Leading telecommunications provider Liberty Caribbean, the operators of Flow, Liberty Business and BTC, has issued a compelling call to regional leaders, regulators and industry partners to translate connectivity into tangible, measurable prosperity for the Caribbean.
Delivering the feature address at CANTO Connect 2026, CEO Inge Smidts set out a clear, actionable agenda for how the region can convert its hard-won digital infrastructure into jobs, services and scalable Caribbean innovation.
“Connectivity is now our foundation, so the question before us is simple and urgent: with that foundation in place, what are we going to build,” she said.
CANTO is the leading regional body that brings together telecommunications operators, ICT providers, regulators, governments, and industry partners to support the development of the Caribbean’s digital and communications landscape.
Speaking under the conference theme, ‘Elevate the Caribbean — From Connectivity to Global Competitiveness’, Smidts focused on three interconnected priorities: anchoring technology in Caribbean identity, designing intelligent and resilient networks around people, and accelerating the transformation of telcos into technology platforms that create homegrown opportunity.
“When we marry Caribbean creativity with dependable connectivity and smart policy, we unlock jobs, services and businesses that compete on the world stage. Liberty Caribbean is committed to leading that work by investing in the people, partnerships and platforms that turn connection into measurable prosperity for our islands,” she said.
Smidts called for strengthened partnership models that go beyond financing to include co-regulation, regulatory sandboxes and shared governance.
“Public-private partnership is the engine that will accelerate progress. Governments provide vision and legitimacy; industry brings scale and technical capability; universities and civil society bring scrutiny and social purpose. When incentives align, impact follows,” she said.
Liberty Caribbean reiterated its readiness to lead and convene. The company offered to connect investors with developers, match government programmes to cloud and edge infrastructure, and scale apprenticeship and talent pipelines so Caribbean entrepreneurs and technologists can build and export regional solutions.
“Invest in platforms and invest in people. Design policy to enable bold experimentation. Build governance that shares responsibility and protects citizens. Together, let us ensure the next wave of Caribbean success is driven by homegrown ideas, led by Caribbean people, and scaled to the world,” she said.
Smidts highlighted Liberty Caribbean’s practical work in the region, including the JUMP inclusion programme that combines subsidised access, devices, training and an entrepreneurial track to help households and microentrepreneurs learn, trade and scale. She emphasised that intelligent connectivity must be designed for real local needs and must be engineered for the realities of a disaster-prone region.
“At the same time, we design our networks for the realities our communities face. Intelligent connectivity must serve real local needs, and in a region like ours, it must also be resilient by design, so people, businesses and essential services stay connected when it matters most,” she said.
“We build in the heart of a hurricane zone, active fault lines, and volcanoes. When disaster strikes, connectivity is not optional, it is lifesaving. Our regional emergency work shows that when the industry players partner with satellite providers and governments, we can restore life-critical communications in hours rather than days.”
Addressing developments in Trinidad and Tobago, Smidts noted the momentum driven by public policy and investment, including the Blueprint Revitalisation Plan, high-profile investor engagement and a successful US$1 billion bond roadshow.
She highlighted national digital initiatives that demonstrate the country’s ambition such as the ANANSI national digital assistant, partnerships with UNESCO and UNDP on a National AI assessment, collaborative work with OpenAI to explore education and public service transformation, and the Developers’ Hub (D’Hub) which enables SMEs and developers to co-create government digital services.