In May 2022, FramePerfect, a team of University of Guyana graduates, won the coveted 5G for Change Webby Award. Malik and Shomari Williams of FramePerfect join us to discuss: their Webby 5G for Change Hackathon experience; what are some takeaways from participating in the hackathon; and what Caribbean countries can do to better foster and support tech innovation

 

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

Presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, The Webby Awards are awarded for excellence on the internet and have become one of the most important and coveted honours. Attached to the Webby Awards, the Webby 5G for Change Hackathon is presented by Verizon, and provides teams worldwide with an opportunity to come up with their most game-changing 5G idea for a prize of  $50,000 and a Webby award.

FramePerfect, a team of four graduates of the University of Guyana, Andrew Garnett, Jun Leung, Malik and Shomari Williams, won this year’s Webby 5G for Change Hackathon, beating out over 150 submissions worldwide. In their winning submission,FramePerfect sought to tackle the illegal logging in Guyana’s rainforests and proposed a solution using 5G and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered sound monitoring devices.

In this podcast episode, we feature FramePerfect and have a conversation with Malik and Shomari Williams.

 

Introducing our FramePerfect

FramePerfect is a rising technology start-up based in Georgetown, Guyana, that has been developing and implementing a number of projects for private and public sector organisations across the country. The members of FramePerfect are as follows:

The FramePerfect Team
  • Andrew Garnett is a 22-year-old postgraduate student who is interested in the fields of Data Science and Software Engineering. He is a huge proponent of ICT for Development and hopes to play a large role in creating sustainable technological development for Guyana and the Caribbean region as a whole.
  • Jun Leung is a talented 22-year-old and a recent graduate of the University of Guyana’s Bachelor of Computer Science Program. He is enthusiastic about leveraging software solutions within Guyana, through viable ICT development and research strategies, and has served in various capacities as a software engineer.
  • Malik Williams is a 21-year-old ICT engineer currently employed by the University of Guyana. Malik holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Guyana and has been accepted to pursue his Master’s degree in AI. Malik has a long history of working in various private and public sector companies as a software engineer and was once a trained teacher who now spends his free time tutoring university students.
  • Shomari Williams is currently employed by the University of Guyana as a Technical Communications Officer. Shomari holds two degrees: one in Computer Science from the University of Guyana and he has recently completed his Master’s degree from Arizona State University where he studied Global Technology and Development. Shomari is 22 years old and is passionate about technology and the potential for growth it has within Guyana.

With a vested interest in the implementation of national solutions that foster and promote sustainable development, FramePerfect participated in both the international Webby Award’s 5G for Change Hackathon, as well as the Office of The Prime Minister’s national hackathon (in Guyana), taking first place on both occasions. Further, to give back to the community that has aided their development, Andrew, Jun, Malik and Shomari recently launched Unity Guyana, a non-profit organisation which aims to narrow the education gap within Guyana through technology.

 

Insights into our conversation

Chatting with 20-year-old Caribbean techies who have won a global competition is not something we do every day. So it was wonderful to have the opportunity to chat with Malik and Shomari, on behalf of FramePerfect, about their Webby 5G for Change Hackathon experience whilst also having them share their perspective on innovation and on Caribbean countries leveraging ICT and technology to address societal problems.

Long-time podcast listeners may recall that in 2019, we had a monthly series on innovation, in which we sought to better understand innovation, whether it can be consciously created, and how we might be better able to foster it. It was interesting to learn from Shomari and Malik how aware and committed they and the rest of the team are to trying to use technology to make meaningful change in Guyana. Many of their contemporaries may be more inclined to focus on building the next unicorn than on ICT for development issues. We thus spent a bit of time discussing their non-profit, and the potential value of the products they are building.

Below are some of the questions posed to Malik and Shomari during our conversation>

  1. What is the story behind FramePerfect? How did you all come together under that umbrella?
  2. How did FramePerfect get connected to the Webby Awards 5G for Change Hackathon?
  3. For the Webby Awards, the FramePerfect team pitched a solution to combat illegal logging in Guyana’s forests. Why was that problem proposed, and what was the proposed solution?
  4. Tell us a bit more about Unity Guyana.
  5. What are some takeaways from participating in the Webby Awards?
  6. You all live in Guyana and are products of the Guyanese education system, which is similar to what exists in other English-speaking Caribbean countries. What can Caribbean countries do to better foster and support tech innovation?
  7. What experiences did you all have  – be they personal or at school – that you believe were pivotal to preparing you to not only compete internationally but also to win?
  8. What is in store for FramePerfect and you individually going forward?

 

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 an episode, do get in touch.

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:  FramePerfect; athree23 (Pixabay); mohamed Hassan (Pixabay); James Osborne (Pixabay)

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

Podcast editing support:  Mayra Bonilla Lopez