I write from Georgetown. I study computer science at the University of Guyana, I build public-sector apps at the National Data Management Authority, and I have built websites for a few local businesses. From here, Caribbean tech looks busier than it did ten years ago, and still thin where it counts.
What we have
People. The universities turn out computing and business graduates, though courses often trail the tools that jobs ask for. Some developers come home or work remotely for companies abroad. Many of the strongest still leave for North America.
Connection. Opening the telecom market in 2020 gave Guyana more choice in broadband. Reliability still depends on the technology and on where you live (5G in Guyana: speed vs stability). Without cheap, stable internet, the rest of this post is theory.
Proof. Hackathons, government digitisation work and a handful of founders show what is possible here. My team won Best Emerging Team at the SBM / OPM Innovation Challenge in 2024. Most of these efforts happen apart from each other.
What is missing
Patient money. Angel and seed funding is scarce. Oil revenue has not turned into programmes that back local software and data companies. Grants exist, but a grant rarely pays for the second and third version of a product.
Clear rules. Data protection, fintech licensing and government buying rules are slow or unclear for a startup. Founders lose time on paperwork that a large firm hands to its lawyers.
Research. Research and product work often get mixed up with systems-integration contracts. Long projects, such as climate models, language tools for Caribbean English, or astronomy data pipelines, need a home that lasts longer than one consultancy.
Cost of living
Oil money raises rents and prices faster than wages outside oil (Containing Inflation in Guyana's Oil Economy). Tech workers feel that in rent and transport long before any local company offers them equity.
Amartya Sen described development as widening what people are free to do and become. By that measure, a tech scene succeeds when more young people here can choose this work, and imported prestige projects do not count (Development as Freedom in Guyana).
What I would do first
- Work across the region. CARICOM-wide developer groups, shared open-data standards and joint accelerator cohorts turn several small markets into one audience.
- Change how government buys software. Simpler bidding or set-asides for small software contracts would let startups deliver public tools and earn references.
- Connect the university to work. Paid internships, course credit for open-source contributions, and consulting rules that leave students' IP with the students.
- Use science to recruit. Astronomy outreach, which is what AstroPhotosGY does, farm-data dashboards and civic tech reach students who do not yet see themselves as tech people (Building Astronomy Outreach in Guyana).
- Test AI models on local data first. Importing models without that check brings bias and questions about who controls the data (AI ethics in the Caribbean).
What it will look like
A Caribbean tech scene will not look like Silicon Valley shrunk to fit Port of Spain or Georgetown. It will be companies built around our constraints: power cuts, currency swings and small home markets. The ones that last will sell services and software abroad.