Communiqué #5 : Reimagining Institutions & Multi-stakeholder Collaboration.
A core part of SlashRoots’ thesis is that we believe realising a Caribbean region that works for all requires creating new institutions and reimagining how we work together on the problems we face. The team covered a lot of ground in May—figuratively and literally.
We had opportunities to make a case for our ideas on new Caribbean and pan-African platforms.
In particular, I want to express my appreciation to Michelle Marius and the ICT Pulse team. Michelle has been a torchbearer for ICT policy and regional collaboration for over a decade. In May, she hosted David and me on her ICT Pulse podcast (more on that below). Michelle also reached the impressive milestone of 300 podcast episodes in May. This is an amazing testament to her commitment and consistency in serving the region. Congratulations, Michelle!
In May’s newsletter, we share more about the podcast and other developments.
Thank you for continuing on this journey with us.
Onward and Upward
Matthew
ICT PULSE PODCAST FEATURE
Talking Caribbean Futures and Digital Public Infrastructure on the ICT Pulse Podcast
David and I joined Michele Marius on Episode 301 of the ICT Pulse Podcast to talk about digital public infrastructure, the importance of anchoring digital transformation in a clear vision for the kind of Caribbean region we want to create, and how an infrastructure approach to digitisation can accelerate our progress.
I really enjoyed the discussion. One of David's points during a segment discussing whether governments should make new digital systems mandatory for citizens stood out to me, and I wanted to share it here.
You can listen the full conversation on your favourite podcast player or on the ICT Pulse website.
SLASHROOTS ON THE ROAD
EU-LAC Digital Alliance High-Level Policy Dialogue on E-Governance - San Jose, Costa Rica
Denique Soutar, SlashRoots Senior Service Designer, travelled to San Jose, Costa Rica, for a high-level bi-regional policy dialogue on e-governance priorities between Caribbean, Latin American, and European Union stakeholders.
Participants included senior government representatives, the private sector, civil society, and academia. This was the second in-person event in a discussion series organised by the EU-LAC Digital Alliance focused on advancing a framework for cooperation. The discussion centred on cross-border cooperation, interoperability, and cross-border electronic identity.
The discussions aim to co-develop an agenda and roadmap for bi-regional cooperation and achieve policy-level agreements in time for the EU-CELAC Summit in 2025.
ID4Africa Annual General Meeting (AGM) - Cape Town, South Africa
At the end of May, Matthew travelled to Cape Town, South Africa, for the 2024 ID4Africa Annual General Meeting, organised under the theme “Digital Identity as DPI: Fostering Trust, Inclusion, and Adoption.”
ID4Africa is the only pan-African movement dedicated to helping African nations build their strategic capacity to develop robust and responsible identity ecosystems for development and humanitarian action.
I convened a panel titled “Building Trust, Protecting Human Rights: Demystifying Civil Society’s Contribution to Legal Identity for All” focused on how civil society, media, and academia across Africa and other parts of the world are working to achieve universal access to a legal identity.
I was invited to conduct this discussion because of the effective multi-stakeholder discussions I helped to organise.
It was a solid session and worth watching to if you want to hear more about the new kinds of collaboration that African organisations are pursuing in relation to digital identity and digital transformation efforts across the continent.
UPDATES
NIDS Regulations Tabled in Parliament
The Jamaican government took another step towards implementing a new foundational identity system in May, with the Senate approving the National Identification and Registration Act regulations on May 31st. In the coming weeks, it will go before Parliament.
We are currently in the process of reviewing the regulations and will share our analysis when it is complete.
MAY GOOD READS
Here are some of the stories our team has been thinking about this month :
Civil Registration and Vital Statistics and Digital Public Infrastructure
The UNDP and partners have been engaged in a series of dialogues on the importance of integrating civil registration and vital statistics systems with digital public infrastructure to improve service delivery, safeguard human rights, and ‘accelerate progress towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals’.
Click to read on the UNDP Blog
Constitutional Reform Town Hall Meeting: Safeguarding Human Rights
Jamaicans for Justice have been hosting a series of town halls focused on Jamaica’s Constitutional Reform process. In the third town hall of the series, panellists the Hon. B St. Michael Hylton, O.J. (attorney-at-law, K.C.); Dr. Maziki Thame (political scientist), and Professor Trevor Munroe (Founding Director, National Integrity Action) discuss their concerns with the Constitutional Reform Committee’s recommendations.