Tamana Intech Park: progress in paradise

Exceptional facilities, eco-friendly construction, convenient transportation, ample resources and an educated, ready workforce…

A vibrant multicultural community and a few thousand miles of beaches…

Yep. Now you’ve got an idea of what it’s like to operate in the Caribbean’s financial, industrial, economic and energy hub, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, at Tamana InTech Park.

“We are a profoundly creative people, and the task before us is to apply this creative strength to achieving business and national goals,” says the Honourable Minister Stephen Cadiz, Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Trade & Industry.

“While we cannot compete with larger nations in terms of output due to economies of scales, there is no limit to our capacity to innovate.”

From oil and gas to knowledge and innovation

The first oil well in the Western hemisphere was drilled in Trinidad and Tobago, signaling the start of a century of oil production in the country.

But in the 1970s, Trinidad and Tobago’s government embarked on a mission to diversify the country’s economy based on one of the islands’ other plentiful resources: natural gas.

The result was the Point Lisas project, a technology-driven initiative based on a cluster system, which resulted in Trinidad and Tobago supplying 70 percent of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the United States.

The concept of clustering

“Clusters bring together, in one geographic location, companies, customers, suppliers and academia in a particular industry,” explains Angela Hordatt, Vice President of Business Development, eTecK.

“Because all these people are in one location, they can form strategic partnerships and feed off the synergies created, both competitively and cooperatively. Point Lisas, a highly successful cluster, proved that this strategy dramatically increases the level of innovation and success of the entire cluster.

“I was a young engineer when Point Lisas started. I can’t wait to see Tamana blossom in the same way.”

Tamana’s cluster environment fosters industry in four distinct segments: information communication and technology (ICT); high value manufacturing; agro-technology; and what Hordatt refers to as clean energy and green technologies.

Ushering in a knowledge-based economy

“Tamana InTech Park will be the crest of the wave that would help transform our economy to one that is more driven by knowledge-based enterprises and innovative industries,” says Mr. Lindahl Ghany, director, Memory Bank Computers Ltd.

“The layout lends itself to the blending of educational facilities and private sector businesses – a mix which is critical to achieving the end product needed.

“Its location and easy access to our airport hub means we can attract the international business partners who will complement the locally owned industries.”

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Click here to read the full article published in the July/August issue of Trade & Industry Development magazine.

In the words of Judy Lake, vice president of Information Technology Services at the University of Trinidad and Tobago:

“As a nation, Trinidad now has greater expectations. We don’t want to go back; we don’t know how to go back. The only way is the way forward, the way onwards towards the vast opportunities for creative minds to welcome the era of the knowledge-based economy.”

Indeed.

With Tamana InTech Park, the country is going forward and onwards to a knowledge-based economy.

A knowledge-based economy (KBE) is one in which the production, distribution and use of knowledge are the main drivers of growth, wealth-creation and employment across all industries.

Last week’s blog article examined Trinidad and Tobago’s readiness for ushering in a new era of a knowledge-based economy by looking at two of the four World Bank pillars:
(1) ICT Infrastructure
(2) Education and Skills

Now we’ll look at the final two pillars:
(3) Economical and Institutional Regime
(4) Innovation System

How does Trinidad and Tobago measure up to other countries in these World Bank pillars?

How will Tamana InTech Park bolster the nation’s economy?

How does the Trinidad & Tobago Innovation Centre (TTIC) at Tamana InTech Park fit into the national innovation system?

Click here to read the article published today in the Trinidad Express, part 2 of the articles series, discussing the final two of the four World Bank Pillars: (3) Economical and Institutional Regime and (4) Innovation System.

Tamana InTech Park is the single most important initiative to date by the Government of Trinidad & Tobago in the quest to transform the economy from its historical dependence on oil and gas.

Tamana InTech Park is helping the country to move away from its reliance on a commodity-based economy and invest in developing a knowledge-based economy (KBE).

A knowledge-based economy (KBE) is one in which the production, distribution and use of knowledge are the main drivers of growth, wealth-creation and employment across all industries.

The World Bank has identified the four pillars of a KBE as :
(1) Information and Communication Technology Infrastructure (ICT)
(2) Education and Skills
(3) Economical and Institutional Regime
(4) Innovation System

The countries recognised as the best examples of KBEs are Sweden, the United States, Korea and Finland.

It is no coincidence that these are also the most innovative countries in the world.

So how does Trinidad and Tobago measure up to the World Bank pillars?

Click here to read the article published today in the Trinidad Express, discussing the first two of the four World Bank Pillars: (1) Information and Communication Infrastructure and (2) Education and Skills.