{"id":169060,"date":"2023-09-27T05:50:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-27T10:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=169060"},"modified":"2023-09-27T05:53:56","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T10:53:56","slug":"ictp-271-the-future-of-finance-is-the-caribbean-a-home-for-digital-nomads-and-is-our-love-affair-with-ai-already-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2023\/09\/ictp-271-the-future-of-finance-is-the-caribbean-a-home-for-digital-nomads-and-is-our-love-affair-with-ai-already-over\/","title":{"rendered":"ICTP 271: The future of finance, is the Caribbean a home for digital nomads, and is our love affair with AI already over?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>For our September 2023 Community Chat, and with members of the Caribbean tech community,&nbsp;Esmeralda Levens of BearingPoint Caribbean in Cura\u00e7ao, and Andrew Olton of Cryptcore in Trinidad and Tobago, the panel discusses:&nbsp; Why the future of finance is global; Is the Caribbean region truly a home for digital nomads? and, Is our love affair with AI already over?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<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\/1626507039&#038;color=%23ff5500&#038;auto_play=false&#038;hide_related=false&#038;show_comments=true&#038;show_user=true&#038;show_reposts=false&#038;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\">ICT Pulse Podcast<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-673719274\/ictp-271-the-future-of-finance\" title=\"ICTP 271: The future of finance, is the Caribbean a home for digital nomads, and is our love affair with AI already over?\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" rel=\"noopener\">ICTP 271: The future of finance, is the Caribbean a home for digital nomads, and is our love affair with AI already over?<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This episode is also available on <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-673719274\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SoundCloud<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/ict-pulse-podcast\/id1373550291\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Apple Podcasts<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/feed\/aHR0cHM6Ly9pY3QtcHVsc2UtcG9kY2FzdC5saWJzeW4uY29tL3Jzcw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Google Podcasts<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/3d0U4ZYX80e5lenYLdzyX4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Spotify<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/music.amazon.com\/podcasts\/3f727ec1-de7d-416f-8bdc-31d9a911a09e\/ict-pulse-podcast\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Amazon Music<\/a>!!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our September Community Chat episode is a wonderful mash-up of topics. But unlike previous episodes in which common themes may have emerged though the topics were wildly different, that was not readily the case this time. Notwithstanding, an interesting and insightful discussion was had by all, and so sincere thanks to our guests whom we introduce below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Introducing our guests<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"169066\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2023\/09\/ictp-271-the-future-of-finance-is-the-caribbean-a-home-for-digital-nomads-and-is-our-love-affair-with-ai-already-over\/esmeralda-levens-e-levens_cropped\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Esmeralda-Levens-E-Levens_cropped.png?fit=587%2C512&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"587,512\" 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;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Esmeralda Levens (E Levens)_cropped\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Esmeralda Levens&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Esmeralda-Levens-E-Levens_cropped.png?fit=300%2C262&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Esmeralda-Levens-E-Levens_cropped.png?fit=587%2C512&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fgd.dfv.mybluehost.me\/.website_c81a1e61\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Esmeralda-Levens-E-Levens_cropped.png?resize=300%2C263&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-169066\" style=\"width:300px;height:263px\" width=\"300\" height=\"263\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Esmeralda-Levens-E-Levens_cropped.png?w=587&amp;ssl=1 587w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Esmeralda-Levens-E-Levens_cropped.png?resize=300%2C262&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Esmeralda Levens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/esmeralda-levens-wijngaarde-b335046\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>Esmeralda Levens<\/strong><\/a> is a global citizen who grew up in Suriname, pursued her higher education in Mathematics and Computer Science in the USA, was subsequently employed in the Netherlands, and since 2001 has been a resident of Cura\u00e7ao. The common thread in her career has been the increase in business process efficiency mediated by technology, software, and data. She has done this by leading small and large teams in million-dollar projects in a wide range of industries and in various cultural settings, varying from the airline industry, sports betting, telecommunications, emergency and disaster management, financial industry, tax administrations, and social security organisations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Besides being an IT professional, Esmeralda has also been a regular guest lecturer at the University of Cura\u00e7ao in IT-related courses, Mathematics, and Statistics. In January 2020, Esmeralda joined BearingPoint Caribbean. She is Associate Director and Business Unit Manager of Product Design. BearingPoint Caribbean enables Caribbean Islands to increase tax and contributions compliance through a digital transformation of public services.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"169065\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2023\/09\/ictp-271-the-future-of-finance-is-the-caribbean-a-home-for-digital-nomads-and-is-our-love-affair-with-ai-already-over\/andrew-olton-2023-a-olton_cropped\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Andrew-Olton-2023-A-Olton_cropped.jpeg?fit=751%2C751&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"751,751\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;5.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;DamianLukPat&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 5D Mark III&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1670350398&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Damian Luk Pat&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;200&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.00625&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Andrew-Olton-2023 (A Olton)_cropped\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Andrew Olton&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Andrew-Olton-2023-A-Olton_cropped.jpeg?fit=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Andrew-Olton-2023-A-Olton_cropped.jpeg?fit=751%2C751&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fgd.dfv.mybluehost.me\/.website_c81a1e61\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Andrew-Olton-2023-A-Olton_cropped.jpeg?resize=300%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-169065\" style=\"width:300px;height:300px\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Andrew-Olton-2023-A-Olton_cropped.jpeg?w=751&amp;ssl=1 751w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Andrew-Olton-2023-A-Olton_cropped.jpeg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Andrew-Olton-2023-A-Olton_cropped.jpeg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Andrew-Olton-2023-A-Olton_cropped.jpeg?resize=440%2C440&amp;ssl=1 440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Andrew Olton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/andrew-olton\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>Andrew Olton<\/strong><\/a> currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Cryptcore where he is responsible for contributing to the company\u2019s strategic vision as well as bringing products to market. Prior to this, he worked as a Strategy and Transformation Analyst at ANSA Merchant Bank Limited, where he provided strategic analysis and insight for regional expansion initiatives, market entry strategies, and new business opportunities. He also has experience in the realm of Public Sector Digital Transformation through his work with FreeBalance where he served as a Technical Services Consultant. Andrew also has four (4) years\u2019 experience as a Data Analytics Career Mentor for Springboard, in which he has provided mentorship to students, helping them secure roles at prestigious companies like Salesforce and State Farm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Andrew is an alumnus of the Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business, having completed a Master of Information Systems and Technology Management in 2020. His exceptional career journey showcases his passion for driving innovation, strategic thinking, and a commitment to excellence in the fields of finance and data analytics. His ability to empower teams and deliver results has solidified his reputation as a respected visionary leader in the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The topics discussed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks to technology and other modernisations that have occurred, our world has become increasingly interconnected and interdependent, and increasingly, we are also operating in a global marketplace. However, one of the last frontiers appears to be banking and personal finance, which is still quite insular, especially in the Caribbean region. For example, bank customers can find themselves unable to complete certain transactions or are subject to more onerous requirements if they are not at the bank branch at which they opened their accounts. However, consumers are looking for options, and so our first topic is <strong><em>Why the future of finance is global<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a completely different vein, our second topic is tourism-based and was a segment to which Caribbean countries began to pay greater attention at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic: digital nomads. However, three years later, the thrust to attract digital nomads seemed to have waned. But then, how serious were we about it in the first place? Our conversation was thus built around the question, <strong><em>Is the Caribbean region truly a home for digital nomads?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, the topic, <strong><em>Is our love affair with AI already over?<\/em><\/strong>, gave us an opportunity to revisit our relationship with Artificial Intelligence (AI) nearly a year after it began with the public release of generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><em>We would love to hear your thoughts!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><em>Do leave us a comment either here beneath this article, or on our&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ICTPulse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Facebook<\/a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/ict-pulse-consulting-limited\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">LinkedIn<\/a>&nbsp;pages, or via Twitter,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ICTPulse\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">@ICTPulse<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><em>Also, if you or a member of your network is interested in joining us for an episode,&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/fgd.dfv.mybluehost.me\/.website_c81a1e61\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><em>do get in touch<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><em>Let\u2019s make it happen!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Select Links<\/h2>\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\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/esmeralda-levens-wijngaarde-b335046\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Esmeralda Levens<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/andrew-olton\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Andrew Olton<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bearingpointcaribbean.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">BearingPoint Caribbean<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/cryptcorett.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Cryptcore<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Images credit:&nbsp; E Levens;&nbsp; A Olton; Tung Nguyen (<a href=\"http:\/\/pixabay.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Pixabay<\/a>); Jonathan Cooper (<a href=\"http:\/\/unsplash.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Unsplash<\/a>);&nbsp; Peggy Anke (<a href=\"http:\/\/unsplash.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Unsplash<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Music credit: The Last Word (Oui Ma Ch\u00e9rie), by Andy Narrell<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Podcast editing support: Mayra Bonilla Lopez<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For our September 2023 Community Chat, and with members of the Caribbean tech community,\u00a0Esmeralda Levens of BearingPoint Caribbean in Cura\u00e7ao, and Andrew Olton of Cryptcore in Trinidad and Tobago, the panel discusses:\u00a0 Why the future of finance is global; Is the Caribbean region truly a home for digital nomads? and, Is our love affair with AI already over?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169064,"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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[355],"tags":[259,71,305,358,359,58,15],"class_list":["post-169060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcast","tag-artificial-intelligence-ai","tag-businesses","tag-digital-economy","tag-financial-technology","tag-panel-discussion","tag-teleworking","tag-trends","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\/2023\/09\/Featured-Image-%E2%80%93-Community-Chat-No-9-of-2023.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2iE1G-HYM","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169060","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=169060"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":169069,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169060\/revisions\/169069"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}