Open eyes to digital DNA

THE EDITOR, Madam:

It is far too late to ignore what has already become woven into the fabric of daily life. The digital world is central to how we live, work, communicate, and even understand ourselves. As we grow more aware of the significance of this digital ecosystem, we must also raise our consciousness about the profiles, patterns, and footprints we create each time we access information or share our thoughts, actions, and behaviours across global platforms.

It is no coincidence that nearly everyone now has access to the Internet, smartphones, and smart devices, the arteries of our digital existence. With rapid technological advances and the public rollout of digital tracking during the COVID-19 pandemic, we must become far more astute about how we participate in digital navigation activities.

Social networks require no further definition beyond “public and accessible to all”. They are already being used to flag activities of concern, forecast consumer behaviour, measure influence, and track the movement and engagement of targeted audiences, and they were successfully used following Hurricane Melissa to provide acceptable estimates for damage and volume of debris for accurate and strategic deployment of resources. These are no longer mere “trends”; they are statistical outputs with real-world consequences.

Governments across the geopolitical landscape understand this power well. Many take deliberate steps to protect their political borders and digital sovereignty, especially in regions where countries share land borders and, by extension, access to each other’s information networks.

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, at the 49th Conference of CARICOM Heads of Government, emphasised the urgent need for the Caribbean to own its satellites and control its digital infrastructure. True sovereignty, she argued, requires ownership of the systems that transmit our communication, information, and even our financial transactions.

Such a step would immediately reduce our dependence on external powers that may seek to influence or pressure our political decisions, simply by limiting or threatening access to the very technologies on which our societies now rely. This represents one of the most significant threats to sovereignty, since our nations first gained independence.

If the Caribbean is to secure its future, we must open our eyes to our digital DNA, how it is formed, how it is used, and who ultimately controls it. It is time for strategic ownership.

PATRICK BROWN

Pembroke Pines, Florida

pbrown_436@yahoo.com