LIVESTREAM – DAY 1 | REGISTER | ADD TO CALENDAR | PERMALINK
On Thursday – Friday, 23–24 July 2026, 09:00 AST (13:00 UTC) each day, the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) hosts the 1st CTU Caribbean Artificial Intelligence Forum (CAIF 2026), a two-day hybrid gathering at The University Inn Conference Centre, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago.
Convening under the theme ‘AI for Caribbean Transformation: Governance, Innovation and Resilience for a Shared Digital Future‘, the Forum serves as the flagship regional platform for launching the Final Report of the Caribbean AI Task Force (CAITF) and advancing its recommendations, bringing together policymakers, regulators, development partners, private sector leaders, academia, civil society and youth to support a harmonised, ethical and Caribbean-centred AI ecosystem.
DAY 1 – Thursday, 23 July 2026
13:02 UTC Safety Briefing
University of the West Indies
13:02 UTC Welcome Remarks
Nigel Cassimire – Deputy Secretary-General, CTU
Prof. Rose-Marie Belle Antoine – Campus Principal, UWI STA Campus
13:10 UTC Towards Regional Harmonization: The Caribbean AI Task Force
Dr. Craig Ramlal – Executive Director, Artificial Intelligence Innovation Centre; Head, Control Systems Group, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UWI St. Augustine; Chair, CTU Caribbean AI Task Force
13:30 UTC Keynote Address: World Digital Governance (WDG) – From Principles to Action
Graeme Thomson – Founding Member, World Digital Governance (WDG)
13:45 UTC Feature Address
Senator the Honourable Dominic Smith – Minister of Public Administration and AI, Trinidad & Tobago; President, CTU
14:05 UTC Launch of the Caribbean AI Task Force Final Report
Senator the Honourable Dominic Smith
Dr. Craig Ramlal
Nigel Cassimire
14:10 UTC Cultural Interlude and Drone Show
Emmanuel Joseph – Pannist
14:40 UTC High-Level Panel: Turning the Work of the CAITF into Collective Action
Senator the Honourable Dominic Smith
H.E. Ren Hongyan – Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Trinidad and Tobago
H.E. Guillaume Pierre – Ambassador of the French Republic to Trinidad and Tobago
Dr. Craig Ramlal – Chair, CAITF; Director, AIIC
MODERATOR
Nigel Cassimire – Deputy Secretary-General, CTU
15:20 UTC National AI Movements: Trends, Opportunities & Lessons Learnt
Chris Reckord – Chair, National AI Task Force, Jamaica (Remote)
Atiba Phillips – Board Director, iGoVTT
Vincent Roberts – Chairman and Commissioner, NTRC Grenada
MODERATOR
Kirk Sookram – Deputy CEO, Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT)
17:00 UTC Human-Centric, Rights-Based & Ethical AI
Cordel Green – Executive Director, Broadcast Commission of Jamaica (Remote)
Ms. Sandrea Maynard – Pro Vice-Chancellor, UWI
Lily Dash – Founder, Future Caribbean
Prof. Derrick Cogburn – Professor of Information Technology & Analytics (Kogod School of Business) and Environment, Development & Health (School of International Service); Executive Director, Institute on Disability and Public Policy, American University
Kevan Rajaram – Manager of Analytics and Information Management, Caribbean Development Bank (CDB); Researcher, TTLAB
MODERATOR
Nia Nanan – Senior Research Analyst, CTU
17:40 UTC Data Sovereignty, Cybersecurity & AI Infrastructure
Tracy Hackshaw – Chef d’Enterprise, UPU (Remote)
Reza Sookdeo – Chief Information Officer, Heritage Petroleum Limited
Shernon Osepa – Consultant Strategic Advisor and CAITF Coordinator, CTU
Steven Williams – Principal Consultant, Data Privacy
Cédric Pradel – Executive Director, ACCYB
MODERATOR
Kurleigh Prescod – CEO, TATT
19:05 UTC Culture, Creatives, Intellectual Property & AI
Dr. Justin Koo – Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, UWI
Jean Marie Altema – Executive Manager, ProfIT Development Consulting (Remote)
Keron Rose – Founder, The Digipreneur Company (Remote)
Kerron Sealy
MODERATOR
Gary Kalloo – Business Development Director, CTU
19:45 UTC Women in AI
Diedre Cousins – CIO, GraceKennedy
Dr. Maria Myers-Hamilton – Chair, CTU Network of Women (Remote)
Amanda Zilla – Co-Chair, HerSpace in AI, AIIC, UWI
Julie Koon Koon – Lead Data Scientist, Republic Bank Limited; Lecturer, BSc Computing, SBCS Global Learning Institute
MODERATOR
Shanea Lewis – Policy Analyst, CTU
20:50 UTC Day 1 Wrap-up
Dr. Craig Ramlal – Chair, CAITF
DAY 2 – Friday, 24 July 2026
13:00 UTC Day 1 Recap & Day 2 Kick-off
Kristerbella Sookdeo
13:05 UTC Youth Debate – Moot: The House believes that mandatory cyber insurance requirements will improve AI security standards more effectively than government regulation
Team A (FOR):
Bryan Balkissoon – UWI-GUILD
Mikail Barrock – UWI-GUILD
Samisha Maharaj – UWI-GUILD
Zephion Lee-Harris – UWI-GUILD
Team B (AGAINST):
Shania Sobers – Debate Club Member, UWI-ROYTEC
Ezekiel Renne Cambridge – ISACA Student Member, UWI-ROYTEC
Judah-Abeni Beaumont – Debate Club Captain, UWI-ROYTEC
Zacharias Dyer – Vice President, ISACA Student Group, UWI-ROYTEC
FACILITATORS/JUDGES
Gabrielle Johnson – Vice Chair, Caribbean ICT Youth Network (CIYN), CTU
Andrew Sieupersad – Director, TAIROne Initiative
Terren Finley – President, ISG
Kevon Swift – Past-Chair, ISOC Trinidad and Tobago
14:50 UTC Debate Feedback & Winner Announcement
Gabrielle Johnson – Vice Chair, CIYN, CTU
14:35 UTC Driving AI Development in SIDS: The Role of Intergovernmental Organizations in Multilateral Development
Ahmed Elraghy – Head, RME Division, ITU
Ugo Blanco – Resident Representative, UNDP Trinidad and Tobago, Curacao, Aruba and Sint Maarten; Digital Facility Lead – AI & Emerging Technologies, UNDP
Demetris Herakleous – Associate Economic Affairs Officer, UN ECLAC
MODERATOR
Ms. Sandrea Maynard – Pro Vice-Chancellor, UWI
17:00 UTC AI Literacy, Youth & the Future Workforce
Prof. Sean Thorpe – Dean, Faculty of Engineering & Computing, UoT, Jamaica (Remote)
Lois St. Brice – Programme Officer II, UWI Office of Global Affairs
Dr. Andrea Kanneh – Manager of Performance and Engagement, MPAAI
MODERATOR
Tariq Mohammed – Advisor to the SG and Chair, CIYN, CTU
17:50 UTC AI for Climate Resilience & Disaster Risk Reduction
Kenneth Kerr – Science and Technology Officer, Caribbean Meteorological Organization (CMO)
Dr. Letetia Addison – Deputy Chair, Advisory Board, UWI Disaster Risk Reduction Centre; Researcher, TTLAB
Prof. Derrick Cogburn – Professor of Information Technology & Analytics (Kogod School of Business) and Environment, Development & Health (School of International Service); Executive Director, Institute on Disability and Public Policy, American University
Representative – CDEMA
MODERATOR
Shernon Osepa – Consultant Strategic Advisor, CTU; Coordinator, CAITF
20:05 UTC AI for Economic Transformation
Javed Razack – Vice-President of Shared Services, Ramps Logistics
Riard Mohammed – Regional Manager, Honeywell Caribbean
Esther Callender-George – Group Chief Information Security Officer, Guardian Group
Mervyn Eyre – Head of Fujitsu Caribbean Operations
MODERATOR
Ms. Sandrea Maynard – Pro Vice-Chancellor, UWI
21:00 UTC Open Interaction Session
Tariq Mohammed – Advisor to the SG and Chair, CIYN, CTU
21:30 UTC Next Steps & Wrap-up
Nigel Cassimire – Deputy SG, CTU
#AI #CaribbeanAI #AIGovernance #CAIF2026