The Cayman Islands and The Bahamas governments are comparing how they use technology to manage development applications and planning services.
The Ministry of Planning, Lands, Agriculture, Housing and Infrastructure (MPLAHI) hosted a delegation from The Bahamas for meetings focused on planning automation, digital transformation and the management of development and regulatory systems.
The meetings took place on Thursday, 6 August, at the Government Administration Building in George Town, Grand Cayman.
The delegation was led by Clay Sweeting, minister of works and family island affairs, and Ryan Pinder, KC, attorney general and minister of legal affairs.
The officials met with Jay Ebanks, minister of planning, lands, agriculture, housing and infrastructure, and senior representatives from the ministry and its departments.
The teams shared practical experience on planning and development management and examined how digital technology could improve government operations and public services.
The technical sessions covered Cayman’s planning framework, development application and permitting processes and regulatory workflows.
Demonstrations also showed integrated systems supporting compliance, coordination between government agencies and customer service.
Officials discussed ways to automate more planning processes and streamline digital workflows.
They also considered how government entities could exchange information more efficiently while making public-facing services more transparent and accessible.
Ebanks said the two jurisdictions face similar opportunities and challenges as small island nations dealing with continued growth and development.
“Sharing knowledge and learning from one another allows us to strengthen our planning systems, improve service delivery and ultimately achieve better outcomes for our communities,” he said.
“We are pleased to welcome our colleagues from The Bahamas and look forward to continuing this important partnership.”
The delegation also held discussions with ministry and departmental representatives on planning administration, development control, policy development, infrastructure coordination and customer service delivery.
Officials from both governments highlighted the importance of planning systems that support development while taking environmental stewardship, infrastructure capacity and community needs into account.
The ministry said the visit reinforced regional cooperation on shared development challenges and the use of technology to improve government operations.
