Caribbean could become Technology Hub

Andrew Jemmott

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (February 21, 2011) – The Caribbean could become a major global technology centre if the region’s professionals engaged in the field were to unite around such a vision.

Barbadian businessman Andrew Jemmott, Managing Director of Caribbean Webcast Inc. (formerly The Caribbean Streaming Network), said regional populations ought to graduate from being mere consumers of cutting edge technology to creators and innovators in it.

Jemmott asserts that the convergence of technology and the global supply chain for products and services offers a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs to “leap frog into the global marketplace without having to board airliners and deal with the hassles of securing visas to do business with nations across the globe.”

Jemmott, a Bimventures entrepreneur, considers that the time has come for the technological bar in the region to be raised to enhance the profile of the Caribbean across the world. The first step, he says, is the formation of symbiotic relationships among the technological providers in the Caribbean to ensure they are all working towards the same goal of innovation and creativity in the sector.

That is why Jemmott supports the recently launched Barbados Entrepreneurship Foundation whose mission is “Barbados – the #1 Entrepreneurial Hub in the World by 2020.”

He said Barbados and its Caribbean neighbours can truly become the Global Centre of Excellence for Entrepreneurship by 2020, but will need to be on the cusp of enhancing existing technological advancements or creating new technology. “Our goal is also to encourage productive and innovative thinking, through a process of research and development, design, and the production and implementation of software and hardware products through social media applications,” stated Jemmott.