A Future Based on Knowledge: Part II The Current Regional Infrastructure of Information
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As outlined in the previous article, certain former impoverished nations wrested themselves out of debilitating social and economic situations to become world players by establishing brain trusts that directly influenced policy formation. These countries were located in Asia where most of today’s burgeoning economies are principally found. In the Caribbean there are numerous think tanks which aim to function as efficiently as their counterparts on the other side of the globe. Within our region the same fundamental aspects of information gathering, processing, and disseminating are present in our research facilities and learning centers. However, Caribbean lands are notably still not on par with these other nations. Before this disparity can be properly analyzed a general overview of particular regional institutions should be conducted.
A well-
The Caribbean Centre for Research on Trade and Development (CCRTD) is an eInstitute or a floating institute that operates primarily as an online facility, although field work may be carried out in particular countries if necessitated. This organization states an impressive aim on its website “our aim is to build bridges between research and policy in CARICOM by contributing forward-
The Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI), according to its website, “is a think tank which promotes evidence-
The Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) is based in St. Augustine, Trinidad and its motto is Improving lives through agricultural research. It began as the Regional Research Centre in 1955 and then became integrated into the University of the West Indies Faculty of Agriculture in 1960. The organization covers fields such as agronomy, genetics, biometrics, post-
We see here that out policy deficiencies in the Caribbean are not due to a lack of brain trusts, indeed we even have some that appear to serve no discernable function. This does not dismiss or discredit the institutions that do provide important services, it merely points out that not all research organizations are equal. In the next and final article in the series, a more coherent link between the output of the regional think tanks and their impressions upon finalized policies will be drawn. This will then be utilized to give an explanation for the disparity between Caribbean nations and the rising Asian economies.
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