Barbados’ Minister of Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology, and newest member of the Global Digital Innovation Board, Marsha Caddle, greets Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau, Dr. Cosmas Zavazava, at the ITU Global Innovation Forum in Malta, recently. (GP)
The International Telecommunication Union of the United Nations has announced the addition of Minister Marsha Caddle, Barbados’ Minister of Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology, to one of its newest strategic Boards.
The Digital Innovation Board is part of the ITU Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development and provides strategic guidance, expertise, and advocacy on transformational projects that foster digital innovation and entrepreneurship at the national, regional, and global levels.
Among its tools for achieving this has been the establishment of a Digital Transformation Lab and digital accelerations centers across the world. The acceleration centers engage emerging developer and technologist talent to solve problems in-country and at scale, building an innovation eco-system to drive a new, digital economy.
The Board comprises 13 Ministers drawn from ITU’s 194 Member States, along with 19 regulators, advisors, academics and civil society, and private sector leaders from around the world. Countries represented include India, Japan, Brazil, Serbia, South Africa, and now Barbados.
The announcement was made during a meeting of the Board as part of the ITU Global Innovation Forum being held in Malta, an island nation smaller than Barbados but with double the population, as well as full employment, a thriving gaming and e-sport industry, and a number 1 ranking out of 35 European countries in eGovernment services.
Minister Caddle said it was important to be practical by aligning with countries of a similar size and capacity to Barbados who were already achieving goals that Barbados had set, noting that Malta had been able to establish the economic growth and quality of life it did by being intentional about growing its population base and fostering innovation.
In her remarks during the opening panel of the Forum, she noted that Barbados was ready to advance its innovation sandbox, so that people could safely test ideas that would solve problems, and with the right regulatory support: “Even the best technology cannot thrive without modernizing governance: having an agile public sector with an orientation towards ‘yes’”, and systems that match. We expect that such a sandbox will attract entrepreneurs in a range of sectors, and will challenge us as Government to meet their passion and ingenuity.”
Minister Caddle said she expected her membership on the Board to bring like-minded technology leaders and investors together, so countries in the global South, like Barbados, could benefit and not be left behind.
“The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development is an important initiative that aims to accelerate the closing of digital innovation gaps across the globe”, said Dr. Cosmas Zavazava, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau.
“The inclusion of Minister Caddle as a Board Member adds not only an expert voice in the sector, but the perspective of small island developing states and the global South to the discussion. We are very pleased that she has accepted our invitation.”
