Earlier this month, at the 6th Connected Caribbean Summit in Miami, the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, Philip Davis, emphasized how important it is to find the balance between embracing new opportunities while addressing the existing realities of our people, and that access to the digital economy has to be part of social inclusion efforts.
The event gathered key stakeholders of the Caribbean in Miami in a unique meeting uniting the technology, justice, business and public sectors to explore and discuss innovative strategies for transformative action for Caribbean development. The Summit created an optimum environment to spark synergies among different yet intertwined decisive sectors and for attendees to learn, network and connect. The event served as a platform to present latest policy and technology trends and developments shaping the region so as to engage business, technology and judicial leaders.
The Network of Caribbean Chambers of Commerce (CARICHAM), the Member Network of the OCHA/UNDP Connecting Business initiative (CBi) for the Caribbean, was the main host for the business leaders’ fora. The main topics of the event were Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation, the foundation of a Resilient Digital Ecosystem, Strengthening the Delivery of Justice, Economic Resilience and Climate and Digital Risk Reduction Strategies for a more resilient Caribbean, with a strong focus on celebrating indigenous models and methodologies.
The panels of the Summit highlighted the idea of collaborative action to strengthen Caribbean Resilience, because growth through regional collaboration is the path to reinforce sustainable regional unity.
Petipha Lewis, Chairwoman of CARICHAM, presented their work empowering and supporting the private sector in the region through 25 organizations. The business representative mentioned that the region is facing multifaceted problems and outlined how limited regional transportation and disconnectedness among the states impact businesses. She made a call to action to find common solutions and to take advantage of the Summit to strategize by connecting and collaborating, saying “Let’s see the waters not separating us, but connecting us. Let’s break the walls.”
CBi was part of a panel discussion about Partners to Action: Collaborating for Climate, Disaster and Digital Resilience, with UNICEF and the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN). The panel introduced the relevance of partnerships in a multi-hazard environment, with increasing disasters accentuated by climate change and exposing how leveraging digital tools can be a solution to reach those most in need. The panel was followed by a workshop to draft a Business Resilience initial plan for the Caribbean, collecting the insights of participants for key issues identified by business regional leaders.
We at CBi are committed to supporting business engagement in disaster management in the region through our partnership with CARICHAM, and look forward to working with them to further invest in the region’s resilience to disasters through strengthening public and private cooperation in disaster risk management convening key humanitarian and development stakeholders, developing and disseminating business resilience resources, and enhancing CARICHAM and the broader Caribbean private sector’s capacities.