Smart Barbados Week launches Monday

The Ministry of Innovation, Science and Smart Technology (MIST) will host Smart Barbados Week – ‘A Digital Encounter’ from October 1 to 4 at the Lloyd, Erskine Sandiford Centre (LESC), Two Mile Hill, St Michael, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

It will kick off with an opening ceremony on Monday, September 30, at the LESC, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Prime Minister Mia Mottley will deliver the keynote address while Minister of Innovation, Science and Smart Technology, Senator Kay McConney, will also speak at the opening.

Smart Barbados Week is a partnership between the Government of Barbados and various private sector and non-governmental organizations, namely the Barbados Chamber of Commerce (BCCI), the Barbados International Business Association (BIBA) and the Barbados Chapter of the Internet Society (ISOC BB).

At its core, Smart Barbados Week is a national dialogue that seeks to define what it would mean for Barbados to be a technologically ‘smart’ nation and how it would improve the lives of citizens; identify some of the strategies and actions that will be necessary to get there; and build the national consensus necessary for such an all-encompassing transformation effort.

The week comprises four events. The first is the Smart Barbados Week Conference, a two-day event from Tuesday, October 1 to Wednesday, October 2, which will focus on National Innovation and Digital Transformation Strategies as levers to propel the nation forward.

On Thursday, October 3, participants will attend the BIBA Digital Transformation Conference, which will focus on the digital transformation and disruption of specific economic sectors.

And on Friday, October 4, the 2019 Barbados Internet Governance Forum, which is open to the public, will be held. It is specifically dedicated to the discussion of issues affecting citizens, such as inclusiveness and access to digital services, security, privacy and individual rights.

Additionally, there will be a Smart Barbados Expo, a five-day tech expo that runs parallel to the conferences and which is designed to enable the public to experience some of the new digital technologies that Barbados will be adopting.