Joseph Boll
Caribbean Employment Services Inc. CEO Joseph Boll said his organization is hopeful that the recent development of a tool to track digital transformation in the Caribbean and Latin America will help improve digital transformation in the region.
His comments come on the heels of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) developing a new tool called the Digital Development Observatory (DDO), which “aims to produce, gather and analyze relevant data and information to identify trends, evaluate progress and support policy formulation and implementation on digital transformation in the region.”
Boll said: “A formal tool like the Digital Development Observatory could indirectly help to encourage more adoption of technology and more digital development, which can lead to more job opportunities in several ways. We’re hopeful to see this tool be used effectively and in a way that will lead to better policies, better infrastructure, and more digitalization that can improve the standard of living for many.”
Boll has consistently supported more digital development in the region, suggesting that it could help make recruitment more efficient and fair and also create more job opportunities for residents. His company, Caribbean Employment Services Inc., is a leading recruitment firm based in Barbados and operational throughout the region. As the CEO of a service that aims to connect jobseekers in the Caribbean with top global employers, Boll said the ECLAC’s DDO has the potential to be “a gamechanger in digital development in the region”, which could in turn drive economic growth and indirect job creation.
For instance, he noted that small businesses employ a large share of people in CARICOM countries but that the ECLAC has already found “70% of them do not even have an online presence” and “more than 60% of companies in Latin America and the Caribbean that use the Internet have a passive presence, which means they do not use this tool to make transactions.” As such, Boll said they are not actively engaging in the lucrative global marketplace.
“With the help of the DDO in identifying shortcomings in digital development, more attention, efforts and resources can be directed towards ensuring that local businesses and entrepreneurs have the required support to succeed in these emerging markets. If SMSEs are not equipped to adequately function in the digital marketplace, they’re not being enabled to live up to their potential,” Boll said.
