innovation - VIII Americas Competitiveness Forum Trinidad and

INNOVATION
The Trinidad and
Tobago
Experience
Author: Sunity Maharaj
Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Development
INNOVATION: THE TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
EXPERIENCE
BY SUNITY MAHARAJ
WITH INPUTS FROM VIII AMERICAS COMPETITIVENESS
FORUM SECRETARIAT 2014
2
THE CHALLENGE OF INNOVATION IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
The innovation challenge in 21st century Trinidad and Tobago needs to be understood within the
context of the innovation experience and against the background of the historical context of the
country’s development. Such an approach recognises the modern paradox of high creativity and
innovation on an individual scale, most evident in the arts and creative expression, and low
innovation on a national scale, as expressed by T&T’s 90th place ranking on the Global Innovation
Index, 2014. This paradox has its origins in the historical construct of the economy and society of
Trinidad and Tobago and, in particular, the dichotomous nature of the economy, in which the world’s
most innovative technologies in sugar and oil production were imported into an antiquated system
of enslaved and feudal labour, kept in check by official policies of violent dehumanization.
In framing the challenge in this manner, it is reasonable to contend that such conditions bred a culture
of distrust and alienation between labour and technology in which survival and the human need for
joy and expression drove imagination underground where it existed secretly, subversively and
invisible to the official eye.
Three centuries later, Trinidad and Tobago’s evolution into an independent, democratic nation with
a per capita income of US$20,437 should suggest a related evolution of culture. The historic
disconnect between people and technology should have given way to a culture grounded in the
acknowledged validity of the human imagination, with the confidence of mastery over technology.
However, the country’s consistently low score on the Global Innovation Index suggests otherwise and
invites inquiry into the forces responsible for the modern paradox of persistent alienation and
resistance to change amidst substantial improvement in material conditions.
No doubt some of our current challenges can also be partially explained by the evolution of a business
culture originally focused on trade through imports, by the existence of a multinational driven
globally competitive energy industry operating side by side with the rest of the economy in a
disconnected manner evolving on dual tracks and unable and/or unwilling to meet the challenges of
competitiveness outside the limited economic space of the Caribbean region. Worthy of note also
3
may be the disconnect between creative impulses and manifestations in the society and the
orientation of industry towards structure and organization that are traditional and conventional. Such
explanations, though, do not absolve us from the responsibility of exploring the current paradox
deeply and politically and coming up with answers which provide solutions.
4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE CHALLENGE OF INNOVATION IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO ............................................................. 2
INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................................... 5
HISTORY AS DISINCENTIVE TO INNOVATION................................................................................................ 6
SUGAR ................................................................................................................................................................... 6
OIL .......................................................................................................................................................................... 7
THE STEEL PAN ............................................................................................................................................. 10
TOWARDS AN INNOVATION POLICY............................................................................................................. 13
ONGOING FOCUS ON INNOVATION.............................................................................................................. 22
CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................................................... 23
APPENDIX 1: INNOVATION QUESTIONNAIRE ............................................................................................ 25
APPENDIX 2: A CHRONICLE OF INNOVATORS AND THEIR INNOVATIONS ....................................... 28
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.................................................................................................................... 28
PUBLIC SECTOR INNOVATION ................................................................................................................ 30
INNOVATIONS IN MEDICINE .................................................................................................................... 31
INNOVATION AT UWI.................................................................................................................................. 34
INNOVATIONS BY INDIVIDUALS ............................................................................................................ 39
CREATIVE AND CULTURAL INNOVATION .......................................................................................... 42
INNOVATION IN MUSIC .............................................................................................................................. 44
SOCIAL INNOVATIONS ................................................................................................................................ 46
5
INTRODUCTION
If a society could be considered an innovation, the Caribbean would be it.
Created in the crucible of a reconstructed global order, the Caribbean emerged out of the disruptive
science and technology of 15th century Europe which radicalized oceanic exploration and liberated
Europe from the bondage of Old World geography to create the New.
The Age of Exploration that gave birth to modern Trinidad and Tobago and the Americas had its
genesis in science and technology breakthroughs of world-shattering impact. Among these were the
invention of Gutenberg’s printing press in 1448, which dramatically altered the organization,
management and distribution of information, as well as innovations in navigational instruments and
ship designs which opened new horizons for European exploration, conquest and trade 1.
Yet on the ground, in Caribbean geographical space, while Science and technology may have had an
impact on industries linked to metropolitan demand such as sugar, there was little or no impact
beyond such industries in the wider society itself.
In a fundamental sense, therefore, the society had to grope for its innovative capabilities and manage
problems as they emerged, finding solutions as were required and as creative impulses sought space
and opportunity to action ideas and creative thoughts
Peter J. Hugill, “The Triumph of the Ship,” in World Trade Since 1431: Geography, Technology, and Capitalism (Baltimore:
JHU Press, 1993), 105–248.
1
6
HISTORY AS DISINCENTIVE TO INNOVATION
SUGAR
In the Caribbean, just as European technologies for transporting people and goods across immense
oceans were having their cataclysmic impact on the region’s Indigenous people, innovations in sugar
technology were setting in train a series of events that would forever change the society’s nature and
structure, with ironic consequences for the region’s innovation potential far into the future. The
dichotomy of an economic and social system that combined leading edge technology with feudal
systems of enslavement and land ownership set up deep contradictions that plague Caribbean society
to this day.
As the operational staging ground for the application of new manufacturing technology, the
Caribbean would become a linchpin in the massive infrastructure of the Industrial Revolution, the
first expression of truly global trade involving the mass movement of people, product and profits.
Within the islands themselves, however, conditions were decidedly anti-innovation. Key elements
that propel innovation were all but absent: rising value of labour, resource limitations, and market
demand.
The guaranteed supply of free to cheap labour in the Caribbean nullified the risk of increased labour
costs while the system of forced, unpaid and lowly-paid labour prioritized control and subjugation to
the exclusion of any idea of investment in human resources. Here was born the deep-seated
alienation between people and production.
The easy availability of free and cheap land discouraged investment in land conservation techniques.
Low priority was given to scientific experimentation to increase crop yields, resulting in acreages
being tilled to exhaustion before being abandoned as planters moved from one area to the other2.
For a discussion of the New World colonisers’ obstinately slapdash agricultural practices in the context of early
environmentalist concerns, see Richard H. Grove, Green imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens and the Origins
of Environmentalism, 1600-1860 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995).
2
7
Between the cash-poor labouring masses and the cash-rich planters who preferred their goods from
Europe, there was insufficient demand to sustain a domestic market or serve as an incentive for
diversifying away from the single export product of sugar3. As the social elite, the planter class not
only cemented the taste patterns that influence the country’s balance of trade to this day but set the
value system that is weighted against domestic products and undermines investment in production
systems rooted in indigenous sources.
OIL
In the mid-19th century, as the world’s economic axis prepared to shift again, Trinidad and Tobago
was thrown into the global spotlight as one of a handful of testing grounds for innovations in oil
production technology.
In 1867, just eight years after Edwin Drake drilled the first oil well in Pennsylvania in the United States
of America, oil was successfully produced from a well in Aripero Village in South Trinidad by Paria
Petroleum Company, an exploration outfit headed by Captain Walter Darwent. Although he exported
only small quantities of crude and died within a year of his first production, Capt. Darwent
demonstrated the viability of the technology for exploiting Trinidad’s oil potential. The impact of this
innovation on Trinidad and Tobago is as profound today as it was then, if not more so.
Forty years later, Randolph Rust, supported by financing from businessman John Lee Lum, picked up
where Darwent had left off, striking oil in Guayaguayare on Trinidad’s south eastern coast. By 1913,
the pioneering efforts of Darwent, Rust and Lee Lum had been successful enough to silence cynics
and attract investors for large scale production. The emergence of an oil industry set Trinidad and
Tobago on a path towards industrialization that would alter the country’s labour profile away from
agriculture and open up wealth-producing opportunities for landowners with oil deposits, investors,
technicians, construction and engineering professionals, craftspeople and labourers, among many
others.
3
Lloyd Best, “Outlines of a Model of Pure Plantation Economy,” Social and Economic Studies 17.3 (1968): 283–326.
8
The innovation trajectory
Despite the transformational impact of innovations in oil production since the 1800s, the socioeconomic structure entrenched by the sugar plantation proved remarkably resilient in the face of
change. Historical forces have also been crucial in ordering the nation’s innovation priorities and in
establishing a selection process which determined which kinds of innovation were valid and which
were not. Among the invalidated, many have died a natural death due to a starvation of investment
and respect while others, like the steel pan, managed to evade guaranteed death from stigma and
official ostracism by going underground.
After Independence, the transnational corporation replaced the colonial authorities as the foreign
agency for science, technology and innovation, limiting Trinidad and Tobago to the role of provider
of labour and natural resources. The divisions that had historically separated labour from science,
technology and innovation therefore persisted.
In spite of these divisions and the social tensions they provoked, Trinidad and Tobago enjoyed,
stretching back to the colonial era, a level of development that sustained entrepreneurs,
administrators, academics, scientists, artists, researchers and professionals in other communities of
interest. In every field, individuals of extraordinary intellect, initiative, creativity and commitment
emerged as pioneers and innovators, adding new knowledge and value to the society.
In oil, Darwent, Lee Lum and Rust led their gangs of labourers in clearing virgin forests and trudging
through infested swamps, logging pipelines and heavy equipment by land and sea, and risking their
lives by exploding oil into the air. Others, like soft drink manufacturer Joseph Charles, food processor
Victor E. Mouttet and cosmetics manufacturer Kama Maharaj, with their instinct for
entrepreneurship, acquired the technology they needed from wherever in the world they could get
it, and applied their intelligence and imagination to adapting it for new markets. Some like Emamool
Deen, creator of doubles – fast food on wheels – applied their imagination to meeting the needs of
low-income workers on the move. The scientifically-minded Joseph Lennox Pawan, Allastair Carmody
and Professor Courtney Bartholomew wrote their names into the world’s medical books with pathbreaking procedures, insights and research. In music, Elliot Mannette, Bertie Marshall and Anthony
Williams brought their native genius and passion to transforming the oil drum into the musical steel
9
pan which led to the creation of the steel band and the steel orchestra. The precise contributions of
these and others are outlined in the appendix of this report4.
Many indigenous innovators did not find the support at home for realizing the potential of their ideas.
For many of those, the obvious choice was to accept attractive offers for study and employment from
metropolitan institutions where conditions were conducive to research and where they found
recognition. In these cases, the receiving societies were the main beneficiaries of the value produced
by their innovation although such exposure for individuals so recognised did bring distinction. In some
cases, the innovation was of such global impact that the value found its way back to Trinidad and
Tobago in the form of imported product and ideas.
The unique historical conditions that accompanied Trinidad and Tobago’s evolution from neglected
Spanish colony to British Crown Colony to Independent nation and full-fledged Republic provide the
context for understanding the forces that have influenced and shaped innovation in this country.
They are also critical to unravelling the paradox of high creativity and innovation on an individual
scale within the context of low innovation output on a national scale, as illustrated by the 90 th place
ranking of this country in the Global Innovation Index, 20145.
As the examples cited in this document show, Trinidad and Tobago nationals have a long and
outstanding record of innovation, much of which has taken place outside of their native country. This
should raise questions about the country’s support structure and its absorptive capacity for homegrown innovation within both the public and private sector.
4
Biographical information for innovators and their innovations in this report was taken from the following publications
of the National Institute of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (NIHERST):
• Trinidad and Tobago Icons in Science and Technology, Vol I, 2005
• Trinidad and Tobago Icons in Science and Technology, Volume II, 2009
• Business and Innovation Success Stories From Trinidad and Tobago
(NIHERST in collaboration with University of Trinidad and Tobago)
Additional material was sourced from “Profiles of National Icons of the Republic of T&T”, published by the Ministry
of Planning and Sustainable Development in 2012.
5
http://www.globalinnovationindex.org
10
THE STEEL PAN
As the chronicle of innovators and innovations6 would suggest, the
formal structures of colonial Trinidad and Tobago served to
circumscribe and harness the indigenous imagination, in the process
blunting its revolutionary potential. Outside the system, the
imagination found its most potent expression in the freedom to
innovate, and was immediately attacked as a threat to the existing
A STEELPAN
order.
There, in the marginalized world of the social outcasts, the imagination created a parallel world,
outfitted by innovations invisible to and unvalued by the official order: Innovations in science,
technology, finance, social organization, art and religion. It produced solutions for every imagined
need, from bush medicines to bush rum, from sou-sou saving schemes to self-help through gayap,
from Carnivals of expression to panchayats of justice, cultures borrowing from each other to bridge
the gaps of poverty, in everything from food to fashion and more.
The crowning innovations of the poor and the marginalized, however, were the STEEL PAN and the
STEEL
BAND.
Inspired, original and a source of continuous innovation for over eighty years, the
development of the Steel pan epitomises the paradox of innovation in a society of extreme social
alienation where the constrained imagination finds release outside the mainstream to exist
unrecognised, invalidated and unvalued. This has been the story of the Steel pan.
Against all odds, without training in music or metallurgy, the Steel pan emerged from Trinidad’s
outcast society to stand among the musical instruments of the world. Of all the acts of innovation in
Trinidad and Tobago, it is the only one to have so captivated the energies of entire communities
across the country that no one can say for sure who started it. In every way, the Steel pan is a
6
See Appendix 2.
11
completely Trinidad and Tobago innovation, to which an entire Hall of Fame of natural geniuses have
contributed, refining it from the lowly oil barrel rescued from the dump into the exquisite instrument
it is today.
Counted among the pantheon is WINSTON “SPREE” SIMON (1930 – 1976),
who unveiled his 14-note Kettle Drum on Carnival Tuesday 1946. This was
just around the same time that ELLIOT “ELLIE” MANNETTE (1926 – ), known as
the Father of the Modern Steel band, was debuting his 55-gallon
prototype of today’s single tenor pan, which was followed up with
Mannette’s introduction of rubber-tipped pan-sticks. A pan tuner of great
distinction, Mannette continued his experimental work, bringing a
WINSTON “SPREE” SIMON
sophisticated approach to pan tuning by using a stroboscope to analyze
and shape the harmonic blend.
Another dominant figure in Pan’s pantheon is ANTHONY WILLIAMS (1931 – ),
the acknowledged scientist of the steel pan. In 1952 he unveiled the
Double Strumming Pan, placing it on wooden stands for mobility along
with the Double Cello on legs and the Ping Pong on metal stands, instead
of the old neck strap. Two years later he produced another innovation
when he put both Pan and stand on wheels to create the mobile steel
ELLIOT “ELLIE”
MANNETTE
band.
In 1956, Williams presented his most revolutionary invention of all in his
design and note-placement of the “Spider Pan” which opened up new
possibilities for Steel band music. Years of quiet research had led him to
a mathematical formula in which each ascending note was precisely one
eighth of an inch smaller than the preceding note. Out of this research
ANTHONY
WILLIAMS
came the “fourths and fifths” Tenor Pan, which is recognised today as the
international standard for the tenor and many other steel band
instruments.
12
By 1956, another legendary figure, BERTRAM “BERTIE” MARSHALL (1936 – 2012),
was revolutionising pan tuning by introducing the harmonic tuning method.
Bertie Marshall, who had a life-long obsession with getting the cleanest
possible sound out of pan and eliminating what he considered its “noise”, also
invented the double tenor pan and amplified the steel pan. With Rudolph
Charles of Desperadoes Steel band, Bertie Marshall also created the
Quadrophonics, Six Pan and Twelve Bass. Bertram “Bertie” Marshall, who
BERTRAM “BERTIE”
MARSHALL
invented the double tenor pan and brought his genius ear to creating
harmonic tuning for the steel pan, resulting in the rich, clear sound that is
today associated with the instrument, neatly conveyed the historical attitude
to pan in a youthful remembrance:
“I didn’t have to ask my mother’s permission to play pan. I knew her well enough
to know that I would be able to hang around pan and panmen only over her
dead body, so I put the thought out of my mind and interested myself instead
with boyish pastimes of the day.”
For many years, the Steel pan and the Steel band were recognized as rebellion, not as innovation.
Denied recognition, legitimacy and validation, the imagination that produced them and so much else
remained in retreat in the underbelly of T&T society, occasionally emerging in an eruption of social
forces. V.S. Naipaul’s assertion that “nothing was created in the British West Indies” describes the
aridity of the colonial intervention and the absence of a creative imagination at work in the colonial
period but it also speaks to the oppressed imagination in the context of the colonial order whose life
rhythm played out in the cycle of “plantations, prosperity, decline, neglect”7 .
Gradually, over the period since Independence in 1962, the taboos began to ease, as the national
development agenda forced Trinidad and Tobago to confront its past in order to re-align the present
and transform the future. In the end, as it did for Bertie Marshall, the passion for pan won out.
7
V.S. Naipaul, The Middle Passage: Impressions of Five Colonial Societies (London: Pan Macmillan-Picador, 1962).
13
TOWARDS AN INNOVATION POLICY
In 2011, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago put Innovation on the national agenda in an insistent
and forward-thinking manner with the establishment of the Council for Competitiveness and
Innovation (CCI) by the Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Development. The Council has the task
of developing and implementing a “holistic and competitive innovation policy that will transform the
economy by lowering its dependence on hydrocarbons as well as improving its global
competitiveness rank” by 20218. The Council for Competitiveness and Innovation (CCI) was given
conceptual form in the Manifesto (2010) of the People’s Partnership coalition which became the
Government in that year.
The policy approach, linking innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development, is grounded
in the theories of the Austrian-American economist Joseph Schumpeter but takes into account
important realities which underscore the evolution of economy, politics and society in Trinidad and
Tobago – such as land policies which have suppressed entrepreneurship and constrained
development, an education system focused on examinations and certification but limited in scope
with regard to opening students up to opportunities for entrepreneurship and the creative use of
human imagination and a society in which creative actions are not always linked to commercial
possibilities rooted in the disconnects which have been earlier identified.
It is against this background that the Council for Competitiveness and Innovation (CCI) has launched
Four (4) major, connected public initiatives:
1. The Innovation Forum
2. The School Innovation Road Show Series
3. The Idea 2 Innovation(i2i) programme
4. The Social Innovation Initiative
8
http://cci.planning.gov.tt/
14
The Innovation Forum brings together entrepreneurs and private sector leaders on an open and
informal discussion and exchange of ideas and practical information related to creating sustainable,
innovative enterprises in Trinidad and Tobago.
The Schools’ Innovation Road show Series targets young people of secondary school age and puts
teenagers in direct touch with inventors as models for future career options. It is a career guidance
initiative designed to encourage them to consider entrepreneurial activities as possible future
careers.
The Idea 2 Innovation (i2i) Programme is designed to find innovators and encourage them to develop
the commercial potential of their ideas with grants awarded through a TT$10 million Innovation
Financing Facility through the Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Development. Selected innovators
are provided with expert development support from the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute
(CARIRI) and the National Entrepreneurship Development Company (NEDCO).
Between 2012 and 2014, a total of 145 projects out of 1367 submissions to the i2i programme were
awarded grants ranging from TT$75,000 to TT$200,000 to take their ideas to proof of concept in one
year.
In 2014 a Social Innovation initiative will be rolled out. The idea behind the Social Innovation
Initiative is to build on the i2i success model in commercial innovation to focus on sustainable
solutions to social problems and challenges.
Business Research
In 2014 the Government of Trinidad and Tobago launched a fund to support collaboration for
innovation between business and researchers. The fund begins with an allocation of 50 million dollars
this year.
15
Innovation survey
The findings of a ten-item survey of 14 grant awardees (26.4 % of the total), emphasise the critical
importance of the i2i programme. (The questionnaire is attached as Appendix 1.) This has implications
for the value of initiating other entrepreneurial and innovation supporting initiatives.
In general, the innovators are largely self-motivated, self-financing persons for whom the i2i award
is “extremely important” to the development of their project.
Other note-worthy findings of the survey were:
1) School played a minimal role in influencing their interest in innovation
2) Most innovators seem disconnected from the media and depend on others for information
about the i2i programme.
3) i2i awardees have high expectations of success.
4) i2i award recipients are a key group for disseminating information about the programme.
5) Of all T&T’s innovations, the Steel pan most inspired the i2i innovators.
A tabulation of responses follows.
16
Question 1 Participants were asked to rank the influence of five factors (employer, family, friends,
school and self-motivation) on their interest in innovation. The majority assigned the highest rank to
self-motivation. Family was named the next most influential factor on average, while employers and
schools were nearly tied for last place.
Average rating out of 5
1. i2i Winners: Influences on
innovation
5
4
3
2
1
0
2.1
3.7
2.9
2.3
4.8
Factors
Question 2 Asked to describe the public attitude to innovation, respondents were generally neutral
to positive, with over half reporting that they regarded the public as reasonably supportive.
Number of times selected
2. i2i Winners: Perceptions of
public support for innovation
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
8
5
1
0
Cynical
0
Discouraging Neither here Reasonably
nor there
supportive
Level of support
Very
supportive
17
Question 3 Most of the respondents learned of the i2i competition by word of mouth. Publicity via
the internet, Facebook and other media appears to have reached only about a third of the
participants. For this question, participants were allowed to select multiple options.
Number of times selected
3. i2i Winners: How they found
out about the competition
12
10
10
8
6
3
4
2
1
1
0
Facebook
Internet
Media
Type of publicity
Word of mouth
Question 4 All participants believed that the i2i award was important to the development of their
projects, with over half describing it as “extremely important.”
Number of times selected
4. i2i Winners: Importance of the i2i
award
10
8
8
6
4
4
2
2
0
0
Not very
important
Important
Very important
Level of importance
Extremely
Important
18
Question 5 Asked how they would fund their projects without the i2i award, most participants said
they would use their own money. Financial assistance from family was also an option for some, while
several others said they would seek outside investment. Only two people said they would not be
pursuing their projects at all. For this question, participants were allowed to select multiple options.
Number of times selected
5. Other funding options
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
9
4
3
2
1
1
Other
Commercial
bank
None
Investor
Family funds Personal funds
Types of funding
Question 6 Asked to rate their satisfaction with the i2i process on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being “very
satisfied”), most respondents were at least somewhat satisfied (that is, they gave a rating of 5 or
higher). The average score was 7.
Number of respondents at each
level
6. i2i Winners: Satisfaction with
the i2i process
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Not satisfied
Somewhat
Satisfied
satisfied
Satisfaction level
Very satisfied
19
Question 7 According to the respondents, time and money were the biggest obstacles to project
development.
Number of times selected
7. i2i Winners: Main project
development challenges
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
4
1
0
1
5
2
1
Challenges
Question 8 All respondents but one were optimistic about their chances of success, with the plurality
being extremely optimistic.
8. i2i Winners: How they rate
their chances of success
Good
4
Not likely
1
Very good
4
Guaranteed
5
20
Question 9 Most participants knew of at least one other person who had been inspired to apply for
i2i grants as a result of their win.
Number of times selected
9. i2i Winners: Impact on others
9
10
8
6
4
4
1
2
0
0
No one
Between 1 and Between 5 and More than 10
5
10
Number of people inspired to apply for i2i grants
Question 10 Finally, participants were asked to list 3 local innovations they had found inspiring. The
steel pan was the most common answer, while the next most common was a variation on “I can’t
think of anything”. At least some participants were aware of the work being done by their fellow i2i
winners, as six projects by i2i winners were cited.
21
10. i2i Awardees: Their local
inspirations
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
6
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
i2i winners'
projects in
orange
22
ONGOING FOCUS ON INNOVATION
Since 2011 there has also been ongoing work with companies focused on competitiveness and
innovation, much of which has been led by CARIRI (The Caribbean Industrial and Research Institute).
For instance, over 60 companies in the country are working with a crack ICT team at CARIRI to upgrade
ICT capability focused on efficiency effectiveness and innovation. In 2012 an Innovation Readiness
Survey was conducted with about 20 companies of different sizes to assess their disposition to, and
practice of, innovation. The results were not very encouraging. A 2014 follow-up study with the same
companies, however, revealed a greater awareness, stronger disposition and actual initiatives to
support company innovation.
CARIRI has also collaborated with reputable institutions to establish innovative projects to support
the innovation thrust. One of these is a partnership with the World Bank to find innovative,
entrepreneurial solutions to climate change problems. This is a region-wide project which includes
the Jamaica Research Institute as a partner. Another partnership has been established between
CARIRI and Microsoft resulting in the establishment of Microsoft’s 111th Innovation Centre in Trinidad
and Tobago. This centre was launched by the Honourable Minister of Planning and Sustainable
Development on Monday 6th October 2014. Beyond this, the idea to innovation (i2) programme is
being expanded to embrace social innovation. These programmes are offered by the Council for
Competitiveness and Innovation (CCI).
In the 2015 Budget a TT$50 million fund was established to support collaboration between business
and research to support company innovation. This enhances the work of the Centre for Enterprise
Development (CED) which was established in Freeport in 2013 by the Ministry of Planning and
Sustainable Development under the jurisdiction of CARIRI to support business incubation, company
innovation and software applications design.
The hosting of ACF 2014 in Port of Spain is an important initiative in stimulating awareness, raising
consciousness, encouraging discussion and provoking action in the realm of innovation. The theme
of the forum has placed considerable emphasis on the human imagination.
23
CONCLUSION
Improving Trinidad and Tobago’s ranking on the Global Innovation Index is a challenge of historic
proportions which requires a clinical analysis of the factors that inhibit and facilitate innovation in
T&T, as well as their root causes. Policy approaches that do not take account of the impact of history
and society in shaping the human imagination in a particular place and time are unlikely to be
rewarded with any high degree of success.
In addressing today’s innovation challenge, a useful starting point for T&T would be a thorough
analysis of the era of innovation that produced the Steel pan and Steel band. Together, they offer the
best examples of the application of the indigenous imagination to problem-solving, technological
development, production processes, knowledge creation and transfer, product sustainability and
marketing, among others. Distilled to its principles, the Steel pan and Steel band offer an authentic
template for unlocking the potential of the T&T imagination and dynamising the innovation
environment of Trinidad and Tobago.
The Steel pan innovation experience offers one of the most relevant bases for developing innovation
policy appropriate to Trinidad and Tobago. Its powerful impact on the confidence and capacity of
entire communities demonstrates the potential of the Steel pan innovation experience for supporting
the process of cultural transformation and informing national policy that reinforces the following
attributes.
1. Validating the indigenous imagination and rewarding indigenous acts of creation
2. Building social trust
3. Increasing the social and material value of relevant education
4. Prioritizing competence over privilege
5. Rewarding creativity
6. Embedding critical thinking in decision-making processes
7. Supporting risk-taking
8. Strengthening an incentives regime entrepreneurship
24
9. Seeking out difference
10. Welcome and encourage change
11. Strengthening the legitimacy of the political process
To disrupt and re-direct the lingering paradigm of cultural negation and alienation, a policy
intervention informed by the above objectives and supported by relevant and effective strategy
is needed. Among those indicated are:
1. Re-designed education system based on review of the information and learning
environment and interrogation of the concept of school
2. Social harmony strategy based on analysis and assessment of the impact of historical
forces on current social relations
3. Local content policy designed to support indigenous entrepreneurship and informed by
analysis of key determinant factors underpinning the value system for goods and services
4. Negotiated performance-based strategies within a framework of transparency
5. Justice-based accountability system within a framework of transparency
6. Political reform to open up the space to wider participation and representation of all
interests so as to deepen the legitimacy of, and public trust in, the governance system
In conclusion, it is reasonable to argue that building cultural confidence in indigenous capacity is
necessary for transforming the legacy of social alienation that continues to stifle the innovation
potential of T&T. As the most complete example of the indigenous capacity for autonomous, original,
idea-to-market innovation on a national scale, the Steel pan and its evolution into the Steel band
offer an exciting opportunity for understanding the forces that inhibit and motivate T&T’s potential
for innovation. For this reason, deep analysis and understanding of both should be core to the
development of a national innovation policy and strategy into the future.
The time has come for Trinidad and Tobago to release the human imagination from the bondage of
history.
25
APPENDIX 1: INNOVATION QUESTIONNAIRE
Rank the following in terms of their influence on your interest in innovation. *
Question 1 of 10
1
(Most
2
influential)
3
4
Selfmotivation
Employer
Friends
School
Family
How would you describe the public attitude to innovative ideas? *
Question 2 of 10
o
Very supportive
o
Reasonably supportive
o
Neither here nor there
o
Discouraging
o
Cynical
o
Other:
How did you learn about the i2i Award programme? *
Question 3 of 10
o
Media
o
Word of mouth
o
Online
o
Other:
How important has the i2i award been to the development of your project idea? *
Question 4 of 10
o
Extremely important
o
Very important
o
Important
5
(Least
influential)
26
o
Not very important
Without the i2i award, what avenues would you have pursued in taking your project to the development
phase? *
Question 5 of 10
o
Family funds
o
Personal funds
o
None
o
Investor
o
Commercial bank
o
Other:
Rate your satisfaction with the i2i process. *
Question 6 of 10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Very satisfied
Which of the following is the main challenge that your project now faces? *
Question 7 of 10
o
Non-availability of relevant human resources
o
Absence of marketing opportunities
o
Lack of financing
o
Loss of interest by you
o
Lack of time
o
Other:
How do you rate your project’s chances of becoming a financial success? *
Question 8 of 10
o
Guaranteed
o
Very good
o
Good
o
Not likely
o
Close to nil
10
Not at all satisfied
27
o
Other:
As far as you know, how many people have applied for i2i grants as a direct result of your experience? *
Question 9 of 10
o
More than 10
o
Between 5 and 10
o
Between 1 and five
o
No one
Name three examples of innovation in T&T that inspire you. (If you cannot think of three, feel free to say
so.) *
Question 10 of 10
28
APPENDIX 2: A CHRONICLE OF INNOVATORS AND THEIR INNOVATIONS
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
After graduating from St Mary’s College, BERT ACHONG (1928 – 1996) moved
to the United Kingdom where he trained as a clinical pathologist. His work
with Sir Anthony Epstein and Dr Yvonne Barr led to the discovery of the
Epstein-Barr (EBV), the discovery of the first human virus that causes cancer.
BERT ACHONG
PROFESSOR WORDSWORTH PRICE (1930 – ) gained an international reputation for
his work in physics and electrical engineering in the United Kingdom. His
innovations include the development of micro-miniature capacitors for the
Royal Radar Establishment in the UK and sintered tantalum capacitors for
commercial use.
PROF
WORDSWORTH
PRICE
DR RUDRANATH CAPILDEO (1920 – 1970) developed his scientific interests in
England where he studied Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity from which
he developed several new theories including “The Flexure Problem in
Elasticity” and his study on the “Theory of Rotation and Gravity”, referred to
as “Capildeo’s Theory”. This latter was applied in early outer space
DR RUDRANATH
CAPILDEO
expeditions in the 1960s and 1970s.
DR ALLASTAIR KARMODY’s (1937 – 1986) pioneering technique in vascular
surgery produced the Albany operation for treating blocked, lower-limbed
arteries and helped to build the reputation of New York’s Albany Medical
Institute for Vascular Health and Disease for limb re-attachment and kidney
transplant surgery.
DR ALLASTAIR
KARMODY
29
PROFESSOR ANIL KOKARAM’s revolutionary work in the film post-production
process helped to produce the spectacular visual effects of some of today’s
biggest box office hits. As an engineer and software designer, his innovations
have created a faster, more efficient process for automating film restoration
and creating sequences. His technology solutions to problems that had long
PROF ANIL
KOKARAM
plagued moviemakers led to an Academy Award for the development of
visual effects software for the film industry in 2007.
ANDRE CROPPER (1961 – ), a computer and electrical engineer, was off the
mark early in developing innovations with revolutionary potential. He
developed a new semi-conductor from thin layers of lab-produced diamond
and holds patents for the inexpensive manufacture of Organic Light Emitting
Diodes (OLEDs) which could revolutionise the electronics market. For a time,
DR ANDRE
CROPPER
after completing his Ph.D in Electrical/Materials Engineering in the United
States, he returned home to lecture at the University of the West Indies. He
has since returned to the United States to work with Eastman Kodak and the
US Department of Defense.
DR GASTON LENNOX PAWAN (1921 – 2003; son of the famous bacteriologist Dr
Joseph Lennox Pawan, who proved to the world that vampire bats were
capable of transmitting rabies to other species through their bites) was an
obesity research pioneer. Highlights of the younger Pawan’s career include
his work on a fat-mobilising substance found in human urine and his
DR GASTON
LENNOX PAWAN
research into the medical application of aldosterone in the treatment of
Addison’s disease. His seminal work, “Metabolic studies in Obesity”, went
into the development of the world-famous Atkins Diet.
30
PUBLIC SECTOR INNOVATION
For many of those who stayed at home, the scope for innovation and its commercialization was
circumscribed by the limited opportunities and priorities of the few institutions within which they
found employment. For women, until recently, there was the additional factor of traditional
gender roles that underpinned male dominance in higher education and the workplace. The
Trinidad and Tobago state was then, as it is now, the largest employer and buyer of goods and
services by far. The most qualified found their way to the top.
DOLLY NICHOLAS, a chemist, and Barbara Hull, a virologist, are examples of
scientists whose innovations were made within the ambit of the public
sector. Employed at state-owned Lake Asphalt of Trinidad and Tobago
(1978) Limited, Ms Nicholas’ research into the properties of Trinidad
asphalt led to her invention of a range of coatings, paints and adhesives
DOLLY NICHOLAS
marketed under the Lasco Brand. She was also awarded patents for the
recycling of plastic bottles into epoxy coatings and other goods of value, as
well as the processing of waste products from the petroleum and petrochemical industries.
DR BARBARA HULL’s (1939 – ) innovation impact was on the public health
system. After completing her master’s degree at McGill University in
Canada she returned home and took up a job at the Trinidad Regional Virus
Laboratory. She transformed public health in Trinidad and Tobago by
establishing a monitoring network that tracked the incidence of infectious
diseases, allowing for analysis of patterns and early intervention. Faced
DR BARBARA HULL
with the polio outbreak of 1972, she initiated an effective immunization
campaign against a disease that had become endemic to the region. Dr Hull
also discovered two previously unknown strains of yellow fever, identified
a rotavirus responsible for gastroenteritis in children, and standardized
testing for HIV and HTLV-1.
31
INNOVATIONS IN MEDICINE
The high number of innovators found in medicine, the field of choice for the best and brightest
in the early years of the education system, is not surprising. Many of those inclined towards
scientific and technological research gravitated towards medicine, later finding employment in
the public health system as practising medical professionals or public health administrators.
Among them were the talented Professors Michael Beaubrun, Winston Ince, Halsey McShine and
Courtney Bartholomew, as well as Dr Theodosius Poon-King, Dr Elizabeth Quamina, Dr Samuel
Ghouralal , and Sir Henry Pierre.
PROFESSOR MICHAEL BEAUBRUN (1924 – 2002)’s pioneering work in psychiatry
opened the eyes of the Trinidad and Tobago public to the diseases of
alcoholism and mental health, both of which had previously been generally
perceived as character flaws. His research into and treatment of alcoholism
PROF MICHAEL
BEAUBRUN
led to his introduction of the Alcoholics Anonymous programme into
Trinidad and Tobago.
PROFESSOR WINSTON INCE (1930 – ) was an innovator in the specialization of
PROF WINSTON
INCE
cardiology and the person credited with introducing echocardiography to
the Port of Spain General Hospital. He built on the work of his distinguished
predecessor in the field of cardiology, DR HALSEY MCSHINE (1912 – 2006), who
pioneered cardiac surgery in the Caribbean and performed the first
successful mitral valvotomy in the West Indies in 1956, followed by the first
repair of ductus arteriosus in Trinidad in 1959.
DR HALSEY MCSHINE
32
PROFESSOR COURTENAY BARTHOLOMEW (1931 – ) has built an impressive
reputation over a life-long career in medical research. His early work
produced new understanding about scorpion-induced pancreatitis and viral
hepatitis. He also pioneered new approaches to the diagnosis of bowel
disease and gained international attention with his diagnosis of the first
PROF
COURTENAY
BARTHOLOMEW
cases of AIDS in the English-speaking Caribbean.
DR THEODOSIUS POON-KING (1928 – ) researched a broad range of diseases with
ground-breaking results. As a postgraduate student at Harvard Medical
School, he worked with a team which reported new risk factors for coronary
heart disease for people afflicted with cholesterol problems. He identified a
new streptococcus, M-type 55, as the cause of an outbreak of nephritis in
DR THEODOSIUS
POON-KING
south Trinidad in 1963, discovering four other types of streptococci along
the way. In 1974 he expanded his research to the field of paraquat poisoning.
DR ELIZABETH QUAMINA (1929 – 1997) put her energies into modernizing the
important elements of public health administration as she rose up the ranks
from Medical Officer in the 1950s to County Medical Officer of Health,
Principal Medical Officer and, finally, Chief Medical Officer in 1979. She led
efforts to reform health legislation and pioneered the initiative that
DR ELIZABETH
QUAMINA
established the first National Health Plan of Trinidad and Tobago. In 1994,
her efforts led to the launch of the National Cancer Registry, later rechristened in her honour.
33
In 1956, DR SAMUEL GHOURALAL (1925 – 1991) returned home from McGill
University in Montreal as a newly qualified neurosurgeon only to find no
opportunity for practising his specialization. Even senior health officials
considered his expertise too advanced for a colonial island. Fortunately for
him, opportunity presented itself to allow him to save a life, launching the
DR SAMUEL
GHOURALAL
field of neurosurgery in Trinidad and Tobago.
The domain of the general surgeon once included all kinds of surgery.
Among the best was SIR HENRY PIERRE (1904 – 1984) who performed brain
surgery, breast surgery, eye surgery, ear, nose and throat surgery, and lung
surgery. In addition, he pioneered lung surgery at Caura Chest Hospital
where tuberculosis patients were warded
SIR HENRY PIERRE
PROFESSOR VIJAY NARAYNSINGH is an internationally recognized Surgeon
who performed the first laparoscopic cholecystectomy in Trinidad and
Tobago at private facilities with very modest infrastructure. Professor
Naraynsingh is highly published in the medical field and has received
international awards for his contribution to medicine and the Vice
Chancellors Award at the University of the West Indies for Reserch. His
PROFESSOR VIJAY
NARAYNSINGH
Innovative work in surgery across the spectrum is highly regarded and
celebrated including his pioneering work with a team of doctors on Trinidad
and Tobago’s first kidney transplant 22 years ago on a still surviving patient.
34
INNOVATION AT UWI
Outside the Public Service, the preferred option for employment with the greatest scope for
research was the University of the West Indies. The opening of the St Augustine campus in 1960
was a catalyst for science, technology and innovation with the Agriculture and Engineering
faculties as the fulcrum of research. Among the scientists to make significant contributions to
innovation were Francis Cope, William Freeman, George Moon Sammy, Maura Imbert, Kenneth
Julien, John Spence, Lawrence Wilson, Lincoln Hall, Ignatius Desmond Imbert, Noel Kalicharan,
Professor Ramsey Saunders, Professor Zulaika Ali, Peter Bacon and Julian Kenny.
The first wave of innovation came out of cocoa research in the late 1930s at
the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture (ICTA), predecessor to UWI,
where Englishman FRANCIS COPE (1913 – 2004), a cocoa breeder, worked out
FRANCIS COPE
the compatibility/incompatibility system in Theobroma cacao to improve
the understanding of yield.
WILLIAM FREEMAN (1909 – 1988), another English cocoa breeder and
agronomist living in Trinidad, researched cocoa varieties at the Cocoa Board
and the Ministry of Agriculture. Out of his forty-year research came the
prized Trinidad Select Hybrid (TSH) coco, valued for its high yield, excellent
flavour and resistance to Ceratocystis Wilt and Witch’s Broom, which had so
WILLIAM FREEMAN
devastated Trinidad’s cocoa industry in the 1920s.
35
The innovative work done by Cope and Freeman laid a solid foundation in
cocoa research at ICTA, and later UWI, which endures to this day. Successive
generations of scientists have built on their work, including PROFESSOR JOHN
SPENCE (1929 – 2013) and his colleague PROFESSOR LAWRENCE WILSON (1934 –
2013), agricultural innovators in their own right. John Spence contributed to
the development of dwarf varieties of peas that could be harvested
PROF LAWRENCE
WILSON
mechanically, and showed that rooted sweet potato leaves could produce
tubers. Under his guidance, UWI’s Cocoa Research Unit became the guardian
of the International Cocoa Gene Bank.
Professor Wilson designed a fertilizer management system for farmers and
a hydroponic system using coconut fibred ‘dust’ and slow-release fibres
PROF JOHN
SPENCE
which produced very high yields of tuber crops and vegetables. As Dean of
the Faculty of Agriculture, he transformed the teaching of agriculture by
establishing postgraduate programmes in food and nutrition and setting up
a Distance Teaching Programme in Agriculture and Rural Development to
meet the needs of the farming community.
PROFESSOR GEORGE MOON SAMMY (1922 – 1986) and DR MAURA IMBERT (1929 –
) explored the nation’s potential for processing local food. In the 1970s,
Professor Sammy was a powerful advocate for farmers and lobbied for the
processing of local crops to displace various imported foods and to diversify
of the agricultural sector and the economy. He established the Food
Technology Unit at UWI and the country’s first food technology lab. His
PROF GEORGE MOON
SAMMY
innovations include the creation of a composite flour made from sweet
potato and wheat, sorrel concentrate, a canned fruit cocktail, and instant
(dehydrated) yam. Of these, sorrel successfully made it into the marketplace
and is today a staple flavour in juices and drinks.
36
Although better known for her involvement in astronomy because of her
newspaper columns, Dr Imbert’s work in biochemistry has produced a
number of products with market potential. She pioneered research on
essential oils from local plants such as thyme for use in cosmetics, explored
PROF MAURA IMBERT
the full potential of mangoes, researched medicinal plants and testmarketed a health drink based on cold-stabilised Aloe Vera gel. She has
developed and patented a spice-based food preservative for use as a
chemical preservative substitute in some drinks. One of her successful
innovations outside of the food industry was the Microbial Enhanced Oil
Recovery process which has been adopted by Trintoc, known today as
Petrotrin.
Dr. Maura Imbert’s husband, PROFESSOR EMERITUS IGNATIUS DESMOND IMBERT
(1931 – 2010), was also an innovator and a world authority on concrete
PROF IGNATIUS
DESMOND IMBERT
mixes for use in marine construction. A civil engineer, he was part of UWI’s
dynamic Faculty of Engineering that included PROFESSOR KENNETH JULIEN
(1932 – ).
Professor Julien led the country’s successful transition from an oil-based to
a gas-based economy in the late 1990s and continues to provide strategic
guidance for gas-rich countries, particularly in Africa. In his own right,
Professor Julien holds several patents for electrical systems.
PROF KENNETH
JULIEN
37
In Physics, PROFESSOR RAMSEY SAUNDERS (1945 – ) was a transformative figure
at UWI who emphasized research and introduced a number of new
disciplines, including medical physics, material sciences, bioengineering and
environmental physics.
He arrived at UWI from the Physiologisches Institut in Berlin with a
reputation for having produced the first electrophysiological proof of
PROF RAMSEY
SAUNDERS
Maxwell’s colour theory and as the inventor of a spectral energy machine to
record electromagnetic waves. As Head of the Physics Department and,
later, Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, he spearheaded research to
improve the process of drying timber, using graphite waste to produce
pencils, dry cell batteries and a lubricant superior that was said to be
superior to any then available.
He initiated research on asphalt with UWI’s Asphalt Research Group which
produced twelve commercially relevant products. In health, he patented a
cream that improved scoliosis screening, studied the effects of noise
pollution, and helped introduce Superconducting Quantum Interference
Devices (SQUIDS) for the diagnosis of cardiac problems locally. Professor
Saunders was part of the 2004 group that was the first to replicate the nanoplaques of Alzheimer’s disease, an important step towards finding a
treatment. He also designed a device to produce day-time lighting and
worked on a water disinfectant using solar energy.
In the field of medical technology, PROFESSOR LINCOLN HALL’s (1947 – ) research
into squaric acid has progressed efforts to exploit the medicinal properties
of this organic compound which is used in the treatment of warts, hair loss
and cold sores. He has further explored its potential as an anti-cancer agent,
mediator and image enhancer.
PROF LINCOLN
HALL
38
In medical care, neonatologist PROFESSOR ZULAIKA ALI (1948 – ), Professor of
Child Health at UWI, established the country’s first neonatal Intensive Care
Unit at the Children’s Hospital at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex
in Mount Hope, as well as the UWI Telehealth Programme, a first in the
PROF ZULAIKA
ALI
Caribbean.
In the field of chronic disease, PROFESSOR SURUJPAUL TEELUCKSINGH’s research
into the incidence of diabetes has served to sound the alarm on this lifestyleinfluenced disease among a growing population of young people. In 2007,
his research prompted UWI to establish the Diabetes Education Research
PROF SURUJPAUL
TEELUCKSINGH
and Prevention Institute.
In the environmental field, the pioneering research of PROFESSORS PETER
BACON (1938 – 2003) and JULIAN KENNY (1930 – 2011) changed the national
conversation around the country’s natural heritage and influenced the policy
agenda. Professor Bacon piloted research on coastal wetlands while
PROF PETER
BACON
Professor Kenny led research on the ecology of savannahs, wetlands, cave
systems, marine systems and coral reefs. Professor Kenny’s work was so
influential that it led to the development of a National Trust, adding the
social and economic value of the country’s natural heritage to the
storehouse of national wealth.
PROF JULIAN
KENNY
39
INNOVATIONS BY INDIVIDUALS
Outside of the Public Service and the University of the West Indies, individuals working
independently or within private companies have opened up new horizons. In every case, these
have been self-motivated individuals driven by a passion to solve problems and, in the process,
help their society take a leap forward. Among them have been Robert Lechmere Guppy, Hans
Kugler, Mervyn Chen, Dr Stephen Bennett and Noel Kalicharan.
ROBERT LECHEMERE GUPPY (1836 – 1916), an Englishman, and HANS KUGLER
(1896 – 1986), a Swiss citizen, were instinctual scientists whose fascination
with Trinidad in the early stages of its modern development led them to
explore, document and analyse natural phenomena that became the
building blocks for future research and value creation from the natural
environment. Guppy’s geological surveys of the island and fossil
ROBERT GUPPY
foraminifera investigations in the 1860s provided the scientific basis for 20th
century micro-paleontological studies of the petroleum sector in its nascent
stages. His fascination with the “million” fish earned him a place in natural
history when it was re-named “the Guppy” in his honour.
Kugler’s contribution to promoting geological and paleontological research
in Trinidad among global petroleum interests was decisive in attracting the
interest of capital to oil exploration in Trinidad. Although field mapping was
HANS KUGLER
a hobby for him, he applied it seriously enough in Trinidad to produce the
first geological map of the island, which served as a guide to investors. One
example of the impact of his innovation was the record-breaking oil yield
from the ‘Apex anticline’ which he had mapped for the Apex Oil Company.
40
MERVYN CHEN (1945 – ) was a highly self-motivated innovator with a broad
range of inventions. He designed and patented the Thru-Tube Backsurging
Tool before selling it to a company in the United States, where it is now used
in the oil industry. In 2002, he designed and patented the Downhole
Magnetic Pump for oil extraction that would make costly, bulky pumping
MERVYN CHEN
jack units obsolete, and developed a method for generating electricity using
well pressures. He has also invented a number of inventions unconnected to
the oil industry, including a walking aid for people with certain disabilities,
flood relief equipment, and a water-making device for extracting water from
the atmosphere. He has even turned his hand to designing, manufacturing
clocks and toys, selling them in the United States.
If there is a founder of the veterinary profession in Trinidad and Tobago, DR
STEPHEN BENNETT (1922 – 2011) is that person. He returned home from study
in the United States in the late 1940s just as horses, whose treatment was
the main source of income for vets, were being slowly replaced by cars. In
the face of fatalistic warnings about the future of vets he opened a practice
DR STEPHEN
BENNETT
and began treating all manner of animals, creating a market out of almost
nothing. Working part-time with the national sugar company, Caroni (1975)
Limited, he eradicated tuberculosis among its population of water buffaloes,
which led him to develop a new breed of buffalo, the buffalypso bubalis
bubalis. The new species boasted a thick disease-resistant skin whose outer
layer could be used for belts and shoes and whose inner layer was suitable
for handbags. Its low-cholesterol meat and milk of superior quality enhanced
the economic potential of the animal. The buffalypso went on to be
introduced to over 20 countries.
41
Bhoendradatt Tewarie (1948 - ) has served Trinidad and Tobago and the
region in many areas but he has been a social innovator in education. As
Principal of UWI he established the Institute of Critical Thinking as well
as the Caribbean Centre for Competitiveness to support curriculum
redesign and to stimulate new ways of seeing and doing. As Chairman
of NIHERST he was instrumental in creating and establishing COSTATT
BHOENDRADATT
TEWARIE
(the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts) with the support
of key stakeholders. As Executive Director of the Institute of Business
(IOB) he was able to transform it from a fledging institution to create
the most vibrant Business School in the region recognised by the
Commonwealth Secretariat as a Centre of Excellence in 1999 and take it
to the point of establishing the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of
Business. As Principal of U WI St Augustine he acquired Roytec for one
dollar for the University and established the UWI School of Business and
Applied Studies. As Minister of Planning and Sustainable Development
he founded the Idea to Innovation Programme (i2i) to support
entrepreneurship and innovation.
NOEL KALICHARAN (1952 – ) is a computer science educator who
anticipated the needs of online education and ventured into the domain
of software production. He developed the Pan Tutor to teach those
interested in playing the steelpan, as well as a number of educational
NOEL
KALICHARAN
games including Brainstorm and Not Just Luck.
42
CREATIVE AND CULTURAL INNOVATION
Where the above provides examples of individual initiative, the sphere in which innovation has
occurred at a mass level in Trinidad and Tobago is in the creative and cultural sector. In festivals,
music and the culinary arts, innovation has been the theme for both psychic and economic
survival. This has occurred notwithstanding the historical context of a value system that ascribed
little to no economic value to non-European and indigenous culture, and in the absence of an
effective national framework for re-valuing, supporting and developing cultural and creative
innovation.
In the culinary field, the influences of the many cultural groups have
combined to create a smorgasbord of uniquely Trinidadian and Tobagonian
food and food products. Possibly the most globally recognized is ANGOSTURA
BITTERS, concocted from a secret recipe by Dr J. G.B. Siegert in Venezuela in
1824 and produced exclusively in Trinidad since 1875.
ANGOSTURA
BITTERS
Trinidad cocoa, recognized by chocolatiers around the world for its fine
flavour, has historically been mainly exported as raw product. In more recent
times, local entrepreneurs, like DUANE DOVE’S TOBAGO ESTATE CHOCOLATE and
COCOBEL in Trinidad, have begun investing in artisanal chocolate-making for
high-end niche markets. Tobago Estate’s chocolate is marketed mainly in
COCOBEL
CHOCOLATES
Europe and has the distinction of being awarded the Great Taste Gold Award
Two Stars 2013 by the London Guild of Fine Foods.
Other global foods from Trinidad include roti, wrapped for convenience and portability, and
doubles, invented by Emamool Deen. Maracas shark and bake created a buzz when it was
featured on the Travel Channel as a “bizarre food’, while Trinidad Scorpion Pepper sent
temperatures soaring two years when it was declared to be the world’s hottest pepper.
43
In the festival arena, Carnival stands supreme for the innovations which,
over a period of just under 30 years, have transformed it from a parade of
bands into an industry with an estimated annual value in the hundreds of
millions of dollars. Key figures in the transformation have been Mas
designers such as GERALDO VIEIRA (1938 – 2012) and PETER MINSHALL (1941 – ),
GERALDO VIEIRA
whose work has catalyzed Carnival and opened it up to large communities
of interests, thereby enhancing its value to cultural entrepreneurs, who have
been quick to monetize it.
Geraldo Vieira’s mastery of the skill of wire-bending and innovative use of
plastic mouldings brought new dimensions to mas-making, coupled with
these were the dramatic effects which he incorporated into costumes with
PETER MINSHALL
the addition of pyrotechnics, robotics, and lighting.
Peter Minshall transformed Carnival’s Parade of the Bands into street
theatre with the street as stage, the living environment as backdrop, and
parade route crowds as his audience. Within this setting, part of his success
has come from the use of technology to bring his Carnival characters to life.
The articulated bird wing, dancing mobile mas creations, air tubes and other
elements of engineering have produced Mas characters of superhuman
vitality such as Man Crab, Saga Boy and Tan Tan.
Among the other festivals, RAMLEELA showcases the potential of community
innovation. The swinging bridge at Matilda in Princes Town is a unique
engineering feat created by villagers that has stood the test of time as a
highlight of the annual event.
RAMLEELA
44
INNOVATION IN MUSIC
In music, Trinidad and Tobago has entered a new phase of dynamism as a result of a series of
innovations. After those first promising days of its initial foray into the global music market, when
Harry Belafonte’s album “Calypso” became the first album ever to sell one million copies, it was
forced to change its route. The negative experiences of artistes such as Lord Invader and Lionel
Belasco (whose composition “Rum and Coca Cola” was copyrighted by American comedian
Morey Amsterdam and performed by the Andrews Sisters), and Lord Melody (whose “Mama
Look a Boo Boo Dey” rose to fame as Harry Belafonte’s second most popular song ever) taught
calypsonians bruising lessons about intellectual property rights.
Calypso’s first major entrepreneur was the innovative MIGHTY SPARROW (1935
– ). The Belafonte experience, in particular, taught him the importance of
retaining ownership and control of himself and his art.
Sparrow’s
innovations kept calypso relevant and accessible to new audiences
throughout the Caribbean and diaspora communities. He sang in all the
THE MIGHTY
SPARROW
major Caribbean languages and experimented with all its rhythms.
The innovations introduced in the late 1970s when Lord Shorty (later known
as RAS SHORTY I; (1941 – 2000) incorporated elements of Indo-Trinidadian
rhythms into calypso to create Soca music, have since been carried in many
different directions.
RAS SHORTY I,
FORMERLY LORD
SHORTY
MUNGAL PATASAR (1948 – ) also explored the potential of Indo-Trinidadian
music for producing an entirely new sound when fused with other music. His
‘world music’ has its roots in Indian Classical ragas with motifs of reggae,
calypso and other Caribbean rhythms.
MUNGAL PATASAR
45
MACHEL MONTANO (1974 – ) has exploited the energy and frenzy of soca to
reach audiences who know nothing of the genre, opening doors to music
lovers around the world through collaborations with artistes in different
musical genres within and beyond the Caribbean.
MACHEL MONTANO
More recently, raga soca artist BUNJI GARLIN (1978 – ), real name Ian Anthony
Alvarez, has changed the music again, prompting another national debate
about whether his latest hit song “Differentology”, which won the Soul Train
Award for Best International Performance, is actually Soca.
BUNJI GARLIN
Travelling on a parallel musical track that regularly intersects with that of
Soca is East Indian-derived Chutney music. From this has come the fusion
genre Chutney Soca. SUNILAL SUNDAR POPO BOHORA (1943 – 2000) is recognised
as the breakthrough artiste who brought traditional Indo-Trinidadian
Chutney music into the mainstream in 1971 and laid the foundation for the
birth of the indigenous art form of Chutney Soca with a blend of lyrics in
SUNDAR POPO
Bhojpuri and Trinidad dialect, set to the folk rhythm of Chutney music.
Andre Tanker is widely known as a pioneer of Caribbean Folk-Jazz Genre.
Tanker's classic works include ‘Sayamanda’, ‘Basement Party’, ‘Morena
Osha’, ‘Hosanna Higher’, and ‘Forward Home’. He had an affinity for stringed
instruments and taught himself to play the cuatro and guitar; he would
become a master and combining different musical genres to create a unique
ANDRE TANKER
sound for which he became known throughout the region and the world. His
natural style and informal stage presence, his reliance on folk traditions and
Caribbean language and imagery not to mention his experimentation in
music, makes him a musical innovator of the highest order.
46
SOCIAL INNOVATIONS
MAXI TAXI
Trinidad and Tobago has been responsible for a number of social innovations. One of these is the
Maxi Taxi a network of privately owned mini buses which operates as a support to the public
transportation system and is designated by routes. The Maxi Taxi system is efficient, orderly and
responsive and has created a number of opportunities to small entrepreneurs in the transportation
sector.
INTER-RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION
Another significant social innovation is the Inter- Religious Organization of Trinidad and Tobago. This
came out of an initiative by the Late Catholic Archbishop Anthony Pantin after significant unrest in
the society in 1970. The IRO is a non –governmental organization that brings all religion together to
engage the issues of religious tolerance and cooperation but also to support peace, harmony and
stability in the society. The approach to religious inclusion is comprehensive and embraces indigenous
peoples and African based religious as well as various traditions across Christianity, Hinduism and
Islam. The IRO has built up a reputation of being a voice of peace and tolerance in times of tension
and conflict.