Research, digital appetite being whetted at opanal

Imran Best is not a stranger to doing internships in a foreign land where the people predominantly speaks a language that is not his own.

It was no surprise then, when the opportunity arose for Caribbean nationals to apply for an internship with the Secretariat of the Agency for Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL), he did not hesitate.

Best, 38, is currently a Management Service Specialist in the Efficiency Unit of the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Smart Technology, and is especially interested in helping the country develop policies that would ensure its sustainability.

He is the first Barbadian to take part in the five-month OPANAL internship programme, which is currently taking place in Mexico until December 2021.

“I am quite honoured to be chosen for this programme and to be the first Barbadian to be represented at OPANAL.

“I do not take this lightly as I know I represent Barbados in a diplomatic environment,” he said.
OPANAL, an inter-governmental organisation headquartered in Mexico city, Mexico, is dedicated to overseeing member state’s compliance with the Treaty of Tlatelolco – the treaty for the prohibition of nuclear weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean.

It is dedicated entirely to the achievement of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Best told Barbados TODAY that Bridgetown’s involvement in this space was especially crucial given the island’s dependency on tourism, of which the ocean space played a great role, and the fact that the Caribbean’s ocean space be kept free of any nuclear testing.

“The issue of nuclear weapons in a Caribbean context is still an important topic. Even though we don’t produce or possess any nuclear facilities or weapons, our open sea space can be very welcoming for testing. Additionally, the destructive power of nuclear weapons is still a very present threat and thus we always have to police the region and monitor our borders so as not to allow our natural environment to be affected.

It only takes one nuclear war head to alter the environment for decades,” he explained.

“Having a Barbadian given access to the policy decisions as it relates to nuclear disarmament in the Latin America and Caribbean region bodes well for Barbados as our economy is tourism driven and any nuclear testing that may disrupt our climate and beaches should have our input and our perspective,” he said.

The purpose of the internship at the OPANAL Secretariat is to provide graduate and postgraduate students in the fields of international relations, international law, political science, translation and IT/Software with on-the-job training opportunities.

The participants will receive guidance and support from the Secretariat officers regarding several duties including assisting with research and background investigation of documents prepared by the Secretariat, meeting preparations, the explanation of proposals in support of the agency’s programmes, and assisting in the translation of documents.

After seeing the notice locally, Best applied for the internship and was successful after going through several layers in the selection process.

In this intake, only four people were selected – one from Barbados, one from Belize and two from Mexico.

This is not the first time Best, a former Wesley Hall and St Michael Secondary School graduate has been the first to take part in an internship where he gained valuable experience that he has been able to share in Barbados.

In 2016 he was selected for an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) scholarship in public policy at Sungkyunkwan University, a research institution in South Korea.

“While there, I was the first Barbadian to intern as a Management Trainee at Samsung Electronics in South Korea. Here is where my focus shifted from the technical side of IT to more policy oriented with a specialisation in E-Government,” he said.

Prior to that, Best, who obtained his first degree in management at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, started his career in the area of information technology with the hopes of one day playing a major role in helping to develop key policies.

“After graduation there were limited opportunities for persons with a Management Degree at the time so I accepted an entry level at the then Data Processing Department.

At this department I delved into Information Technology (IT) and became exposed to networking, programming and IT related duties,” he told Barbados TODAY.

He is especially interested in seeing the full digitalisation of Barbados, stating that he was pleased that the ministry of Innovation was now on “an exciting path to revolutionize the digital landscape and to move away from paper-based services to online business”.
“This can be seen through new avenues such as EZPAY, online Police Certificates of Character, increased online payments and most recently, the new digital identification card project,” he pointed out.

marlonmaddenbarbadostoday@bb