Prime Minister Gaston Browne (right) and UWI Vice-Chancellor Sir Hilary Beckles (left) (Photo by Robert A Emmanuel)
By Robert Andre Emmanuel
As Antigua and Barbuda prepares to host the Organisation of American States’ (OAS) 55th General Assembly next year, Prime Minister Gaston Browne said that his government is looking to build out the country’s conference tourism market.
Following May’s successful execution of the fourth Small Island Developing States (SIDS) conference, the government has been looking at hosting a number of events over the next year.
Observer media spoke to the Prime Minister on the heels of the opening ceremony of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) conference organised by the University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus (UWI FIC).
“We are transitioning Antigua and Barbuda into conference tourism,” he said. “We now have the AUA {American University of Antigua} conference facility, so we have the infrastructure in place now to accommodate large groups and that will be itself an attraction to be able to expand our tourism product, bring more people here.
“The more people here, the more revenues we make and the more opportunities we can create for the people of Antigua and Barbuda,” he said.
PM Browne, who was one of the guest speakers at Monday night’s opening ceremony for the AI conference, spoke about the potential benefits and dangers of artificial intelligence and the value of the Caribbean region having a seat at the table as the international community discusses pathways towards regulation of the industry.
“This specific conference goes beyond the issue of tourism; this is more from the standpoint of the technical expertise, and the partnerships in AI that we’re seeking to establish to expand our digital transformation plan for the country,” he explained.
“We have this impressive vision of creating a digital transformation platform powered by AI and we are putting a new framework in place, the infrastructure to include broadband services, the legal framework, the administrative framework and you will see us acquiring more AI technologies as we seek to deliver a more efficient public service.”
The Prime Minister said that in order for the government and the country to be globally competitive, the use of next-generation technology is critical to this push, including web3 platforms. Web3 is the idea of a new, decentralised internet built on blockchains.
Browne added that as the government builds out this sector there will be more opportunities for youth, noting that young people who graduate from the UWI FIC School of Computing Science and Artificial Intelligence would be given priority for employment within the public sector.
“The reason why they will get priority employment is that as we invest in these additional AI technologies, we’re going to need qualified people to man them and I think it is a very exciting area for the people of Antigua and Barbuda,” he said.
