By: Staff Writer
December 17, 2021
We are beyond Web2 and are now in the middle of the Web3 revolution, says a Caribbean technology expert, something she also says is “democratising” the way Caribbean people are doing business.
Ingrid Riley, chief executive officer and founder of SiliconCaribe, told Caribbean Magazine Plus that she “exceeded” her expectations from this year’s Future of Caribbean Money (FOCM) event and is already planning next year’s event. With over 300 participants, the event was held in The Bahamas at Crypto Isle and streamed to over 10 countries in the region plus the US, UK and Canada with a small in-person event that hosted the Prime Minister of The Bahamas this year’s event was a smashing success.
Ms Riley also said: “Year two is still going to be a hybrid event, but we’re going to do things a little differently and we will reveal more of that over the next couple of months.”
SiliconCaribe had several major sponsors for this year’s event including Microsoft, MasterCard and First Atlantic Commerce.
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The key objective of the FOMC was a “return to the ethos” of SiliconCaribe. “SiliconCaribe has been around for over 14 years and the mission has always been twofold. First, to amplify the people, businesses and ideas, cabin people, businesses and ideas that are actually working in different tech sectors and how they’re integrating technology into the future of cabin business. Secondly, the second part of the mission is we are focused on educating and inspiring the next generation of Caribbean entrepreneurs and innovators,” Ms Riley said.
She continued, “So that usually guides our decision in terms of what we do, where we do it, and with whom. So this whole FOMC conference was about Web3 or this next phase of the internet is democratising how people make, manage, and invest money.
“There are various people who are already doing this. So let’s bring them to the fore, bring them into a single event and have them share their stories and share what they know.”
Web3, also known as Web 3.0, is an idea for a new iteration of the Internet that is based on public blockchains. The term was coined in 2014 by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood, and the idea gained interest in 2020 and 2021 from cryptocurrency enthusiasts, large technology companies and venture capitalist firms.
Responding to concerns if whether or not Caribbean people have the capacity to take advantage of this Web3 revolution, Ms Riley said: “The beautiful thing that i have always realised having been a tech-entrepreneur for almost 20 years myself is that the Caribbean is always tend to be discounted simply because people do not know what is going on of what Caribbean people are already doing.
“We are smart and we’re as innovative as anybody else in the world. You can always find a group of entrepreneurs or innovators who are right there with the best of them around the world. So I always try to keep my ears on the ground and keep my tentacles across the region and also the diaspora and when you have done over 300 events over the past 14 years, you tend to build up a great network and feel the pulses all over the place.”
