Although we might still be trying to tie up loose ends as we barrel towards 31 December 2023, we still need to develop plans and strategies for 2024. In this article, we highlight four Caribbean tech trends that should occur and be prominent in the coming year.
The year 2023 has been an exciting time in tech as many developments that emerged or rose in prominence over the past few years experienced a decisive trajectory. In the global tech space, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and crypto readily come to mind, though the impact of the latter may have been more muted in the Caribbean region.
However, as we plan and begin positioning ourselves and our organisations for 2024, we highlight four areas that are expected to be trending across the Caribbean region in the coming year.
1. Greater use of AI tools
Having been in awe of generative AI for most of this year, the expectation is that in 2024, people and organisations will integrate AI tools and platforms more deeply into their operations. Much of that integration will not be conscious or intentional, as tech product vendors and service providers have been incorporating various AI-driven technologies and tools into their products.
However, across the region, AI will be applied in more sophisticated ways. In the first instance, it is likely to be used for back-office work, such as for data analytics, troubleshooting, and predictive analysis. In summary, AI is not going away, so we will find ways to make it more useful in the workplace.
2. Data protection and cybersecurity are on the rise
With the spate of high-profile and devastating data breaches that occurred across the region over the past several months, the security-related frameworks Caribbean countries and organisations have established have been found wanting. Further, these incidents have emphasised how vulnerable Caribbean countries and organisations are, and the need for greater organisational and national investment in cybersecurity.
Noting the link between data protection and cybersecurity, the former is expected to also increase in visibility and activity. Jamaica is in the process of operationalising its legislation, whilst other countries should be revisiting their existing laws to ensure they are current, fully implemented and administered. In essence, cybersecurity and data protection are no longer just nice-to-haves, they are absolute necessities, which should be reflected in the posture Caribbean countries adopt in 2024.
3. Greater fostering of ESG
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) is a framework used to assess an organization’s business practices and performance on various sustainability and ethical issues, but it is not common in Caribbean organisations. However, as we are increasingly forced to confront the impact of climate change, for example, and adopt a greener posture, ESG will become an important point of reference.
Some of the ways in which ESG will be fostered in organisations are:
- When addressing sustainability and undertaking a sustainability impact assessment
- By leveraging a circular economy approach to extend the life cycle of products
- By creating a more sustainable supply chain
- By supporting IT systems and services that prioritise environmental sustainability
- By addressing calls for responsible and transparent AI, such as setting guardrails around where AI can be used, and being clear about when AI interventions have been used.
4. Resilience will become the order of the day
Finally, there is a growing appreciation that no system is infallible. It can be vulnerable to and can fail in the face of natural or manmade incidents. It is thus more crucial to be able to recover quickly, efficiently and effectively when a failure has occurred.
Hence increasingly, organisations investing in becoming more resilient. Although in the tech space, much of the focus is on cybersecurity, there is considerable scope for the resilient posture to be adopted with respect to data protection, hardware failures, and natural and manmade disasters.
Image credit: freepik (Freepik)
