Tech Beach Retreat wants to help businesses adapt to digital world

For many small businesses and large companies, the covid19 pandemic has been a technological and financial nightmare, with some regional organisations finding themselves unprepared for the digital world and having to scramble to adjust operations to stay relevant.

But for Tech Beach Retreat (TBR), the pandemic has accelerated the need for the services the company provides. TBR is a Caribbean-based tech company that uses multi-media platforms to link business people and organisations around the world in an attempt to encourage increased investments, partnerships and mentorship.

“Our company has been digital from the onset, operating virtually over the last six years. We’ve built a community of tech-driven people who want to tap into opportunities in the Caribbean. Our Tech Beach Retreat summit and smaller events that take place regionally help do that. We have, in 2020, built on, in addition to our events business, our TRB Lab digital education programme design, that drives innovation in technology across the region,” co-founder Kyle Maloney told Business Day.

He said because the Caribbean tends to be slow as it regards technology, the pandemic has driven home the need to be more proactive and get with the tech programme.

“Covid has significantly driven that need in a really aggressive way,” he said, and entities in the region will need to undergo a significant re-skilling initiative to bring them up to speed and make them globally competitive. To address this, he said, TBR is offering training programmes.

The Startup Accelerator Programme recently started and will run for eight weeks. The Corporate Accelerator Programme will run from June 7 to July 2, held in collaboration with the DMZ from Ryerson University. But, he said reconfiguring systems, products, culture and delivery at scale will not be easy, especially for large companies with traditional services.

“The resources required to function optimally within the fourth industrial revolution are very different to those deemed necessary in the past. The internet has created a world where even our most powerful businesses are losing their moat to outside forces due to the barrier-less environment we now exist in.”

He said the corporate programme will run on the Zoom platform and the course content includes cyber security, artificial intelligence (AI), and design thinking which will be facilitated by experts in the fields. The programme will also tackle issues such as legacy mindset, limitations in authority, and the compulsion to operate in silos.

“Attention will be squarely focused on overcoming these handicaps to successfully implement digital transformation strategies and develop innovative work cultures that yield profitable growth.”

He said the teams will design and run experiments to validate or invalidate their riskiest assumptions concerning desirability, viability, and feasibility. Sessions will feature deep dives into a variety of topics, including the cloud and big data, blockchain, technology solutions, and the importance of embracing startup culture to drive intrapreneurship and rapid transformation.

“Partnerships between large corporations and startups generally form the centrepiece for driving impactful innovation. We're hoping to see a greater level of this occur in our region, as many of our veteran firms are prime for disruption from a nimble technology driven upstart.”

But with some people being weary of having to operate almost completely online for over a year now, Maloney said new social norms will have to be created when the world re-opens.

“We will need to design for what is, not for what was. New norms and cultures that are healthy for now will have to come into play…We already know how to operate and manage teams without going into the office all the time, we’ll just have to build healthy practices from there…The world has changed and the way we prepare employees and leaders has to change with it.”

Maloney and his team are hoping to see the transformation in all areas of business – small business, large corporation and in the government system.

Registration for the Corporate Innovation Programme closes on June 1. For more information contact oncierge@techbeach.net. To register, visit https://techbeach.net/pages/tbr-lab.