The Guyana opportunity
Guyana is the world’s fastest growing economy, based on 2021 and 2022 figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). While most countries grappled with a harsh economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, Guyana continued to record significant economic growth on account of its new oil and gas sector and the spinoff developments that sector attracted. Few could argue that Guyana- a small, developing nation long beset by poverty- was poised for transformation, pitting it against much larger, developed economies. But there remains an overarching consideration: the country has much catching up to do.
The problem? Old habits die hard
New highways, hotels and housing developments signal the country’s physical transformation. Yet, dated practices and some seeming aversion to data and technology illustrate the familiar maxim- old habits die hard. At least, it appears that way for many.
It is common to see many businesses still rely on paper-based record keeping practices, for example. Of course, these practices may work best for some businesses, like small businesses for example.
Still, it is worth considering that the growing sophistication of Guyana’s economy coupled with the arrival of foreigners that just do business differently demands that many more locals, perhaps, embrace technology.
Many of the companies featured on TechTalkgy- or will be featured here soon- have adopted the bold, maybe even daring approach to upset the status quo in Guyana.
How to turn long standing concerns into opportunities?
The companies and persons featured on TechTalkgy are among those demonstrating how problems can be turned into opportunities using technology. As demonstrated by our first featured company, GuyDrones, the use of technology (in this case, drones) helps farmers to be more efficient. The drones help them to use more precise amounts of fertilisers or pesticides and reduce human exposure to those harmful chemicals. Moreover, a single drone is able to cover more area than a human equipped with a sprayer would be able to do. Agriculture is a significant contributor to Guyana’s economy and just by integrating drone technology, it can be vastly improved.
The point here is not that technology will be used to replace workers. In fact, integrating drones into the agriculture sector opened up new opportunities for sprayers to become drone pilots. Still, concerns that drones would takeaway jobs were there at first.
And the point isn’t to just wholly embrace technology without examining the pros, cons and applicability to one’s specific circumstances. It would not make good business sense to ignore the realities that exist. For many the cost of implementing technology solutions may sometimes seem daunting, though this varies on what you want and need. Still, consideration should be given to what the technology can do to improve your business or organisation’s performance as opposed to solely focusing on what it will cost.
The point is, technology has its benefits and it could prove valuable to businesses if examined and embraced more. So the lesson is, don’t just discount the use of technology without considering that it can really do for you.
There is obviously so much more to talk about- and this platform will continue to be a space to facilitate that discourse- but we’ll end here for now. If you have thoughts to share, comments to make or any questions for our team of tech experts, feel free to contact us or leave a comment below.