News Releases

UWI Launches Project to Advance Responsible AI for Climate Resilience in SIDS

For Release Upon Receipt - October 1, 2026

St. Augustine


ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad and Tobago – October 1, 2026 – The University of the West Indies (The UWI), St. Augustine Campus has launched the AI-driven Climate Resilience Platform for Small Island Developing States (AI4SIDS), a multidisciplinary research and innovation initiative supported through The UWI Research and Development Impact (RDI) Fund.

The project responds to a critical challenge facing Small Island Developing States (SIDS): how to harness rapidly advancing artificial intelligence technologies in ways that are locally relevant, responsible and capable of strengthening climate resilience and disaster risk management.

Small island states face distinctive climate risks, including flooding, extreme rainfall, coastal hazards and cascading impacts on infrastructure, communities, health systems and public services. At the same time, information needed for preparedness, planning and response may be distributed across multiple datasets, organisations and systems

AI4SIDS will investigate how artificial intelligence can help connect and interpret these different sources of evidence to support more timely, informed and accountable decision-making.

The research will explore areas including AI-supported climate and disaster-risk intelligence, retrieval-augmented generation, predictive analytics, geospatial information, responsible AI, data governance and human-centred decision support.

A central feature of AI4SIDS is its multidisciplinary and socio-technical approach. Rather than treating AI as a standalone technology, the project considers how technical systems interact with institutional processes, governance requirements, human expertise and community needs. Effective AI-enabled resilience depends not only on technical capability, but also on trust, interoperability, human oversight and institutional readiness.

The project will initially use Trinidad and Tobago as a SIDS context for research and development, while seeking to generate approaches and lessons with relevance to the wider Caribbean and other Small Island Developing States.

“The AI4SIDS initiative seeks to enhance human or institutional decision-making with artificial intelligence. Our focus is on how AI can responsibly support decision-makers by helping them access, interpret and connect trusted information more effectively. For Small Island Developing States, this also means developing approaches that recognise our particular data environments, institutional realities, communities and resource constraints,” says Dr Letetia Mary Addison, Principal Investigator, AI4SIDS.

AI4SIDS is led by Dr Letetia Mary Addison, Principal Investigator, together with Dr Kris Manohar and Dr Christine Descartes as Co-Investigators, with Emeritus Professor Patrick Hosein ORTT serving as Technical Advisor. The wider research team brings together expertise spanning artificial intelligence, climate and disaster risk, data science, geospatial analysis, digital platforms, governance, public health and community engagement.

AI4SIDS builds on earlier UWI-led research and prototype development and gained international recognition after receiving the Grand Prize in the 2024 AI Innovation Challenge at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, selected from 114 proposals representing 62 countries. In 2026, AI4SIDS-Gov, a citizen facing version, was subsequently selected as one of 18 use cases for the World Bank's inaugural LAC AI Accelerator Mentorship Programme, supporting further development of the project's Government-facing pathway.

Knowledge sharing, capacity building and multidisciplinary collaboration will also form an important part of the project. AI4SIDS will introduce AI4SIDS Conversations, a seminar and discussion series bringing together researchers, practitioners, Government professionals, policymakers, students and other stakeholders to explore the responsible and productive use of AI across disciplines and sectors.

The inaugural AI4SIDS Conversation will feature Emeritus Professor Patrick Hosein ORTT, Technical Advisor to AI4SIDS, who will present on the theme Leveraging AI in Multi-Disciplinary Research: From Problem Identification to Scholarly Publication

The session will explore how AI tools can assist with identifying and formulating practical problems, developing innovative research-based solutions, supporting multidisciplinary collaboration, and translating research into outputs such as publications, digital platforms and other applications.

The discussion will also consider the data and infrastructure required for AI-enabled research and the importance of using AI responsibly, critically and productively across disciplines.

 

·         Date: Wednesday, 14 October 2026

·         Time: 12:00 noon

·         Venue: Virtual

·         Registration: https://tinyurl.com/AI4SIDSRDIWebinar1

 

The talk reflects a wider ambition of AI4SIDS: not only to develop AI-enabled technologies, but also to strengthen the capacity of researchers, Government and other stakeholders to understand how AI can be used responsibly, critically and productively across disciplines and sectors.

The AI4SIDS team will share further research activities, stakeholder engagements and opportunities to participate as the project progresses.

 

Dr. Letetia Mary Addison

Principal Investigator, AI4SIDS; Lecturer in Biostatistics, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The UWI 

 

 Dr. Kris Manohar

Co-investigator, AI4SIDS; Lecturer in Computer Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, The UWI

 

 Dr. Christine Descartes

Co-investigator, AI4SIDS; Lecturer in Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, The UWI

 

 Emeritus Professor Patrick Hosein ORTT

Technical Advisor, AI4SIDS; Emeritus Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Faculties of Science and Technology and Engineering, The UWI

 

END

 

About AI4SIDS

AI4SIDS – AI-driven Climate Resilience Platform for Small Island Developing States is a multidisciplinary research and innovation initiative led by Principal Investigator Dr Letetia Mary Addison and her research team at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus.

The project explores how responsible AI can bring together authorised data, scientific evidence and stakeholder knowledge to support more informed and climate-resilient decision-making. Its work spans AI system development, climate and geospatial analysis, community and stakeholder engagement, Government co-design and validation, evaluation, capacity building, and knowledge and policy uptake. Its broader vision is to advance responsible, human-centred and locally appropriate approaches to AI that help Small Island Developing States make better use of data and evidence in preparing for and responding to climate risk.

The current three-year research-to-impact phase is supported by The UWI Research and Development Impact (RDI) Fund. For more information, email letetia.addison@uwi.edu.

 

About the Research and Development Impact (RDI) Fund

The University of the West Indies (The UWI), St. Augustine Campus has awarded approximately TT$9 Million in funding to eleven high impact research projects through its Research and Development Impact (RDI) Fund. Supported by funding from the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, the RDI Fund enables researchers to pursue innovative solutions to pressing national challenges. The funded projects address areas such as artificial intelligence and digital transformation, agriculture and food security, health and well-being, education, climate resilience, social inclusion, public safety and sustainable development.  These projects reflect The UWI’s commitment to research that delivers meaningful social, economic, environmental and technological benefits.

 

About The University of the West Indies 

The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has played a crucial role in Caribbean development for over 75 years, consistently contributing to the improvement of the well-being of people across the region. Established in 1948 as a university college of London in Jamaica, with just 33 medical students, UWI has grown into an internationally respected, global university with nearly 50,000 students. Today, it boasts five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda, and its Global Campus, along with international centres in partnership with universities across North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe.

The UWI offers over 1000 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Culture, Creative and Performing Arts, Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology, Social Sciences, and Sport. As the leading university in the Caribbean, it is home to the largest pool of intellect and expertise in the region, dedicated to addressing the critical issues facing both the Caribbean and the wider world.

Validated by its inclusion in the Times Higher Education (THE) annual rankings since 2018, The UWI has affirmed its position as one of the top universities globally. It stands out as the only English-speaking institution in the Caribbean featured in four of THE's prestigious ranking lists. The World University Rankings evaluate over 2,000 research-focused universities worldwide, while the Golden Age University Rankings highlight institutions established between 50 and 80 years ago. The Latin America Rankings focus specifically on universities within Latin America and the Caribbean. Additionally, the Impact Rankings assess universities based on their contributions to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This recognition has also spring boarded the establishment of The UWI’s International School for Development Justice (ISDJ), a global online graduate business school aimed at preparing future leaders for sustainable development.

The UWI is an SDG-engaged university consistently recognised among the best in the world. Discover more at www.uwi.edu.

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