultation, IT Strategy, governance and quality assurance. Chad is the Founder of Sonover Inc, a Grenada-based software company that partners with organizations regionally and Internationally to facilitate their planning, design, development and implementation of digital transformation initiatives. He also established Qualishore a Business Process Outsourcing provider that emphasises the use of technology in its offerings.

As an entrepreneur, Chad is fascinated by Web 3.0, and is excited by the opportunities that are beginning to emerge by this new technology, and more so the opportunities in and for the Caribbean region. Although Web 3.0 is still nascent, and in the spirit of leveraging first-mover advantage, Chad though it fitting for us to begin the conversation on, Web3 and its potential for creating new opportunities in the Caribbean.

 

 

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Let’s make it happen!

 

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

 

 

Images credit: A Uttamchandani;  C Fraser;  Wikimedia Commons;  Piqsels

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

Podcast editing support: Mayra Bonilla Lopez