Minister of Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology (MIST), Marsha Caddle, visited Howard University last week to deliver the keynote lecture during a symposium to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of Eric Williams’ ground-breaking book, Capitalism and Slavery.
During the conclusion of Thursday’s lecture, and after meeting Howard University Provost, Dr. Anthony K. Wutoh and President, Dr. Ben Vinson III, Minister Caddle shared with the audience: “And so I am happy to announce today the establishment of a new, transnational center between Barbados and Howard University. The Center for AI Innovation & Governance, a partnership between the Center for an Equitable Economy and Sustainable Society here at Howard and the Ministry of Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology in Barbados, will marry real-time execution, research and policy in AI by collaborating on data science skills and training, on developing AI applications that can serve people and solve problems in areas like health, agriculture, education and tourism, and regulation at the pace of our own development, so that people are included and protected.”
Director of the Center for an Equitable Economy and Sustainable Society and Chair of Afro-American Studies at Howard University, Professor Michael Ralph, said of the collaboration: “The use of AI is central to every aspect of our lives, whether we realise it or not and whether we like it or not. For good reason, there is widespread concern over bias and misuse in AI. But, merely striving to be ‘ethical’ is not enough.
“Our transnational Center for AI Innovation & Governance seeks to marry dedication to the most imaginative and compelling uses of AI with an abiding commitment to thoroughly understanding and accounting for its policy applications and implications. Barbados is the ideal partner for this initiative given its path-breaking role in shaping a dynamic economic vision that empowers all of its citizens to take advantage of technological innovation, to join in advancing infrastructure, and to be invested in sustainable opportunities for building wealth.”
Howard recently established a programme on Applied Data Science and Analytics that facilitates interdisciplinary data science research and instruction primarily in areas such as health, economic empowerment and social and environmental justice; instruction is principally available online.
In June 2024, President Vinson inaugurated the President’s Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council (AIAC) to drive the University’s AI Initiative focused on ethics, equity and societal impact; research and innovation; education and skill development; and operational efficiency.
Barbados, for its part, has announced under the stewardship of Minister Caddle its project to establish a data center that would provide compute capacity to local and regional developers, as an impetus to new industry.
Speaking during the Capitalism and Slavery Symposium, the Minister explained: “Ultimately, the capitalism that drove slavery and every era of industrialisation since has been about wealth extraction. Any progressive capitalism must be about wealth creation for our people, such that they can both thrive now and leave something for their children. I am interested in how technology can be the industry that finally makes that difference. It won’t happen by chance; we have to make it so.”
Highly regarded scholars from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard, University of Manchester, and other institutions contributed to the symposium, which, alongside Howard University, was also co-hosted by the University of Havana, Cuba.