Caribbean News
JAMAICA: Student Entrepreneur Team Wins Global Competition
#Jamaica, May 23, 2018 – Kingston – Northern Caribbean University (NCU) has created history by fielding the first Jamaican student entrepreneur team, Beasc Technologies, to win the prestigious International Business Model Competition (IBMC) for tertiary institutions globally.
Beasc Technologies, which was one of five Jamaican teams participating in the IBMC’s 2018 renewal in Utah, USA, from May 10 to 11, topped participants from 38 other colleges and universities to cop the champion’s trophy and a US$30,000 cash prize. The teams’ performance was further embellished with a second-place finish by University of the West Indies (UWI) representative, Eco-Structures, whose members were awarded the US$20,000 first runner-up prize.
The feats were achieved in only the fifth year that Jamaican tertiary student-run businesses were participating in the annual event, dating back to 2014 when the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) launched the National Business Model Competition (NBMC) for local tertiary-student entrepreneurs. Both teams made their presentations to a high-level group of judges comprising author of the bestselling books ‘Running Lean’ and ‘Scaling Lean’ – Ash Maurya, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Startup Tuscon – Aaron Eden, and Founder and CEO of Precoil – David Bland.
Other Jamaican entrants this year included 2018 NBMC winner – Queritel, and Skolastik Oasis, both from the UWI; and Pneulyfe from NCU. Eco-Structures and Pneulyfe were first and second runners-up, respectively, to Queritel. Their placements continued the impressive run of local teams finishing among the IBMC’s top-10 competitors, with all NBMC winners between 2014 and 2017 achieving this feat.
The previous highest placement was recorded by 2017 NBMC winner, Natisma Nutraceuticals, which finished fourth.
National NBMC Coach, Douglas Lindo, who travelled with the teams to Utah, has high praises for the performances of Beasc Technologies and Eco-Structures.
“We are overjoyed. Imagine first and second in our fifth year of entering this world-class event. This is amazing,” he tells JIS News.
Designed to encourage and promote the creative and innovative thinking of students, the NBMC facilitates local entrepreneurial skills and enhances collaboration and communication between stakeholders in the private sector and academia.
The initiative is anchored and supported by the DBJ and its partners, including the Inter-American Development Bank-Multilateral Investment Fund (IDB-MIF), Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), PanJam Investment Limited, Musson Foundation, Restaurant Associates Limited (Burger King), Scotiabank Jamaica, Sagicor Group, GK Capital Management, PetroCaribe Development Fund and NCB Foundation.
The IBMC is sponsored by the Kevin and Debra Rollins Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology in the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University, headquartered in Provo, Utah.
The entrepreneurship programme at the Marriott School, which has campuses/students across the United States and in 105 other countries, is consistently ranked among the top such offered, annually.
By: Douglas McIntosh (JIS)
KINGSTON, April 29 (JIS):
Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, says the outcome of discussions arising from the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) will assist in guiding the Government’s planning for climate change.
This, he points out, is important for climate mitigation as well as building Jamaica’s resilience.
“We look forward to the discussions that will, no doubt, take place. We look forward to the basis of planning for the Government to streamline its investments to ensure you have the tools that you need to better advise us, that the WRA (Water Resources Authority) has the tools to digitise its monitoring network, and that all of the agencies that touch our planning mechanisms have the tools. But we need to know what we are facing, and we’re guided by your expertise,” Minister Samuda said.
He was addressing the opening ceremony for the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in New Kingston on Monday (April 29).
Senator Samuda said given the fact that the climate has changed and continues to do so, investments in and collaborations on building Jamaica’s predictive and scientific capacity must be prioritised.
“Ultimately, we need to be able to assess our current climatic realities if we are to better plan, if we’re to insist and ensure that our infrastructure meets the needs that we need it to. I’m very happy that this event is happening… because this is a critical issue.
“Jamaica, last year, faced its worst and most severe drought… and this year, we’re already seeing the impacts of not quite as severe a drought but, certainly, a drought with severe impacts, especially in the western part of the country,” he said.
Principal Director, Meteorological Service of Jamaica, Evan Thompson, explained that the forum aims to, among other things, establish a collaboration platform for climate services providers and users to understand risks and opportunities of past, present and future climate developments, as well as improve inter-agency coordination of policies, plans and programmes.
Among the other presenters were Ambassador, European Union to Jamaica, Her Excellency Marianne Van Steen; Chief Scientist/Climatologist, Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Adrian Trotman; and Head, Regional Climate Prediction Services, World Meteorological Organization, Wilfran Moufouma-Okia.
The Meteorological Service of Jamaica hosted the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) in partnership with the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology and the World Meteorological Organization.
The National Stakeholder Consultation is a governance mechanism that guides how different sectors or actors work together to create products that contribute to adaptation and resilience-building. It seeks to create a road map for the development and implementation of climate services to inform decision-making.
NCF-1 aims to bridge the gap between climate providers and users. It increases the use of science-based information in decision-making and operations with the aim of generating and delivering co-produced and co-designed products and services.
CONTACT: CHRIS PATTERSON
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