Game Changing Conference
A road map for reigniting growth and innovation in Caribbean economies, the CRMA Conference 2020 was successfully delivered by the Caribbean Risk Management Academy on Thursday 19th November 2020. This game changing conference titled: “Risk Management 4.0 – Constructively Disrupting Caribbean Economies for a Sustainable Future” was the first virtual conference hosted by the Academy.
High-Risk Times
The need for the conference was considered urgent as it is no secret that our Caribbean economies have been significantly impacted by the current global pandemic. For example, of the 15 countries with highest death rate in world, 11 are located in either Latin America or Caribbean. As a result, the Academy asserts that risk management is a key to reinventing the territories and making them more resilient to uncertainty. Therefore the CRMA Conference 2020 sought to deliver actionable insights for implementation in the short to medium term.
Firstly, participants were highly engaged throughout the day with the extraordinary perspectives and analysis from by the three distinguished keynotes speakers: Dr. Karen Hardy of the US based Strategic Risk Advisors LLC; the Honourable Marvin Gonzales, Minister of Public Utilities, of Trinidad and Tobago; and the Honourable Iram D. Lewis, Minister of State in the Ministry of Disaster Preparedness, Management and Reconstruction, of the Bahamas.
The Honourable Minister Gonzales was particularly memorable in his address with his stark assessment of our current realities and examples of other transformational situations the country and the utility sector survived.
Innovation is Risky
Next, after the CRMA 2020 Conference keynotes, there were three exciting panel discussions from leading Caribbean academics, risk practitioners, policy makers and entrepreneurs. Participants and panellists were keen to continue the conversations past the session times. Some of the questions the participants posed to the panellists included:
- Innovation requires a willingness to accept failure as a risk. How can we make failure a less stigmatised part of our work culture?
- How can we minimize the politicization and related risks in the management and governance of state enterprises?
Mr. Aldwyn Wayne, CEO of WiPay shared that he saw his failures as learning experiences. While Mr. Kwesi Hopkinson, CEO of Scorch, regarded his business failures as equivalent to a ‘semester at Harvard’.
While there was differing opinions, many relatable stories emerged from amongst the several accomplished panellists who included: Mr. Anthony Subero of Hitachi Systems Security, Canada; Mr. Kirk Henry of iGovTT; Mr. Philip Lewis of LCI Management Solutions, Barbados; Mr Kennedy Richards, Member of Parliament for Point Fortin, Ms Sana Ragbir of First Citizens; Mr. Ricardo Lewis of the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago; Mr. Joel Richard, International Trade Representative based in Geneva; Dr. Kirk Douglas of the UWI Centre for Bio-Security, Barbados; Dr. Wayne Charles Soverall, Public Sector Management Lecturer, UWI.
The dynamic panels moderated by Ms Marsha Lewis, Dr Eduardo Ali and Ms Michelle Johnson seemed to finish too soon. The excellent discussions from the various sessions of the day came together smoothly during the comments from Ms Natasha Subero, Director of the Academy who wove together the panel conversations and expert perspectives.
Building Resilience in Small Island Economies
Most importantly, throughout the various sessions, the attendees were guided on how to use risk management to build resilience and sustainability. This is a significant issue for small island developing states that have become especially vulnerable to the perils of climate change. For example, technology and data management were in the spotlight as tools for fostering innovation and growth. Mr Anthony Subero of Hitachi alongside Ms Sana Ragbir of First Citizens provided rich information on work from home cyber security as well as corporate risk mitigation to capture more opportunities.
The panellists also highlighted state of the tourism and entertainment industries which have been casualties of the pandemic for all Caribbean territories. Mr Kwesi Hopkinson of Scorch identified some of the burning issues in entertainment risk and Mr Alwyn Wayne of WiPay offered key lessons on entrepreneurship in times of uncertainty. These two delivered a riveting debate which the particpants thoroughly enjoyed.
Energy Sector professional and Strategic Risk Consultant, Ms Kellee Ann Richards-St Clair discussed climate risk management and provided advice on embedding environment, social and governance (ESG) consideration into strategic planning. The attendees were also treated to interesting discourses from UWI lecturers and leaders of academia, Dr Wayne Charles Soverall (Public Administration) and Dr. Kirk Douglas (Biosecurity).
Risk Education, Culture and Governance
At the end of the conference, one of the key points of agreement was that there can be no effective risk management without the right education, culture and governance structure. During his address, the Honourable Marvin Gonzales emphasized this with one of the memorable quotes of the day: “The role of education can no longer be to teach content alone but rather to help our children learn in a world that rewards the disruptive innovator and punishes the formulaic adherent”
The CRMA Conference 2020 sponsors included First Citizens, the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago and Hitachi Systems Security Inc. The production team also comprised several strategic partners including Strategic Leadership Advisors LLC, LCI Management Solutions, WiPay and Beach and Associates.
Learning resources from the CRMA Conference 2020 will be available for purchase soon. See our Training Calendar or visit our CRMA Store to see currently available Workshops, Courses and Webinars.