ICT Pulse Podcast

In our January 2026 Community Chat, and with members of the Caribbean tech community, IT Specialist, Researcher and Digital Analyst, Mathew Cowen, who is based in Martinique, and Esmeralda Levens-Wijngaarde of Blyce in Curaçao, the panel discusses:   *  How important are sovereign systems, dataflows and data access for the Caribbean region?   *  The AI hype cycle and the pressure to adopt, and fin...

In this our final Community Chat and final episode for 2025, and with members of the Caribbean tech community, International Consultant, and an Economist, Yacine Khelladi, and International Consultant, Carlton Samuels, the panel discusses the ICT/technology trends and developments that were evident across the Caribbean region in 2025, and what might be in store in 2026.   The episode, show notes a...

To varying degrees, Caribbean countries are grappling with the issue of privacy and data protection. Countries that have more recent frameworks have been struggling to fully operationalise all of the provisions, whilst there are others that have not adopted current best practice in the space. With information privacy specialists, Allison James of Barbados, and Rishi Maharaj of Trinidad and Tobago,...

Although we are at the end of the 2025 North Atlantic Hurricane Season, we are only six months away from the start of the 2026 hurricane season. Moreover, other hazards or disasters, such as fire, earthquake, or even a utility failure due to a cyberattack, can occur at any time. Fabian Lewis, a telecommunications, emergency medicine and disaster management specialist from Saint Lucia, joins us to...

In our November 2025 Community Chat, and with members of the Caribbean tech community, ICT Consultant Natalie Maharaj of Trinidad and Tobago, and Dr Lyndell St. Ville of Saint Lucia and the tech firm Datashore, the panel discusses:   *  the imperative of implementing digital ID systems in the Caribbean region;   *  the current state of AI governance; and   *  cloud versus local or on-premises faci...

In the wake of Hurricane Melissa, which devastated Jamaica in October 2025, the current focus is on disaster recovery. In telecoms and ICT, much of the infrastructure was adversely affected, hence the priority is remediation and restoration. Learning from the experience of the region, we are joined by Craig Nesty, the telecoms regulator in Dominica, and Sylvester Cadette, of the International Tele...

The internet was once envisioned as a borderless, open, and unified network connecting people, information, and innovation across the globe. However, in recent years, that vision has been increasingly threatened by what experts call "internet fragmentation". William J Drake, one of the leading experts on the subject, joins us to discuss, among other things:   *  h ow and why internet fragmentation...

At almost every stage, Caribbean countries have had to justify whether their markets can support advanced digital technologies. Co-Founder and CEO of Paradise Mobile, Sam Tabbara, joins us in this episode to share his thoughts on issues including:   *  the claims by major regional telcos that there was no business case for 5G in the region; *  whether it is possible and plausible for less populous...

Unlike other Caribbean countries that have been aggressive in developing their fintech space, Trinidad and Tobago adopted a more measured posture in which it emphasised strengthening key enablers that could eventually facilitate accelerated development. However, in recent weeks, it appeared the country took a giant step backwards by proposing a blanket ban on all virtual asset service provider act...

In our October 2025 Community Chat, and with members of the Caribbean tech community, Founder and Lead Consultant of ProTradeConsult, Lisa Callender of Jamaica, and Chartered Accountant , Certified Information Systems Auditor, and Certified Information Privacy Professional , Allison James of Barbados, the panel discusses:   *  the relevance of harmonised technology regulation in growing our econom...

In the fourth instalment in our Expert Insights series on cyber threats and security   for 2025, we are joined once again by Edward Millington, of CariSec Global, which is headquartered in Barbados. In this conversation, Edward discusses, among other things:    *  current trends in cybersecurity;   *  whether there are well-defined paths to pursue specific  cybersecurity-related disciplines or spe...

Globally, countries are grappling with a broad range of internet-related issues: from ensuring digital inclusion and improved network resilience to AI governance to digital sovereignty. One of the leading organisations for internet governance policy development is ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. In this episode, we are joined by ICANN CEO and President Kurt Erik "Ku...

Without a doubt, the user experience (UX) component in software development is critical in driving user satisfaction, retention, and adoption. In this podcast episode, we are joined once again by Janice Alexander and Brittney Samuels to discuss the findings of their latest UX in the Caribbean study. During our conversation, the duo shared, among other things:   *  important findings from the curre...

In our September 2025 Community Chat, and with youth members of the Caribbean tech community, Data Scientist and Researcher, Julie Koon Koon of Trinidad and Tobago, and the Co-CEO of Orbtronics and Rifbid, Keeghan Patrick, of Saint Lucia, the panel discusses:   *  whether the use of AI for digital transformation and innovation is evident in the Caribbean region;   *  women's empowerment in ICTs; a...

The internet and social media are powerful and indispensable tools in daily life, but at the same time, they can be harmful to our mental health. With  Clinical Neuropsychologist, Dr Rodney Stewart, who we first had on the Podcast in 2019, we discuss the mental health challenges that have been emerging due to extensive digital technology use, including:   *  the types of mental health challenges p...

We revisit a conversation we had in 2023 with Pinaman Owusu-Banahane, the Founder and CEO of ADJOAA, a curated multi-brand online marketplace specialising in premium and sustainable fashion and lifestyle products made by African designers and Black-owned businesses. Pinaman shares her journey as a young Ghanaian woman who emigrated but found her way back home again, determined to establish a tech...

The recently concluded UWI Five Islands AI Research Conference has become the leading AI event in the Caribbean region.  We are once again joined by Dr Curtis Charles, one of the main drivers of the event, for a recap in which he shares, among other things:   *  his overall thoughts on the conference;   *  valuable learnings or takeaways from the event;   *  possible reasons female attendance far...

In our August 2025 Community Chat, and with members of the Caribbean tech community, Financial and Impact Innovator, Digital Economist and Digital Transformation Expert, Telly Valerie Onu, who is based in Saint Kitts and Nevis, and  IT Specialist, Researcher and Digital Analyst, Matthew Cowen, who is based in Martinique, the panel discusses:   *  cyberlibertarianism;   *  the impact of ubiquitous...

Nigel Cassimire, the Deputy Secretary General of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union and Coordinator of the Caribbean Internet Governance Forum (CIGF), joins us once again to provide an update on the Internet Governance space and the 21 st staging of the CIGF, which will be held from 20—22 August 2024 in Varadero, Cuba.   During our conversation, we discussed:    *  how Internet Governance and...

At the forefront of an organisation's relationship with its customers, the customer service department is not only critical in leading that engagement but also in driving business efficiency and effectiveness. With Michael Mullings, the CEO of ChatFlow, a  Software as a Service company providing sentiment-aware customer support, Michael discusses, among other things:   *  how he got from BPO to be...

In the third instalment in our Expert Insights series on cyber threats and security   for 2025, we are joined by Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Godphey Sterling, the head of the Jamaica Cyber Incident Response Team (JaCIRT). Our conversation with Colonel Sterling covers, among other things:   *  how JaCIRT operates and the attitude towards cybersecurity (and the CIRT) in Jamaica;   *  the cyber thre...

The AI for Good Global Summit 2025 and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20 High-Level Event 2025 are two major events in this year's AI calendar. In this episode, we are joined by Christopher Reckord, the Chairman of Jamaica's National Artificial Intelligence Task Force, who attended both events. We discuss, among other things:   *  specific objectives or goals he had in attendin...

In our July 2025 Community Chat, and with members of the Caribbean tech community, cybersecurity and data protection expert , Jeehan Miller of Jamaica, and Halle Johnson,  Systems Administrator at the UWI Five Islands Campus in Antigua and Barbuda, the panel discusses:    *  Deepfakes, deception, misinformation and cyber awareness;   *  Using technology to fight crime; and   *  Keeping kids safe o...

In the start-up space, "fail fast" is a deeply embedded mantra, which is used to encourage an iterative mindset that moves past the perceived failure to quickly learn and adapt.   In our conversation with Alex Straun, the creator of the digital wallet platform, JAD Cash, in Saint Kitts and Nevis, he shares the highs and lows of that journey to date, along with:   *  whether JAD Cash has become ful...

We are continuing our reboot of our 'Know Your Neighbours' series, to get an update on our sister Caribbean countries, generally, and of course, from an ICT perspective. Part of the Dutch Caribbean, Suriname is the focus of today's episode.  With Furgell Pinas, the Chair of the ICT Association Suriname, we discuss the current state of the country's ICT sector, including:   *  the internet service...