On 4 June 2026, the Caribbean Export Development Agency, the European Union, and the EU-LAC Digital Accelerator hosted the Digital Connectors Southern Caribbean Workshop in Barbados, bringing together startups, SMEs, corporates, and innovation stakeholders to explore opportunities for collaboration among the Caribbean, Latin America, and Europe.
The workshop focused on how open innovation and corporate-startup partnerships can help firms address business and societal challenges while improving competitiveness, digital transformation, and access to international markets and value chains.
Participants discussed practical aspects of building successful collaborations, including how startups can develop value propositions around real corporate challenges, the role of proofs of concept in testing solutions and building trust, and the importance of defining clear implementation roadmaps from the outset.
The session examined the challenges and opportunities associated with international partnerships in a competitive environment, drawing on examples from partnerships currently being accelerated through the EU-LAC Digital Accelerator, including collaborations addressing topics such as food sovereignty, sargassum management, climate resilience, energy deployment, access to capital markets, and urban mobility.
The programme also included individual sessions with selected startups, allowing more focused discussions on specific solutions, business models, and potential collaboration pathways with corporates and ecosystem partners.
