NATIONAL TOURISM CONFERENCE 2018 POSITIONING CURAÇAO AS A SMART TOURISM DESTINATION KEYNOTE ADDRESS by Mr. Franklin Sluis CEO Bureau Telecommunication, Post & Utilities Secretariat Taskforce Smart Nation Curaçao September 26 & 27, 2018 World Trade Center Curaçao
Good morning, As protocol has been served I would like to take you through a vision which we believe will take us closer to what the Minister Dr. Steven Martina and some other speakers highlighted yesterday during the opening day of the conference. 1. In September 2016 our Bureau, as the local telecommunication authority, kickstarted the discussion on the development of a Smart Nation by hosting an international conference on the topic of converting Curaçao into a smart nation beyond 2020. Subsequently, in November 2016, CINEX organized a conference on smart investments. In June of this year, the Central Bank held a seminar on financial innovation and now the Curaçao Tourist Board also places smartness on the agenda through this National Tourism Conference. 2. The organization of these conferences and seminars is certainly a positive development, as countries which do not pay sufficient attention to the ongoing digital revolution are at risk of falling behind in the regional and international competition. Considering the potential negative consequences for the development of their economy, as a developing society, we cannot avoid diving deep into the discussions concerning the development of a smart nation. 3. In this regard, on March 22, 2017, the Council of Ministers of Curaçao adopted a new Innovation Policy to promote sustainable economic development by stimulating innovative projects and processes that should strengthen existing activities in Curaçao, promote economic diversification, and improve the regional competitive position of Curaçao. However, this was clearly not enough given the rapid digital transformation of the global economy and the emergence of what we nowadays call Smart Cities or Smart Nations. 4. Because increasingly countries, cities and businesses are investing in and implementing smart technologies to prepare themselves for service delivery and future competition, it is certain that the development of a smart nation becomes more apparent every day. Therefore, it was felt that a more comprehensive national approach was urgently needed to accommodate the ongoing digital revolution. 5. Consequently, one of the objectives taken up in the coalition agreement for the current government (2017-2021) is the realization of Willemstad as a "Smart City", in effect a center for education, culture, recreation and business which has a modern technological infrastructure and state of the art" information and communication technology. Looking further ahead, it is also the intention of the Government to progressively develop Curaçao as a whole into a Smart Nation. 1 NATIONAL TOURISM CONFERENCE 2018
6. The mission to implement a smart nation in Curaçao is to be carried out by an inclusive taskforce, the Smart Nation Platform Curaçao, consisting of high-level representatives of the public sector, private sector and knowledge institutions (the "triple helix" concept). The taskforce was instituted by a National Decree of February 6, 2018 and is professionally supported by our Bureau as its secretariat. The Platform has been entrusted with the realization of a long-term vision and a comprehensive strategic plan for the progressive conversion of the capital Willemstad into a Smart City and the country of Curaçao into a Smart Nation. 7. The vision of Curaçao as a "Smart Nation" is based on the concept of a country using modern ICT-solutions to provide the necessary services to its citizens in important policy areas such as: information and communication services, education, health, financial services, energy supply, telecommunications, security, law enforcement, waste management and other vital forms of public and private services. To accomplish this vision, ICT initiatives and developments in Curaçao can no longer be viewed in isolation. 8. Consequently, the mission of the taskforce is to follow an integrated approach for the further development of Curaçao in the direction of a "Smart Nation". Similar to a smart city, development of a Smart Nation requires the use of multiple ICT-solutions to deliver essential services to our citizens in areas such as those mentioned before. Hence, the Smart Nation philosophy aims to rally the collective efforts of people, businesses and government to work together to improve the quality of services to, and the quality of life in, our community by using innovative information and communication technologies, networks, and data accumulated from citizens on a variety of social, business and government platforms. 9. Ladies as gentleman, in many ways, a Smart Nation is an ambitious project because it fundamentally alters the society in which we live today. Furthermore, the development of a Smart Nation is highly dependent on the Internet-of-Things, where large volumes of data, coming from numerous electronic devices are processed to provide efficient and effective services to citizens in all the main areas of life (such as public safety, education, health, financial services, telecommunications, distribution of energy, waste management, etc.). 10. Due to the effective deployment of a technological infrastructure, the development of a Smart Nation results in increasing effectiveness, speed and quality of the services offered to citizens with less use of public resources (i.e. increased efficiency). However, achieving the benefits of a Smart Nation does not come without its challenges, because it represents a state of unprecedented hyper-connectivity and inter-operability that demands, among other things, a high-quality infrastructure. 2 NATIONAL TOURISM CONFERENCE 2018
11. As you know, developing a Smart Nation implies strategic deployment of investments in technology across the whole country to create a digital and ICT infrastructure that can support the requirements of a smart nation. In my view, as a small nation with limited resources, we cannot disperse our resources and we therefore should have an adequate infrastructure ownership and management policy that suits our purpose. Consequently, the current policy that each network operator has ownership over all network elements is an unsustainable model, if we want to be efficient and effective in the creation of a Smart Nation. 12. Instead we must purpose to have ONE infrastructure provider managed by an independent party, where all network participants have equal rights. To this end we have to create an Equal Telecom Grid with a single network for information transport and distribution, but with multiple content and service providers. In this environment we will move away from infrastructure-based competition to a service-based competition among operators. By introducing a converged infrastructure for the Smart Nation, we can foster industry collaboration and leverage our digital capabilities to become a digital hub in the Caribbean region. 13. Based on the Innovation Policy 2017-2021 of the Ministry of Economic Development, the National Development Plan of Curaçao 2015-2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, the taskforce has prepared a Vision Statement for the development of Curaçao as a Smart Nation. The Vision Statement identifies a total of six policy areas, which serve as the building blocks for the development of a comprehensive Smart Nation ecosystem in Curaçao. 14. I am not going to mention all of them, but Curaçao as a smart destination for leisure and business is one of these main policy areas. As most of you may have at least a general idea of what can be considered a smart business environment, in the context of this conference on tourism it is more relevant for me to discuss what it entails for Curaçao to be a Smart Tourism Destination, at least from our perspective as a telecom regulator and Secretariat of the Task Force Smart Nation Curaçao. However, before discussing that, I will first provide some indications of the relevance of ICT for tourism destination management. 15. Curaçao is a leading tourism destination in the Caribbean region, but new realities also require smart strategies. Smart strategies take advantage of integrated technologies, through interconnectivity and interoperability, to produce innovative services and products for end-consumers. This requires constant (or dynamic) re-engineering of systems, processes and procedures to shape products and services to optimize their performance and competitiveness. Consequently, the creation of agile solutions and 3 NATIONAL TOURISM CONFERENCE 2018
public value is a constant concern of the service provider, including those providing a tourism service or product. 16. At the very center, smart strategies concern the application of ICT. Hence, a Smart Tourism Destination successfully implements ICT-technologies to enhance the tourism value at destination. In this case, interoperability ensures that tourists and service providers are interconnected, and processes are integrated, to generate customer value, through personalization and the ability to adapt information to specific contexts. 17. Moreover, Smart Tourism is not only about the use of technology to increase the attractiveness of, and information on, a destination. Smart tourism is also about agility, the ability of tourism officials and service providers to adapt quickly to new circumstances occurring in the tourist market in relation to the destination. Therefore, in order to understand the process of evolution from a traditional tourist destination into a smart tourism destination, it is necessary to understand the role of ICT in the process, as well as the role of agility. 18. For instance, social networks, public tourism portals and other tools, such as search engines and booking sites, used by tourists before, during and after trips generate a large amount of data that can be used to improve the management of a destination, as well as the service provider s agility to respond to certain real-time events occurring in the moment. This demonstrates that ICT is more than just a technological tool, it is associated with the capacity to generate knowledge and to the proper use of such knowledge within a destination. 19. If compared to traditional means of communication and information, the set of tools provided by ICT is immense. The production of content about a destination has grown exponentially since social networks emerged, and this has enabled the sharing of experiences by tourists all along the journey, from the beginning to the end and even thereafter because tourists are becoming increasingly more connected. 20. Therefore, the dissemination of information about a destination is nowadays only limited by the technological tool tourists have at their disposal. Using ICT for their dissemination and management of information is already a powerful tool in the hand of tourism officials and service providers in destinations. 21. Furthermore, by using social media, big data, augmented reality, sensing, and other processes, the application of ICT is able to elevate tourism to the level required in a digitized society such as a smart nation. ICT therefore has a definite space in the context of tourism and destination development in the digital age. In a society that is 4 NATIONAL TOURISM CONFERENCE 2018
hyperconnected, ICTs facilitate processes, purchases, as well as the management of destinations by tourism officials and service providers. One of the main enablers in this respect is the quality of the infrastructure, which should allow adequate network coverage over all geographic areas within the destination. 22. Finally, progressing towards the smartness concept, Curaçao as a smart nation destination, should be able to collect and distribute real-time information from scattered sensors on the island and process these to provide accurate information to tourists through end-user devices, such as mobile phones, ipad and laptops. 23. Now that we understand the value of ICT as a tool for the development of the Smart Tourism Destination concept, which correlates perfectly with the status of a smart nation, we should consider the main objective, namely: how tourism officials and service providers can together realize the necessary synergies to enrich the tourist experience and increase the competitive position of Curaçao as a premier tourist destination. This objective can be realized by applying smart ICT-strategies and digital tourism applications to address specific needs of travelers before, during and after their trip. However, that s the easy part. 24. The more difficult part is conceptualizing a framework for the development of Curaçao as a Smart Tourism Destination that addresses both opportunities and challenges for the competitive position of the destination. However, the framing of the competitive position of Curaçao as a premier tourist destination requires a comprehensive definition of what entails the destination. Policy makers need to decide if the destination is: (a) a geographical more or less providing Attractions, Available packages, Activities, Amenities, Ancillary services and Accessibility facilities (so called the 6A s of a destination) or (b) a combination of tourism products and services provided by successful tourism destinations in offering an integrated experience to a tourist. 25. Each definition requires a different mindset and form of cooperation within the industry. In addition, the fact that social media increasingly allows consumers to take over the process of (co-) creating a destination experience complicates the process if the destination does not have the tools to appropriately react on the translation of experience into consequences for the destination. 26. Therefore, one thing is utterly clear, destinations need to realize that they are selling either a geographical area with its amenities, or an integrated experience being cocreated by the tourist. In the latter case, a conventional approach to increase attractiveness and the competitive position of tourism destinations would be obsolete 5 NATIONAL TOURISM CONFERENCE 2018
because of the ongoing digital revolution and the ability of consumers to co-create experiences in real-time on an ongoing basis. Therefore, in providing tourism products and services, tourism officials and service providers need to smartly interconnect all relevant stakeholders to facilitate a dynamic co-creation and agile reaction process to increase the competitiveness of Curaçao as a smart tourism destination. 27. This would require the development or implementation of an intelligent technological platform on which information relating to tourism activities in Curaçao could be exchanged instantly, through a variety of end-user devices. These electronic devices ordinarily will support the creation and facilitation of real-time tourism experiences and improve the effectiveness of tourism resource management by both the tourism officials as the service providers at the macro- as well at the micro level throughout the destination. 28. Therefore, the flagship of the transformation to Smart Tourism Destinations is destination-wide access to real-time information and the ability to quickly manage that information on an ongoing basis on the basis of an intelligent ICT-platform. The ultimate aim is to utilize the platform to enhance tourism experience and improve the effectiveness of resource management towards maximizing both destination competitiveness and consumer satisfaction, while also demonstrating sustainability over an extended timeframe. When we accomplish that, we will be able to offer the integrated experience tourists so desire and position ourselves as a competitively strong smart tourism destination in the region. 29. In closing, a Public Private Partnership (PPP) is essential when running a Smart Tourism Destination initiative, because a PPP fosters efficiency through public and private cooperation, while its supports private sector creativity and innovation. In addition, the successful implementation of a Smart Tourism Destination project will also attract Foreign Direct Investments, as the destination s attractiveness increases. Since these investments tend to last a long time, getting the right ICT-infrastructure in place to continually support the integrated tourist experience shapes a destination for a long time and ensures its long-term sustainability. That is what we should be after, nothing less. I Thank you! 6 NATIONAL TOURISM CONFERENCE 2018