Densil Williams | Modernise or die: It is that simple

The literature on economic competitiveness, both at the microeconomic and macroeconomic levels, was not born by accident. It is derived from deep analytical and reflective work on what we refer to as the economy.

In a nutshell, this literature has at its core the understanding that the economy is a conglomeration of value chains. A value chain is simply a system of activities that captures how an outcome (whether a product or service) is derived so that the end user can ultimately acquire it to satisfy his or her utility function.

Countries that understand these two fundamental concepts are better positioned to participate in the global economy and win. The requirements for winning are continuous innovation (modernisation) in the way we do things within our aspect of the value chain in order to make the end user happier. Simply, using the jargon of economists, the end user must achieve higher utilitarian value from using our outputs. Countries or firms that do not modernise their systems and processes in their portion of the value chain will die, while those that modernise and give their end users higher value added will win and be prosperous.

MODERNISATION AGENDA

It appears that the Caribbean discourse on development agenda misses this simple but profound understanding of the workings of the modern global economic system. Instead of focusing our intellectual energies and capabilities on upgrading our systems and processes within our areas of the global value chain, we tend to focus more of our energies on romanticising the good old days. The intellectual class and many in the public bureaucracy spend a lot of time talking about how things were 30-40 years ago. Today, they blame our lack of progress in the global economy on the global capitalist system, imperialism, and all other “isms and schisms”.

Indeed, very little of our discourse is centred on how we take advantage of the structural and functional changes happening within the global economy and how to modernise our systems, processes, and thinking in order to survive and prosper. For example, very little discourse is focused on questions such as: How do we modernise our music to make it more appealing to the evolving tastes of end users? How do we modernise sports (cricket, football, etc) to meet the evolving tastes of new sports enthusiasts? Should we be focusing on how we use science and technology to improve the technical competencies of our sportsmen and women so they can compete at the highest standard, or should we focus the discourse on sports and politics, an area about which we are very comfortable waxing lyrical?

Similarly, should our firms expend most of their energy focusing on the imbalance in the global trading system instead of developing managerial skills and capabilities to modernise their offerings so that end users will have no choice but to consume their outputs and make us win in the global marketplace?

Critics will say it is not “either/or” but “both”. They will say we must focus on the romanticised or nostalgic days while we look ahead. History, it must be understood, is not to serve as a tool for nostalgia but instead should inform us of the past and be used as a tool to help shape the modernisation agenda for the future. It is not for us to click back to the past to determine whether we are successful today. The challenge the Caribbean faces is that with the rapidity of change within the global economy, time is not our friend. We have to modernise constantly and consistently.

The Caribbean cannot afford to miss this next development round in the global economy. This development round, undergirded by AI and emerging technologies that are reshaping industry, firms, and public policy, must see the Caribbean joining that value chain and winning. In this round, the Caribbean should focus on understanding the value chain in the AI revolution and where exactly in that chain it wants to play. Questions such as: Should the Caribbean play at the creative link in the AI value chain? Should it play at the technology hardware link in the chain? Should it play in the distribution link in the chain? It is these kinds of strategic issues that our development discourse should have as its focus. Growth and development require modernisation in thinking, in processes, in infrastructure, and in the social fabric of any society. We must modernise our thinking in order to win in the development arena. It all starts with the shaping of the mind.

MODERNISATION IN EDUCATION

The surest way to kick-start the modernisation agenda in the Caribbean space is to reform our education system. The education curriculum is foundational for facilitating new ways of thinking and for survival in the modern global economy. The curriculum must facilitate rigorous thinking and analysis over romantic and sentimental scholarship. It must support creativity, the arts, and critical thinking. It must make mathematics and science education mandatory. It must celebrate science over rhetoric and polemic. Management studies must rank highly in the reform process. It must be seen as a core part of the curriculum to motivate entrepreneurial thinking and strategic management. While the sociology and political dimensions of our development are heavily studied, we still need a lot more work on the business and entrepreneurial aspects of Caribbean development. Our curriculum must reflect this new thinking.

Our education system is where minds are shaped to think critically and solve problems while maintaining a balance between the past, the present, and the future. The science is conclusive that the first 1,000 days in a child’s development are the most critical days that will shape those who succeed and those who fail. It is, therefore, certain that Caribbean development discourse cannot escape discussing the modernisation of the early childhood sector. However, while those 1,000 days are critical in building the foundation, for completeness, the education system needs to modernise the curriculum up to the post-secondary level, where the skills and competencies needed for the modern economy are cemented. The Caribbean needs modern thinking as it plans the next phase of its development. Education reform is critical to the modernisation agenda.

Densil A. Williams is professor of international business at The UWI. Send feedback to densilw@yahoo.com.