Podcast 🎧 & blog: Interoperability as a Digital Twin of People’s Mobility in the Caribbean
By Federico Plantera
There’s motion in the Caribbean region. The area is known for its constant movement of people, businesses, and services across national borders. Whether for work, trade, or social reasons, citizens routinely engage in cross-border exchanges. Interoperability, as a consequence, becomes a prerequisite and enabler of these (and further) exchanges.
Rodney Taylor, Secretary-General of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), and Heiko Vainsalu, Senior Expert at the e-Governance Academy, join us in this podcast episode to explore how facilitating such exchange extends beyond matters of technology. Rather, it is a natural step to translate existing patterns of movement and collaboration into the digital space.
Institutional and Policy Frameworks: The CTU at Work
Embedded in its mandate, the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) plays the role of shaping digital transformation efforts across 20 member states in this region. Established as an institution of CARICOM, the CTU is responsible for advancing regional ICT policies, fostering collaboration, and enabling the CARICOM Single ICT Space – a framework designed to harmonise cybersecurity, data protection, telecommunications, and digital identity standards across the Caribbean.
As Taylor explains, “Our focus is on ensuring that governments across the Caribbean can align their digital transformation initiatives. The CARICOM Single ICT Space is the vehicle through which we are working towards harmonised digital policies, seamless connectivity, and ultimately, an integrated regional digital economy.”
CTU-led initiatives have already reduced roaming charges across CARICOM nations, making mobile communication more affordable for residents and businesses. In addition, ongoing efforts to develop interoperable digital identities across the region are laying the groundwork for seamless e-government services and financial transactions across national borders.
Interoperability as an Enabler of Regional Digital Integration
How does interoperability so well fit in this picture, then? To enable different IT systems, organisations, and agencies to exchange and use data efficiently. “But also because interoperability is not just about technical systems talking to each other; it’s about creating a foundation for collaboration, making services more accessible, and reducing inefficiencies that slow down progress,” Vainsalu highlights.
And it starts with governments across the Caribbean increasingly recognising that digital cooperation is more effective than isolated national initiatives.
Key benefits of implementing interoperability initiatives include:
- More efficient public services
Citizens moving across borders for work or study can access digital government services without redundant bureaucratic hurdles.
- Stronger regional cooperation
Governments can coordinate policy efforts more effectively by aligning digital standards.
- Improved cybersecurity and data protection
Shared frameworks ensure that sensitive data is protected while facilitating secure information exchange.
A Digital Reflection of Real-World Movement
A key takeaway here is that interoperability in the Caribbean reflects existing social and economic mobility. “In this region, movement across borders is a natural part of life – whether it’s people seeking work, businesses expanding, or governments collaborating. Interoperability doesn’t create something new, but formalises and enhances what is already happening,” Vainsalu notes. “That’s what makes development in this geoeconomic area, and the work of the CTU, so exciting to look at.”
An idea reinforced by Taylor, citing past examples like the Cricket World Cup, where Caribbean nations cooperated to enable seamless travel and information-sharing for the event. Similarly, the CARICOM passport, despite being issued at a national level, provides common regional benefits, demonstrating the potential for further digital collaboration.
This perspective highlights an essential principle of digital transformation: technological progress should align with existing societal dynamics, rather than impose artificial frameworks. The Caribbean’s economy is inherently interconnected, with cross-border movement a defining feature of daily life.
Digital interoperability ensures that government services, business processes, and identity management naturally follow these well-established pathways, reducing friction and enhancing efficiency. By mirroring these organic interactions in the digital space, governments can create a system that truly supports citizens’ realities and not force them to adapt to disconnected (allow us the pun) digital environments.
Concrete Steps Towards Interoperability
The examples are plenty. Throughout the conversation, Vainsalu provides cases of successful digital transformation projects that illustrate what interoperability means in practice.
“In some Caribbean states, we’ve seen early models of cross-border data exchange working effectively, particularly in areas like tax administration and customs. When two governments agree on how to securely and efficiently exchange information, it speeds up processes, reduces fraud, and improves transparency,” he explains.
One project discussed was also the establishment of digital business registries, allowing entrepreneurs to expand across borders more easily. Another successful example is a pilot project integrating national health systems, which enables citizens to access medical services across participating countries.
Key Recommendations for a Promising Future in Caribbean Interoperability
By all means, the future looks promising for further digital, social, and economic integration in the Caribbean. However, advancing towards these goals requires a combination of political commitment, technical infrastructure, and regional collaboration—the same (and more) that brought the region to the levels of integration we see today.
Taylor and Vainsalu, along these lines, emphasise several key steps for progress:
- Strengthening Political Will
- National governments must align policies and commit to implementing common digital identity solutions and harmonised standards.
- Investing in Digital Infrastructure
- Expanding cloud services, secure cross-border data exchange platforms, and regional data centres will provide the backbone for interoperability.
- Leveraging the EU-LAC Digital Alliance
- This collaboration presents opportunities for knowledge-sharing, funding, and aligning the Caribbean’s efforts with global best practices.
- Scaling Successful Initiatives
- Initiatives such as digital business registries and integrated health systems have already demonstrated the potential of cross-border interoperability.
“This is not a distant dream. The technical foundations are already there, the frameworks are being discussed, and now it’s about scaling and implementing the right solutions,” Vainsalu concludes.
There are reasons to be confident that the next five years will see tangible, cross-border digital services implemented, reinforcing the Caribbean as a connected digital ecosystem. “We are making progress, and I see a strong commitment from our governments to make this a reality,” Taylor states.
Through sustained effort and regional cooperation, the Caribbean can build an interoperable digital ecosystem that reflects the real-world movement of its people and economies. This aligns with best practices and objectives of ensuring a seamless and genuinely citizen-centric future deeply rooted in real-life scenarios and now needs a worthy digital twin.
Supporting stronger digital cooperation across Latin America and the Caribbean at both national and regional levels, the European Union is facilitating EU-LAC high-level policy dialogue on digital policy and regulations. The initiative aims to enhance and harmonise digital policies and regulatory frameworks in digital governance, interoperability, AI, and more areas. One of the implementers of the initiative is eGA. Read more at https://ega.ee/project/lac-digital/
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