Considering the growth of the digital economy worldwide, countries have been turning more toward opportunities in that branch of the service sector to create opportunities that can create more wealth and jobs for their population. The service sector represents about 50% of the Haitian economy while facing major issues with regards to access to digitalization and innovation.

A quick research from the Creative Tech Labs Applications allowed us to explore the five main issues preventing the development of the creative sector in Haiti:

• Lack of framework (legal, training);
• Internet and electricity access;
• Lack of resources (market, financial, materials)
• Economic and political situation
• Lack of trust (collaboration, business ethics)

To address that and to allow Haiti to take full advantage of its already set to be competitive advantage, the IDB has put together a Technical Cooperation aiming to support the Creation of an Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem of Haiti through various actions including a workshop called Creative Tech Lab (CTL). The objective of this workshop was to allow participants in Haiti’s creative economy, such as artists, technologists, entrepreneurs, investors, influencers and civic leaders, to prototype and experiment with models for encouraging growth through utilization of existing innovations such as blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, and other such digital technologies.

People in Haiti’s creative economy, such as artists, technologists, entrepreneurs, investors, influencers and civic leaders.

Creatives

Eligibility criteria

• Be a citizen of an IDB member country (see https://www.iadb.org/en/about-us/who-we-are)
• Be either an independent creator or working with a production company in the field Music,

performing and visual arts, crafts, design of products, graphic and/or fashion design, operating in Haiti; or a professional that undertakes management functions to support creators in their industry in Haiti.

• Ability to be available online and in person when needed during the month of July to work in teams and participate in all activities of the Workshop program.
• Must fill out the application form which requires:
  1. Online link(s) to your creations
  2. Online link to personal website or CV outlining your work
  3. A personal assessment of the issues of the creative sector in Haiti
  4. A project idea you would be interested in collaborating with developers to make happen
  5. Must have at least 1 year experience doing creative work

-  Only individual creatives are eligible or one individual selected to represent a group Age or gender does not matter. Youths and women are encouraged to apply!

​​Technologists

Eligibility criteria

• Be a citizen of an IDB member country (see https://www.iadb.org/en/about-us/who-we-are)
• Ability to be available online and in person when needed during the month of July to work in teams and participate in all activities of the Workshop program.
• Must be passionate in supporting creative artists in addressing their pain points.
• Must fill out the application form which requires:
  1. Online link(s) to previous projects you created or worked on
  2. Online link to personal website or CV outlining your work
  3. A project idea you would be interested in collaborating with creatives to make happen
  4. At least two years experience in software development
  5. Must have experience working with languages such as Java, PHP, Python, R or Ruby
• Developers can apply as individual or as a group

Age or gender does not matter. Youths and women are encouraged to apply!

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or IADB) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States of America, and serving as the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean. Established in 1959, the IDB supports Latin American and Caribbean economic development, social development and regional integration by lending to governments and government agencies, including State corporations.

 

Banj is a coworking space, entrepreneurship hub and business accelerator powered by Google in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It's the go-to place for networking and growing tech startups. Banj strengthens the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the capital by connecting and offering modern workspaces capable of stimulating creativity and creating results-oriented conditions to entrepreneurs from all social backgrounds wishing to increase their visibility and take their entrepreneurial journey to the next level. Banj offers a set of quality events, acceleration and business innovation programs to accelerate learning and exchanges in Haiti and with the rest of the world through local and international partnerships.