By FAY SIMMONS
TRIBUNE Business Reporter
jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
AN OPPOSITION senator yesterday challenged the Government's data sovereignty ambitions, arguing that persistent electricity outages must be addressed before The Bahamas can realistically pursue an artificial intelligence (AI) economy.
Senator Rick Fox said the Government's push for data sovereignty and AI was premature without a dependable electricity supply, citing discussions with industry experts at an AI conference he attended during the Senate recess.
“The Government has made a mandate for data sovereignty a slogan,” he said. “The Prime Minister has said it. The Minister of National Development has said it at every opportunity.”
Mr Fox said the experts he encountered at the conference identified reliable electricity as a prerequisite for data sovereignty, artificial intelligence frameworks, data centres and machine learning.
“To put it plainly, before we talk about AI, we have to keep the lights on,” he said. “If we cannot keep the power on in our own capital for 24 hours, we are nowhere near ready for data sovereignty.”
Mr Fox argued that electricity reliability should be treated as a national priority rather than a partisan issue. “What we need is power sovereignty, grid sovereignty, the kind of sovereignty you can feel when you flip on a switch,” said Mr Fox.
“This isn't about PLP or FNM. This is a problem we all share. It's a Bahamian problem. All hands need to be on deck. But it'll get solved only if we solve the order of our priorities.”
Mr Fox's criticism raises a practical question for the Government's digital development ambitions - whether the country's electricity infrastructure can reliably support the data processing, storage and computing capacity it hopes to develop.
His comments come as the Government has spoken about building domestic computing capacity and establishing a framework to attract companies seeking to house data in the Bahamas. Those ambitions depend not only on legislation and investment, but also on dependable infrastructure.
Mr Fox linked the power issue to the wider question of national sovereignty, arguing that The Bahamas must adapt its infrastructure so that basic services work reliably for residents and businesses. “We must adapt our infrastructure so that when a Bahamian flips a switch, the light comes on,” he said.