Trade Watch V8 No 1 Jan-Feb 2014

PROMOTING INNOVATION & COMPETITIVENESS

Caribbean Export Hosts Dialogue on Regional Innovation

Innovation is the cornerstone of progress. It is the principle on which all development and sustainable growth is based and it is what makes a product distinctive and inimitable. This is why Caribbean Export, through the 10th EDF, invests so heavily in facilitating initiatives, which promote innovation. In an effort to exercise that mandate, Caribbean Export convened the inaugural meeting of the Regional Innovation Advisory Group (RIAG) from January 30-31, 2014 at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The Group was gathered to provide insight as it pertains to developing Caribbean Export’s regional innovation strategy as a catalyst for enhancing the competitiveness of the region’s private sector and to secure buy-in for the development of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the transfer of technologies among Research and Development (R&D), Tertiary Institutions and the Private Sector. Twelve (12) key players in sectors in the region that foster innovation participated in the RIAG, which was chaired by Caribbean Export’s Manager of Competitiveness and Innovation, Christopher McNair. Overall, the meeting sought to determine exactly how the objectives would be achieved and what role Caribbean Export would play in implementation. Innovation tends to correlate with creative industries, and thiswas demonstratedbyWayne Sinclair’s presentation on the Animation Industry in Jamaica. As the Executive Director of GSW Animation, Mr. Sinclair provided the model for an innovation eco-system that could be utilised across the region. Through his presentation, Mr. Sinclair was also able to highlight the potential for employment generation and growth as well as the various challenges which the fledgling industry has had to face and overcome. This served to inform the direction of the group’s initial discussions.

Members of the Regional Innovation Advisory Group during discussions at the inagural meeting in Trinidad and Tobago

The group also heard from Kenneth Sylvester, the Chief Executive Officer of Caribbean Knowledge Learning Network (CKLN), the parent company of C@ribNet, which is an electronic research database for knowledge sharing and technology transfer within the Caribbean which draws from similar databases around the world. C@ribNet represents the very essence of what the Advisory Group has been tasked with achieving: progress through integration and collaboration in an innovative context. Professor Cardinal Warde, President of the Caribbean Diaspora for Science Technology and Innovation (CADSTI) also presented the role of his organisation and that they would be keen on contribution the region’s innovation frameworkparticularly througheducation-basedentrepeneurship in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The meeting drew to a successful close with the architecture of an ecosystem for fostering innovation having been established. This system is four-tiered: Information Sharing, Financing, Intellectual Property and the development of concrete measurements for innovation in the region. It is hoped that, with this approach, that meaningful steps can be made towards a globally competitive region. (TW)

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4 Tradewatch • The Official E-Newsletter of the Caribbean Export Development Agency • Vol. 8 No. 1 January - February, 2014