For a week, ministers and senior policy makers from Barbados, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Grenada, Jamaica and Suriname, signatories of the EU-LAC Digital Alliance, have learned about the European experience in digital transformation. The visit was promoted by the Delegation of the European Union in Barbados through the Caribbean Cooperation Facility (EU-CCF), funded by the European Union and implemented by FIAP.

Among others, they met with the Directorate General for International Partnerships of the European Commission (DG INTPA), the Directorate General for Digital Services (DG DIGIT), the Directorate General for Communication Networks, Content and Technologies (DG CONNECT), the European External Action Service (EEAS), the Belgian Federal Public Service for Policy and Support (BOSA), the e-Governance Academy, the Estonian Government Office, the Estonian Ministries of Justice and Digital Affairs, and Foreign Affairs and the European External Action Service (EEAS).

The visit included meetings in Belgium and Estonia with regulators, policy makers, practitioners and companies, as well as visits to national cybersecurity reference centres, people identification solution facilities, and ministries, among others, to provide an insight into innovative and successful digital practices in the European Union and a sample of its Member States.

A journey that has allowed Caribbean specialists to gain a deeper understanding of the EU’s digital transformation and how its regulatory and policy framework has enabled a regional coordination approach to the diverse national realities to build a robust digital single market. In addition, examples of digital innovation from the European Union and its Member States, best practices in digital transformation, and enacted public-private partnerships and collaborations in the digital sector between the Caribbean and the EU have been addressed.

The Caribbean prioritises digital transformation

The Caribbean region is at a turning point in its digital transformation efforts. Digital transformation is a priority area for almost all countries in the region, as well as for its main regional bodies, CARICOM and the OECS.

Christopher Deen, General manager of the National Data Management Authority under the office of the Prime Minister of Guyana:  

“Digital transformation is a process that takes many years. They must have a strategy and a vision and more importantly, buy in from your citizens. Now, the matter of trust is extremely important. Having that trust built over a period of time, as you slowly transition services from a virtual setting to a physical setting for citizens, you allow them to be part of the process to build that relationship with government. And eventually a full-blown digital society unfolds. And this is what we learned here during this visit, that you must have a strategy. You must be people first. It must have trust and give it time to build”.