The team

Across PhD research on small island economic resilience, World Bank consulting on disaster risk financing, and work with the data practice LovelyData, data is the through-line. His conviction is that the data ecosystem's biggest gap is not collection but FAIR usage of what already exists, where disproportionate value sits at very little cost. Hopes the network flourishes into a place where people connect through each other's passion for the work.

Works at the University of Aruba Research Center (UARC) on making researchers' work more accessible through the UA repository, and sees data competency as essential for Aruba to address its most urgent challenges with evidence. Hopes the network becomes a gateway for people to achieve their data competency and open science goals together.

Information and AI Specialist at the University of Curaçao Library, supporting researchers and lecturers with research tools, digital resources, and emerging technologies. Believes researchers and students on small islands should have equal access to knowledge and the chance to make their work visible internationally. Hopes the network builds stronger collaboration between Caribbean islands and international partners, with more opportunities for training and knowledge sharing.

Works to connect research with the real needs of people and institutions in Sint Maarten, so local knowledge, community experience, and public challenges are not ignored but turned into something useful for action, policy, and long-term development. Believes that if the Caribbean does not organize and strengthen its own knowledge systems, others will keep defining its reality; open science and digital competence are how the region builds, protects, and grows its knowledge on its own terms. Hopes DCDC helps break isolation between islands and institutions, building a connected Caribbean knowledge space where collaboration becomes normal and local capacity grows.