In our June 2024 Community Chat, and with members of the Caribbean tech community, Aldin Crosdale, an IT Internal Auditor in Jamaica and the Community Manager for the Jamaican Developers Community/Caribbean Tech Connect, and Halle Johnson (Mr.), a Systems Administrator at the University of The West Indies Five Islands Campus in Antigua and Barbuda, the panel discusses: How do we ready our workforce for the coming changes that AI will bring? Challenges in selling and producing local ICT products and services; and CXC’s intention to discontinue certain STEM subjects, is it a good or bad thing?

 

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

Welcome to our June 2024 Community Chat episode!

Once again, our discussion covered topical ICT and technology-related issues in the Caribbean region. Some are perennial whilst others have been snatched from the headlines. We hope these conversations will help you to think more deeply about the topics raised and even prompt you to continue the discussions within your circles.

However, let’s introduce our guests and the topics for this episode.

 

Introducing our guests

Aldin Crosdale

Aldin Crosdale is a seasoned IT Internal Auditor at a Financial Institution with over five years of experience in a supervisory role. He is well-rounded and has a professional career that has spanned several industries including computing, legal, educational and healthcare industry.

Throughout his career, Aldin has continuously sought opportunities for professional development, to stay abreast of the latest industry trends, regulatory changes, and technological advancement, ensuring that he can deliver with the highest level of accuracy and relevance. He completed his tertiary education at The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus (Jamaica) and has pursued several certifications where he has quickly demonstrated his proficiency in identifying problems, and risk areas and is in pursuit of implementing robust solutions.

His dedication to excellence has also led him to philanthropic opportunities such as being the Community Manager for the Jamaican Developers Community/Caribbean Tech Connect, hosting volunteer programs at the secondary level, and participating in mentorship programs at the tertiary level.

 

Halle Johnson

Halle Johnson (Mr) is currently a Systems Administrator at the University of The West Indies Five Islands Campus in Antigua and Barbuda. He has over 20 years of experience in the IT field and has worked in areas such as online gaming, hospitality, border control, e-sports and now academia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Information Systems and Computing from the University of London and a Master of Business Administration with a specialisation in Information Systems Strategy and Governance from Edinburgh Napier University.

Halle also holds industry certifications from Amazon, Microsoft, Cisco and many others. His current interests include Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency

 

 

The topics discussed

With AI already transforming how we live and work, the Caribbean region has not yet begun to address its impact on the education system generally, and more so in preparing existing students for the emerging job market. Applying our collective minds to this issue, our first topic was “How do we ready our workforce for the coming changes that AI will bring?”, where one of the angles tackled was whether it is necessary to develop specific subjects in AI for primary and secondary schools especially since AI is already becoming ubiquitous.

We then shifted our attention to the tech workforce through the lens of the difficulties being experienced in matching local tech expertise to the local job market. In the topic, “Challenges in selling and producing local ICT products and services”, we explored some of the experiences of tech graduates and workers versus the requirements of the local job market and some existing prejudices.

Finally, with the recent announcement by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) to discontinue certain Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects and the uproar that ensued across the region, we discussed, “CXC’s intention to discontinue certain STEM subjects: is it a good or bad thing?” Though following consultations with Caribbean countries CXC decided to rescind its earlier announcement, it still begs the question, “How did we get to this point?”

 

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:  A Crosdale;  H Johnson; Gerd Altmann (Pixabay); Karolina Kaboompics (Pexels); Pixabay (Pexels) 

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

Podcast editing Support: Mayra Bonilla Lopez