In our May 2022 Community Chat, and with members of the Caribbean tech community, Liselle Yorke and Lianne McNaughton, the panel discusses: the growing impact of ransomware attacks in the Caribbean; and agile and servant leadership, and the critical role they play in creating healthy and high performing teams and cultures.
This episode is also available on SoundCloud, Apple iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify, Amazon Music and on Stitcher!
With more people than ever online across the Caribbean region, how Caribbean organisations are perceived from the outside, and how they operate with, have been changing. From the outside, and for a variety of reasons, the Caribbean region has been growing in visibility globally. For example, our tourism product, the other sectors in which we seek to be globally competitive, such as financial services, fintech and offshore outsourcing, sports and culture, have all made individual Caribbean countries, and the region as a whole, more recognisable than they had been before.
It should thus not come as any surprise that cyberattacks and breaches have increased in the region, which experts have been reporting over the past few years. More recently, we had on the Podcast Sean Slattery, of Caribbean Solutions Lab, and Deon Olton, of Caribbean Cyber Security Centre, who both confirmed that cyberattacks have been increasing, and that there was a notable uptick since the start of the pandemic.
To that end, and since the start of 2022, at least four cyber incidents were reported in the news. Hence, one of topics is on the growing impact of ransomware attacks in the Caribbean region, with a particular focus on how organisations and governments have responded.
In a completely different vein and within organisations, the dynamic between employer and employees has been changing. During the lockdowns and when work-from-home arrangements were instituted, employers could not have staff members on their premises, where they would have physical oversight of them and the work that was being conducted. Alternative systems and a different work culture was being ushered in where, for example, staff were more empowered, and managers and supervisors had to take a more arms-length approach when managing their team, whilst also being responsive to their team and team members as and when needed.
It is in light of the above that our second topic was on agile and servant leadership, which are still relatively new concepts to the region. However, it not only reflects a change in the dynamic between employer and employee, but also the importance of the organisational ethos, vision and culture to reinforcing and facilitating the successful and continues execution of agile and servant leadership.
Introducing our guests and topics
Liselle Yorke is a mission-driven communications strategist with a deep commitment to social causes that benefit underserved communities. Based in the U.S., she has written about harnessing ICT for innovation in developing economies and also works with researchers to communicate their findings to broad audiences.
Liselle has over 20 years of experience developing and executing communication strategies for non-profit organizations, with a particular focus on policy communications, financial inclusion, economic development and political participation. She has also consulted with and provided pro bono communications support to various organizations in the Washington, D.C. area, including the Institute of Caribbean Studies and the University of the West Indies Alumni Association. She earned her master’s degree in communications at Howard University and holds an undergraduate degree from the University of the West Indies.
Liselle submitted the topic, The growing impact of ransomware attacks in the Caribbean, for discussion.
The only Certified-Gallup Strengths Coach and ICAgile Member Organization in Jamaica, Lianne McNaughton is the Founder and Managing Director of Youth Can Do IT (YCDI), which seeks to empower the youth via technology, professional and personal development, faith and physical wellness initiatives. She is also the Founder and Chief Performance Coach of Right Mindset Institute (RMI), which wants to change the way companies do culture. Lianne is driven by and passionate about creating high performing cultures and empowering individuals, teams and organisations to maximise their potential.
Lianne submitted the following topic for discussion, Agile and servant leadership and the critical role they play in creating healthy and high performing teams and cultures.
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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:
- Liselle Yorke
- Lianne McNaughton
- Youth Can Do I.T.
- The Record by Recorded Future article, Trinidad’s largest supermarket chain crippled by cyberattack
- Trinidad and Tobago Guardian article, Gonzales confirms malware attack on TSTT systems
- The Gleaner article, Ransomware attack less disruptive than earlier thought, NCU says
- The Daily Herald article, More than 85 per cent encrypted, blocked GEBE data said secured
- Cyber Security Hub article, Incident Of The Week: Hackers Take Out Caribbean Govt., Access Railway Data
- ICT Pulse Podcast episode, ICTP 192: 2022 Expert Insight update on cyber threats and security in the Caribbean, with Sean Slattery of Caribbean Solutions Lab
- ICT Pulse Podcast episode, ICTP 195: 2022 Expert Insight update on cyber threats and security in the Caribbean, with Deon Olton, of the Caribbean Cyber Security Centre
- ICT Pulse Podcast episode with Selwyn Cambridge, ICTP 202: Tech entrepreneurship in the Caribbean region
Images credit: L Yorke; L McNaughton; aichinger76 (Pixabay); fauxels (Pexels)
Music credit: The Last Word (Oui Ma Chérie), by Andy Narrell
Indeed we are all vulnerable to ransomware attack. This is now increasingly being seen in developing countries as well. More central banks in Africa have been attacked in the last few years than was before in previous years.