What are your earliest memories of Kingston?

I am a country boy who looked forward to coming to Kingston for the holidays. My siblings, cousins and I would hang around our aunt’s house and backyard because there wasn’t much to do when we were kids. I remember one Boxing Day we went to Hope Gardens and when the festivities were done in the night, we couldn’t get onto a JOS bus to travel back home because of the crowd. We decided to walk all the way from Hope Gardens on Old Hope Road, eventually making it down Mountain View Avenue to our home in east Kingston. We had a good time, but I’m not sure it’s a walk I’d take today!

What do you miss when you are not in Kingston?

I miss the gym, hanging out with the gang after work on a Friday, and dinner at my mother-in-law’s.

What would be top of your agenda, were you to become the mayor of Kingston?

Very simply, to continue working with the councillors, other ministries and communities to clean up the city for a safer environment: 1) getting rid of mosquito breeding sites, 2) keeping drains and gullies clean to prevent flooding, and 3) helping to clean up communities and by so doing, giving people pride in the place where they live. The threat of mosquito-borne diseases seems to get worse with each outbreak, and we have seen the devastation that flooding can cause.

IBM’s focus in the next five to 10 years, we’re told, will be becoming more of a cognitive solutions and cloud platform company. That big data, cognitive systems and cloud computing will influence and transform the way companies do business. Why is this considered the way forward?

The price of computer hardware and storage for data has reduced tremendously over the years. Coupled with relatively cheap and readily available high-speed data transmission (via the Internet) from the telecoms providers, we have seen the emergence of cloud computing. With cloud computing, a business or end user can purchase computing resources like their other utilities (electricity, water, phone, cable, etc). You simply pay monthly or annually for what is needed or used, without having to make the investment in those systems in your own organisation or data centre. With cognitive computing, we are going to the next level of enabling the user. We are helping computers learn to think like humans. With their vast amount of data and processing power, they will be able to gain insights much quicker than we do, and make those “thoughts” available to help improve our decisions and related outcomes. Imagine having deep expertise in your line of business that you can tap into at any time, irrespective of the size of your company.

IBM is considered the computer classroom. Indeed, most IT consultants started their journey there. What has kept you at IBM and in the classroom?

There are some core values we share as IBMers:

• Dedication to every client’s success.

• Innovation that matters — for our company and for the world.

• Trust and personal responsibility in all relationships.

I am still excited to be part of an organisation that is forward-thinking with its innovations (receiving 7,355 patents in the USA in 2015: number 1 for 23 years running) while remaining passionate about our clients’ success. The people are great, and readily collaborate across borders to deliver the best of IBM to solve our clients’ challenges.

Which are the most technologically advanced countries?

There are a number of works done by different organisations to rank countries with regard to technology readiness. The World Economic Forum Global Information Technology report gets a lot of attention because of its comprehensive assessment. The 2015 and 2016 reports list Singapore, Finland and Sweden at the top of the list of countries assessed. Jamaica was ranked 82nd of 143 countries in the 2015 report and 83rd of 139 countries in the 2016 report.

How long will it take for us to catch up?

As a country, we continue to make improvements in government and the private sector, and are keeping pace globally. However, we need to move aggressively up the chart to improve our global competitiveness. Our leaders understand this and, across administrations, plans are in place to deliver improvement. I am not worried about being number one at this stage. However, as said before, we have to outpace our competitors.

You are seated around our seamlessly stitched dinner table paying homage to designer Bill Edwards. How is this experience for you?

It’s magical, a wonderful feeling to be a client and friend. Bill represents a Jamaican success story of my generation. To watch the progress he has made while keeping the loyalty of his early clients over so many years is testimony to the fact that he understands the market and its direction. Deep inside, Bill desires to make men look good; it is not just about making money. And this is also evidenced by the variety of his clientele. I am heartened that he not only designs, but manufactures locally, playing his part to grow the Jamaican economy.

What (unsolicited) tech advice would you give to Bill and, by extension, the fashion industry?

At the basic level, there is opportunity to further engage and collaborate with clients and prospects online. This is a great way for direct feedback and suggestions that can be filtered and analysed for improvements or new products/designs. There is also the opportunity to market to a “segment of one”. With all the available information that is collected on individuals, sales campaigns can be generated that target individuals, as opposed to the scatter-shot, hit-or-miss approach aimed at a broad segment of the market.

Finally, at this year’s Met Gala, the model Karolina Kurkova wore a dress by IBM Watson, in collaboration with high-fashion label Marchesa. This is opening up a new world for designers!

How would you best describe your style?

I tend to keep things simple and conservative, but classy. I don’t get taken up with the latest fads because I like timeless attire. I like to invest in great quality that I can wear next year and still feel current.

What has been your most intriguing fashion destination and why?

As you might guess, I shop online a lot so you can call that my favourite destination now! I go to New York every year, and I enjoy shopping there. I’ve visited Montreal a couple of times and enjoyed the shopping because of their European connection and bargains. I’ve also been to London and that has been, by far, my best experience. I got to see quite a few of my favourite European designers.

What’s your personal life philosophy?

Fill your mind with the life you want to live. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “A man is what he thinks about all day long.” William James said, “The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.” Watch your thoughts; they become your reality!