The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The investor aiming to kickstart Grand Bahama's "technology hub" yesterday pledged to fully "Bahamainise" "sooner rather than later", having been inundated with 100 job applications per day.

Greg Wood, GIBC Digital's chief executive, told Tribune Business it was the "right company" to fulfill and "accelerate" the Government's vision, given that its training focus will help develop a skilled, technology-savvy Bahamian workforce that will attract like-minded companies to The Bahamas.

Describing GIBC Digital as "a natural fit" for the Minnis administration's plans, Mr Wood said the company's projected $50m annual economic impact by 2020 was a "conservative" estimate given the spin-offs its presence will generate.

The New York-headquartered firm will begin training of its first Bahamian employees on June 4, with GIBC Digital's founder expressing hope that the Freeport workforce will be "90 per cent" local from the start.

Mr Wood said the company planned to attract foreign technology firms to use its training facility, thus creating an influx of corporate travellers that will boost Freeport's hotel occupancies and spending in restaurant.

Describing the island's existing IT and other infrastructure as "adequate", he warned that continuous investment by both the Government and private sector was necessary to maintain this support platform and The Bahamas' competitiveness versus global rivals.

GIBC Digital's Freeport investment will likely prove "a model" for the company's expansion into Asia and Africa, Mr Wood added, with its training and data centres playing critical role in this strategy.

He suggested that Grand Bahama could become known as the Caribbean's "Silicon Valley" within a decade, with Bahamians wasting no time in reacting to GIBC Digital's impending arrival.

"We've had over 400 resumes come in, so we're sorting through those," Mr Wood told Tribune Business. "We're getting about 100 a day so far. We've had some good discussions, and are going to be making about seven offers in the next couple of days. It's looking good.

"We will begin training on June 4. That will be our first class of employees, between 15-20. What we are hoping is that 90 per cent of it can be Bahamian, and we will 10 per cent [expatriate] to continue the training process and do specific projects.

"At some point - I don't know when that will be - but hopefully sooner rather than later, we will go close to 100 per cent Bahamian. They will manage the office, and be responsible for the management of operations and delivery of services."

Besides acting as a 'magnet' to attract similar companies to Grand Bahama, Mr Wood said GIBC Digital will also create the necessary supporting platform by training workers other than its own.

He described the availability of a skilled workforce as critical to fulfilling the Government's 'technology hub' vision, and said: "We see ourselves as being able to accelerate that, coming in to offer training and provide technology skills that will be necessary for other companies.

"I think that if we do this well we'll all end up better off; the company, the people and the Government, here and in Grand Bahama. It's one of these situations where if we do this well there's an opportunity to accelerate the growth that can take place here. We think we can play a significant role in educating the workforce."

Mr Wood said "the right elements are in play" for the 'technology hub' initiative, including the Government's support and commitment. He added that yesterday's dormitory opening at the University of the Bahamas (UoB) northern campus further fed into this narrative, as the institution planned to make it the centre of its technology-related activities.

"One of the things we hope to do, having the training centre, is bring in people from other companies to train - and it will be Bahamians doing the training," Mr Wood said. "That will help to fill the hotels and create demand for other economic activities.

"We calculated we'd bring about a $50 million per year benefit to the local economy in Freeport by 2020. I think that's probably being conservative. We've estimated that two-and-a-half jobs will be created in addition to the jobs we create directly due to the demand in other areas."

"This is a good time for us to be coming into the market. We're the right company as we're focused on training," the GIBC Digital chief continued. "A lot of technical skills don't exist to the extent they need to in Grand Bahama.

"We'll be able to build that out, and hopefully other companies will take advantage of a skilled labour force coming forward. We're trying to bring some momentum that creates additional momentum. If we don't have the workforce, other companies less interested in investing in their employees will be less likely to come here."

Besides the training facility, Mr Wood said GIBC Digital will also develop a data and artificial intelligence centre as part of its Freeport investment. Servers will store data, and "artificial intelligence experts" will offer their services to local and international companies to help them interpret data and spot trends/patterns.

GIBC Digital's investment is especially important for the Minnis administration given that it marries three key initiatives - establishing Grand Bahama as a 'technology hub'; the Commercial Enterprises Act; and encouraging international companies to establish a physical presence/real operations in the Bahamas.

The Act, together with the Grand Bahama 'technology hub' initiative, are major components in the Government's plan to restructure and reposition the Bahamian economy by diversifying away from its reliance on tourism and financial services.

With liberalisation/deregulation, and full World Trade Organisation (WTO) membership, other important elements, the Minnis administration is focusing on attracting knowledge-based industries with the potential to be major foreign exchange earners and creators of high-paying jobs.

Mr Wood yesterday told Tribune Business that while he did not attend last year's conference, which 'kicked-off' the Government's 'technology hub' plans, he already had a "connection" to the Bahamas through having come to this nation on vacation for four years.

"I had a discussion with the Prime Minister in early February," he recalled. "I was talking to him about some of the things I read about what he was doing. I was interested in how we might play a role in executing his vision.

"When I had the conversation, hearing his vision and sharing mine, it was just a natural fit." Mr Wood said. The Grand Bahama 'technology plan', coupled with availability of land and lower costs, meant GIBC Digital chose Freeport over Nassau.

Warning that change, and the pace of change, was ever-increasing due to technology, Mr Wood said the Bahamas needed to constantly invest in - and upgrade - its IT-supporting infrastructure to ensure it matched global rivals.

He added that the company would work with the Government to promote the Grand Bahama 'technology hub' initiative when it hosted a block-chain and financial (FinTech) conference on the island this summer.

GIBC Digital was founded by Mr Wood in 2011 as an enterprise focused on the provision of operational and information technology (IT) strategy, with a focus on regulatory-driven change. As client demands changed, its business model has evolved into a focus on other sectors, including cyber security and fraud prevention, plus data intelligence.

Apart from its New York headquarters, GIBC Digital also has offices in Boston, Stamford, Tampa, London, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Besides Freeport, it also plans to establish a presence this year in Dublin, Toronto, Johannesburg and Lagos this year, according to its website.

Mr Wood suggested that Freeport will serve as the prototype for these ambitions, and said: "This is, in some respects, the model for how we do it in other places, where we come in and provide the training and embed ourselves in the community and become part of the community, particularly when we look at Asia and Africa, where we're looking to go."

He added that investing in people first was a strategy that bore fruit in the medium to long-term, and confirmed that Freeport was "very important to the growth and strategy of the company" as not all investments would involve data and training centres.

The GIBC Digital chief said "there does seem to be momentum" behind the Government's 'technology hub' plan, and added: "I would love to be a part of creating something here that's unique, and it really begins by putting people first.

"When we look back in 10 years, I'd like to see Grand Bahama thought of as kind of the 'Silicon Valley of the Caribbean'. That would be a goal to accomplish."