Startups

SUN, SEA AND INNOVATION REPORT #4

Published

6 years ago

June 26, 2018

Stay ahead of the News, Trends, Insight and Events going on in Digital Caribbean and Diaspora. In this Week’s Report on global #TechTuesday is Sponsored by National Commercial Bank of Jamaica.

[ CRYPTOCURRENCY ]

BAHAMAS WILL PILOT STATE-BACKED DIGITAL CURRENCY

Bahamas – The Central Bank of The Bahamas is to introduce a pilot digital currency. The announcement from the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Honorable K. Peter Turnquest was made at the Bahamas Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference taking place this week.

[ DIGITAL SKILLS ]

ITU WRAPS UP GLOBAL SYMPOSIUM ON SKILLS FOR DIGITAL ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

Caribbean-The 2018 ITU Global ICT Capacity Building Symposium (CBS-2018) took place 18-20 June 2018 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, with a special focus on “Developing Skills for the Digital Economy and Society”

[ DIGITAL CULTURE ]

JAMAICA MOVING TO BECOME A DIGITAL ECONOMY, SAYS PM

THE Jamaican Government says its is taking steps to transform Jamaican into a digital economy.

“The Government is taking the very first step towards preparing and creating the opportunities for Jamaicans to participate in this inevitable, imminent digital society. We have passed a legislation to create a national identification system. That is a good example of digital leadership; the determination, the effort, the energy to get it done, in spite of,” said Prime Minister Holness.

BAHAMAS PEGGED TO BE ‘SILICON CAPITAL’ OF THE CARIBBEAN

Bahamas-Prime Minister of The Bahamas Dr. Hubert Minnis officially opened the first Bahamas Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference in Grand Bahama yesterday where he indicated that The Bahamas has the potential to soon be the “Silicon Capital” for technology in the Caribbean region.

TECH STARTUPS

We got a cool write up on the #1 Diaspora website Jamaicans.com.

“We kickstarted a community…” – A Conversation with Ingrid Riley on the Kingston BETA Finale on Jamaicans.com

KingstonBETA is the longest-running tech start-up event in the region’s technology sector. It is a signature brand from SiliconCaribe. Since its establishment, KingstonBETA has produced more than 100 events that attracted over 10,000 attendees, along with 400 tech entrepreneurs from eight Caribbean nations and the Diaspora in the United States and the United Kingdom.

[ CARIBBEAN PODCAST TO CHECK OUT THIS WEEK ]

Reasonings with Odessa Chambers

What’s it about?

Each week Jamaican-based, British born TV Producer, Blogger and Entertainment Executive Odessa Chambers speaks to celebrities and influencers of our Caribbean and African Diaspora. She also adds her signature rants and raves all over some drinks.

Reasonings can be heard on AnchorFM, iTunes and Google Podcasts.

[INTERNET CULTURE TRENDS THIS WEEK ]

So what has the Attention of these four randomly selected Caribbean Countries ?

JAMAICA

Youtube videos, Local Google Search, Mobile Content on Smart Magazine, Online Shopping at Amazon, Facebook and seems to be getting their international and entertainment news from a New York-based website called NTD.TV. What’s new in Jamaica’s Top 10 websites that has their attention this week is online porn at Bongacams #9 .After that Top 10, Online banking with Scotiabank #12, Instagram #13, Wikipedia are in their Top 20.

TRINIDAD and TOBAGO

This Week The Trinidadians were consumed with their Local Google Search, Youtube Videos, Facebook, Online Shopping at Amazon, Yahoo email, Wikipedia and NDTV. And they surely love their online porn – Bongacams #12 and Pornhub #14 got way more attention that even their local newspaper site TrinidadExpress at #17.

BARBADOS

It seems the launch of IGTV on Instagram had the attention of Bajans, as Instagram shot to Number 6 on their most visited websites this week, up from Number 20 last week. Additionally, they were reading both the national newspapers this week as both NationNews #9 and BarbadosToday #10 made the top 10 websites they spent their time on.

These are the most noticeable change in what has the attention of Bajans this week.

Global Google Search, Youtube Online Videos, Facebook, Online shopping at Amazon still are their top 3 websites and in that order. Wikipedia, Yahoo and Live replaced Reddit, Xvideo, Netflix and PornHub this week.

BAHAMAS

Bahamians are definitely into their local Google Search, Youtube Videos, Global Google Search, Shopping on Amazing and checking out Mobile Content of SmartMagazine. Those are the top 5 websites that have their attention this week. Facebook, Checking their Yahoo email and Wikipedia are three of their online activities too…followed by…LotteryPost.com. Ebay, Netflix, visiting Reddit and Pornhub are in their top 10 and it seems they love their online gaming as Paradise Games #15 is ahead of even time on Instagram #16.

[ TOP CARIBBEAN NATIONS ON FACEBOOK ]

Jamaica – 1.3 million people between ages 13-65

Trinidad + Tobago – 830,000 people

Bahamas – 440, 000 people

Barbados – 190,000 people

St Lucia – 130,000 people

Antigua – 68,000 people

Cayman – 100,000 people

ST Kitts – 40,000 people

14 million Caribbean people are on Facebook

[ EVENTS ]

CITE Week

What: the 2nd annual Caribbeans In Tech and Entrepreneurship Week , also know as CITE Week. A week filled with workshops, demos, expos, networking opportunities, music, and most of all delicious food!

Where: New York, USA

When: June 25th – July 1st, 2018

More details

THE FINALE- Kingston BETA Tech Startup Event

Where: JAMPRO HQ, 18 Trafalgar Road

Time: 6:30 pm sharp.

Entry: JMD$1,000 | US$8 Regular

JMD$500 | US$4 High school and college students.

Open Call: Pitches and Demos from Entrepreneurs are welcomed as usual. Please send requests to ingrid@siliconcaribe.com[ Caribbean Startups To Watch ]

More Info: Kingstonbeta.com

Coders Of The Caribbean 2018

When: July 13 – July 15

For Whom: Aspiring and current Millennial Coders and Entrepreneurs 42 hours hackathon of teams seeking to bring their ideas to life with over 100 students

Where: 58HWT Road, Kingston 5, Jamaica

Event Producers: NextGenCreators

Details: http://nextgencreators.com/code/

This Sun, Sea and Innovation Report is sponsored by