The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), with key support from the Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund, is actively equipping young people across the region with the technical and professional skills required to compete in a rapidly evolving digital economy. Through its Generative AI and Python Summer Camp, now in its third year, the programme has introduced a major new element by giving participants the opportunity to work directly with real businesses and organizations to address real-world challenges.
For the ECCB, this initiative is more than just a typical summer programme; it represents a key pillar in a broader regional effort to prepare young people for the future workforce and contribute directly to economic transformation.
Sybil Welsh, Project Manager and Senior Project Specialist at the ECCB, emphasized that the camp’s primary mission is to empower the region’s youth. “What the camp does is that it arms our youth to be able to have the competencies to compete at a global level in the digital space. And this is what it’s all about,” Welsh explained.
This year, participants from across the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) are being pushed beyond simulated practice projects and placed into an immersive, active real-world environment. For the first time in the camp’s history, students are working directly with enterprise clients, including private businesses and public-sector organizations, to identify core problems and develop innovative, customized solutions.
“When you have a real client, what you do is immerse our young people in real-life skills, a real innovation lab,” Welsh added. “You have real clients, you have real projects and now you really inspire our young people to do all that they need to do, to dig deep, to go beyond what they thought was possible, to meet and I would say even surpass the expectations of clients.”
The hands-on client approach is designed to help participants develop critical professional skills alongside their coding abilities. According to Telly Onu, Instructional Design Specialist, Lead Trainer, and Hub Coordinator for the Chatbot Edition, working with actual clients helps campers build confidence, communication, and professional skills.
“The key skills that they really learn, number one, is really problem solving,” Onu stated. “They all had several meetings with their clients. So obviously they learn how to now do consultative engagements. They build their confidence in that way so they can conduct client interviews, do requirements collection. So basically, each team, we train them on how a real development team actually works.”
This experience provides a unique opportunity for participants to apply theoretical programming knowledge to real-world client needs, gaining valuable firsthand experience in professional client relations.
For the participating youth, the impact of the camp has been deeply personal and transformative.
- Nia Jack (St. Kitts and Nevis): A 16-year-old participant, Jack had the honor of working on a chatbot for the ASPIRE Programme, a government initiative in St. Kitts and Nevis designed to equip young people with financial literacy, savings, and investment opportunities from an early age. “We had the honour of creating a chat bot for the Aspire Programme… It’s been really fulfilling. I, as a 16-year-old, having the honour of working with the Aspire Programme,” Jack reflected.
- Simlet Pierre (St. Vincent and the Grenadines): Pierre found that the camp offered a powerful opportunity to develop leadership and collaborative skills. “A lot of persons used to tell me that I’m a bit self-centred, so I’ve worked… in large groups. Now I am leading a group of 20 members to be exact,” he shared.
- Emma Morris (St. Kitts and Nevis): Morris described the experience of managing real client expectations as challenging but ultimately highly rewarding. “It was stressful at times for sure because, you know, these are real clients and real people with real needs and having to meet their needs and make sure you make a product that is good enough to not only satisfy them, but satisfy their customer engagement,” Morris said. “So it was challenging, but once we got it done, it felt really nice.”
- Alisha Gordon (Grenada): Gordon described the camp as a life-changing experience. “It was an incredible and transformative experience. We worked as a team and we built up a foundation on coding and I feel like I developed my presentation skills and communication skills,” she said. She noted that working with an actual client was especially valuable because it required the team to listen to specific needs, understand the underlying problem, and collaborate to find a viable solution.
Facilitators and mentors have also observed remarkable growth, noting that the camp is successfully helping young people transition from passive technology consumers to active problem solvers. Kelvin Pompey, an Assistant Facilitator from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, highlighted the power of collaboration, noting that the students quickly “realized for themselves what they can do together as a group and as a team.”
Eugine Whint, an Assistant Facilitator from Grenada, emphasized that the campers are gaining exposure to skills that will define the future job market. “This programme is really advanced. What (the campers) are doing are things that, to be honest, people in five years time will be like, wow, why didn’t I do that before? They are at the forefront of technology,” Whint stated.
The 2026 Generative AI and Python Summer Camp is sponsored by the ECCB in conjunction with the Republic of China (Taiwan), in partnership with the Ministries of Education across the various ECCU countries and regional delivery partners.
The intensive programme will culminate in a grand showcase on August 28, 2026. During the showcase, participants will present their working innovations and projects, demonstrating the knowledge, skills, and client-focused solutions they developed over the course of the camp.
Through forward-thinking initiatives like this summer camp, the ECCB continues to foster a digitally skilled generation of young people who are ready to participate in—and actively shape—the future of the Eastern Caribbean economy.
