As organisations and societies become increasingly data-driven, data science has emerged as one of the most influential disciplines shaping decision-making, innovation and economic opportunity. With data scientists, Dr Letetia Addison, Educator, Statistician, and Researcher at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Labour Market Specialist, Tanisha Ash, and Entrepreneur and Agri-tech specialist, Lesley-Ann Jurawan, we discuss, among the state of data science in the Caribbean region, including: student enrolment in data-science-related academic programmes and the proportion of women enrolled in those programmes; how we should be thinking of data science within the context of AI, and vice versa; AI adoption in the public and private sectors; and how individuals should be positioning themselves to establish a career in data science.

 

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In today’s digital world, data is generated constantly—from online transactions and social media activity to sensors, healthcare systems and government records. The challenge is not just collecting this information but making sense of it. This is where data science plays a crucial role.

The importance of data science has grown significantly as societies become more digital and data-driven. Governments, businesses and organisations increasingly rely on data insights to guide policy, improve services and innovate. For example, in healthcare, analysing patient data can help identify disease risks, predict outbreaks and design more personalised treatment plans. In environmental research, data science helps analyse satellite and sensor data to understand climate patterns and guide conservation efforts.

While the field is expanding quickly, gender imbalance remains a challenge. Women are still underrepresented in many areas of technology and data science.

The recent observance of International Women’s Day on 8 March offers an important opportunity to highlight the contributions of women in science and technology, including data science. From research and analytics to artificial intelligence and public policy, women are increasingly shaping how data is used to understand the world around us and to solve complex problems.

In a continuing effort to light Girls in ICT, we have invited an all-female panel of Caribbean data scientists. We first had a similar panel in 2023, and so we thought beneficial to get an update on what has been happening in the data science space over the past three years, as well as learn about some of the exciting projects they are implementing. 

 

Dr. Letetia Addison

Introducing our guests

Dr. Letetia Mary Addison is an award-winning educator, statistician, and researcher at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, specialising in data-driven solutions for climate resilience, disaster risk reduction, and digital transformation in Small Island Developing States. A Senior Fellow of The UK’s Higher Education Academy and Women in Data Science Ambassador, she champions inclusive statistics and data science education, responsible Artificial Intelligence, and interdisciplinary innovation across the Caribbean.

Letetia currently serves as UNESCO Lead Expert for the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Readiness Assessment Methodology for Trinidad and Tobago and advises on regional and international AI research, policy, and capacity-building initiatives.

 

Tanisha Ash

Tanisha Ash is a Labour Market Specialist at the Ministry of Labour in Trinidad and Tobago and a PhD candidate in Social Policy at The University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. Her work sits at the intersection of AI and social policy, with a particular focus on how AI and data analytics can enhance social research and support more inclusive labour market policies.

In her professional role, Tanisha contributes to the development of labour market information systems, national surveys, and research initiatives that inform employment policy and workforce development in Trinidad and Tobago. She is actively involved in projects related to labour market analysis, skills development, and the use of data to improve evidence-based policymaking.

Through her doctoral research, Tanisha is examining the opportunities and ethical challenges of integrating AI into social research and policy design, particularly in developing country contexts such as the Caribbean. Her work emphasises the importance of responsible AI governance, data-driven decision-making, and ensuring that technological innovation supports social inclusion and equitable policy outcomes.

Lesley-Ann Jurawan

 

Lesley-Ann Jurawan is Managing Director of Delft Cocoa Plantations in Trinidad and Tobago, a land-based enterprise exploring long-term agri-technology and learning possibilities in cocoa and regenerative agriculture. Her interests include agriculture-adjacent innovation, including exploratory thinking around Internet of Things (IoT)-style environmental monitoring, data-informed cultivation concepts, and future experimental applications of tools such as computer vision or spatial sensing in a living-lab environment.

Lesley-Ann is also the Founder of ARGANTE Foundation, a non-profit organisation in Trinidad and Tobago that supports STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) exploration, learning, and discovery opportunities for women and girls through curiosity-driven engagement with technology, education, and community innovation.  

 

 

Insights into our conversation

All too often, the field of data science can seem transparent. It is not only foundational to emerging technologies such as AI, robotics and automation, as Tanisha said, the numbers can also help us to present our lived experience. Hence, it is not just data crunching for data crunching’s sake, but to relate to our real-world experience and help us improve our lives and the wider society.

For the Caribbean region, the conversation emphasised the potential for data science to support innovation and economic development, and consequently, the need to build strong digital skills and encourage greater participation in technology fields. Moreover, thanks to Letetia’s, Lesley-Ann’s and Tanisha’s experiences and perspectives, they not only highlighted the growing importance of data science, but also the value of ensuring that women—and particularly Caribbean women—are active participants in shaping the data-driven future.

Below are questions posed to Letetia, Lesley-Ann and Tanisha that drove our conversation.

  1. Ladies, please tell us how you got into Data Science.
  2. Letetia:  Since we last spoke in 2023, and from your perspective, how has the data science space evolved generally, and regarding women in data science?
  3. Letetia, talk to us about the Women in Data Science initiative and how it has been evolving since our last conversation.
  4. Lesley-Ann(/All): As a Women in Data Science TT Mentor, how are women and girls responding to studying data science and to the profession more generally?
  5. What are some of your observations regarding student enrolment in data-science-related academic programmes and the proportion of women enrolled in those programmes?
  6. Tanisha:  As we all know, AI is currently all the rage, and to be effective, large datasets must be available to train an AI model. How then should we think of data science within the context of AI, and vice versa?
  7. Lesley-Ann: In addition to your work with Women in Data Science, you work in the agriculture and agritech space. How is data science being leveraged within that space, if at all, and especially among women farmers?
  8. Tanisha:  As we are aware, most Caribbean countries do not have an AI or framework policy in place, but AI is being widely used across the region. What is your research showing regarding AI adoption in the public and private sectors?
  9. What are the prospects for careers in data science in the future? How should people be positioning themselves to establish a career in data science?

 

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Select links

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

 

 

 Images credit:  L Addison;  T Ash;  L-A Jurawan;  rawpixel.com (Freepik); Gerd Altmann (Pixabay);  Freepik

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

Podcast editing support: Mayra Bonilla Lopez