PM Dickon Mitchell to address Connected Caribbean Summit

The Prime Minister of Grenada Dickon Mitchell will on Tuesday, December 10, address the Connected Caribbean Summit (CCS) 2024 on the topic: “Action Time – Accelerating Caribbean Integration and Development”.

The four-day summit began at Hilton Hotel Blue Lagoon in Miami, Florida, US, on Monday, December 9. It is held under the theme “Collaborating for Caribbean Solutions”.

Bevil Wooding, the summit’s lead convenor and a renowned technologist and development strategist from Trinidad, said PM Mitchell’s participation will lay the foundation for meaningful dialogue and action at the event. The 46-year-old Grenadian prime minister is also the chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), a responsibility he took in June this year. 

Wooding said Mitchell comes with a sound leadership and vision for a “more integrated and prosperous Caribbean” and that would make him a keynote speaker at the CCS. 

“His insights will be crucial as we work towards practical solutions for some of the most pressing challenges facing the region,” Wooding said, according to the summit website. Mitchell, who calls himself a “regionalist”, is one of the most influential leaders in the Caribbean region. 

Besides the Grenadian leader, the summit will also feature several other distinguished speakers. They include, among others: Rodney Taylor, secretary general of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union; Bernadette Lewis, secretary general of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization; Dr Didacus Jules, director general of the OECS (Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States) Commission; Petipha Lewis, chair of CARICHAM (Caribbean Chambers of Commerce); and Sonia Gill, secretary general of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union. 

CCS addresses Caribbean challenges

The CCS is a major regional conference aimed at boosting dialogue and collaborating on digital transformation and development issues in the Caribbean region. The action-oriented event brings together diverse stakeholders to assess and address the region’s challenges and utilize opportunities for long-term growth. Business leaders, government officials, technological experts, law-enforcement and legal executives, and academic and opinion leaders are expected to attend the summit to strive together towards vast results for the region’s development. 

The CCS is organized by CARICHAM and this year’s summit focuses on the use of technology for sustainable development, economic and climate resilience, digital transformation, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. 

One of the prime features of Caribbean regionalism is collective work and CCS is no exception. Given its challenges ranging from natural disasters to financial constraints to geographic barriers to corruption, the small nations in the region need to back each other for common solutions. Regional connectivity, collaboration and innovation are key for the region’s well-being and the CCS tries to achieve that, not only in terms of unity of nations but also social collaborations between governments, the private sector and civil society.

Last week, Wooding told reporters at the summit’s virtual media launch that the Caribbean region needs to urgently address its issues, whether they are growing crime rates, debilitating traffic, high unemployment or corruption, The Gleaner based in Jamaica reported. He said the public perception is that there is inadequate corrective action and sustainable solutions are lacking.

According to Wooding, the CCS makes a deliberate effort to not only negate such viewpoints but also to implement practical solutions to overcome the problems. 

Lewis, CARICHAM chair and a co-host of the event, said, “The summit provides a unique platform for dialogue and action. CARICHAM believes that businesses and governments must work hand-in-hand to create the environment needed to foster innovation, entrepreneurship, and regional economic resilience.”