The rest of the world is surging ahead with the adaptation of technology in the market place, to form successful digital ecosystems, where goods and services are sold online.
To ensure that Belize's entrepreneurs aren't falling behind, Mervin Budram, a Belmopan businessman who specializes in digital marketing, has collaborated with the US State Department, the Small Business Development Center, as well as other digital tech companies out of the US. They've created the Innovate Belize Summit, which is designed to provide professional development workshops to Belizean entrepreneurs who interested in providing their businesses with a strong online presence.
The first Innovate Belize Summit was held today at the Biltmore Plaza hotel, and 7News stopped by to find out what it takes for local businesses to make that digital transformation:
Monique Usher - Manager, SBDC Belize
"SBDC Belize assists clients who are either aspiring or established entrepreneurs. So, in this instance, Mervin Budram from TAS Belize is a client of SBDC, and last year, we had shared with him an opportunity for him to participate in an initiative sponsored by the US State Department. And he was one of the successful recipients under that program. He had traveled to Boston, to do an exchange program with a company similar to his company, which looks at marketing, digital transformation. And so, as a reverse to his experience and internship in that program, he was tasked with coming back home and looking at connecting that entrepreneurial ecosystem. So our role is to assist him with coordinating for the event and to also provide that space where the ecosystem can come, collaborate and converse."
Mervin Budram - Co-Founder, Innovate Belize
"Innovate Belize is a platform that brings together thought leaders, innovators, and those who want to have the conversation of where the future of technology, the future of doing business is going, and kind of bring that into today. And so, we bring them together just to talk, to listen, and share ideas."
"We just had an awesome keynote speaker, Miss Yuri Alpuche, and a lot of what came out - and the heart of what we're doing - is talking about digital transformation, what it is, how to implement that into your business. She made a really great point on what the digital element is, which is the technology, the software, but then, as well which is the transformation. That is the human element. And so part of the conversation is kind of like how do we merge the technology, all these things that are happening with the human element, and how do we adjust, how do we make ourselves relevant."
Reporter
"How does a business that was purely based in an office become an online operation?"
Yuri Alpuche - Expert, Project and Digital Business
"So, I would say start with small steps. Start mapping out, like I said before, the processes, and see which steps you want to digitize in the first phase, which steps you want to digitize in the second phase, and which steps you want to digitize in the third phase. Take it a step at a time. Don't go fully digital, just yet. Going digital is very agile. It's experimental. You need to touch and go, and you need to learn what works, what doesn't work. Getting your customers involved is very important. Platforms like Air BnB, Amazon, Uber - they're all utilizing the power of the user to develop these systems. They don't own any physical assets. They're using the user to create the content, create the ratings, to create the ranking, and to rank their business."
Budram told us that there were about 100 registered participants in the Summit today, from across the country. The participants came from organizations within both the public and private sectors.
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