Keynote Speech -  to the

Summer Institute for Future Leaders in the Caribbean

by Liston Abbott

 

May 21, 2002

 

(This is the full text of the keynote speech.  Due to the limited time available and the desire to accommodate Q&A, the oral presentation was shortened and not verbatim.)

 

Good Morning.

 

I feel honored to have been asked by my good friend, Dr. Kean, to give the Keynote Speech to the “Summer Institute for Future Global Leaders in the Caribbean.”  I admit that I became a little bit apprehensive when he told me the theme of the talk should be “Global Leadership in a Dynamic Environment.”  However, when he described the nature of the audience and he and Dr. Kabuka told me more about the goals of the Summer Institute, I couldn’t “Just say No.”

 

I have been committed for almost 45 years to the idea that it’s the obligation of everyone who moves ahead to reach back and offer a helping hand to those coming after us.  Sometimes I don’t do it as well as I would like to, but I would be more disappointed in myself and would have no excuse if I don’t try.  So bear with me as I rather imperfectly try share with you some of my thoughts about leadership and the dynamic environment as I think they may pertain to you as a young person starting out.

 

I was in St. Thomas about three weeks ago, and I ran into my friend Ishmael Meyers, Chief Judge of the Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands.  We greeted each other, and the first thing he said to me was “I still have my copy of that terrific speech you made here in St. Thomas over twenty five years ago.”  I was flattered.  Unfortunately I don’t have a copy of that speech, and perhaps it’s a good thing because I might have been tempted to use it here.  I just hope I can make a good enough contribution today that someone will remind me of it twenty years from now.  Of course, I hope that you will realize that no one person has all the right answers, and that you will think for yourselves, analyze you own situation, do your homework, and research as many areas as possible way beyond anything I cover.

 

I can’t cover a great deal in a limited formal talk, so I encourage you to engage me in Q&A.  I do much better in a conversational mode, although my wife tells me that I don’t know when to stop, especially if it’s about computers or my other work experiences.

 

Reminiscing about my early years:

 

Let me tell you about some of my experience to illustrate how I learned to adapt to dynamically changing situations early in my career.  When I use the word “I” in this talk, it’s partly because Dr. Kabuka asked me to tell you about things I have done.  However, I urge you to substitute your own name as much as possible because I have not done anything that you can’t do as well.  Many of you will do even better than I did.

 

I was born right here on this island of St. Thomas and graduated from Charlotte Amalie High School in 1955.  I frequently remark with pride that three of my best friends and classmates are associated with UVI.  They are Dr. Kean, Dr. Gilbert Sprauve, and Dr. Marilyn Krigger.  Our circle of friends in high school was fun-loving (and we still are), but also very studious at the same time.  We invented and played games among ourselves that stressed knowledge.  For example, one of my favorite games was to identify all the illustrations in the large unabridged Webster’s dictionary, down to the minutest details.  We would cover the text and keys to the illustrations with our hand, and then try to recall what each one of numbered part of the complex illustration was.

 

Dr. Kean was the valedictorian of our class because he was the top student, and he gave a great speech.  A lot of my friends within the school and from the outside, and even some teachers I had in earlier years, were surprised that I was not the valedictorian, particularly since I was also a good student, president of the Class of 1955, and president of the “The Forum” which was the honor society of the high school.  (That is how I started my leadership career.)  From the time the announcement of the valedictorian was made, and for some time afterwards, people who did not know Orville as well as they knew me were coming up to me and asking, “What happened to you?”

 

If I had the insight that I have today and were articulate enough at that early age, I would have expounded on my present philosophy that a leader does not have to be number one in every thing.  I will reiterate this point later.

 

However, even though we cannot all be number one in everything, we should all strive to be number one.  The majority of students in our generation had a high esteem for education and for achieving excellence.  In addition, our teachers kept after us constantly urging us to study and do well.  They wanted us to think that everyone of us could be number one if we tried hard enough.  A lot of us now point proudly to Dr. Kean when we want to brag about how superb the class of 1955 was.  There are probably one or two classmates that we aren’t proud of, but I can’t think of their names.

 

I feel so sad that most of what I hear these days suggests that there are too many students who don’t have achievement and excellence as the highest priorities their lives, not only in many places in the Caribbean, but on the US mainland as well.  I’ve work with a lot of great students, but I’ve also run into a lot of bad ones.  A local businessman told me 2 weeks ago on my previous trip that some high school students interviewed recently here in St. Thomas about accreditation of their high school.  The students said accreditation does not matter because these are the Virgin Islands.  I'm sure these views are in the extreme minority, but some outsiders will take it to represent most of us.

 

My family was poor when I was in elementary and high school and could not afford to pay for a college education abroad, and there was no local college or university in existence.  Therefore, I had no thoughts initially that I could go to college and did not enroll in the college preparatory course.  Instead, I enrolled in the commercial course of studies which included typing, shorthand, business law, etc., in anticipation of working for the local government in some clerical or administration position after high school.  Fortunately for me, however, a group of colleges belonging to the Historically Black Colleges consortium created a program in the spring of 1955 that offered tuition, room, and board scholarships to qualifying students from the US Virgin Islands.  I got one of those scholarships, and in addition, I won the first “Hands Across the Sea” scholarship competition which offered $2500 over 4 years towards a college education.

 

There was one commitment I had to make in accepting the “Hands Across the Sea” scholarship.  I had to agree to come back to the VI after graduation to work for a minimum of 4 years.  I swallowed hard because I was bent on getting a degree in electrical engineering and do high level stuff but there were no jobs here in that field at the time.  I had also hoped to continue right through to a PhD, and there were no provisions in the scholarship agreement to postpone returning here after my initial degree.  How could I, in good faith, accept the scholarship with these limitations?  I decided that no problem is unsolvable, especially if one is analytic, dynamic, adaptable, and you have enough to time to think and plan intelligently.  So of course I accepted the scholarship offer.

 

With the two scholarships in hand, I left home for the first time, dressed in my one and only suit and took the flight to PR on a tiny DC-3 airplane, which was the largest plane that could take off from the short runway in STT.  That was followed by a 6½ hour flight on a Pan American propeller-driven plane to New York.  I got a train ticket for the trip to Hampton, but happen to run into some fellow VI students who were going to travel by car to Hampton.   I got ride with them, and on the way they told me about the places where I wouldn’t be able to stop to use the restroom, or where the signs had additional words besides “Men” and “Women” on them.  I adapted immediately to traveling for long periods of time without a bathroom break and I don’t recall going into a restroom with one of those “weird“ signs.

 

Every freshman at Hampton had to take general courses.  You could not declare a major until the sophomore year.  I soon realized Hampton didn’t offer a degree in electrical engineering, despite what my HS guidance counselor had said.  I went back to NY after my first year at Hampton with the thoughts of looking for a summer job, as well as a different college to attend.  I was fortunate to land a job at RCA in a newly opened communications research laboratory.  The manager of the division was shocked when I showed up to answer an ad for a secretary.  A secretary was supposed to be a pretty young woman of a different ethnicity than mine.  I convinced him that I had the necessary secretarial skills, plus that I had a background in electronics because I had earned a diploma from a radio and television repair correspondence school while I was a junior in high school.  (I actually ran my own radio repair business on the side while in high school.)  I informed him that I planned to become an engineer, and therefore would be an asset to the company immediately in a lot of ways.  I passed all their initial performance tests for secretary and he hired me at $55 a week.  I had to give up my first week’s salary to the employment agency that gave me the lead on the job.

 

My secretarial career was short-lived by design.  I was the third employee in this new office.  I did much more than taking shorthand, typing, filing, and answering the phone.    As new engineers were added to the staff, I assisted them ordering and testing new equipment, and in their laboratory work and their computations.  I also started a technical research library for the engineering staff.

 

The company hired a “normal” secretary after about three and a half months, paying her a lot more than they paid me for less than a third of the work I was doing, and they paid her employment agency fee.  When I asked why, they said that she had more experience.  I couldn’t do anything about that.  I was happy to move fully into the purely technical areas of work as fast as I could.

 

I immediately applied to colleges in NYC at the same time.  I first attend New York University where I had to take college prep courses in physics, geometry, and trigonometry that I did not have in high school.  I eventually transferred to the College of the City of NY where I got my undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering.  (Incidentally, Colin Powell was in my graduating class.)

 

In the meantime, my employer was paying my full college tuition.  I sent a letter back here to the scholarship committee along with a check for all the money they had given me up to that point, and asked them to give the money to someone else in need.  I informed them in the letter that I would not be coming back here because there was no work in my field here.  I’m sure that you already know that this is one of the biggest and most important problem you should work on as future leaders.  Stop the brain drain from your communities.

 

I hope that my reminiscing about my early days demonstrates why you have to set high standards for yourselves and be willing to adapt to a dynamic environment.  Furthermore, I hope it illustrates the need for you to provide the kind of leadership that is necessary to develop and promote opportunities for future students to make their livelihood and contributions back to your own communities.

 

Why “Global?”

 

Why is there a focus on the word “Global” in any discussion of the Caribbean, this rather tiny area of the world?  The reason is that it has become painfully clear that the future of the governments and peoples of the Caribbean is inextricably tied into and affected by events that occur on a global basis.  Advances in technology, particularly in the areas of telecommunications, are making individual economies very much co-dependent in terms of goods and services, and even people.  The better you adapt and take advantage of the global environment, the better leaders you can become.  You will create better lives for your communities and yourself, and attract good people to work with and support you.  Conversely, if you fail to understand and adapt, you will be left behind and the only people who will join you will be those who have also failed, or those who will take advantage of you. 

 

I sometimes find it difficult to make a distinction between local and global when it comes to the application of most technologies.  I have done research for companies in the television broadcast industry in the US.  The corporate ownership of some of these US companies is in Europe.  The TV broadcasting standards for Europe differ from those of the US.  The people paying for the research want answers that are applicable to both their US and European interests.  The equipment they produce must be compatible or convertible for both standards.  I had to know and understand the applicable standards and specifications for both the US and European (France, in this case) sides in order for me to fulfill my research contract.  In addition, the French company sent one of their young engineers to work with and learn from us so that he could take the knowledge back with him.  Not only did that help them, but it also helped me and my company make money, create intellectual property, and extend our opportunities for additional global services.  When I published technical papers, I got responses from diverse parts of the world including Russia, Canada, Thailand, and even Nigeria.

 

Here is another example of globalization.  The instruction manuals for almost anything I buy these days are printed in several languages.  I bought a digital camera two weeks ago and got one manual in English, and another one in Spanish.  I bought a storm door for my house four months ago and did the installation myself.  The instructions for installing the storm door came in four languages.  Incidentally, and unfortunately, none of the stuff I buy, except for souvenirs, comes with a label saying “Made in the Caribbean.”

 

Leaders who are ignorant of global changes, or who think that they can remain isolated from them, or worse yet, try to suppress the effects of global changes, will fail miserably.  One of the most recent examples of this kind of isolationist thinking, in my opinion, were the Taliban leaders in Afganistan.  There is a saying that when the US catches a cold, Europe sneezes.  It happens the other way around too.  A recession in Japan affects US exports.  The same thing happens in the Caribbean.  We can’t hide from it.  St. Thomas gets dust from the volcanic eruptions in Monserrat, and from storms in Africa.  Major changes in political systems, such as the fall of communism in the Soviet Union, the creation of the European Union, and other international trading pacts, create more global competition.  Your commerce, your health, your political stability, and many other aspects of your daily lives are affected either directly or indirectly by things that you may or may not have any control over, particularly when the events are overseas.  So if you are striving to become a leader by thinking only of your own community or area, you will very likely fail because you did not consider or factor in global events that will affect your community.

 

Technology (Good and Evil):

Many things contribute to the creation of the dynamic environment that you will be facing as you go forward.  The growth and application of technology are two of those factors.  I am going to talk a bit on the role of technology because I think its role cannot be underestimated.  And I will spend more time on information technology (IT) in particular, because it augments and enhances the value of all the other technologies.  For example, advances in medicine are made known to the whole world almost instantly through IT mechanisms, and now medical surgical operations can be conducted remotely.  A specialist in one country can operate on a patient in another country by remote control using IT means.  Scientists can explore the far reaches of the universe using IT.

 

Technology can also be used for evil purposes as well, take for example the events of 9/11.  I caution the students I mentor that they should become very much aware of technology whether or not they go into the engineering or other sciences because technology will affect their lives in ways they may not even imagine.  Information about where you live, your whereabouts at any given time, your bank account information, your medical situation, your employment history, and other details can be obtained without your knowledge and consent.  This admonition also goes to you as potential future leaders in the Caribbean and elsewhere.

 

Using Technology:

 

I am a research and development engineer (retired) by profession.  My second choice for a profession was to be a lawyer, and my third choice would have been a social scientist.  My fourth choice was to become a volunteer and leader in my community.  In reality, I’ve accomplished the first and fourth goals, but in my own mind all four of them exist at the same time.  I’m a news junkie and perpetual student in all my areas of interest.  I constantly check out changes in the law and court rulings to make sure my community organizations are performing on a sound legal basis.  Also I try to keep abreast of what the social scientists are thinking, and what aspects of their research might be applied to anything I am involved in.

 

Leaders also need to take care of their own personal relationships.   I am also a very happy husband of a great wife, and the proud father of a son who also became an engineer and an entrepreneur on his own.  My son, Wayne, picked up my trait of being a workaholic.  He and I often have IM (instant messaging) chats over the internet at 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning while each of us at the same time is working on our own individual computer program or website development (I for my clients and he for his clients).  Usually we each have a window open on our computer screen to display our conversations.  I learn from him and he learns from me at the same time because the chats are about everything under the sun, and we keep each other up to date.  I’m also happy to say that he also has a great sense of community involvement with young people, and as a matter of fact, I have occasionally convinced organizations that asked me to speak that he would do a better job because he has a better rapport with young folks and is a dynamic speaker.  Dr. Kean would not have forgiven me if I passed this one off to Wayne.

 

Examples of technologies that effect the global environment.

 

Here is a short list of some of the technologies that I think have added to the dynamic nature of the global environment:

 

Micro Electronics -- integrated circuits, memories, sensors

Computers -- scientific, business, personal, appliances, human implants

Communications -- satellite, fiber optics, GPS, internet, world wide web, cellular phones

Robotics – motors, gyroscopes, artificial intelligence

Medicine – microsurgery, monitoring, DNA, fertility, cloning, drugs, physical therapy

Transportation – land, air, sea

Energy sources  -- fossil, solar, wind, chemical

Food production – fertilizers, insecticides, preservatives, hybrids, genetics

Entertainment – ACTV, AD-HDTV, audio compression, Video-on-Demand

Space – shuttle, space station, Hubbel telescope, mapping, origin, future

Scientific Reasearch – astronomy, physics, chemistry

Biometrics – identification (face, fingerprints, iris), predictions of future “looks”

Manufacturing – Computer Aided Design, Computer Aided Manufacturing

Security – sensors, Infra-Red, chemical analysis, weather, Remote Piloted Vechicles

 

It is very hard to discuss any of these technologies, or others not listed, as totally separate topics.  Some are not possible without the existence of others.  The modern computer industry would not be possible without advances in integrated circuit manufacturing processes.  The spacing between conductors on the chip can now be made in the 0.2 microns or less, so the circuitry can be made denser and faster.  Some integrated circuits now have several million transistors on a single chip, and computer processor speeds are approaching 2 GHz (2,000,000,000 cycles per second).  The yields (percentage of working chips in a batch) are higher, so the costs are lower.

 

One of my hobbies was designing and building computers for myself.  I have several that I use in lectures and demonstrations to young people.  Often times I would design a computer and not have the time to build it immediately.  By the time I got around to building it, the design was out of date because of the dynamic nature of the technology.  There is a generally accepted view called “Moore’s Law” that states that the capability of computers will double every eighteen months.  This is due to the combination of increased speeds, more memory, better architectures, new components, etc.  This means that every other area of technology that uses computers has the potential of also moving ahead rapidly.  Therefore, almost every aspect of your lives and your communities can be enhanced by applying these advances in computers and the other technologies.  So please understand the dynamics involved and apply them intelligently as you develop leadership skills.

 

Computers are used in almost every area of our lives.  They come in all sizes, shapes, speeds, capacities, and modes of operation.  They are sometimes built into, or function as part of a larger device or project.  Sometimes they are used in a supporting role, as in research, production, information management, entertainment, etc.  You will often hear the term “digital” bandied about.  In simple terms it means a conversion of a description or an attribute of an object into a number.  The trend to digitize every process is continuing.  The accepted concept now is that if something can be digitized, it will be.  Digitizing a process leads to the application of computers.  Therefore, the ever growing power of computers can be applied to more and more things.  This then leads to faster advances in many other areas of technology, and so on and so on.  Some of the most recent successful movies have been developed with the help of computer animation.  Of course computers cannot be used for everything, or at least they should not be.  You can use a computer to search for the best match for a companion, but after you find the ideal companion, you should probably turn the computer off and proceed manually.

 

The technologies are not ends in themselves.  They are tools to be used to achieve the goals of creating a better world for our communities.  This includes health, wealth, and others ingredients to happiness.  My wife and I had dinner a few weeks ago with Dr. Kean and his wife and in the course of the conversation, I mentioned that my wife often replies to the question of “What is Liston doing?” by saying “He is sitting at the computer.”  Quite a large number of people make that same kind of response because they don’t fully appreciate that the computer is a tool and its potential impact is immense.  I usually ask them, “If I were a carpenter building a house, would you describe what I was doing by saying, “He is using a hammer?”  The focus should be on the goals of the enterprise and using the most appropriate and best tools to get there.

 

What is leadership from my perspective?

 

Leadership can be considered and achieved on many levels.  You can be the leader in your family, in your school, on a team, in business, in a community group, in politics, in government on many levels from local to national, or on the world stage.  You can be a leader in one area only, or in many.  Some are exclusive, and some are inclusive or overlapping.  You can succeed in some areas and fail in others, at different times, or at the same time.  Sometimes it can be your fault, and sometimes it is not.  You can choose to become a leader, or leadership may be forced on you.  Sometimes leadership can be satisfying and rewarding, and sometimes it can be disappointing and costly.  You should always try to do the best you can and apply the skills and tools you think will work best.

 

I have had leadership roles in a number of technical task areas in my working career, as well as in areas of community service.  I’ve been in the technical research and development business for 44 years as an electrical engineer.  I’ve been working in community service for just as long and I don’t have all the answers and no one has to.  You have to join and/or create networks, and share information to move ahead as rapidly as you can.  I have invented things myself, and I’ve applied the inventions and research of others.  I follow the same philosophy in my non-technical community involvements.  I am not hesitant in adopting valuable ideas from other people.  The NIH (not invented here) factor has never limited my aspirations and it should not limit yours.  I urge you to get information about leadership from as many sources as possible.  Also you should be willing to seek and accept criticism from trusted associates, teachers, and mentors.  I have numerous awards and plaques from various technical and community organizations, and I admit that I could not have had many of the achievements without the help and/or support of many other people I worked with. 

 

I’ll use a number of my own experiences to illustrate my thoughts about leadership in dynamic environments.  I have numerous awards and plaques from various technical and community organizations, so I think a number of others have validated my contributions.  However, please feel free to disagree with me. 

 

Communications.

 

I think about communications and leadership on two levels that I think are important for future leaders to understand.  One is on the human level, and the other is on the electronic level.  Electronic communications is my specialty on a professional level.  Human communications is my pet subject on a social level.  I wouldn’t want to transmit erroneous or unintelligible human communications by any electronic means.  I will first discuss the human level as I perceive it.

 

In my early years here in STT, I read the local newspaper, and Ebony and Jet magazines.  We had no TV in the islands at that time.  I read stories about the conditions that Black folks faced , particularly in the US south, did not have a major impact on me.  In one sense, I was too young to fully appreciate the impact, and in another sense, I viewed the situations as fantasy and/or isolated cases, because they were alien to me.  There were no similar situations in my community here and my local elders were in charge of the community.  I thought that was normal everywhere.  As a matter of fact, I was probably 15 years old before I learned that the word “nigger” had a racial connotation.

 

What this shows is that how one communicates or tells a story, or how one understands and translates communications depends on context, background, and experience.  A similar misunderstanding occurred between my high school guidance counselor and me.  She assured me that I could get an engineering degree at Hampton, but evidently she did not understand the terminology in the college catalog.  Of course, neither did I, or I let her assurances overcome my own skepticism.   But there was a failure to communicate adequately.

 

As a potential leader, you have to understand that the ability to communicate well is of the utmost importance, and more specifically, you have to understand the background and culture of your potential followers and/or associates.  Methods that work well in one culture may not work in another culture.  As an example, I am amused when some of my friends and family here in STT complain about being cold if the temperature gets down to 75 degrees.  When someone tells me he or she is cold in my home environment in NJ, I assume that the temperature is below 55 degrees, and I act according to that perception.  If that difference of 20 degrees were translated into some multiple of dollars, one could be faced with a major unexpected cost factor.  (In my earlier life growing up in STT, I used to play tennis at high noon when the temperature was over 90 degrees and I thought that was cool.)

 

Numbers and their consequences are very important in my work as a research engineer.  On the other hand, my wife thinks that there is no difference between 3 and 4 because they are both small numbers.  We have had arguments over silly things where she ends up asking, “What’s the difference?”  Then she goes ballistic when I answer, “1.”  That way of thinking is normal for me, because I think rationally and hopefully with accuracy and precision almost all the time.  However, when I put my leadership hat on, I have to realize that I need to accommodate different styles of thinking and perceptions to accomplish my goals, whether it’s peace in my family, or running a board meeting.  The way I ran technical meetings at work is very much different from the way I discuss issues with my community groups outside of work.  You will not be a successful leader unless you understand the need to adapt dynamically to different modes of communications and practice them.

 

Overcome Negative Stereotypes

 

The way you conduct yourself and the competence and abilities you have to offer are equally important.  Sometimes you even have to overcome initial negative stereotypes, but you should not let that stop you from pursuing your goals.  Many times over the course of my career, I have had people from another cultural group working as my laboratory or technical assistants.  When I went out to do field research at a new customer location, or to help solve a technical problem, the first assumption typically was that I was the helper and not the leader.  In just about every case, my office had sent out advanced information that “Mr. Abbott” was the leader of the team coming to visit.  In quite a few instances, my helper was addressed as Mr. Abbott, because of the stereotype and perception of the person making the mistake.  A good leader should understand that these misunderstandings are often automatic and based on a cultural stereotype, and you can alleviate the situation by good conduct and performance.  Most people who are otherwise sensible and reasonable will come around in good time, even if they still feel embarrassed at their initial reaction.

 

I have had many customers visit our research laboratories and seen their mouths open in surprise, and sometimes apprehension, when they are told that I was going to be the leader of a particular aspect of the contractual work.  Ultimately, my own satisfaction was realized when the customer months later would ask if I agreed to and approved the results of our work with them.  The lesson here is that you should not turn back when you meet a brick wall or a barrier; just figure out a way around it.

 

Two years ago Sarnoff’s “Minorities in Engineering” was celebrating its 25^th anniversary.   This program bring high school students from five different schools into our facilities to expose them to what we do and encourage them to pursue engineering as a profession.   A reporter and a photographer from one of our local county-wide newspapers came to do a story on the program.  There were 33 students in attendance that day, sitting at tables.  One of the students had her head down on the table for most of the session and appeared to be sleeping.  The girl told me later that she was not sleeping, but she felt sick and was still listening.  The other 32 students were attentive and participating.  The photographer took about 10 pictures of the one student with her head on the table, and three or four of all the other 32 students.  I made sure that I talked to the reporter before she left, and was happy that she used an appropriate picture to go along with her positive story about the program.  Perception is important; to some people it is reality.  You should be keenly aware of that as future leaders.

 

Your Followers:

 

How does one get into a leadership position?  The most indispensable element is to have followers.  You can’t exercise leadership without followers.  Most of the time, followers must be convinced by you or someone else, or they may assume, that you have leadership qualities.  I say “most of the time” because in some instances the “leadership” position is thrust on you or you are conned into the position to take the heat, or the bullets, for a failed or failing mission.  Does the word “scapegoat” ring a bell?  You should always be aware of what your followers, in the main, think about your leadership.  A good leader is not necessarily the smartest, most educated, most talented, most handsome, or superlative in any respect to the followers.  But as a good leader, you have to understand and evaluate their individual and collective skills, interests, and desires.  Honesty and commitment go a long way in keeping and attracting good followers.  You should also keep in mind that there is a time to leave, but it always feels better when you make the decision yourself.

 

Cost/Benefit Analysis:

 

I always do a cost/benefit analysis for everything I get involved with, sometimes it is done formally, other times it is done intuitively.  A person in a business environment typically makes budgets for income and expenses.  Often times “good will”, the environment, stockholders, employees, and the potential for future business are important considerations.  Similarly, when you are in a social environment you should consider integrity, peace, friendships, love, and other factors.  You will often find yourselves unavoidably faced with making tradeoffs between various factors and you can only hope to make the right decisions.  And, you won’t always make the right decisions!  What’s even worse, you may not know whether or not your decisions were correct until sometimes long into the future, because what may seem right at the time, could in the long run turn out to be wrong, and you can’t go back fix it.

 

The Information Age and Niche Opportunities:

 

The growth and advancement of global communications open a vast number of possibilities for small and/or underdeveloped countries and areas to join the information age.  There is no way I could list them all, even if I knew what they were.  In addition, the list would be out of date almost immediately.  New opportunities are created continuously, and current items may have to be modified, or dropped because they become outmoded, impractical, or invalid in a business sense because of changes in technology, geopolitics, economics, or other factors in the dynamic global environment.  You must be innovative, adaptable, and willing to take chances.  You will fall further behind by just standing in place.

 

You can get involved in many cases without huge capital requirements of your own.  Existing companies are creating overseas divisions or affiliations to take advantage of new and capable pools of labor, an encouraging business environment, around-the-clock production, and other factors.  Employees in one part of the world work on projects and programs during their working hours and pass on the work to employees in other parts of the world.  The overseas employees continue the work over the succeeding part of the 24-hour cycle .  Then their results are passed back to and picked up by the original workers.  A number of companies in the US and India engage in this type of operation.  A number of companies in the Caribbean do data processing for credit card companies, airlines, and other businesses.  Some companies even use inmates in jail to do data processing for them.

 

The research park concept is also an excellent idea being carried out by many colleges and universities.  The synergistic relationship works out to the benefit of both the industries and the schools in many ways such as financially, educationally, scientifically, and public relations.  The value of the joint intellectual property that is developed is enormous.  The company I worked for had a similar relationship with Rutgers University in New Jersey.  A few faculty members also worked at Sarnoff for a portion of their time and involved mostly graduate students in their research, so both Sarnoff and Rutgers benefited.  The colleges and universities of the Caribbean can do the same.

 

I hope I have contributed something positive for you to think about, even if you have heard it before.  Thanks very much for the opportunity.