In celebration of 46 years of innovation, advocacy and leadership, the Jamaica Computer Society (JCS) has launched the Youth Innovators in Tech Series; a year-long spotlight on young, up-and-coming talent in the local tech space. For the entire 2021, JCS will be having conversations with the next generation of #Jamaicantechies on how they envision the future of tech in Jamaica and how they are, in their way, engineering that future.

First up in the series is Christopher Gayle — not the famous cricketer, but the self-taught software developer who since high school has been developing applications to, he said, “help people get things done”. And, by people, he means those who share similar experiences living in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean.

Gayle subscribes to the notion that technology is supposed to be developed in such a way that it addresses the “real-life problems” of the society. He calls this experiential tech and it is the philosophy which has guided the way he approaches software development. Each piece of application developed by his company Gizzada Limited is created to “improve its user’s lives” by providing tech-based solutions to a typical or shared problem in that particular industry or community. A good example is the Get There app, an Uber-esque ride-hailing application that allows users to book taxis online. The app addresses the perennial problem of transportation shortage in some rural regions.

Before his involvement in the development of Q-Mall, the latest Caribbean-based e-commerce platform, he had already developed the JaMaker app. The app has the feel of what it would be like if you merged Slack or Microsoft Teams with Google Calendar. It is an innovative, multi-function business tool with features including a team organiser, task scheduler, instant messenger, calendar, teleconferencing and accounting in one. With the JaMaker app, Gayle focused on making a hybrid tool to streamline his business management, a tool that in many ways also provided practical solutions to the broader business community. “In my travels, I’ve seen examples of how people have used tech to solve every day problems across the world and so I’ve decided to build those solutions here as quickly as possible so that we can move on to the next level of innovation,” he explained.

According to Gayle, he has chosen this path simply because he loves being Jamaican and it is hard for him to “ignore little problems that can be easily fixed” and it is his passion to “improve our current environment and nurture growth”.

Watch the full interview with Christopher Gayle on the Jamaica Computer Society’s social media channels – @jamaicacomputersociety @myjcs