{"id":155582,"date":"2020-11-11T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-11T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=155582"},"modified":"2020-11-11T05:40:46","modified_gmt":"2020-11-11T10:40:46","slug":"ictp-131-developing-the-cayman-islands-tech-pillar-with-charlie-kirkconnell-of-the-cayman-enterprise-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2020\/11\/ictp-131-developing-the-cayman-islands-tech-pillar-with-charlie-kirkconnell-of-the-cayman-enterprise-city\/","title":{"rendered":"ICTP 131:  Developing the Cayman Islands\u2019 tech pillar, with Charlie Kirkconnell of the Cayman Enterprise City"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>What does it take for a country to develop its technology sector to the point where it can be an economic pillar of its economy? We spoke with Charlie Kirkconnell, the CEO of the award-winning Cayman Enterprise City, which is leading the charge in the Cayman Islands\u2019 diversification efforts, from a two-pillar economy.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> &nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" allow=\"autoplay\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/927178504&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true\"><\/iframe><div style=\"font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-673719274\" title=\"ICT Pulse Podcast\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ICT Pulse Podcast<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-673719274\/ictp-131-developing-the-cayman\" title=\"ICTP 131: Developing the Cayman Islands\u2019 tech pillar, with Charlie Kirkconnell of the Cayman Enterprise City\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ICTP 131: Developing the Cayman Islands\u2019 tech pillar, with Charlie Kirkconnell of the Cayman Enterprise City<\/a><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This episode is also available in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/ict-pulse-podcast\/id1373550291\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Apple iTunes<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/playmusic.app.goo.gl\/?ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&amp;isi=691797987&amp;ius=googleplaymusic&amp;apn=com.google.android.music&amp;link=https:\/\/play.google.com\/music\/m\/Icau5acn2xiyl5yjuh7orl2mt54?t%3DICT_Pulse_Podcast%26pcampaignid%3DMKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Google Play Music<\/a> and on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stitcher.com\/podcast\/ict-pulse-podcast?refid=stpr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Stitcher<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the past several years, policymakers across the Caribbean region have been calling for greater innovation, or for more members of their business communities to leverage technology. However, in many instances, it just comes across as idle talk:\u00a0 something to say when standing before an audience, but not a subject they intend to pursue and champion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As much as the above sentiment might sound harsh, the truth of the matter is that across the region, countries have made very little inroads in developing their enabling environments to better support ICT\/technology innovation. However, there seems to be an exception: the Cayman Islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC), and cognisant of the vulnerability of its economy, with tourism and International financial services as its two main pillars, the Cayman Islands decided to make a concerted effort to diversify its economy by developing a third pillar: technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Similar to many Caribbean countries, the case to diversify was tabled many years before. It was even included in the country\u2019s Vision 2008, its 10-year national strategic plan that was released in 1999 (Source:\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.caymancompass.com\/2011\/04\/17\/cayman-enterprise-city-the-elusive-third-pillar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cayman Compass<\/a>). \u00a0However, no major diversification programme or initiatives were implemented in the intervening period; but the Cayman Islands had two major experiences which would have emphasised its vulnerability. First, Hurricane Ivan in 2004, which decimated the country. It damaged virtually all of the buildings and caused (at the time) nearly USD\u00a03\u00a0billion in damages. Second, was the GFC, which began in 2008, and resulted in the Cayman Islands experiencing a severe decrease in the size of its financial services industry. It was also affected by the knock-on effect on the its tourism industry, in particular, and ultimately, the country experienced a contraction of its economy between 2008 and 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those experiences were the impetus for the establishment of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.caymanenterprisecity.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Cayman Enterprise City (CEC)<\/strong><\/a> in 2011, which is a Special Economic Zone located on Grand Cayman. The CEC has a particular focus on attracting companies working in some of the cutting-edge technologies of our time, such as blockchain, financial technology and the Internet. The CEC is home to over 250 companies, and in October, fDi Intelligence, ranked the CEC among the top 10 Free Zones globally, and the top Free Zone in the Americas. Hence, it appears that the Cayman Islands is well on its way to establishing its third economic pillar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> &nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Introducing our guest<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"155585\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/charlie-kirkconnell-cec_cropped\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Charlie-Kirkconnell-CEC_cropped.jpeg?fit=792%2C800&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"792,800\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;6.3&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Stephen Clarke&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 5D Mark III&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1524133570&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;www.stephenclarkephotography.com 345 325 5079  Cayman Islands&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;70&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.008&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Charlie Kirkconnell (Cayman Enterprise City)_cropped\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Charlie Kirkconnell&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Charlie-Kirkconnell-CEC_cropped.jpeg?fit=297%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Charlie-Kirkconnell-CEC_cropped.jpeg?fit=792%2C800&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fgd.dfv.mybluehost.me\/.website_c81a1e61\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Charlie-Kirkconnell-CEC_cropped.jpeg?resize=350%2C353&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-155585\" width=\"350\" height=\"353\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Charlie-Kirkconnell-CEC_cropped.jpeg?w=792&amp;ssl=1 792w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Charlie-Kirkconnell-CEC_cropped.jpeg?resize=297%2C300&amp;ssl=1 297w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Charlie-Kirkconnell-CEC_cropped.jpeg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Charlie-Kirkconnell-CEC_cropped.jpeg?resize=768%2C776&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><figcaption>Charlie Kirkconnell<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/linkedin.com\/in\/charlie-kirkconnell-05679413\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Charles Kirkconnell<\/a><\/strong> is the CEC&#8217;s Chief Executive Officer and is responsible for leading the development and execution of the company\u2019s long-term strategy. His leadership role also entails being ultimately responsible for all day-to-day management decisions and for implementing the company\u2019s long and short-term plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Charlie holds an LLB (Hons) degree from the University of Liverpool and completed, with distinction, the Qualifying Examination of the Professional Practice Course at the Cayman Islands Law School in 2006. Charlie also holds a B.A. in International Relations with a Business Concentration from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, USA (1993).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Immediately prior to joining CEC, Charlie was a member of Walkers\u2019 Corporate and International Finance Department in the Cayman Islands where he specialised in investment funds and advised on a range of general corporate matters. Prior to his work with Walker&#8217;s, Charlie held various positions over a 12-year period with a group of Cayman Islands companies specialising in retail and wholesale distribution, including serving for four years as the managing director of the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> &nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Insights into our conversation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>As a Caribbean person, first and foremost, it is always gratifying when people or organisations in the region are punching above their weight; and are recognised as world-class or leaders in their space. The Free Zone, or Special Economic Zone space, is a big field. Virtually all Caribbean countries have at least one, and more developed countries are likely to have several, through which they hope to attract investments. Hence, inherently, it is a highly competitive area \u2013 with countries putting out their best effort \u2013 and yet, the CEC was ranked fifth globally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What is the CEC doing differently that other Free Zones or Special Economic Zones in the Caribbean can learn from? That was one of the many questions we posed to Charlie in the course of our conversation. Below are some of the other questions raised:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" type=\"1\"><li>We know that the CEC is a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), and that there seems to be a decided emphasis on knowledge-based industries, but can you gives us some more insight into the CEC?<\/li><li>How many companies are located in the CEC, and what industries are represented?<\/li><li>In many Caribbean countries, SEZs are government-managed. In the CEC being privately managed, what are some of benefits that the CEC brings to the table?<\/li><li>Outside of the fiscal incentives and office space, what has made the CEC and Cayman Tech City, a hotbed for innovation?<\/li><li>Through the CEC, the Cayman Islands has been able to attract innovative companies. But the CEC is a SEZ. So to what degree has that spirit of innovation permeated the Caymanian society?<\/li><li>What is Digital Cayman?<\/li><li>What does Cayman Tech City comprise and what type of ventures are accepted into that area?<\/li><li>Strategically, and from a tech perspective, in what areas do you think there are opportunities for the Cayman islands.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p> &nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We would love to hear from you!<\/p>\n\n\n\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=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Facebook<\/strong><\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/ict-pulse-consulting-limited\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>LinkedIn<\/strong><\/a> pages, or via Twitter, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ICTPulse\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>@ICTPulse<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Select links<\/h3>\n\n\n\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\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"http:\/\/linkedin.com\/in\/charlie-kirkconnell-05679413\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Charles Kirkconnell<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.caymanenterprisecity.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cayman Enterprise City<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fdiintelligence.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fDi Intelligence<\/a><\/li><li>fDi Intelligence article, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fdiintelligence.com\/article\/78967\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fDi\u2019s Global Free Zones of the Year 2020 \u2013 bespoke awards<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>fDi Intelligence report, <em><a href=\"\/\/\/content\/download\/78975\/2597788\/file\/fDi%20Global%20Free%20Zones%20of%20the%20Year%202020.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fDi Global Free Zones of the Year 2020<\/a>&nbsp;<\/em><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalcayman.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Digital Cayman<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/CEC%20Launch%20Labs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CEC Launch Labs<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p> &nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> &nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Image credits:  Gerd Altmann (<a href=\"http:\/\/pixbay.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pixabay<\/a>);  CEC<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Music credit:  Ray Holman<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> &nbsp; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What does it take for a country to develop its technology sector to the point where it can be an economic pillar of its economy? We spoke with Charlie Kirkconnell, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_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":[71,205,204,357,212],"class_list":["post-155582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcast","tag-businesses","tag-entrepreneurship-2","tag-innovation-2","tag-interviews","tag-policy-2","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\/2020\/11\/Innovation-Board-Trace-Network-Technology-ICT-Ideas-Teamwork-Gerd-Altmann-Pixabay-.jpg?fit=1024%2C682&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2iE1G-Eto","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155582","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=155582"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":155608,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155582\/revisions\/155608"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}