Bridgetown, Barbados -The University of the West Indies (UWI) has unveiled plans to establish a regional artificial intelligence institute, aiming to place the Caribbean at the forefront of what it describes as the most significant technological transformation in modern history.
The announcement came during the Vice-Chancellor’s Annual Council Meeting at the Sagicor Cave Hill School of Business and Management, where Professor Justin Robinson, principal of UWI’s Five Islands Campus, said the university was determined to avoid repeating the region’s history of late responses to global innovation.
“Artificial intelligence is going to change almost all aspects of human life,” Robinson told reporters. “It’s one of the most important developments in human history, and the Caribbean must be ready to maximise the opportunities and minimise the risks.”
Central to the initiative is “INSIGHT” the Institute for Intelligent Systems, Governance and Human-Centred Technology, which will operate across UWI’s campuses and expand into sectors including tourism, agriculture, health care, climate resilience and public administration.
The first step will be the launch of the Sagicor UWI AI and Financial Services Hub, developed in partnership with Sagicor Financial Corporation. Robinson confirmed that US$5 million in initial funding will begin rolling out in August to support the programme’s first implementation phase.
“This is what regional self-reliance looks like in 2026,” Robinson said. “Not a slogan, but a balance sheet, real money, a research agenda, a talent pipeline, a governance framework and coordination through the UWI.”
The university insists the Caribbean can no longer afford to rely on imported technologies that fail to reflect local realities. Instead, UWI’s leadership argues that building homegrown AI capacity is essential to safeguarding small developing states against the risks of technological dependency while unlocking new opportunities for growth.
Source: Nation News (nationnews.com)