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The New Digital Economy – Basil Springer Column

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“All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

– John 1:3

 

March 22, 2022 – I remember the days of the piggy bank and the savings account which were secure repositories for the precious pennies gained from our pocket money, birthday and Christmas gifts and earnings from odd jobs.

I am also reminded of the chorus of the 1967 calypso hit “Education” by Mighty Sparrow, the lyrical master: “Children, go to school and learn well, otherwise later on in life you will catch real hell; Without an education in your head, your whole life will be pure misery, you’re better off dead; For there is simply no room in this whole wide world, for an uneducated little boy or girl; Don’t allow idle companions to lead you astray, to earn tomorrow you have to learn today.”

These two memories inculcated a discipline of saving and investment when we entered the job market, which would later contribute to our own wealth and hence to the growth of our economies.

Investment instruments include real estate, entrepreneurship, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, bank products, pensions, insurance and futures.

Now, fast forward to the information and computer technology (ICT) age. The need for a safe repository for savings and investment funds is the same but the language now embraces the new additional digital economy and the currency is the new digital cryptocurrency.

The business opportunities to fuel economic growth have not changed, namely agriculture, blue economy, carbon trading, commerce, cultural industries, finance, manufacturing, mining, renewable energy, reparations and tourism.

However, thought leadership, management and workforce development have all shifted to the digital environment consisting of ICT, blockchains, cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFT).

Economic progress has been dampened over the last two years by the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic which has focused on vaccinating the public and practicing public health protocols to save lives, restore livelihoods and get children back in school before any long-lasting damage is done.

In the meantime, we have to acclimatize to this quickly moving digital tide, as a part of our daily routine, as we move toward more digital lives to help with humanity’s progress.

Blockchain technology is a mathematical, digital security system to record information in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to change, hack or cheat the system. A blockchain is essentially a digital ledger of transactions that is duplicated and distributed across the entire network of computer systems on the blockchain.

Cryptocurrencies run on a distributed public blockchain ledger, a record of all transactions updated and held by currency holders. Units of cryptocurrency are created through a process called mining, which involves using computer power to solve complicated mathematical problems and using peer-to-peer technology to facilitate instant payments.

NFT stands for non-fungible token. It’s generally built using the same kind of programming as cryptocurrency, but that’s where the similarity ends. Physical money and cryptocurrencies are “fungible”, meaning they can be traded or exchanged for one another.

An NFT is created or “minted” from digital objects that represent both tangible and intangible items, including art, messages, images, videos, collectibles, designer items and music.

Many years ago, Gabriel Abed, the son of a Barbadian neighbor, and Paul Sisnett, a Barbadian in Europe, tried to interest me in the blockchain cryptocurrency space with “Bitcoin” and “PAYWITH.GLASS” concepts, respectively … but sadly, I was “too busy at the time.”

Last week, however, I was introduced to NFTs, and this has once again piqued my interest.

In the context of the new digital economy, some Latin American countries are playing a lead role as they embrace these new transformative technologies. What’s our plan in the Caribbean?

 

Basil Springer Column

March 14, 2022

Caribbean News

CARPHA Progresses to Eligibility for the First Disbursement of Pandemic Funding

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Following a landmark Public Signing Ceremony for the Pandemic Fund (PF) Technical Cooperation Agreement (“Reducing the Public Health Impact of Pandemics in the Caribbean through Prevention, Preparedness, and Response” [RG-T4387] Project) on December 14, 2023, in Trinidad, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) continues to progress towards the start of implementation.

 CARPHA fulfilled the IDB’s nine conditions prior to first disbursement, achieving full eligibility on March 15, 2024, and is now eligible for the first disbursement. This milestone achievement in just 3 months after the signing speaks to the commitment of both CARPHA, the Executing Agency, and IDB, the Implementing Entity, toward the regional PF project with the objective of supporting the reduction of the public health impact of pandemics in the Caribbean by building pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPR) surveillance & early-warning systems (EWS), laboratory systems and workforce capacity, regionally at CARPHA and in countries.

Since the signing of the Technical Cooperation Agreement and as part of the conditions prior to first disbursement, CARPHA has achieved the following key outputs (i) the development of the PF Project Operations Manual, Multi-annual Execution Plan, Procurement Plan, Financial Plan, Procedure for CARPHA’s Financial Reporting System; (ii) vacancy announcements for two tranches of consultants with the subsequent hiring of five (Technical Coordinator, Financial Specialist, Procurement Specialist, Operations Officer and Project Operations Coordinator) and (iii) the establishment of the Project Execution Unit (PEU) and Project Execution Steering Committee (PESC). The dedicated PEU will be responsible for execution according to its planned timelines, which will be led by the Dr. Lisa Indar, the Project Director (CARPHA’s Director of Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control Division).

 CARPHA, as the lead regional public health agency and an expression of Caribbean Cooperation in Health is mandated by its Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) to support its 26 CARPHA Member States (CMS) in bolstering national systems and coordinating regional response to public health threats. The Agency works closely with regional and international agencies and uses regional mechanisms, surveillance systems, and networks for coordinating its public health response work.

In July 2023, the PF Governing Board announced that CARPHA’s regional entity proposal, entitled ‘Reducing the Public Health Impact of Pandemics in the Caribbean through Strengthened Integrated Early Warning Surveillance, Laboratory Systems and Workforce Development’ was successfully selected for the first round of financing. It was one of only 19 proposals selected from over 300 submissions and the only regional project. The three priority areas in the proposal are: (i) Comprehensive disease surveillance and EWS, (ii) Laboratory systems and (iii) Human resources and public health and community workforce capacity.

This project is expected to begin implementation in March 2024, starting off with a blended onboarding session. A Stakeholder Meeting with countries is tentatively planned for July 2024.

CARPHA remains dedicated to working together with the IDB, CARPHA Member States and the Pandemic Fund to successfully implement the regional proposal geared toward reducing the public health impact of pandemics in the Caribbean.

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Caribbean News

Men who had Murdered Man, Marley Higgs’ cell phone face Court

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Wilkie Arthur

Freelance Court Correspondent

The prosecution intends to try two young North Caicos men, both age 21 for the offense of possession of property of a murdered man, property that was stolen and landed in their possession.

The phone belonged to Peureton ‘Marley’ Higgs, who is believed to have been an innocent gunned down at his apartment complex in the Glass Shack area in a spray of bullets on February 2 that killed another man and wounded two others, including a ten-year-old little girl.

The cell phone was described as white in colour, an iPhone, in a hard black case. 

On Monday, March 18th, JEFFVANO HANDFIELD of North Caicos pleaded not guilty to the offense, and the matter was adjourned to April 2024. He was granted bail in the matter.

A second North Caicos man was charged similarly.  

SARENO CAPELLAN aka, Kino Williams is the second individual brought before the court pertaining to the said cellphone. He appeared in court a week after JEFFVANO HANDFIELD, the date being Monday March 25th 2024.

The case for the Crown is that both men sometime in February of this year possessed the cellphone knowing or suspecting it to be stolen property.

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Caribbean News

Supreme Court Closed for Easter

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NOTICE is hereby given that the Easter Recess shall commence on Friday 29th April, 2024 and end on Friday 5th April, 2024. During the Easter Recess Judge Selochan will be available to deal only with matters that are urgent or require prompt attention.

Court Business During the Easter Recess

A person who wishes to have a matter heard during the recess must file a certificate of urgency along with an affidavit, which must set out the reasons why the matter is urgent or requires prompt attention. The matter will not be listed during the recess unless the Judge deems it fit for urgent hearing.

Opening Hours During the Easter Holiday

The Supreme Court’s last sitting day for the first term is Thursday 28th March, 2024. The Court will officially resume sittings on Monday 8th April, 2024. The Supreme Court Offices in both Grand Turk and Providenciales will continue to operate while the Court is not sitting during the recess.

The Court Office will be closed on the following public holidays:

  • Friday 29th March, 2024 (Good Friday) CLOSED
  • Monday 1st April, 2024 (Easter Monday) CLOSED

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