The Port of Spain Commitment on Digital Integration was recently made by Caribbean countries, which was seen as a demonstration of the importance countries are placing on digital transformation and the need for greater regional integration. In this article, we discuss the implications and potential impact of this agreement.
During the week of May 15, Executive Sessions on Digital Leadership in the Caribbean were held in Trinidad and Tobago, which culminated in the signing of the Port of Spain Commitment on Digital Integration. The event was hosted by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, in collaboration with the Inter- American Development Bank (IDB) and the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), and sought to create a space in which the region’s most senior digital transformation policymakers could discuss and share information on their digital transformation efforts in their respective home countries.
From all accounts, the event was well-received by attendees and at the end of the sessions, the policymakers, who represented 11 Caribbean countries, made the following commitments towards digital integration:
(Source: CTU)
- Consider the creation of a Regional Government Cloud leveraging existing or planned government data centres across the Caribbean Region.
- Establish a Regional Data Centre to provide a more cost-effective and resilient solution for data storage and management.
- Develop a Regional C-SIRT (Computer Security Incident Response Team) to coordinate collaboration among national CSIRTS.
- Enhance Cybersecurity Education, Training, and Awareness to build capacity, to address the skills gap in the cybersecurity industry; and to promote safe online practices and educate citizens on the risks associated with cyber threats.
- Develop a Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Regional Framework to protect critical infrastructure from cyber threats, identify vulnerabilities, and implement appropriate risk mitigation measures.
- Pursue cross-border recognition of digital IDs, addressing issues such as data protection, and privacy.
- Establish a shared repository of digital solutions (government-owned source code) allowing governments access to solutions required for their digital transformation efforts.
- Develop a region-wide validation of national forms of identification and credentials based on an interoperable digital identity.
The countries represented in the Commitment were Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Curaçao, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Suriname, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. This article offers a brief examination of the Port of Spain Commitment on Digital Integration, specifically, what may happen next now that the pledges have been made.
What is the potential impact of this Commitment?
The likely impact of this Commitment is not clear, as no indication of the next steps has been shared. Each of the individual commitments is important, and their successful realisation could meaningfully advance regional digital integration. However, the commitments themselves are high-level. Each would require more intensive discourse to identify, among other things, objectives, strategies, critical milestones and agreed timelines.
Additionally, and since the full text of the Commitment has not been made publicly available, it is unclear whether outside of the individual pledges whether the document included any effective period, or time frame in which the commitments should be achieved. Hence, pending the release of information to the contrary, the Port of Spain Commitment on Digital Integration may end up being a ‘feel-good’ document that has no teeth or momentum to accelerate the digital transformation and regional digital integration efforts across the Caribbean region.
Isn’t it duplicating the CARICOM Single ICT Space initiative?
The short answer may be, yes… sort of. The CARICOM Single ICT Space is supposed to be the digital layer upon which the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) will be realised. Hence, essential to the CARICOM Single ICT Space would be the harmonisation of digital frameworks among CARICOM countries to allow for deeper digital integration and seamless cross-border transactions.
The pledges made under the Port of Spain Commitment on Digital Integration appear to foster the CARICOM Single ICT Space and CSME, but are not all of the areas that would need to be addressed, such as harmonising the ICT policy, legal and regulatory regimes and ensuring that the national and regional broadband infrastructure is robust.
Additionally, it must be highlighted that not all CARICOM countries (its 15 Full Members and five Associate Members) participated in the Commitment, and not all of the participants are CARICOM countries – the exception being Curaçao. Hence, it could be argued that this Commitment is diverting attention from the Single ICT Space, which still has not realised meaningful progress, though it was conceptualised over a decade ago.
What is next?
At the time of writing, the next steps are unclear, as they have not been made publicly available. As previously stated, the individual commitments are broad and would need to be fleshed out. Thereafter, if the countries are serious about their pledges, they would need to be prepared to do what is necessary to achieve the goals outlined in each of the pledges.
Unfortunately, Caribbean countries generally have a poor track record of following through on regional commitments. Typically, there are reports that countries have agreed to a particular course of action, but thereafter, nothing happens, which has resulted in some degree of cynicism and scepticism when regional pronouncements are made.
Will that also happen to the Port of Spain Commitment on Digital Integration? Time will tell.
Image credit: Shane Rounce (Unsplash)
