Above: Shazard Mohammed. Photo courtesy Republic Bank.

BitDepth#1522 for August 04, 2025

Speaking on July 01, at the first day of AmCham’s Tech Islands Hub Summit 2025, Republic Bank’s Shazard Mohammed offered a hard look at the current state of national data collection and analysis.

“We are living in a time where data has become the currency of progress, the oil of the digital age, but unlike oil, data is infinite and its value multiplies the more we learn how to use it,” Mohammed said in his panel keynote.

But the data governance manager also lamented the generally haphazard collection of data, the continued dependence on paper and the unwillingness to make effective use of the datasets that are available.

“In the Caribbean, we are rich in potential but starved for structure and systems. Many organizations are collecting data, but few are converting it into action. Some ministries are still dependent on paper records and companies are getting rich transactional data, but without pipelines, storage strategies or trained personnel to harness it.”

“Too often, leaders across sectors rely on a ‘gut feeling.’ I’ve heard numerous stories using phrases like ‘we’ve always done it this way,’ or my favorite, ‘the data is wrong.’ Trusted data offers an opportunity to validate decisions, test assumptions and mitigate risks. Insights derived from trusted data provide clarity, agility and accountability.”

Mohammed urged companies and ministries to examine the stumbling blocks he’s found, which include data silos, poor data quality, fear of AI and opaque solutions implementations.

“Many organizations, even within the same government or company, operate in disconnected systems. Information doesn’t flow. Insights are trapped in spreadsheets or buried in departments or department databases. Without interoperability, we are not learning, we are guessing.”

“Bad data leads to bad decisions, whether it’s incomplete records, dated formats or inconsistent definitions, poor data undermines trust in any system that we build.”

Mohammed believes that AI solutions should free people to do meaningful work, not make them obsolete, and he argues that transparency in algorithms and ethical design should be non-negotiable elements of any business or governance model.

“If we don’t design solutions that are inclusive, transparent, and resilient, we risk reinforcing the very inequalities we aim to solve. The data leap begins when we commit to replacing gut feelings with evidence based strategy,” he warned.

TTRideshare co-founder Dwight Housend noted that efficient, modern data collection systems are critical to business success.

“We’ve seen many legacy systems that have been built on outdated technology,” Housend said.

“When we look at data maturity, the technical maturity of the applications that support the data also has to be in line with what we are using data for. When you look at your return on investment, as an organization or a government, you know your key objectives and the results that you are trying to obtain.”

“KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) can guide that. Data tells you where your KPIs’ are.”

“One of the challenges that we have in the Caribbean is that we are largely paper based which is the void of technological advancement. Data in that space will continue to be slow and it will not get to a point where it’s actionable in real time.”

“You can look at historical data and add it to a model, but how do you get live data models when you have systems that someone has to scan on the back end [and provide] days and weeks later?”

“TTRideshare never had a legacy system but we’ve had to build parallel systems, so our data models have been built parallel to existing systems and it’s how we use that data now to create a legacy system that we can use to scale regionally.”

“We have to get the technology maturity to match the data maturity. Failure to do that is like trying to build a house and the foundation is bad. The technology infrastructure is bad. Whatever data you put into that model will not prove to be effective in understanding how you achieve your objectives. If the system cannot directly use the information in real-time, we will always be behind the ball.”

“We need to change our mindset about data and how data is shared,” said PwC’s Marsha Ramnanan.

“A big part of why we don’t share data is fear. What if I share it and I get in trouble. What if I share it and I lose my competitive edge? So we need to try to find a way. Businesses. Trinidad. Caribbean, to share data.”

“What’s going to be hugely helpful is if companies get together. You just need to get together to solve an important problem. The bad news part of it is if you are lagging and you don’t do something immediately to correct it, you are just going to fall further behind. The first step is a realistic self-assessment of where you are, then you need to take immediate steps to remediate and find a way into the future.”