Innovation lead at MC Systems Kathryn Chin See recounts that she was always attracted to technology because, growing up, she could always be found tinkering with some device or tech tool. Her love for technology comes from its impact because, for her, every day is an opportunity to transform and improve people’s lives.

As she highlights that technology enables possibilities, her career saw her evolving into the fintech and business development space.

Chin See believes leadership empowers, guides, supports and inspires people. One must exercise empathy around their lives, needs, goals, and obstacles to truly understand people, she advises. She further highlighted that when you can empathise with your team you can create an alignment through a shared vision while inspiring them to work collaboratively to achieve those shared goals

Chin See also states that the most rewarding part about running an innovation lab is knowing that her work will make others’ lives better by helping businesses and people to evolve. Through that more capacity is created for more solutions, products, profit, and learning.

The novel coronavirus pandemic allowed Chin See and her team to immediately transition to a fully digital work environment, which enabled them to optimise tools to connect and collaborate. While the nostalgia comes with not having a physical interaction with her team, she reassures that there is also an opportunity for more inclusion through better cross-border connections — the team benefits from different perspectives brought forward by other cultures; therefore, making it a change for the better, with the opportunity to ideate and innovate on an entirely different level.

She outlines that the biggest challenges in her scope are change and risk management. She notes, however, that it’s imperative to be very pointed in articulating the value proposition and ensuring that it aligns with the organisation’s goals, as well as considering the opportunity cost of not trying a new idea.

As one of the high points in her career, Chin See recounts her success in managing a data processing activity that saw her strategically overcoming time and resource constraints. The result of this activity was the ability to create real business value by saving time, increasing revenue potential, and creating a learning and development capacity for their client’s team.

She points out that for Jamaica to become a digital society we must emphasise literacy before focusing on the digital aspect. She explains that improving how people comprehend and process information will make adapting to a digital way of life more manageable.

As a JTDA member, Chin See finds it essential for industry practitioners with the passion, knowledge, and vision to volunteer and share their expertise to support the tech community’s growth.