Jamaica rising as tech hub

Jamaica is emerging as one of the Caribbean’s best destinations in the tech industry. Advancements in tech, the fastest-rising industry on the planet, is benefiting Jamaica.

It has long been a vacation hotspot for those drawn to idyllic white sandy beaches and laid-back lifestyle, but now it is developing as a ‘Silicon Island’.

Jamaica is now competing with other emerging tech hubs such as Ireland and Taiwan.

Digitization isn’t just about infrastructure; it’s about talent. In 2021, the Jamaican government launched its Amber Heart Coding Academy, designed to train thousands of young Jamaicans in software development. But its efforts to jockey for position in the tech-hub race began years earlier with investments in its tech infrastructure as well as education.

Launched in 2019, Jamaica’s Global Services Sector project provides Jamaicans with training and access to better jobs in business, knowledge process and information technology outsourcing.

The challenge has been to attract overseas investment and avoid brain drain among its burgeoning skilled domestic workforce. And so far, the fourth-largest Caribbean nation has proven itself to be the little island that could.

Proximity to the US is a core unique selling point for the island of just 2.8 million people, as well as the fact that it is an English-speaking territory in a time zone that’s compatible with the US.

Competitive labour costs are a factor too, attracting interest from corporations beyond the Americas. At the Nexus 2022 event, for example, a central theme was the growth of interest from European tech companies seeking Customer Experience partners in the Caribbean.

There are more than 85 companies in operation in Jamaica with a combined annual revenue of almost US$1 billion, employing more than 60,000 people. In fact, Jamaica has the most mature outsourcing sector in the Caribbean.

Last month, it became the first English-speaking nation in the region to host O2LAC, the major outsourcing summit that helps developing tech nations.

It’s also a convenient headhunting country for US tech companies, with demand for roles in software development, data analytics, cybersecurity and even AI out-stripping supply — a pattern the Jamaican government hopes to reverse as more trained talent emerges.

Last year, software development company Baires Dev recorded an upswing in Caribbean tech talent between 2020 and 2022, with an impressive 2,100% growth in hires from Jamaica. Ibex Global, the digital CX outsourcer, last month announced the opening of its fifth location in Jamaica, with plans to employ a further 1,500 people.

For digital nomad tech workers, Jamaica represents an attractive new frontier with numerous novelty factors, not least the sun, sea and reggae vibes.