{"id":148486,"date":"2019-08-07T06:30:39","date_gmt":"2019-08-07T11:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=148486"},"modified":"2019-08-07T07:22:15","modified_gmt":"2019-08-07T12:22:15","slug":"ictp-067-barbados-top-ranked-countries-telecoms-ict-caribbean-david-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2019\/08\/ictp-067-barbados-top-ranked-countries-telecoms-ict-caribbean-david-smith\/","title":{"rendered":"ICTP 067:  Why Barbados is one of the top-ranked countries for telecoms and ICT in the Caribbean, with David Smith"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Over the past several years, Barbados consistently ranks among the top Caribbean countries with respect to telecom and ICT. David Smith, President, of the Barbados Chapter of the Internet Society, helps us to understand the factors that made Barbados a telecoms and ICT powerhouse in the region; some of the challenges country is currently experiencing; along with trends and opportunities that are being leveraged to transform the Barbadian economy.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/662287484&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=false&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=false\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>This episode is also available in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/ict-pulse-podcast\/id1373550291\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple iTunes<\/a>\u00a0and on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.stitcher.com\/podcast\/ict-pulse-podcast?refid=stpr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stitcher<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A former British colony, Barbados is located in the Lesser Antilles, or Eastern Caribbean, east of Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. In many global telecoms and ICT-related assessments, Barbados tends to be among the top-ranked countries in the Caribbean region \u2013\u00a0 which speaks not only to the state of telecoms and ICT there, but also points to perception of competitiveness and potential to leverage technology. Hence, in this episode in our \u2018Know Your Neighbours\u2019 series, the country we will be exploring is Barbados.<\/p>\n<p>Like many Caribbean countries, Barbados\u2019 economy has been based on services, particularly tourism, and financial services. However, with the offshore financial services being in decline for several years, and with the uncertainty that can be endemic to the tourism and hospitality industry, over the past few years, Barbados has been experiencing considerable economic difficulty. As a result, the country is now being challenged to explore ways and means to revitalise its economy, including avenues such as ICT, and more prominently, finance technology (fintech).<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_148491\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-148491\" data-attachment-id=\"148491\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2019\/08\/ictp-067-barbados-top-ranked-countries-telecoms-ict-caribbean-david-smith\/david-smith-d-smith\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/David-Smith-D-Smith-e1565132248227.jpeg?fit=513%2C426&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"513,426\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"David Smith (D Smith)\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;David Smith&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/David-Smith-D-Smith-e1565132248227.jpeg?fit=300%2C249&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/David-Smith-D-Smith-e1565132248227.jpeg?fit=513%2C426&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-148491 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fgd.dfv.mybluehost.me\/.website_c81a1e61\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/David-Smith-D-Smith-e1565132248227-300x249.jpeg?resize=300%2C249&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"249\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/David-Smith-D-Smith-e1565132248227.jpeg?resize=300%2C249&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/David-Smith-D-Smith-e1565132248227.jpeg?w=513&amp;ssl=1 513w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-148491\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">David Smith<\/p><\/div>\n<p>With over 20 years\u2019 experience in the ICT\/tech space, our guest, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/davideosmith\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">David Smith<\/a><\/strong>, is an Information Technologist at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies, Barbados, where his main area of focus is computer networking. David is also the President, of the <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/isoc.bb\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Barbados Chapter of the Internet Society<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The parent organisation, the Internet Society, is a global organisation that advocates for the continued development of a free, safe and open internet that benefits all people. The Barbados Chapter has been very active in fostering dialogue on the role of the internet in national social and economic development, through mechanisms like the Barbados Internet Governance Forum and Barbados Youth Internet Governance Forum.<\/p>\n<p>In our conversation with David on the ICT\/tech space in Barbados, we sought to get a better understanding on why that country has been able to exceed other countries in the region, especially those that might be better resourced, with respect to telecoms and ICT. We also sought to understand some of the trends and opportunities in Barbados that could be leveraged. Hence, some of the areas covered in our discussion with David included the following:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>A general overview of Barbados<\/li>\n<li>The state telecoms and ICT in Barbados, especially with respect to level of development, competition, accessibility and affordability<\/li>\n<li>Why telecoms and ICT in Barbados, relatively speaking, has surpassed that in other Caribbean countries<\/li>\n<li>What the Barbados Chapter of the Internet Society does, and how it fits into the wider Barbadian ICT\/tech landscape<\/li>\n<li>What it is like to be an entrepreneur in Barbados, and David\u2019s thoughts on the country\u2019s start-up environment\/ start-up culture<\/li>\n<li>Some of the tech-related or tech business related-trends David has been observing in the Barbados<\/li>\n<li>In what ways is the Government in Barbados focusing on ICT<\/li>\n<li>What David believes are key strengths of the ICT\/tech space in Barbados<\/li>\n<li>Some of the challenges Barbados might have to address to improve ICT there<\/li>\n<li>ICT\/tech-related opportunities that are occurring in Barbados<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We would love to hear your thoughts!<\/p>\n<p>Do leave us a comment either here beneath this article, or on our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ICTPulse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Facebook<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/ict-pulse-consulting-limited\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LinkedIn<\/a> pages, or via Twitter, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ICTPulse\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>@<\/strong>ICTPulse<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Select links<\/h3>\n<p>Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that either were mentioned during the episode, or otherwise, might be useful:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/davideosmith\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">David Smith<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/isoc.bb\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Internet Society Barbados Chapter<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Internet Society<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cavehill.uwi.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitt.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bitt<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Business Barbados article, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/businessbarbados.com\/ebook\/files_2019\/assets\/basic-html\/page62.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Towards a Smart Barbados<\/a> <\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/civtech.atlassian.net\/wiki\/spaces\/C4\/pages\/1253703705\/CivTech+4.0+Home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CivTech (Scotland)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.bb\/Ministries\/innovation-science-smart-technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ministry of Innovation, Science and Smart Technology<\/a><\/li>\n<li>International Association of Privacy Professionals article, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/iapp.org\/news\/a\/barbados-government-publishes-draft-data-protection-act\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Barbados government publishes draft Data Protection Act<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n<li>PwC\u2019s Tax Insights, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwc.com\/bb\/en\/services\/pdf\/pwc-tax-insights-barbados-nov-2018.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A brave new world: Barbados\u2019 revised corporate tax regime<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Central Bank of Barbados news, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.centralbank.org.bb\/regulatory-sandbox\/sandbox-news\/article\/9432\/central-bank-of-barbados-and-financial-services-commission-announce-the-establi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Central Bank of Barbados and Financial Services Commission Announce the Establishment of a Regulatory Sandbox Framework<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n<li>ICT Pulse Podcast episode, <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/2GZIxGN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>ICTP 037: Driving fintech development from the government\/policy side, with Michelle Doyle-Lowe of the Central Bank of Barbados<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<li>ICT Pulse Podcast episode, <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/2raCC76\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>ICTP 033: Emerging opportunities in cryptocurrencies, digital currencies and blockchain technology in the Caribbean, with Gabriel Abed of Bitt<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/barbadosict.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Barbados ICT Professionals Association (BIPA)<\/a><\/li>\n<li>ICT Pulse Podcast episode, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/2QezYsJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ICTP 056: Building Caribbean-relevant software applications, with the team from Rovika<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Image credits:\u00a0 D Smith;\u00a0 Kirk Nurse (Pexels);\u00a0 OpenClipart-Vectors (<a href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pixabay<\/a>);\u00a0 Petr Kratochvil (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.publicdomainpictures.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PublicDomainPictures.net<\/a>);\u00a0 Brian Dorff (<a href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pixabay<\/a>);\u00a0 PublicDomainPictures (<a href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pixabay<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Music credit:\u00a0 Ray Holman<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over the past several years, Barbados consistently ranks among the top Caribbean countries with respect to telecom and ICT. David Smith, President, of the Barbados Chapter of the Internet Society, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[355],"tags":[88,71,53,330,32,204,357],"class_list":["post-148486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcast","tag-barbados","tag-businesses","tag-competition","tag-digital-transformation","tag-information-society","tag-innovation-2","tag-interviews","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Barbados-Collage-2-Pexels-Pixabay-Public-Domain-Pictures.net_.jpg?fit=1024%2C641&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2iE1G-CCW","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148486"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148500,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148486\/revisions\/148500"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}