The premise
Can new technology open a real path for the Global South?
Every technological wave has promised a way out. Too often that promise is blunted by the structures of the global economy, which have long kept the Global South producing raw value rather than capturing it. The inaugural summit asked the harder version of the question: this time, with AI and emerging tools, can it be different?
Saint Lucia, with its Creole heritage, was the right backdrop. The creative sector, the orange economy, is one of the South's genuine growth frontiers: a way to turn untapped cultural wealth into employment and economic independence. October is Creole Heritage Month on the island, so the timing was deliberate.
The programme
Eight themes.
Three days of panels, workshops, and talks, organised around how AI can safeguard tangible and intangible heritage while building sustainable models for the creative economy.
Education & technology
Bridging traditional knowledge with modern tools for a living cultural legacy.
Language & preservation
Using AI to archive Creole languages, oral histories, and rituals for the future.
Fashion, film & music
Harmonising tradition and technology to grow the creative sub-sectors.
Agriculture & gastronomy
AI for yields and food security, without losing the culture of food.
Cultural heritage
Immersive tech and case studies that bridge the past and the future.
Economic opportunity
New livelihoods, from tourism to digital content and beyond.
Ethical AI & governance
Policy that honours and protects Creole legacies and their futures.
Collaborative frameworks
Partnerships across culture, industry, finance, and government.
About the location
Saint Lucia, West Indies.
A picturesque island that hosted a groundbreaking conversation at the meeting point of AI, emerging technology, and the creative industries of the Global South.
The orange economy holds rich, untapped resources. Treated well, it can become a real foreign-exchange earner, creating work and strengthening the economic independence of communities.
Fun fact
Saint Lucia holds the highest number of Nobel laureates per capita in the world.
Sir Arthur Lewis · Economics, 1979 / Derek Walcott · Literature, 1992
How it ran