The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A government minister yesterday replied to concerns raised by the original Grand Bahama technology hub investor by pointing to other companies attracted to the island.

Senator Kwasi Thompson, minister of state for Grand Bahama, used his 2019-2020 budget debate presentation to highlight two other technology companies that are in the process of setting up operations following last week’s criticisms from GIBC Digital’s principal, Greg Wood.

The two companies named by Mr Thompson, DevDigital Bahamas and Skyward Techno, were unveiled as incoming investments last year, raising questions as to whether the government is seeking to distract attention from Mr Wood’s comments.

The GIBC Digital chief, the original investor in the much-touted Grand Bahama “technology hub” concept, last week questioned the government’s “commitment” to continue pursuing the initiative given the seeming absence of 2019-2020 budget funding.

Mr Wood, in an interview with Tribune Business, said the company “can’t do it alone” while admitting it had cut staffing levels by 90 percent - dropping from 30 employees to three - due to challenges with developing its business model in The Bahamas.

However, Mr Thompson yesterday sought to focus on the positives. He said DevDigital, a company based in Nashville, Tennessee, and Baroda, India, “currently employs 130-plus persons... Dev Digital is a full software developer that also offers SEO, learning management systems, and hosting”.

The minister described Skyward Techno as a company providing customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), human resources management, project management systems, and business intelligence software. The company operates in New Jersey and Ahmedabad, India.

Reaffirming the government’s commitment to building the technology sector as the third pillar of the Bahamian economy, Mr Thompson said: “This commitment to diversifying the economy by embracing technology is a core component of the government’s mandate to create additional opportunities for Bahamians, and allow for participation in a sector that traditionally sparks innovation and is responsible for the creation of the majority of new global wealth.

“One of the key pieces of legislation that has been passed to support the growth of the technology industry is the Commercial Enterprises Act of 2017 (CEA). The CEA is designed to encourage both Bahamians and international investors and entrepreneurs to invest in the technology sector in The Bahamas. We should also look at this to improve and shape even more incentives for technology companies locally and international.”

Mr Thompson said the Government had allocated $1.5m for the Grand Bahama technology hub initiative in the 2019-2020 budget, adding: “This line item (now listed as other dervices) represents the previous item referred to in the 2018-2019 budget as Grand Bahama technology hub initiative.

“The item has been increased to accommodate the annual Grand Bahama Technology Summit as well as a cybersecurity conference, various ICT training programmes, marketing and promotion of the Grand Bahama Tech Hub and the BH1B visa programme.”

Mr Thompson added: “Freeport, Grand Bahama, has already begun to be branded as a tech hub, becoming known as silicon island, digital paradise, largely in part to the Grand Bahama Technology Summit, which was held for the past two years in November.

“We estimate that the Grand Bahama Technology Summit has added over a half a million dollars to the Grand Bahama economy. We anticipate that the third GB Tech Summit slated for this year will build on this foundation and be even more impactful.”