Technology empowerment organisation Youth Can Do I.T. (YCDI) was announced as one of ten grantees in the Metaverse Communities Challenge, and the sole awardee from the Caribbean.

A collaboration between the innovation laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB Lab) and Meta, the challenge received 370 proposals from communities in 22 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.

YCDI entered the metaverse last year with the third staging of its signature iamWITy event (I am a Woman in Technology) which is a celebration of International Girls in ICT Day. One of the first events in Jamaica to be held in the metaverse, iamWITy 2022 was hosted by Dr Terri-Karelle Reid who did the opening and closing segments fully immersed in a virtual reality headset.

The event featured powerful women from all aspects of the tech industry Education Minister Fayval Williams; Dr Gunjan Mansingh, Department of Computing head at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona; Erica Anderson from TFOB (2021) Limited, and Raquel Seville from BI Brainz Caribbean, to name a few.

iamWITy 2022 was the catalyst for YCDI to get more involved in the metaverse and the impetus to enter the challenge. As a Metaverse Communities Challenge grantee, YCDI will receive funding, customised business coaching from industry experts and a one-week residency in São Paulo, Brazil where the organisation will be the only Jamaican representative among the grantees.

Founded in Jamaica in 2016, YCDI was born out of the desire to use technology and self-actualisation as the catalyst for capacity building among youth. The vision of the organisation is to become the tech talent pipeline of the Caribbean.

READ: Jamaica’s Youth Can Do I.T. named among selectees in IDB Lab-Meta Communities Challenge