During the months of March and April, we successfully kick-started NCB Icon Lab’s virtual “Train-the-trainers” (TTT), with kind support from NCB Foundation. The sessions will build the capacities of two of our local partners in Jamaica: The Mico University and the Institute of Law & Economics (ILE). To promote social distancing, we adapted the in-person training to be provided via Facebook Live and video conferencing platforms. These interactive formats have proven extremely successful and engaging as participants interact with the speakers in real-time, share their thoughts or questions, and test their learnings through interactive games.
Mico and ILE’s faculty started their training by getting familiarized with The Trust’s innovation labs in Mexico, Colombia, and Jamaica. Maria Liliana Mor, Director of Programs at The Trust, shared the Labs’ success stories and best practices.
Committed to measuring digital, life, and entrepreneurial skills, professors of Mico and ILE learned how to use Helelab’s Future Skills Tool. This tool will enable the evaluation of the participant’s “digital genome” and digital competences, aligned with the European Commission Digital Competences Framework. Furthermore, professors also learned how to input data on the TIS (Trust’s Information System).
Let’s talk about the future of work skills
With international companies increasingly looking at Jamaica as a country for outsourcing animation production, according to the World Bank, we’d tap on the creative talent of Jamaican youth providing Augmented Reality (AR) training. The AR sessions, facilitated by Natalia Noreña from IoTIC, will familiarize participants with advanced components of AR. IoTic is a business founded by Carlos Noreña, one of the Trust’s first beneficiaries from our DIA Lab in Colombia, who is now a business owner and a partner to The Trust!
Learning AR is the first step for youth to engage with the 4th industrial revolution technologies. A first practical application will be to challenge participants to use AR to present their business models and their pitch. “Through this technology, the possibilities are endless!” a Mico professor shared.
Ready, Set, Go Pitch!
Continuing to foster innovation in Jamaica, The Trust’s partner, ILE, is providing Innovation Methodology Training based on The Trust’s ICI component: Inspire, Create and Innovate.
Shanae and Dwayne, ILE’s experienced facilitators, are presenting a series of tools and best practices to support the creation and strengthening of entrepreneurship. They will present best practices on how to operate an Innovation Lab, how to organize a Pitch Tank and Ideathon, how to develop a Business Model using Canvas, tips to engage youth, among others.
These successful and engaging TTT sessions demonstrate how The Trust for the America’s, with the support from NCB Foundation, is committed to strengthening its partners’ capabilities, encouraging innovation, and fostering digital inclusion and economic opportunities in the Caribbean.
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