The IDCA Global Foundation addresses the SIDS Future Forum in Wilton Park, UK on issues confronting SIDS in the pursuit of technology-powered economic growth
Wilton Park, January 14, 2026 – From the SIDS Future Forum organized by the ODI Resilience and Sustainability Initiative and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office held in Wilton Park, United Kingdom, I would like to share a summary of my interventions in both the plenary and the breakout sessions on how Small Island Developing States should rethink growth at a moment of a profound global transition.
During the plenary discussions at Wilton Park, I spoke about the narrowing set of development pathways available to Small Island Developing States and the speed at which climate impacts and technological change are compressing decision-making horizons. This framing resonated strongly with Permanent Representatives and experts from Tonga, Seychelles, Maldives, the Bahamas, and others. As the Permanent Representative of Tonga, Viliami Va’inga Tōnē, stated with striking clarity:
“Taking an Industrial Revolution pathway to sustainable growth is off the table for SIDS, as there is no time to build resilience in the face of rapid climate change impacts and accelerated technological advancement.”
Building on this framing, I argued—both in plenary and in the breakout sessions—that treating technology as an add-on to existing economic development models is an unwise investment of scarce resources. In a context where climate risk is immediate and technological change is systemic, incremental digitalization risks reinforcing outdated structures rather than enabling transformation.
In my interventions, I emphasized instead the need to redesign national growth models with technology at their core. This starts with a structured assessment of digital and physical infrastructure, green energy systems, water security, and relevant skills, and continues with the development of a coherent, transformative roadmap. Such a roadmap must integrate sequencing, cost, and investment requirements, enabling SIDS to move rapidly up the value ladder and connect with the global economy as it exists today, not as it once did.
I also outlined how this approach is reflected in the work of the International Data Center Authority. IDCA supports countries in designing and owning their digital infrastructure so that data, platforms, and the value they generate remain anchored in national development priorities, rather than becoming new sources of dependency. Digital infrastructure, when treated as a sovereign asset, becomes a foundation for resilience, competitiveness, and policy autonomy.
As a complement, I explained how the IDCA Global Foundation focuses on the human and institutional dimensions of this transformation—an issue that surfaced repeatedly in the breakout discussions. The Foundation’s work centers on professionalizing public- and private-sector staff, advancing applied research, and exploring how artificial intelligence can be adopted meaningfully across sectors such as energy, climate adaptation, health, education, and public administration.
What became clear through both plenary debate and working-level exchanges is that SIDS are not seeking to replicate past development models. They are articulating the need for growth pathways that reflect compressed timelines, accelerating climate impacts, and the systemic nature of technological change. Rethinking growth for SIDS has moved from concept to necessity—an urgent design challenge that demands coherence, speed, and ownership.
Importantly, these discussions also opened the door to further collaboration. The ODI Resilience and Sustainability Initiative (RESI) and the IDCA Global Foundation explored avenues for collaboration in supporting SIDS governments to further advance their technology-supported economic development. The shared ambition is to explore how resilience, sustainability, and economic transformation can be redesigned for Small Island Developing States in the intelligence age, aligning analytical rigor with practical pathways for action.
