What

Why: The Bank is in the process of developing a regulatory framework to support the orderly development of electronic payments in Jamaica to be out by this year.

When: March 1, 2012
If you’re interested please email  today ingrid@connectimass.com

We are big believers who live this everyday!

No company or country can afford to ignore this phenomenon. The fact is that we have entered the “second half of the chessboard,” where the scale and speed of change are indelibly altering industry structures and the way that companies do business. Farsighted companies, even ones in traditional industries, can separate the signals from the noise and create new sources of advantage by going digital. The “new” Internet is different in many ways from the old Internet. More

What: Attend a focus group with other Caribbean entrepreneurs and software developers to explore the potential of establishing a mobile innovation and entrepreneurship initiative in the region.
For Who

Are you a software/apps developer, tech entrepreneur? Then this is for you to network with smart minds and share your insight with the World Bank in how they can help us transform the Caribbean into a world-class region for Mobile Innovation.

Why?
Over the next seven years, infoDev / The World Bank Group will invest significantly in improving the innovation ecosystem in the Caribbean. We aim to do so in a demand-driven way, learning the needs of the environment and working closely with partners to create an initiative that will prove valuable to the Caribbean. In this focus group, we hope to discuss issues such as:
- What is the current mobile innovation landscape? Who are the main players? What are the main market demands? What are the market constraints
- What is the quality and quantity of entrepreneurs? Do they have sufficient technical skills? Do they have sufficient business skills? Is there a culture of entrepreneurship
- What entities are currently supporting entrepreneurship? Are they educational, private, public or other? What are their strengths and weaknesses?
- What is the state of financing for SMEs? Is finance a limiting constraint? From where does financing come? Does it invest in ICT or mobile innovation
- What is the role for diaspora in supporting entrepreneurship in the Caribbean?
- What is the cost of doing business in the Caribbean?

When/Where:
Jamaica (Monday, February 6, 2012): World Bank Office Courtleigh Corporate Centre 3rd Floor, 6 St. Lucia Avenue, Kingston 5.
Trinidad & Tobago (Thursday, February 9, 2012): Hyatt Regency Port of Spain
Barbados (Tuesday, February 14, 2012): Accra Beach Hotel, Christ Church

Register Online
Jamaica: http://mobilejamaica.eventbrite.com/
Trinidad & Tobago: http://mobilett.eventbrite.com/
Barbados: http://mobilebarbados.eventbrite.com/

For further information please contact athewarapperuma@worldbank.org  | Ingrid Riley | ingrid@connectimass.com

infoDev, a division of the World Bank that supports entrepreneurship and innovation around the world, is beginning a seven-year program to expand entrepreneurship and business incubation in the Caribbean.

It came just ahead of an article we wrote called Where is Silicon Caribe and how do you get there? Because we can now dub SiliconCaribe a place – a region, the home of our Caribbean Tech Startups and established Tech Companies – our Caribbean Tech Community. It’s a name we’ve precociously given to our blossoming Caribbean Tech industry, a blossoming culture of entrepreneurship and innovation. SiliconCaribe.com, its namesake blog, is dedicated to covering the people, companies, events and culture that’s making things happen. Breaking News. Interviews. Insight. Reviews.

As we at ConnectiMass work more with regional and global clients in 2012, we know that  in 2011 both small and large companies where still trying to find footing in this burgeoning space. Some brands were successful, others had missteps and yet other found some nightmares. Fact is Social Media is with over 1 billion people on social media as this article states, it would be irresponsible for your brand not to be present there…the why and how is where research and strategy lies. Additionally for those to dipped their toe in, 2012 is the time to move away from cookie cutter advertising and contest campaigns, mere presence maintenance and towards real relationship building, real dialogue and engagement on great levels and that’s just to start. Always in the back of your minds remembering, the customer is more powerful and have more choice than any other time in business history understanding that and seeking strong one on one relationships with them…is going to be a fundamental key to your success and profit.

We popped out two of  five Social Media trends from the Tech Crunch Article…

4. Big Business Has Woken Up

The way corporate entities approach social media is shifting. Many companies realize that setting up Twitter, YouTube and Facebook accounts is not going to cut it as their social media strategy. Brands will need to seriously shift their perspective by treating social channels more like communication channels and less like an advertising channels in order to make a difference. From my perspective this transition has already occurred, judging by the extent to which brands’ Twitter accounts are now used as channels for CRM and customer support, managing pissed off or happy customers in near realtime.

5. ROI Is Still Huge

ROI will remain a key metric to any social media strategy. The concept of engagement is now becoming more and more an excepted metric. CEO adoption of social media is improving, and more CEOs are recognizing the benefits of humanizing their brand by taking to Twitter.

Customer service, research and image branding could all be considered social media intangibles, yet all three are obviously important in business. Social channels impact every single aspect of business from human relations to finance, sales, operations and legal. It’s important for everyone to understand how social media affects their role and responsibilities. Opposite of television, social media is a dialogue vs. a monologue and if a brand is able to collect opinions real-time in high volume via social channels like Facebook polls, they can save a great deal of money on formal research studies.

There have been a lot of discussions about social media fatigue and whether brands refuse to play for that reason. With over a billion people on social media it’s irresponsible for any brand not to have some sort of presence. 2012 will be the year for brands to go beyond cookie cutter campaigns and really determine how it not only adds value to their company, but how it adds value for their customers. 2012 will be crucial for companies and social media. For those who don’t see a direct correlation between social media and sales consider:

“Social media is an ideal tool for moving people up the fan ladder, from being a casual fan of a brand to a loyalist, because the communication channels allow people to build stronger emotional connections with brands.”

So in 2012, the question is, how will your brand use effective strategy to move people up the fan ladder from interested to foaming at the mouth brand zealots?

Read all 5 trends here

Excerpt image from 4socialmediaconsulting

MARC Canter, founder of the US multibillion-dollar computer software company that introduced flash technology, says opportunities are ripe for technology startups in Jamaica, which he feels possibly has a better investment climate than the US right now. In an exclusive interview with the Business Observer on Monday, the renowned entrepreneur said tourism and culture are sectors which strike him as having great potential for investments in technology locally.  More

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