The Tribune

BY FAY SIMMONS

TRIBUNE Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

THE DAVIS administration is moving to establish an interoperable framework for its digital systems in a bid to eliminate the need for businesses to repeatedly submit information to different agencies, a Cabinet minister has revealed.

Sebas Bastian, minister of innovation and national development, said government modernisation and ease of doing business were closely linked, arguing that technology alone will not solve the challenges companies face when government agencies operate independently of one another.

“It's hard to do business in The Bahamas, and ease of doing business is also under our portfolio,” he said. “I think it is a great opportunity when the policy and innovation actually sits under one roof, where we're able to understand what is causing these roadblocks between agencies, and not just how we use technology to improve how individual agencies work, but also how we can modify policies so that if there's redundant information being required or there's no interoperability between agencies, we're able to unlock those by doing some modernisation.”

Speaking during a panel discussion at Inspired/by x The Current Conversations for the Curious, Mr Bastian said the Government had historically modernised agencies in silos, with individual departments receiving technology upgrades without necessarily being able to exchange information with other government systems.

He said this could leave businesses and individuals having to visit multiple agencies to provide information that the Government already holds elsewhere. “The biggest issue is that historically we would have innovated in a silo,” Mr Bastian said.

“We can go into the Department of Labour and build the best system since sliced bread. We can go into Immigration and build the best system. We can go in the Passport  Office and build the best system, and AI agents, all the things you're talking about. But if those systems don't talk to each other, it will never be easy to do business.”

Mr Bastian said one of his ministry's first priorities is an interoperable framework that will require government software systems to meet standards allowing information to be exchanged between them.

Sree Gudipati, chief executive of Pepperstone Bahamas, said improved interoperability will have a direct impact on international businesses operating in the jurisdiction. She said businesses effectively become customers of multiple government agencies, including Immigration, Department of Inland Revenue and the Registrat General’s companies registry.

“If the Bahamas government was able to build an interoperable system where they can feed off one database, and they can actually get the information that they need for Pepperstone instead of providing it in ten different places and in ten different times, that is ease of doing business,” said Ms Gudipati.

She added that ease of doing business was among the factors international financial technology (fintech) companies consider when assessing jurisdictions, alongside the responsiveness of government, the time required to establish a business and the regulatory environment.

“If we're able to actually implement that, that would make this jurisdiction even more attractive,” Ms Gudipati said. “The reason why Pepperstone's here in the first place is it is a regulatory favourable environment for the industry that we're in. We're here because there's a regulatory advantage here. Imagine coupling that with ease of doing business and interoperable systems. It actually becomes an economic question and not just efficiency.”