If the Caribbean and other developing countries want to build sustainable economic resilience, innovation can no longer be just a buzzword. It has to be developed and nurtured in an ecosystem where talent meets opportunity, capital, and global vision. On this week’s episode, we are joined by Shergaun Roserie and Keeghan Patrick, the Co-Founders of Orbtronics, a tech and innovation firm based in Saint Lucia, to discuss innovation. During our conversation, we also explore: whether innovation is resource-driven or mindset-driven; the catalyst for launching the Orbtronics Innovation Summit; how established Caribbean institutions start taking calculated risks and fostering innovation; and their message to Caribbean youths who are tinkering with code, robotics, or an idea.

 

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

Innovation is often misunderstood as merely adopting the latest gadgets or buzzwords, but at its core, genuine innovation is about creating practical, ground-level solutions to complex local challenges. Across the wider Caribbean and other developing countries, frictions exist between the products and services that are available–that often have been developed for more developed regions–versus local needs and situations. Hence,  rethinking how technology, capital, and talent intersect is no longer a luxury, it is a vital driver of economic diversification and resilience.

At the forefront of this regional evolution is Orbtronics, a Saint Lucia–based technology and innovation firm that combines custom software development, artificial intelligence integration, and digital infrastructure with dedicated STEM education and robotics programs for young people. The firm operates with a dual purpose: building enterprise-grade digital tools today while training the regional workforce of tomorrow, and in doing so, the company is demonstrating that high-growth tech ventures can be born, built, and scaled directly out of the Eastern Caribbean.

To anchor and expand this momentum across the region, Orbtronics launched the Orbtronics Innovation Summit to catalyse what the founders envision as the Caribbean’s “Silicon Forest”. The summit serves as a premier gathering point for regional founders, international investors, corporate leaders, and policymakers and has been designed to facilitate deal-making, attract global capital, and provide Caribbean entrepreneurs with the tools, mentorship, and networks needed to build global-facing companies anchored in the region.

 

Introducing our guests

Keeghan Patrick

Keeghan Patrick is a Saint Lucian entrepreneur, inventor, and the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Orbtronics and Rifbid. His work brings together engineering, enterprise technology, financial innovation, and entrepreneurship, with a focus on building Caribbean companies that solve regional problems and compete internationally.

Keeghan holds a Master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and has been selected for Caribbean 30 Under 30 and 35 Under 35 changemaker lists. His approach combines technical problem-solving with business development and a commitment to expanding the region’s capacity to create technology.

He is also the author of the forthcoming book Premature Millionaire: How to Win Before the World Believes in You, exploring ambition, accountability, self-belief, and taking action before external validation arrives. Across his businesses, community initiatives, and writing, Keeghan’s focus is on helping people turn ideas into meaningful work and showing what can be built from the Caribbean.

Shergaun Roserie

Shergaun Roserie is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Orbtronics Ltd and Rifbid, two technology companies advancing digital transformation across the Caribbean. His work brings together enterprise technology, financial services innovation, and business leadership, with a focus on building companies that address the region’s needs and compete internationally.

Shergaun combines hands-on engineering experience with entrepreneurial execution and regional market knowledge. His professional background includes engineering work at Microsoft and Cummins. He holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree from Howard University.

Through his leadership of Orbtronics and Rifbid, Shergaun is building businesses, partnerships, and institutional capabilities that strengthen the Caribbean’s digital economy and expand its role in developing globally relevant technology.

 

Insights into our conversation

Innovation continues to be a buzzword in the Caribbean region, but often, unless the product being developed is revolutionary or appears to have the potential to attract international investors, it is not considered “innovative”. At the same time, innovation tends not to happen in a vacuum. Though someone might have an idea “out of the blue” that leads to a transformational product, it is more common and likely that innovation will strike when there is an enabling environment to support its occurrence.

Chatting with Keeghan and Shergaun about innovation was insightful. As young business owners who are nurturing an innovative space in Orbtronics and the youth, they provide firsthand perspective, much of which they have been able to practise. Further, we are witnessing how much they are investing in the region, through their presence, and in organising an innovation summit to bring together Caribbean founders and creators with investors, corporate leaders and policymakers, to continue to build the region’s tech ecosystem.

Below are key questions posted to Shergaun and Keeghan that drove out conversation.

  1. Innovation is a buzzword used across every industry, but it can mean very different things. Beyond the jargon, what does genuine, meaningful innovation mean to you as tech leaders?
  2. Many small markets view a lack of capital or resources as a blocker to innovation. How much of innovation is resource-driven versus mindset-driven?
  3. You returned home to launch Orbtronics after gaining global experience. What was the spark or specific gap you saw in Saint Lucia that convinced you this was the right time and place to build?
  4. You’ve pitched the vision of making Saint Lucia the ‘Silicon Forest’ of the Caribbean. What was the catalyst for launching the Orbtronics Innovation Summit, and why now?
  5. The Summit brings together angel investors, tech startups, corporate leaders, and regional innovators under one roof. What single outcome or shift would make this event a complete success in your eyes?
  6. Established legacy organisations often struggle to innovate because risk aversion is baked into their processes. How can an established Caribbean institution start taking calculated risks?
  7. What is your primary message to young Saint Lucians or Caribbean youths tinkering with code, robotics, or an idea in their bedroom today?
  8. Ten years from now, when people talk about the Caribbean tech scene, what story do you want Orbtronics to have written?

 

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 were mentioned during the episode, or otherwise, might be useful:

 

 

Images credit:  Orbtronics;  DC Studio (Magnific);  rawpixel.com (Magnific)

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

Podcast editing support: Mayra Bonilla Lopez