The UWI Regional Headquarters, Jamaica, West Indies. Friday, July 4, 2025—The Caribbean must not be left on the sidelines of the global AI revolution. That was the message delivered by CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) at The University of the West Indies (The UWI) Five Islands Campus second annual AI Conference in Antigua and Barbuda. One June 23, day one of the conference, CAF’s Regional Manager for the Caribbean, Dr. Stacy Richards-Kennedy, encouraged the region to take ownership of its digital future by ensuring that AI strategies are ethical, inclusive, and firmly grounded in the Caribbean’s development priorities.
“We cannot afford to be spectators in this revolution while others define the rules and set the standards,” Dr. Richards-Kennedy stated. “If we want to ensure that AI reflects our values and serves our people, we must be at the table, shaping the frameworks, building the infrastructure, and investing in the talent that will drive our transformation.”
The UWI Five Islands AI Conference, now in its second year, is an international forum focused on advancing artificial intelligence for sustainable development in the Caribbean. CAF supported the conference for the second consecutive year, this time as title sponsor. The 2025 theme focused on AI Innovation for Caribbean Sustainability. It brought together policymakers, academics, youth, development partners, and private sector leaders to explore the opportunities and risks of AI, and to shape a collective response that ensures the region’s voice is present in the global digital dialogue. Dr. Richards-Kennedy commended The UWI Five Islands Campus for leading this important conversation, noting that it brings the global AI dialogue squarely into the Caribbean context.
She stated that while AI is evolving rapidly around the world, Caribbean societies cannot afford to rely on technologies shaped exclusively by foreign datasets and frameworks. “AI is not neutral,” she stated. “It does not guarantee fairness. It does not embody or reflect the hopes and aspirations of Caribbean people. AI simply reflects the patterns of the data sets of others, based on their contexts. AI machines are extremely obedient and this, my friends, is what makes them potentially so dangerous, perfecting what they have been taught, codes that amplify and normalise existing inequalities and injustices.”
She called for greater investment in resilient digital infrastructure, harmonised policy frameworks, and targeted training for regional policymakers.
CAF launched its comprehensive Roadmap for National AI Implementation in the Caribbean at the conference. The Roadmap, presented by Enrique Zapata, CAF’s Principal Executive for Digital Transformation and AI Coordinator, centres on five pillars: policy frameworks, infrastructure, public sector transformation, talent development, and responsible AI governance.
“The region lacks high-performance data centres powered by GPUs [graphics processing units], which are essential for large-scale AI,” Zapata noted. “CAF is actively working with countries to finance such infrastructure and to support sovereign, secure, and inclusive AI ecosystems.”
“Latin America and the Caribbean will need to invest in the infrastructure and talent that will power our AI future. We cannot rely solely on imported systems. We need data centers, governance frameworks, and policies built for our realities.”
Zapata also addressed the importance of hybrid financing models and regional coordination to build scalable, AI-ready digital public infrastructure across small island states.
Over the past six years, CAF has invested USD 2.8 billion in digital infrastructure and digital public services across Latin America and the Caribbean. The Bank’s partnership with The UWI was formalised through a memorandum of understanding signed in February 2023. This collaboration aims to address regional development challenges by working closely across the University's campuses and CARICOM countries. It focuses on research, innovation, training, knowledge exchange, and advancing science diplomacy to position the Caribbean within the global knowledge economy.
To date, key initiatives resulting from this partnership include the launch of the CAF Innovation Series at the St. Augustine Campus. This event gathered experts and students to harness science and innovation as catalysts for development in the Caribbean. Additionally, CAF facilitated the mobilisation of a US$10 million Adaptation Fund grant to enhance flood resilience efforts in Trinidad. The UWI Western Jamaica Campus and CAF also launched a programme focused on promoting Spanish as a foreign language in Jamaica’s tourism sector, with plans for broader regional implementation. Furthermore, training programmes for public sector professionals in governance and innovation are continuing in Barbados.
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Note to the Editor
Photo captions:
Dr. Stacy Richards-Kennedy, CAF’s Regional Manager for the Caribbean, speaking at The UWI 5IR AI Conference in Antigua during the opening session on June 23.
Enrique Zapata, CAF's Principal Executive for Digital Transformation and AI Coordinator presenting the Bank's Roadmap for National AI Implementation in the Caribbean at The UWI 5IR AI Conference in Antigua on June 23.
About CAF
The mission of CAF - Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean is to promote sustainable development and regional integration through the financing of projects in the public and private sectors, providing technical cooperation and other specialised services. Created in 1970, the Bank has 23 shareholder countries: 19 Latin American and Caribbean, together with Spain and Portugal, and 13 private banks. CAF is one of the main sources of multilateral financing and an important generator of knowledge for the region. More information at www.caf.com
About The University of the West Indies
The UWI has been and continues to be a pivotal force in every aspect of Caribbean development; residing at the centre of all efforts to improve the well-being of people across the region for the past 75 years.
From a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948, The UWI is today an internationally respected, global university with near 50,000 students and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda and its Global Campus, and global centres in partnership with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe.
The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Culture, Creative and Performing Arts, Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology, Social Sciences, and Sport. As the Caribbean’s leading university, it possesses the largest pool of Caribbean intellect and expertise committed to confronting the critical issues of our region and wider world.
The UWI has been consistently ranked among the top universities globally by the most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education (THE). The UWI is the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists since its debut in the rankings in 2018. In addition to its leading position in the Caribbean in the World University Rankings, it is also in the top 25 for Latin America and the Caribbean and the top 100 global Golden Age universities (between 50 and 80 years old). The UWI is also featured among the leading universities on THE’s Impact Rankings for its response to the world’s biggest concerns, outlined in the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Good Health and Wellbeing; Gender Equality and Climate Action. In 2024, The UWI launched a first-of-its-kind global online graduate business school focused on leadership within the context of supporting the SDGs.
Learn more at www.uwi.edu
