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Basseterre, St. Kitts, October 30, 2020 (SKNIS): Minister of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) the Honourable Akilah Byron-Nisbett, joined her regional and international counterparts on Tuesday, October 27, 2020, for the 5^th Caribbean Economic Forum – How to Digitize an Economy.

The event, which was held virtually, focused on building a digital economy. Minister Byron-Nisbett used the occasion to update her counterparts on St. Kitts and Nevis’ position where the Federation’s digital footprint is concerned.

“In 2019, our government would have embarked on our strategic path to accelerate towards an innovative digital economy through the implementation of our digital transformation strategy, which covers the period of 2020-2022,” said the Honourable Akilah Byron-Nisbett.

The ICT Minister said that although COVID-19 would have slowed the process, much is being done to get back on track.

“We are still working on that path towards our digital transformation because our vision is to make St. Kitts and Nevis a world leader in digital services delivery for our citizens, residents, private sector, as well as investors,” said Minister Byron-Nisbett. “We want to be able to do this in a manner that is safe, efficient, interactive, and responsive, and one that would meet the needs of our end-users, and would allow us to grow our economy, as well as contribute to our national development.” 

She said that St. Kitts and Nevis is taking a similar approach to that of Rwanda. Rwanda’s approach was foundational where they created the necessary strategies first then proceeded to build their Digital Economy based on those strategies. Their digital transformation dates back some 20 years ago.

“We are using a simple approach, but we know it is important and that is one that ensures that the foundational elements are implemented from the onset. And so, we are embarking right now on developing our whole of Government Technology Strategy and our Cybersecurity Strategy,” said the minister. “Our cybersecurity strategy is being tied with the development of our technology strategy because we understand that persons need to have that confidence that their data is secured and they need to have confidence in the integrity of the data especially the data that will be housed on our government servers.”

The minister said that the path St. Kitts and Nevis is currently on will yield many benefits for all.

Minister of ICT and Innovation in Rwanda, the Honourable Paula Ingabire, and Director of Data Processing Department in Barbados’ Ministry of Innovation, Science and Smart Technology, (MIST) Rodney Taylor, also participated in the 5^th Caribbean Economic Forum.