Liberty Business outlines smart city tools for Jamaica after 5G network launch

Liberty Caribbean, operator of Flow and Liberty Business, is promoting a range of next-generation telecommunications services aimed at supporting Jamaica's digital growth, following the formal launch of its 5G mobile network across the island.

Senior business development partner Carol Robertson said smart-city planning should be understood as the step-by-step automation of business operations. "Smart city is a buzzword that everybody keeps talking about, but what does it really mean? It means deploying technology to automate our business processes one at a time," she said. Robertson explained that a city or business becomes genuinely smart once it crosses a threshold of deployed solutions and automated workflows. From an efficiency standpoint, she pointed to public transportation, smart parking, lighting, emissions management, public safety, and health as areas where connected tools can make a difference.

On healthcare, Robertson said digital services could support patients from initial contact through recovery at home. "We can take the healthcare journey from the beginning. Um ambulatory care, call from home, even preventative, all the way to post-operative, heaven forbid, where we're now allowing persons to go home and recuperate faster because they're in their own environment with loved ones and more comfortable," she said. Closer engagement between patients and doctors, she added, could help prevent health crises linked to manageable non-communicable diseases in Jamaica.

Robertson also highlighted computer-vision applications, noting that existing camera feeds—not necessarily new hardware—could be paired with artificial intelligence. "How many of us are still closing our businesses for one or two days to count stock?" she asked, describing how strategically placed cameras could tally inventory almost instantly. Similar tools, she said, could improve building management, real-time energy monitoring, and fleet operations, including checks on driver fatigue, unsafe driving, and engine health to support preventative maintenance rather than reactive repairs.

However, Kevin Gordon, chief executive of Simply Secure, and Kamla Hamilton, senior product manager for cybersecurity, warned that Jamaican organisations must strengthen their defences as threat actors adopt advanced tools of their own. "Cybersecurity is the key enabler for my business outcomes. Because think about it, all of the transformation that you've been hearing about, the infrastructure, will it make any sense if you suffer a cybersecurity breach?" Gordon said.

Hamilton cautioned that many firms still rely on outdated policies and controls, with some environments still running ageing systems such as Windows 7 machines. She cited a case in which attackers used a Zoom scenario built from a company directory and realistic avatars to trick a finance director into transferring millions of dollars, believing the contact was legitimate. "The landscape is changing, the threats are changing, and we also have to change," she said. With growing investment flowing into the region, she added, financial strength alone will not be enough—cybersecurity posture, hygiene, and incident response will increasingly shape how potential investors assess opportunities.