12-year-old entrepreneur a hit at ICT Road Show

The name Warren Cassell Jr. will forever be stuck in the minds of the many young Vincentians who were a part of this year’s ICT Road Show youth forum.{{more}}

Warren, at the age of twelve, is the youngest entrepreneur in his homeland of Montserrat. At the age of nine, he built his first website and now has several more, which he built for clients.

In 2008, Cassell founded the Montserratian card company Emerald Greeting Cards. His business designs and prints greeting cards and designs graphics like logos.

According to Emma Jackson, Web Editor at the Ministry of Information and Technology, the twelve year old Montserratian was the main highlight of the three days of information exchange and advice, product demonstration and displays.

Jackson, who was also one of the coordinators for the Road Show, told SEARCHLIGHT that Warren, who was one of the invited speakers at the youth forum, spoke about how he got started in the world of information and technology.

“There were other speakers besides him, but when the young guy came out and everyone saw this little boy on stage and they were amazed.”

Following Warren’s presentation, Jackson said that everyone who was in attendance was intrigued.

“We had students from Grade 5 all the way to the Community College level at the session and they were all glued to this guy.

“The Grade 5 students of which Warren may be the same age, they may have said wow; but when you are a Community College student, seeing a twelve year old making such progress, they must have been wondering, ‘what have I done with my life?’

Meanwhile, this year’s Roadshow, which was hosted for the second time this year, was described as ‘better than the last’.

“This year was almost like an 80 per cent improvement,” Jackson said, adding that it is because more persons are more aware of Information Communication Technology (ICT).

“They know it exists, but they do not know how to use it,” she said.

The Web Editor credited the introduction of the one laptop per child initiative by the Government and mobile technology as some of the methods that have helped to heighten the awareness of the Internet among Vincentians.

However, according to Jackson, she does not think that Information Communication Technology is widespread enough.

“When people hear IT, they only think of the Internet. They do not think of the technology that can help them in their day to day life, and that is what the Road Show highlighted,” Jackson said.

Special recognition was also given to the local sponsors for their contribution towards making this year’s even more successful.

“We are very grateful to the local sponsors, and this year we had more of them on board, a total of about 17,” said Jackson.

The Roadshow was staged at the Methodist Church Hall in Kingstown, under the theme: “Harnessing the power of innovation, the engine for ICT enabled Caribbean development”. (AA)