According to the research and advisory firm, Forrester, the global digital economy will reach USD 16.5 trillion and capture 17 per cent of global GDP by 2028, but how is the Caribbean region’s digital economy developing? Management Consultant and International Trade Policy Specialist, Chelceé Brathwaite, returns to the Podcast to provide an update. She discusses among other things:  the changes or developments that have occurred regarding the concept of the digital economy since our first conversation in 2022; the metrics used to measure a country’s digital economy; key challenges to Caribbean countries more fully realising their digital economies; and priorities Caribbean countries and/or the region should be focussing on to more fully develop their digital economies.

 

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What is the size of your country’s digital economy? And how much does your country’s digital economy contribute to its overall economy? These are some of the basic questions that Caribbean countries should know how to answer – especially since there have been longstanding calls for the continued development of the region’s digital economy.

 We first explored the Caribbean digital economy on the Podcast in 2022, and at the time, there was no singular or official definition for the term. Further, the digital economy in individual countries was still nascent, and many of our guests indicated that considerable work still needed to be done for Caribbean countries to fully realise their digital potential and, consequently, a thriving and well-established digital economy.

In the two years that have passed since we last explored the subject, what has been achieved? Has the Caribbean digital economy grown? Have there been any new developments? We are not aware of specific reports tracking the development of the digital economy in the Caribbean region, so we are circling back to some of our regional experts to get an update on this crucial issue.

 

Introducing our guest

Chelceé Brathwaite

Chelceé Brathwaite is a Management Consultant with experience working across developmental projects in the Caribbean. She specialises in international trade policy with a focus on e-commerce and the digital economy. She has successfully executed several projects in this field, with the most notable including: serving as the technical lead for Pillar 3 (Digital Economy) of the USAID Digital Country Ecosystem Assessment for 11 Caribbean countries; drafting a strategic briefing paper outlining the defensive and offensive interests of CARICOM states in the plurilateral negotiations on trade-related aspects of e-commerce; and conducting a diagnostic review of e-commerce related policies, legislations and initiatives across CARICOM.

Chelceé also co-lectures the course e-commerce and the digital economy at the Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus. She has published various articles on the topic including: “A Holistic Approach to Digital Trade: Closing the Digital Gender Divide” (2019); “Re-Imagining Tourism: Leveraging Digital Technologies to Revive the Caribbean Tourism Industry” (2021); “Potential Applications for Artificial Intelligence in Latin America and the Caribbean” (2020), among others.

 

Insights into our conversation

Globally, the digital economy space has been developing, and in some quarters developing rapidly, since our 2022 conversations on the subject. In the region, there is some evidence that some of the elements that contribute to the enabling environment are being addressed, but those efforts did not appear to be occurring within a cogent framework geared towards achieving specific results.

One of the biggest challenges for the region, which was articulated in our 2022 conversations, is that we have not (yet) defined what a digital economy means for us. Further, we are not tracking its development. Hence, we have no idea what our digital economy comprises and how it has been performing – which seems to be at variance with its growing importance nationally and regionally.

Below are key questions that drove our conversation with Chelceé.

  1. What changes or developments have occurred regarding the concept of the digital economy since we last spoke in 2022?
  2. What does the term ‘digital economy’ mean?
  3. What metrics are used to measure a country’s digital economy?
  4. What are key challenges to Caribbean countries more fully realising their digital economies?
  5. How can Caribbean countries leverage their geographic location and resources to capitalise on opportunities in the digital economy?
  6. What priorities should Caribbean countries and/or the region be focussing on to more fully develop their digital economies?

 

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:  C Brathwaite;  Alicja (Pixabay); wahyu_t (Freepik); Ahmad Ardity (Pixabay)

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

Podcast editing support:  Mayra Bonilla Lopez