Why the Caribbean’s digital future depends upon the cloud

In 2018, many first-world countries are seeing the remarkable, disruptive impact of the digital economy. In the Caribbean, however, there is no consistent delivery of state-of-the-art information and communication technology (ICT) services from country to country, and the availability of online services to citizens can vary widely. At the same time, Caribbean countries have seen firsthand the debilitating impact of natural disasters. The hurricanes of 2017 were a stark reminder of the need for a more strategic approach to improve resilient infrastructure. Citizens and economies of vulnerable small island states are at risk, as the loss of infrastructure including access to critical IT systems is a major impediment to both the efforts to coordinate post disaster relief efforts and to general economic recovery.