Dr Sean Thorpe wants to launch a technology park to give young people, not necessarily tech students, the opportunity to “touch the world”. Such ambition is his way of paying forward, inspired by his experiences as the youngest professor and head of the school of computing at the University of Technology (UTech), Jamaica, his alma mater.

He is immediate past president of the Jamaica Computer Society (JCS), a mentor and published author always ready to share his views on technology. His passion for tech motivates him to highlight the Caribbean’s expertise in information technology, which he firmly believes is a constructive way of adding to his legacy.

In his desire and eagerness to pay it forward, Dr Thorpe, during his tenure at the helm of the JCS, realised the need for solid mentorship, which he describes as the “single highest value of achievement”. The mentorship programme at UTech aims to bridge the gap between academia and work by equipping students with skills and resources using the school of computing’s SAPNA Lab to smoothen their transition into the working world. The programme strongly encourages students to develop an entrepreneurial flair, especially since the onset of the pandemic. Dr Thorpe is an avid believer in continuous collaborative learning and engages in the learning process with his mentees.

A proud product of St Ann, his early career path took him to the then Jamaica Telephone Company where he soon recognised that cutting-edge technology was the new trend. Balancing school and work, he gained a diploma in computing at UTech. Recognising that there was more to explore in IT, Dr Thorpe gave up his managerial position to pursue a masters in cybersecurity in London, England. However, on completing his degree, he chose academia where he continues to make an impactful contribution.

Dr Thorpe’s brainchild computer security programme at UTech was born out of his curiosity to explore the realm of cybersecurity. This initiative earned him a coveted three-month Fulbright Visibility Faculty Scholarship Award in 2009, where he pursued exploratory case study research in cybersecurity in the department of computer science at Harvard University. The experience left an indelible mark on his life, providing the foundation for his doctoral thesis in malware detection systems and critical infrastructure protection, focusing on cloud computing security and forensics logging environments.

Dr Thorpe is the author of four books, three of them written this year alone. The list includes Our Caribbean Silicon Valley (2018), Protection of the Virtual Perimeter (2021), Digital Identity, Data Protection, and Transparency (2021), and A Digital Roadmap for using AI in Caribbean Enterprises (2021).