As part of our collaboration with the OECS Sustainable Development Movement conference, we explored a series of conversations on sustainable development.
In this first fireside chat we explored the topic Building Resistance to Disruption for Caribbean SMEs and Corporations with:
- Derwin Howell, Executive Director, Republic Bank Limited
- Nicholas Fuller, Director, Hybrid Cloud Services at IBM Research
- Chike Farrell (moderator), Co-Founder & Chairman, Caribbean Ideas Synapse
Part 1: Lessons in Resilience
In part one, the following ideas were discussed:
- Embracing technology to sustain operations & customer connection
- How Shared Economy Platforms are Creating Opportunity for Caribbean Businesses
- Why jumping in to new areas is crucial to reducing risk of being disrupted
Part 2: Shore up gaps in your business model
In this segment we explored some of the areas where the Covid-19 pandemic exposed business model gaps for Caribbean businesses. These included:
- Payments
- Fulfilment (Particularly in a Low-Touch Economy)
- Customer Experience
Part 3: Making resilience a systematic capability for your business
In this segment we explored additional themes including:
- Find new business opportunity in areas adjacent to your core business
- The importance of taking time to understand your business and customers
- Build resilience by focusing on supply chain and logistics
- Innovate by embracing agile approaches & the power of ‘Test & Learn’
Part 4: Agility, Data & Enhancing Customer Experience
Key themes explored included some of the ‘new advantages’ that Caribbean Businesses & SMEs have and how we can be disruptive from the Caribbean. Topics included:
- How technology levels the playing field
- Making agility a core competency
- Being Data-Driven
- Closing thoughts on achieving more sustainable development