Propelling regional development post-COVID

Deeply concerned about the public health, financial and climate crises currently facing the Caribbean, The UWI advanced the discourse on solutions with regional stakeholders. On August 12, 2021, Vice-Chancellor Beckles led a discussion with the new president of the CDB, Dr. Gene Leon, alongside senior UWI executives, student leaders and representatives from the public and private sectors who serve on UWI committees. It was also attended by key university stakeholders, including Dr. Carla Barnett, new Secretary-General of CARICOM.

This forum was the first of a series of engagements seeking to strengthen alignment between the strategic priorities of the Caribbean region’s development bank and the region’s leading university. It seeks to support innovative solutions, new development approaches and large-scale investments in the economic, digital and social transformations critical to the Caribbean’s post-COVID recovery.

In his presentation entitled “A Transformative Vision: Propelling Regional Development for the Post-COVID Era”, Dr. Leon introduced the concept of KIDS—Knowledge, Innovation, Diagnostics and Strategies—which he believes is where educational systems like The UWI are needed to play critical roles. He concluded that the region’s key priorities are education, digital transformation and implementation capacity deficit reduction.