Issue 3 · October 2026
Dutch Caribbean Digital Competence Network
With this third issue of the DCDC Network newsletter we invite you to join us at the Kick-Off Conference! It is followed by a public event on the importance of a democratic society: Nos Baranca, Nos Democracia. We hope to see you there!
The DCDC Core Team
With this kick-off, the DCDC Network hopes to connect researchers, institutions and professionals across the Dutch Caribbean, from Aruba, Curaçao and St. Martin to Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, who share a commitment to open data, collaborative research and building digital capacity in our region. The kick-off will structure what the Network focuses on in the coming period. Anyone interested in increasing data skills and open science is very welcome to join us, for all of it or part of it.
Tuesday 10 November, 6 to 9 PM. Public opening evening. Opening remarks by Gerlien Croes, Minister of Kingdom Relations, Education, Youth, Innovation and Sports, a keynote by Hadeikaye Peterson, and talks on open data and privacy by Sandy Odor and on data sharing between government organisations by Jeremy Erasmus.
Wednesday 11 November, 9:30 AM to 5 PM, followed by dinner. Workshops and input sessions: what training the Network should offer, making tools and research more accessible, open science in your organisation, family history, making existing data findable and reusable, and a smaller side workshop on Wikidata.
Thursday 12 November, 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM. Continuation of the workshops and practical activities, including a session on electoral data, ending with the preliminary training plan.
Sign up →The full programme is on the website, and more sessions will be added there.
After the kick-off you are invited to an evening on the importance of democratic societies.
Thursday 12 November, 6 to 9 PM, Casibari Rock Formation. The University of Aruba presents Nos Baranca, Nos Democracia, a public evening of talks on democratic representation, the resilience of the Aruban people and 40 years of Status Aparte, with local arts and culture, poetry, spoken word and theater.
On 7 November you can attend the Database Cultural Aruba event, from 10 AM to 12 PM at the JFK Education Center (JFK Cafe). They will present the latest news on the development of this database and its policy implications. Email data@cultura.aw to register!
Esther Plomp, Aruba’s Local Coordinator, on the lessons and experiences from the Research Data Alliance plenary in London in October 2026, where she presented a poster on the Network.
Read the post →
A Papiamento translation of the open letter calling on academics to “Stop the Uncritical Adoption of AI Technologies in Academia”.
Read the post →
Raymond Jessurun, our St. Martin coordinator, on the lessons from the DCDC Network administrator’s working visit to St. Martin.
Read the post →A grant of €250,000 for the salary costs of a PhD position at Leiden University, for a student or PhD candidate from Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius or Saba.
Up to €50,000 to make research outputs FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) and open. The budget is first come, first served: at the time of writing only the Natural and Engineering Sciences category still has funds. Check the call page before you start.
A camp on coding literacy, running from 26 October to 6 November. Register for individual events through Eventbrite.
How R packages can help you document, validate, track and share data more effectively. Basic R knowledge required.