Automation, artificial intelligence, digital technologies, generally can bring a lot of productivity growth and performance gains to Jamaica's economy. In the global context, when you look at the advantages to the first movers - the Apples , the Googles, the Amazons, the Facebooks etc. - you see that the Jamaican companies that are the leaders in our space, get tremendous advantages competitively if they become first movers in the digital space. 

The automation of primary industries, such as agriculture, happened over many generations; the automation of secondary industry happened within one or two generations, and neither process is yet complete. However, the next wave of automation could replace most existing jobs within just one or two decades. 

 Joseph Schumpeter’s description of the capitalist process of innovation and renewal as “creative destruction” has become an interesting catchphrase for the incredible information and communications technologies innovations that have transformed and are revolutionizing organisations which have engaged digital technologies and talent across the business to drive new and value-engendering business models in order to renovate and invigorate their business processes

Business executives increasingly consider information to be one of their most important competitive weapons, but few organisations have any sense of the value of their Data & Information assets.

HealthCare sectors in the Caribbean, are often overwhelmed by the immediate challenges of service delivery – specifically, the provision of an acceptable quality of health care service at a reasonable cost. However policymakers and practitioners should not lose sight of significant innovation and entrepreneurial opportunities being created in Healthcare as a result of the Digital Revolution.

Of the five priority Action Areas emerging from the deliberations at the successful IODC 2015 in Ottawa, Canada (i.e., The Charter, Standards, Capacity Building, Measurement, Innovation), the latter—Innovation, otherwise described as the “Problem-Solving” Action Track — is perhaps, the most eclectic and least structured of the areas.

The term “Big Data” is no longer confined to the foreign vernacular of scientists, technologists and geeks. It has now become part of mainstream media and popular culture, pervading the spectrum from McKinsey global studies to Dilbert commentaries.

In a world governed by smartphones, GPS, intelligent thermostats and seemingly ‘independent’ appliances that can practically do anything … data drives our every move today. This is fast becoming Jamaica’s everyday reality too, with over 80% of the smartphones used by Jamaicans actively using mobile data

Customer analytics has the potential to enable personalised interaction with customers as a basis for increasing sales and customer value for a financial institution. The knowledge that organisations can derive from their analytics efforts is dependent on the data that is considered in the analysis and how it is prepared for analysis.

Data are the lifeblood of decision-making and the raw material for accountability. Without high-quality data providing the right information on the right things at the right time; designing, monitoring and evaluating effective policies becomes almost impossible.

Much of the discussion about Jamaica’s favourable prospects of becoming the 4th global logistics hub, emphasize the country’s physical attributes and natural endowments. Little reference, however, is made to a glaring deficiency in the quality of shiprelated and logistics services in Jamaica.