A Bold New Caribbean

The challenge to the various types of entrepreneurs/ investors, including governments and development partners, is to acquire and enhance the ability to con- duct proper trend analysis and innovation mapping and convert the knowledge and insights gained into new product development and niche differentiation that is consistent with the collective tangible and intangible resources of a country. How this can work will be made clearer through an example later, however from a global perspective, this sort of industrial upgrading will require strong bottom-up, and sharply strategic top-down approaches. It is my firm belief that BIG BOLD nation- al industrial development initiatives consistent with the approach outlined above, when properly articulated, can elicit the attention and strong interest of key global strategic partners and provide the basis for embarking on arrowhead initiatives that, through spillovers, bring new life and dynamism to national production systems. The Digital Dweller The Digital Dweller is satisfied with staying at home to experience the world virtually, mainly through Virtual Reality (VR) experiences. No less curious than the Au- thentic Avatar, he satisfies his curiosity through digital- ly mediated experiences. Our Digital Dweller is content to purchase a reasonable VR headset and spend good money and hours exploring virtual experiences. The global virtual reality (VR) market size was estimated at USD 59.96 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.5% from 2023 to 2030 to reach some USD 435.36 billion (Grand View Research, 2023) virtual reality enables users to ex- perience a simulated three-dimensional environment that may mimic real environments. This immersive ex- perience is made possible through VR gadgetry, such as headsets, glasses or gloves, and bodysuits. The leading content areas at the moment are gaming, media and entertainment, retail, healthcare, military and defence, real estate and education. New Product Development for the Digital Dweller/Virtual Reality Traveler I contend that a big, bold, arrowhead initiative that is just right for our Caribbean Region is Virtual Reality Tourism (VRT). Imagine millions of Digital Dwellers donning their VR headsets, getting on a treadmill, a stationary exer- cise bike, a rowing machine or immersed in a swimming pool, and paying through a dedicated portal to virtually explore and immerse themselves in exploring our beatiful

and seascapes at any time they choose. Virtual Ca- ribbean presents tremendous promise for our coun- tries to significantly increase the scope and scale of our tourism product/s and enhance our resilience to shocks occasioned by phenomena such as natural disasters and global pandemics. To add, the almost limitless scalability of virtual products allows for sig- nificantly greater revenue generation without over- use and degradation of the physical landscape, thus rendering the carrying capacity of our virtual islands limitless. As the gadgetry for accessing virtual reality content becomes more affordable, further adoption would be driven by availability of quality, diverse, and interest- ing content. Here is our Region’s opportunity for early mover advantage in fully immersive VR content cre- ation space. This is underpinned by two solid assump- tions. The Bits and Bytes 1. Global VR technologies and content companies are eager to partner with a variety of entities to en- courage new content production, especially tour- ism-based content to expand the VR ecosystem and markets. 2 .Tourism-dependent small island states of the Ca- ribbean have excellent scenic sites and pathways on both land and in their marine environment that are perfect for virtualization. Practical and Institutional Considerations 1. Establish strategic partnerships with global players in VR content creation and distribution, and those who produce the consumer-side technologies like consoles and head- gears to quickly create minimum viable prototype of VRT experiences. 2. Establish the intellectual property (IP) framework to deal with virtualized national spaces. Maybe a special form of geographical indication (GI) or some other appropriate IP. 3. Set up the right institutional arrangements and part- nership vehicle to virtualize select spaces and begin the task at developing minimum viable prototypes (MVPs) for testing, validation, and then scaling. Investments in a VRT Incubator is in my view, a fit-for-purpose vehicle to em- bed and spearhead this big, bold vision. 4. To get started, set up the mechanisms in each country to crowd-source a list of the best landscapes and sea- scapes for virtualization.

CARIBBEAN INVESMENT FORUM

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