Publications & Policy Work

                              Research, Frameworks, and Regional Policy Influence

The Inniss Institute advances evidence‑based research, policy analysis, and conceptual frameworks that shape digital governance, intellectual property, and cultural rights across the Caribbean and the wider Global South. Our work supports governments, cultural institutions, and regional bodies in designing fair, sovereign, and economically resilient digital futures.

Highlighted Policy Contribution

CARICOM Policy Brief: Moving Beyond the Digital Plantation

Ensuring Caribbean Digital Sovereignty in the CARICOM AI Policy Roadmap

This brief is one of the most influential regional interventions on AI governance to date. It reframes the CARICOM AI conversation around sovereignty, cultural rights, and economic justice, and has been referenced in discussions within CARICOM, the CTU, and national ministries. It provides a structured pathway for Caribbean‑first digital governance, emphasizing cultural data protection, benefit‑sharing, and institutional readiness.

Foundational Scholarship

Pioneering Caribbean Intellectual Property and Digital Sovereignty: The Impact of Dr. Abiola Inniss

Dr. Abiola Inniss has dedicated her career to fundamentally reshaping how intellectual property (IP) is understood, legislated, and defended within the Caribbean. As Executive Director and Founder of the Caribbean & Americas Intellectual Property Organization (CAAIPO), her work provides the empirical and conceptual foundation for modern Caribbean IP and digital governance.

Architecting a Sovereign Caribbean IP Framework

Her research rejects the uncritical adoption of Western IP models in developing nations. She demonstrates that foreign frameworks—when transplanted without adaptation—often suppress regional development. By reframing IP as a tool for maximizing social welfare, she champions a bespoke Caribbean IP system capable of addressing agricultural innovation, food security, climate resilience, and cultural protection.

Bridging the Empirical Data Gap in CARICOM

Her landmark doctoral research on the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) exposed a critical policy disconnect: innovation often thrived where formal IP policies were weakest. This shifted regional discourse from treaty compliance toward building systems that genuinely incentivize local technological investment.

Spearheading the Defense Against Digital Colonialism

Her frameworks—the Digital Plantation and data nullius—provide the vocabulary needed to confront extractive data practices by global tech companies and AI systems. She reframes the issue from copyright infringement to cultural sovereignty, warning that Caribbean cultural memory is being reduced to statistical weights in foreign AI models.

Translating Scholarship into Public Policy

Through CAAIPO and public platforms such as the Insights in Caribbean Intellectual Property podcast, she bridges scholarship and policy implementation. Her proposals—including positioning the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as a specialized tribunal for IP disputes and outlining a regional digital “IP Shield”—continue to shape the future of Caribbean innovation and cultural heritage.

Analytical Frameworks

• Data Nullius — A framework exposing how Global South data is treated as unowned and freely extractable, offering pathways for asserting sovereignty and economic value.

• The Digital Plantation — A structural analysis of digital extractivism and its implications for cultural rights, economic justice, and governance.

• Cultural and Data Asset Governance Models — Approaches for protecting, managing, and monetizing cultural and data assets within national and regional institutions.

• Licensing and Benefit‑Sharing Frameworks — Practical models ensuring equitable returns from the use of cultural heritage, creative works, and data resources.

           Selected publications

• "The making of policy on intellectual property, innovation, and technology within the Caribbean community (Caricom) and the international agenda" (2024) – Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

• "International Intellectual Property Law and Policy: Can the Caribbean Region Capitalize on Current Global Developmental Trends in IP Rights and Innovation Policies?"  (2011) WIPO Journal .

• Examining Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Technology Within the Caricom Single Market and Economy.  Doctoral Dissertation (2017)

Selected Policy Briefs & White Papers

• Toward a Caribbean Digital Sovereignty Framework

• Protecting Cultural Data in the Age of AI

• Intellectual Property Reform for Small Island Developing States

Public Scholarship

• Why the Caribbean Must Lead on Digital Sovereignty

• AI and the New Colonialism: What the Global South Must Understand

• Protecting Caribbean Cultural Heritage in the Digital Age

• The Future of IP in the Caribbean Creative Economy

Media & Podcasts

• Expert commentary on digital sovereignty and cultural rights

• Interviews on regional radio and podcast platforms

• Public lectures and panel discussions at universities and policy forums

Institutional Impact

The Institute’s publications and frameworks have contributed to:

• CARICOM and CTU policy discussions

• National digital governance strategies

• Cultural heritage protection initiatives

• Academic discourse on Global South digital futures

• Public understanding of digital extractivism and cultural rights