In our October 2023 Community Chat, and with members of the Caribbean tech community, Dr Claire Craig, of Trinidad and Tobago and Director of Research of CaribNOG, and Jean Marie Altema of Haïti and profIT Development Consulting, the panel discusses:  ransomware attacks and the role of stakeholders; the intersection of music and technology; and the potential and challenges of crowdfunding in the Caribbean.

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This episode is also available on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music!!

Today’s digital space requires us to continually learn and accordingly, adjust our views, position, and our actions. Typically, a tech innovation might be heralded as the ‘next best thing’, and there is a lot of excitement and hype, but over time, fact gets separated from fiction, and we begin to appreciate the longer-term impact and consequences, which then ought to prompt some recalibration of behaviour and attitudes, and to act from a more informed position.

Once again, our Community Chat episode for November 2023  features three seemingly disparate topics, but thanks to technology in its varied forms, they are interconnected with common themes emerging.

 

Introducing our guests

Dr Claire Craig

Dr Claire C. Craig is the Director of Research and a member of the Coordinating Team of the Caribbean Network Operators Group (CaribNOG), Co-Vice Chair of the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), and Co-Chair of the Operations Finance and Budget Working Group (OFB-WG) also of ALAC. In addition, she is a member of the Internet Society (ISOC) and has held several key positions on the board of other organisations.

Prior to that, Claire held the post of Senior IT Officer, Enterprise Applications Support Manager at The University of the West Indies (UWI). She has a successful ICT career and a track record of over 30 years of progressive experience and competencies in organising, planning, communicating, coordinating multiple projects, training, lecturing, researching and presenting, combined with a genuine desire to develop people.

 

Jean Marie Altema

Jean Marie Altema is the Founder and Executive Manager of profIT Development Consulting, a consulting firm specializing in strategy and digital governance. With over 20 years of experience, he is a Senior ICT Advisor who is an expert in Capacity Development, e-governance, Telecom Regulation, and digital strategy.

Jean Marie has an MBA with a concentration in Data Analytics. He previously served as the Director-General of the National Telecommunications Council (Conatel), the regulatory body for the telecommunications sector in Haïti. Before joining Conatel, he worked as the Coordinator of the e-Governance Unit in the Prime Minister’s Office and as an ICT Advisor to the Prime Minister.

 

The topics discussed

Ransomware attacks and the role of stakeholders. The impetus for this topic was the data leak experienced by the Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago, the country’s incumbent service provider. More recently, there have also been reports that Digicel and Unicomer (better known as Courts, the major furniture and appliance vendor) were attacked. However, much of the discourse has been focused on the responsibilities of the affected companies, governments and regulators, but what about other stakeholders?

The intersection of music and technology. As we are all aware, modern music and technology are very intertwined, but the more recent advances in technology and the impact on the music industry, to some degree, still need to be reconciled. Further, although some musicians have been embracing technology, many more, particularly Caribbean-based musicians, either are feeling overwhelmed or are concerned about the implications. The topic, the intersection of music and technology, continues the discussion of the benefits, challenges and implications that technology is introducing into the music industry.

The potential and challenges of crowdfunding in the Caribbean. This topic was triggered by the anticipated and imminent wind-up of the crowdfunding platform, ArawakX Pan Caribbean Securities Exchange in the Bahamas. In a Caribbean region, access to capital by start-ups, small businesses and digital businesses is a well-known challenge, and crowdfunding could offer a much-needed option for not only businesses in need of financial support but also widening the pool of potential investors. But could the ArawakX situation be seen as a setback in the deployment and adoption of crowdfunding in the region?

 

We would love to hear your thoughts!

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!

 

Select Links

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

 

 

Images credit:  ICANN;  JM Altema; Kelly Sikkema (Unsplash); Gerd Altmann (Pixabay); Tumisu (Pixabay)

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

Podcast editing support: Mayra Bonilla Lopez