OECS Think Tank and Hackathon Underway
(ZIZ News) – The first regional OECS Business Solutions Think Tank and Hackathon got underway on Thursday with a video conference- style opening at the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB).
Speaking ahead of discussions, Governor of the ECCB, Sir. K. Dwight Venner conveyed what is expected to be achieved through the hosting of the regional event.
“We hope, in this exercise which is a collective one-it’s not about individuals—it’s about the collectively of brains working in all these 8 islands to see what we can come up with which can make an impact on economies which are not moving very fast,” Sir Dwight stated.
“Why? Because we are still known to try to do physical things as opposed to try to use the things that everybody says “oh it’s our human resources but nobody is constructively saying how to mobilize those human resources in a way which will make us advanced,” he explained.
Sir Dwight believes that because the region is filled with intelligent people, they can effect change despite being from this small section of the world.
“Where we do have an advantage, being extremely bright people-I say this from the background of working all over the Caribbean in education institutions-is very bright people. Therefore, that is where we have to focus ourselves. But what is it that that would allow us to compete in equal terms with people all over the world? Well, it has to be information technology because you don’t need a humongous amount of capital to start up. What you really need is vision, a very good brain and the competence to manipulate the technology and produce apps that are applicable all over the world,” he noted.
Taking place on August 14th and 15th, the Business Solutions Think Tank and Hackathon brings together youth, teachers, business owners and representatives, and I.T. technocrats, from across the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union, via videoconference, to brainstorm, develop and produce real functioning I.T. application solutions to challenges faced by the private and public sectors.