Education
| School | Degree(s) & Certificates |
|---|---|
| United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) | Digital Identity for Trade and Development (DITD) |
| United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) | Statistics of International Trade in Services (SITS) |
| United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) | International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS) |
| United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) | Legal Aspects of e-Commerce (LAEC) |
| LACNIC | Internet Governance in Latin America and the Caribbean |
| United Nations | BSafe Certificate |
| SIPCA Institut de Formation des Formateurs Consultants (2020-2021) | Designing, Delivering and Evaluating a Training Action: Training Adults (FA) |
| ESSEC Business School (2018-2019) | Masters Responsable en Management Opérationnel |
| University of West London (1993-1995) | HNC Computing |
| Telford College of Arts and Technology (1991-1992) | HNC Electrical and Electronic Engineering |
Languages:
| Language | Reading | Writing | Speaking |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| French (Certified Level C1 – Advanced) | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| French Creole | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| (1 = Native/Excellent, 5 = Basic) |
Notable Projects
| Date | Location | Employer | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current | Martinique | ICOM Inser | Regularly conduct training to business leaders on the use of AI in the workplace. | |
| Current | Remote (Caribbean) | Caribbean Digital Compass | I am currently developing an affordable research and development consultancy aimed specifically at the market in the Caribbean that considers its specifics and unique challenges. Called Caribbean Digital Compass, the product will provide regular reports and analysis on tech innovations, changes, and policy effects. Recommendations for MSMEs will be provided together with practical advice and policy briefs for government, NGOs and large organisations that have an interest in the region. | |
| 2023 | Remote (Caribbean) | TK Academy | Develop a short training program to highlight the way digital technologies are affecting the Orange Economy in the Caribbean. Created slide deck and recorded a 1.5-hour training video of 6 modules. | |
| 2022-2023 | Remote (21 Caribbean Countries Concerned) | CARICHAM/UNDRR | Contracted to provide training content for the CARICHAM Centre of Excellence (launch in Dec 2022) on the topic of Digital Transformation. Provided Guidelines, tools, templates, checklists, and other self-administered training materials on topics such as Digital Transformation, Cloud, Data Analysis, Cybersecurity, and Backup, all with the objective of providing MSMEs in the Caribbean tools to develop their recovery and resilience. | |
| 2022-2023 | Martinique | Ville de Saint Joseph/AFD | Consultancy for a feasibility study of a proposal by local government to build and operate an all-in-one campus in Saint Joseph, Martinique. I provided local and regional knowledge on the digital ecosystem and the current state of the Orange Economy in the Caribbean. The Campus (HELIOS) would provide facilities for training companies in the ICC and Orange Economy, a start-up incubator, office leasing, studios, post-production facilities, a render farm, student accommodation, restoration, and access to local facilities (sports, doctors, etc). I interviewed several key stakeholders throughout the Caribbean (IDB, JAMPRO, etc.) and provided an analysis of the outcomes and prospects for such a campus. | |
| 2022 | USAID ESC - Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, The Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago | USAID/DAI | Building off the information uncovered in the ESC R-DECA, the USAID/ESC requested a Social Network Analysis (SNA). The SNA was designed to identify, map, and analyse the relationships and levels of influence between stakeholders in the Digital Ecosystem. The SNA identifies how particular actors in the region operate in the ecosystem and influence outcomes. This project will support USAID/ESC in achieving their development objectives through identifying areas where they can facilitate greater regional coordination, better leverage resources, and inform project design. My role as a consultant consisted of the co-creation of the outcome questions to be answered and the development of the raw data and relationship information that was used by the data scientist to map using the online platform Kumu. | |
| 2021-2022 | USAID ESC - Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, The Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago | USAID/DAI | The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) released its first-ever Digital Strategy 2020-2024. The first implementation initiative is the DECA, a tool that will identify development opportunities and risks in a country’s digital ecosystem. The DECA is framed around three pillars: 1 - Digital Infrastructure and Adoption; 2 - Digital Society, Rights, & Governance; and 3 - Digital Economy. It will inform decision-makers about digital programming and investments for USAID as well as partner governments, donors, the private sector, and civil society. I was the research consultant responsible for pillar 1, Digital Infrastructure and Adoption, for USAID’s first Regional DECA (R-DECA). The role constituted several phases. Phase 1 Desk research with an initial research brief on the findings. Phase 2 Key informant interviews. Phase 3 Analysis and synthesis of findings and interviews; Phase 4 Report writing. As an extra activity at the request of the USAID/ESC, we co-created Country Profile documents for each of the ESC countries to outline their digital ecosystem in succinct form. | |
| June 2022 | OECS | CCI Martinique/OECS/EU | Researched and authored a report on the state of cybersecurity in the Eastern Caribbean, providing data, analysis, and recommendations. The report builds awareness of the threat, the ecosystem, and the opportunities for MSMEs to design, deliver and develop support services to protect the digital assets of businesses throughout the region. | |
| June 2022 | OECS | CCI Martinique/OECS/EU | Researched and authored an evaluation and feasibility report for an MSME based in Saint Lucia in the use of an integrated CRM system and the use of an integrated online learning platform, providing analysis and recommendations. | |
| September 2022 | OECS | CCI Martinique/OECS/EU | Provided expert analysis for the development of an online marketplace, considering the feasibility, the operational objectives, and a detailed Customer Journey Mapping analysis. The final report provided detailed recommendations for improvements to the online application. | |
| 2022-2022 | Martinique, Saint Lucia | CCI Martinique/OECS/EU | Building on the previous mapping project, this activity was designed to identify key issues in the operations of the participating companies and provide market research, guidance, and practical recommendations. This activity had diverse deliverables, from operations consulting to market research reporting and product evaluations, all designed to provide on-the-ground help to these developing companies in the OECS. Onsite visits were conducted with the companies involved in both Saint-Lucia and Martinique. | |
| 2021-2022 | Martinique, Saint Lucia | CCI Martinique/OECS/EU | Skills mapping and setting up a series of B2B meetings between international players in the ICT sector and TEECA companies.The objective of this consultation, “Conducting a skills mapping and setting up a series of B2B meetings between international players in the ICT sector and TEECA companies”, is to provide a detailed mapping of TEECA companies and the main actors in the ICT sector in the region. Negotiation and organisation and development of strategic partnerships between the stakeholders. We will strive to develop complementary partnerships between the TEECA companies. As part of a collaboration with the TEECA Trade Facilitation Team, we aim to boost the activity of the companies and enlarge their professional network. | |
| 2020-2021 | Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts & Nevis and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines | CCI Martinique/OECS/EU | I was selected through an RFP procedure to conduct an extensive research project with the objective to determine the opportunities available to the companies participating in the TEECA (Trade Enhancement for the Eastern CAribbean) project. The mission necessitated a detailed project plan in several phases: Desk research, consolidation and normalisation, analysis, and redaction. The phases were managed through the Microsoft Teams collaboration platform using shared planning tools, shared documents, and regular online meetings during the project. An online questionnaire was co-developed with the stakeholders and shared with the targeted public. The questionnaire and the responses were available in real time on the shared platform. A second questionnaire was eventually designed with the help of the OECS Business Development unit and shared directly through their contacts. | |
| 2019 | Curaçao | Confidential | The company based in Curaçao, is one of the premier Microsoft Cloud Solutions Providers for the Caribbean and Ecuador with offices in Curaçao (HQ), Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago, Aruba, and Ecuador. I was contracted to research and report on the ICT sector in the French West Indies. The project comprised several weeks of desk research using official governmental and internationally reputable sources. The data was entered into a specialised application and analysed and indexed for cross-references and links that could provide insights for the report. Data collection involved detailed internet searches and interviews with key stakeholders to get qualitative information useful for the report. Data from different sources is often not based on the same standards. For example, dollars can refer to $ US, XCD or JMD. A normalisation process was employed to ensure the cross-comparison of like with like. Once the data collection phase was over, the data analysis process began providing insights and detailed visualisations that were included in the report. The paper was targeted at providing comprehensive knowledge that was used to inform the company on future investments and business development in the French West Indies. | |
| 2020 | Martinique | Confidential | A Cloud Provider based in Martinique with operations across the French West Indies (FWI) contracted me to research the feasibility and opportunity for a project to build out a specific set of Cloud Solutions in collaboration with Microsoft. The proposed solution would allow businesses in the FWI to operate sophisticated systems in the same they are available in the United States or Europe. These services are currently unavailable in the FWI.The role comprised desk research on the ICT sector, detailed region key statistics, the digital infrastructure in the region, the market drivers, the market constraints, and a detailed listing of the ecosystem, including competitors.I developed a model to assess the financial feasibility and the market potential (financial opportunity).The report was written in both French and English and was made available to investors in the project and was instrumental in validating the project. | |
| 2020 | French Guiana | Confidential | I was contacted through reference to conduct a small market research project to support a business development hypothesis. The brief was to study the childbirth and infants' market to estimate the feasibility of a project specifically aimed at supporting mothers during and after pregnancy and babies during their formative years.The project involved designing and deploying an online questionnaire, desk research on the statistics surrounding fecundity and child mortality, amongst others, analysing the data, and developing a financial model to ascertain the potential for a business based in Cayenne.The final 37-page report highlighted the key figures for the French West Indies (the project had a view for expansion), an analysis of official and non-official statistics surrounding the childbirth in French Guiana —French Guiana has an “official” population together with a large “non-official and transient” population from bordering nations that clearly skew the data in some circumstances— and the financial opportunity model. | |
| 2019-2020 | Martinique | Réseau Autonomie de Martinqiue (now Appui Santé de Martinique) | The RAM had, for a couple of years, manually collected data on the patients that they were involved with, with the view to providing better statistics on the quantity, type and outcomes of patients they worked with. This was largely a manual process involving a Microsoft Excel workbook.My involvement allowed the RAM to initially understand what tools and technologies were available to them, to rationalise the operations framework and to develop a new framework based on a better understanding of what data was useful to collect and how best to use it. A simple shared database was developed, allowing for automatic, manual, and remote updating by staff.I then developed a real-time dashboard of pertinent statistics and visualisations that enabled the director to understand the impact they were having on their public. The dashboard is additionally used to generate the basis of the bi-annual reports required by the stakeholders. Prior to my work, the production of the reports took two weeks. This was reduced substantially. | |
| 2019-2020 | Martinique | Iterato | Iterato initially engaged my services to help them digitalise their operations in the Facilities Management (FM) group. The FM group had, until my implication, operated with several manual processes. The processes were converted to digital over the first year, and I helped the company start a software development project to create a bespoke digital platform for the FM business.The work could not optimally take place without a comprehensive study of the FM environment, trends, and opportunities for the company. To that end, I researched the FM business in Europe and the United States, having had some personal experience in the past, and wrote a paper outlining the context, the current state of digital development in FM and the opportunities present for the company in the French West Indies, proving the viability of an innovative approach to FM in a region several years behind the trends in other parts of the world.The work required desk research, data collection and consolidation, analysis, visualisation of the data to best tell the story, and the writing of a twenty-something-page paper that increased the horizon for development by the client.They have completed the first phase of the software development under my recommendations, and they enable their clients to digitally signal problems with their facilities (air conditioning unit failures, extinguisher expiry, broken tiles/windows, etc.) to automatically schedule remediation with their contractors.The next phase we are hoping to work on in the future together, is the integration of AI to provide predictive maintenance instead of remedial maintenance. |
Other information:
I am an ARIN Fellow (American Registry for Internet Numbers) and attended the ARIN52 policy meeting in San Diego
Recent certifications:
- LACNIC – Internet Governance in Latin America and the Caribbean (100% pass grade)
- UNCTAD – Digital Identity for Trade and Development (94% pass grade)
- UNCTAD – International Merchandise Trade Statistics (80% pass grade)
- UNCTAD – Statistics of International Trade in Services (80% pass grade)
- UNCTAD – Legal Aspects of e-Commerce (96% pass grade)
I presented the results of the TEECA study in an online conference hosted by the stakeholders, the CCI Martinique. The presentation is in French and available online on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBM39oTCLaU
I write a semi-regular newsletter since February 2019 and it is online at: https://matthewcowen.org/categories/newsletter/
I have appeared as an expert and contributor in the media and on several Caribbean podcasts, notably ICT Pulse Podcast and Innovation, Agilité & Excellence, la 1ere Martinique & RCI Martinique.
I am a part-time lecturer for the local campus of the world-renowned business school aimed at hospitality and tourism, Vatel Business School, teaching first-year English and 1st to 3rd year Computing.
I am a part-time lecturer for Keyce Academy, teaching English for IT for Master’s students and Microsoft Technologies and Cybersecurity for Bachelor’s.
I am a part-time lecturer for CNAM Martinique, teaching Project Management for Degree students.
