Building a Technology and Innovation Ecosystem for the
Caribbean – Tech Beach Retreat Returns!
Tech Beach Retreat
will return to Montego Bay, Jamaica, Nov 29-Dec 1 2018.The 2017 staging of the
event was considered a massive success on a global scale with speakers
including Jack Dorsey, Founder and CEO of Twitter and Square as well as Lloyd
Carney, Former CEO of Brocade, which was sold for US$6 billion 1 week before
the conference. With just 2 stagings, Tech Beach has emerged as the dominant
force driving conversations on technology and innovation in the region and the
world, with many in Silicon Valley, associating tech in the Caribbean with Tech
Beach Retreat.
Dorsey was visiting
Jamaica for the first time, shared the story of Twitter’s growth from a simple
idea shared by friends into a massive global enterprise, which has driven
numerous global shifts and played a huge role in discourse on matters of
significant consequence. He also revisited the evolution of Square, which was
designed to empower people around the world to be more enterprising through the
easier acceptance of payments anywhere in the world. He expressed future
interest in the Caribbean.
Mr. Dorsey alsodid
not shy away from controversial topics as many had expected.He was especially passionate
about blockchain technology and bitcoin as the tool millennials will use to
change the world and he also touched on the matter of politics, defending
Twitter’s unbiased stance and the refusal to silence any single political voice.
The global
community will convene at the luxurious Iberostar Grand Rosehall Resort at the
event aimed atconnecting wealth and resources with ideas and opportunity. In
2017, Tech Beach gathered 250 tech entrepreneurs, investors and innovators from
around the world. Over 60% of the participants were international and over 60%
reported doing business with another Tech Beach participant within 6 months
after the event. Tech Beach has yielded significant collaboration amongst
participants resulting in partnerships, investment and new enterprise reaching
as far as Dubai, easily dismissing the typical talk shop reputation held by
many conferences around the world. Participants represent companies including
Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Linkedin and Paypal.
“We are working to spark an entrepreneurship
and innovation revolution in the Caribbean. Our goal is to connect the best in
the Caribbean with the best in the world, driving a paradigm shift in the
economic outlook of the Caribbean. Our summits are designed to serve as
catalysts for big ideas, innovation and investment positioning organizations
with the right resources to make their visions happen” said Kirk-Anthony
Hamilton, Co-Founder and Curator of Tech Beach Retreat.
Since inception,
the event has evolved into an innovative platform - connecting people, ideas
and opportunities with the ultimate goal: through entrepreneurship and
engagement - to unlock the full economic potential of the Caribbean region. The
hope is to inspire a culture that embraces innovative new ideas, spurring
disruptive start-ups into large enterprise.
The 2018 theme is Disruptive
Innovation – Exploring the Technological Transformation of Industries. Focus
areas continue to include fin tech, health tech and consumer tech, with special
attention being paid to emerging technologies including digital payments,
artificial intelligence, robotics and automation, cyber security, big data and
blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. Co-Founder Kyle Maloney shared,“These
are some of the areas which we believe are ripe for adaption in our market and
they present the opportunity for the Caribbean to ride waves of new innovation.
It’s very difficult for us to jump on the bandwagon of far advanced
technologies, but these emerging areas have massive wealth creation potential
for the region.”
This year’s staging
features Michele Ramanow, Co-Founder and CEO of Clearbanc and a star on
Canada’s popular TV show Dragon’s Den, the inspiration for Shark Tank. Other
featured speakers include Jeff Pulver, the Founder of Vonage; Arquay Harris,
Director of Growth at Slack, the world’s fastest growing startup; Danielle
Feinberg, Director of Lighting at Pixar; Erin Teague who leads VR for YouTube
and Jason Mars, Founder and CEO of Clinc, considered one of the top ten
innovators in the Banking Industry for his cutting edge AI solution. They will
be joined by local stalwarts including Nadeen Matthews Blair, Chief Digital and
Marketing Officer, the largest bank in the region and one of the most
profitable in the world, Matthews has been charged with leading the banks
digital transformation by majority shareholder, Jamaican born billionaire
Michael Lee-Chin.
Tech Beach Retreat
is activated as a partnership with involvement from a number of entities
including the Iberostar Resorts, Development Bank of Jamaica, JAMPRO, The ICD
Group, Massy Technologies, Regus, Lucid Works from San Francisco, Polymath and
Ample Organics from Toronto amongst others.
Tech Beach Retreat offers an interactive masterclass like no other offering participants an all-inclusive
non-hierarchical experience. The organizers have created an experience
specifically targeted for the global community of entrepreneurs, investors and influencers
to engage and build relationships with the local and regional captains of
industry and the most promising start-ups. The forum is designed for
relationship building, communication and organic business development. It is a
catalyst for change, which exposes business leaders to the challenges and
opportunities presented in our increasingly complex technology driven,
multi-dimensional global economic environment. Tech Beach’s positive results
are based on its core framework: Innovate, Connect, Transform:
Innovate – The successful businesses of tomorrow will look
nothing like today. The Caribbean needs to create the enabling environment for
her citizens, especially the youth and start-ups, to innovate and catch up with
the rest of the tech-developed world. Tech Beach is an early stage reflection
of the environment necessary.
Connect - Connect for synergy and to consolidate!
The second area of focus is to emphasize on the synergy required between the
various stakeholders in the innovation chain of the tech ecosystem, i.e.,
Startups, Mentors, Investors, etc. for any meaningful impact of innovations to
be felt in the society. We connect the best in the region with the best in the
world. Tech thrives on frequent idea exchange and collaboration. A more global
ecosystem will foster new ideas and greater access to resources and markets.
Transform - It is one thing to innovate and, yet, another to
utilize the innovations to transform the lives of the Caribbean people for the
better. This is why Tech Beach 2018 will also focus on how to transform
innovations to positive life-changing effects on the Caribbean population. We are empowering the next generation to positively shift the
region’s economic outlook through entrepreneurship, innovation and technology.
Tech Beach Retreat is a fast emerging
and widely celebrated global community of tech entrepreneurs, investors,
influencers, enthusiasts and innovators meeting under the idyllic backdrop of
the Caribbean sun, sand and sea. The platform offers a deal makers' paradise
where the best in the world come together.
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