The first annual Haiti Tech Summit was held this June, with a panel of 100 speakers, including international tech leaders like Google, LinkedIn, Airbnb, and experts in the startup ecosystems. These business and tech moguls and innovators came together alongside Haitian entrepreneurs to ignite a much-needed conversation about moving past Haiti’s challenges by creating new paths to progress using technology. New possibilities were exposed, including fresh outlets for both women and youth.
Representing J/P HRO at the summit was our Country Director a.i, Margarett Lubin. She was able to connect with technology experts already working to build capacity in Haiti in the health and agricultural sectors, as well as, international experts in Solid Waste Management. “The Haiti Tech Summit was without question an extraordinary experience well worth attending. I came away energized, and with a sense of renewed hope as influencers spoke about engagement, opportunities, and readiness to help reboot, rebuild and revolutionize Haiti.”
The overall message of the summit focused on recognizing Haiti’s unique challenges; solutions that are working; those that need to be disrupted; connection to be established and maintained; and key local actors; then, on prioritizing and taking action together to move forward.
"I was particularly impressed and touched by the presentation of American technology entrepreneur, Ben Horowitz, who took the audience through a different and engaging history lesson about the leader of the Haitian revolution, Toussaint Louverture, to demonstrate how Toussaint had a vision, acted on it with minimal resources using culture change to disrupt and successfully put an end to slavery - demonstrating the importance of changing culture first, in order to make the changes we seek in Haiti,” says Margarett.
The tech summit laid the foundation for the change everyone wants to see by starting the conversation and offering action channels. The two-day summit included brainstorming that explored a diversity of areas, including education, health, politics, tourism, media, agriculture, etc., in which technology can impact change.
Globally, it was demonstrated that inside Haiti’s challenges lay multiple opportunities for developing unique replicable solutions that offer a chance for the country to reclaim the positive spotlight it once enjoyed.