Trench Town youth take flight with drone training

Standing among rows of computers and whirring drones inside the Trench Town Community Development Centre, 18-year-old Imari Foster said he finally felt the digital world was opening its doors to him.

"It's a good feeling to see something like this happening here," Foster said. "Technology is moving fast, and even though we use our phones every day, there's a lot we still don't understand. I want to learn more about drones and how they really work."

"Most times, we only see these things online," he added. "Now we're getting the chance to touch it, to understand how it works. That makes you feel like maybe you can build something too."

Foster was among dozens of residents who gathered on Tuesday for the opening of Brightstar Lottery Jamaica's 15th Digital Learning Centre, and the launch of the company's third annual Drone Technology Workshop in partnership with The University of the West Indies' (UWI) Mona GeoInformatics Institute (MGI).

The centre, the first of its kind in the area, aims to give young people from inner-city and rural communities access to new technology skills in drone operation and artificial intelligence (AI). Foster opined that access to programmes like this could help young people channel their curiosity into real skills and career paths.

"A lot of us don't get to see this side of technology," Foster told THE STAR. "It's usually something you only hear about overseas or on YouTube, so having it here makes it feel possible."

Drone technology, which uses small, unmanned aircraft equipped with cameras or sensors, is being adopted globally for aerial mapping, deliveries, filmmaking, and environmental monitoring. In Jamaica, it's slowly expanding beyond photography into sectors such as agriculture, coastal management, and disaster response, areas now being introduced to communities like Trench Town.

Across Jamaica, however, access to technology remains uneven. Many inner-city and rural youth still face barriers such as high equipment costs, unreliable Internet, and a lack of structured digital training. Programmes like Brightstar's are designed to bridge that divide, bringing advanced learning tools into spaces that are often left behind in the country's digital transition.

"I've lived here since I was two," Foster said. "A lot of people see Trench Town one way, but this shows that positive things can happen here too. I plan to take part in the programme because it could open doors, maybe even help me start something of my own."

He added that seeing drone footage used during his grandfather's funeral months ago showed him how technology could bring people closer.

"My uncles overseas watched it live. The shots gave such a wide view they said it felt like they were there," he said. "That's when I realised this kind of technology can do more than we think."

For the initiative's organisers, that's exactly the outcome they're hoping for. Luke Buchanan, executive director of UWI-MGI, said the initiative represents a step toward bridging Jamaica's digital divide.

"This partnership is massively important, we're going into our sixth year with Brightstar, formerly IGT Caribbean," Buchanan said. "Drone technology is massively important, companies like Google and Amazon are investing heavily, and here at MGI we're using drones for environmental monitoring, including tracking mangrove recovery in Kingston Harbour."

He noted that drones now provide real-time data that was once difficult to capture through traditional equipment or historical records.

"Education is one tool everyone should have access to," he said. Debbie Green, general manager for Brightstar, said the company is determined to ensure that innovation reaches communities often left out of Jamaica's technology boom.

"AI and drone technology are reshaping industries like agriculture, disaster response, and logistics," she said. "We want communities such as Trench Town and other underserved areas across the island to participate in that change."

She said the training will give participants both technical and mindset tools.

"We're helping them see that they belong in this space," Green said. "Be curious, be courageous, be confident, not because of where you come from, but because of what you can become."

For Foster, that message hits home.

"If more young people could get training like this, we could change how people see communities like ours," he said. "It's not just about learning to fly a drone, it's about learning something that can carry you somewhere in life."