KINGSTON, JAMAICA: As the world experiences the COVID-19 pandemic and island communities are being dramatically affected, urgent solutions are needed for island communities to combat both the short and long term impacts.

Tourism is particularly important to many islands and the sudden withdrawal of this vital income stream presents a potential crisis for many communities. There is a need to build “digital bridges” between the world’s islands, to share solutions and approaches being taken in all corners of the world.

Island Innovation is hosting a free webinar series to discuss and raise awareness of the island context for this global issue. The organization is a social enterprise that works with rural and island stakeholders, with one of the principal aims being to assist islands with implementing sustainable solutions to economic, environmental, and social issues.

Jamaica’s response to the pandemic and the plans ahead will be outlined on this upcoming webinar, whose speakers will be: Floyd Green, MP. Jamaica’s Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture, and Fisheries. Anaitee Mills, Climate Adviser. Mariame McIntosh Robinson, President and CEO at First Global Bank. Dr. Ché Bowen, CEO at MDLink, Ltd. Basil Reid, News Presenter at CVM TV (Moderator).

Island Innovation Director, James Ellsmoor, commented on the webinar series: “Our world is being impacted by COVID-19 in many ways, governments and institutions everywhere are doing what they can to stop the spread of the virus. Solutions are needed to cope with economic impacts on the tourism industry, shortages of essential resources, and other issues that islands endure. We are gathering global island experts to discuss this unprecedented challenge, so that experiences that have proven to be successful can be repeated in other islands.”

This last webinar in the series will be held on Wednesday, May 20th at 11am (Jamaica local time). We urge experts and the general public alike to sign up to obtain valuable information and to contribute their own knowledge.

The registration link for the session is: http://bit.ly/JamaicaCOVID-19