GovTech Barbados Ltd, in partnership with the Ministry of Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology (MIST), Zindi, and the Faculty of Science and Technology at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill Campus, hosted a groundbreaking Barbados Artificial Intelligence (AI) Fraud Detection Hackathon. It was designed to inspire young tech talent and drive forward the country’s digital transformation agenda. Zindi, the leading African data science platform known for connecting global data scientists with real-world problems, executed the hackathon.

Minister of MIST, Senator Jonathan Reid explained, “The goal of this event is to really industrialise technological skills. We want large groups of people to be able to matriculate out of universities and have an opportunity to land themselves in jobs or build businesses themselves, or have the ability to create high-quality products and services that are technologically enabled. Solving local problems, yes, but ultimately solving global issues.”

Chief Executive Officer of GovTech Barbados Ltd, Mark Boyce, emphasized the importance of building local capacity.

“We wanted to attract young people who are not necessarily experts in this field. The hackathon was a beginner’s challenge; it did not require any prior machine learning experience. We want to get the message out there that this is not beyond you. You can begin with some really simple programming language experience and, within a year, be able to compete at an international level and produce services and products that are globally competitive. So, capacity building is one of the initiatives that GovTech will be involved in as well.”

Celina Lee, co-founder and CEO of Zindi, highlighted the importance of this partnership.

“We’re thrilled to be launching this impactful partnership with GovTech to build capacity and community in AI, right here in Barbados. We were impressed with the talent and determination on display at the hackathon this weekend, and can’t wait to launch more challenges and events in Barbados.”

There was a pize pool of BBD$2,000 up for grabs, which was split among the top three teams.  

The hackathon marked the beginning of a broader effort for GovTech Barbados to connect Barbadians with the global AI community, with the long-term goal of strengthening local talent to compete and collaborate on the international stage.