Caribbean School of Data

What Caribbean School of Data does

Caribbean School of Data (CSOD) is a distributed training institution and non-profit initiative operating under the Caribbean Open Institute (COI), headquartered in Kingston, Jamaica. Founded as an outgrowth of the AYITIC Goes Global initiative in Haiti, CSOD delivers free digital and data literacy training to underserved Caribbean youth aged 16-30, with curriculum adapted from the original AYITIC project for resource-constrained environments. The organization serves as the Caribbean training partner for the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) and operates across five confirmed Caribbean territories — Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Puerto Rico, and St. Lucia — with plans to reach seven countries through Google.org-funded scale-up.

The core technology is a mobile-enabled, modular, multilingual, and internet-independent courseware stack delivered through a Learning Management System (LMS). The curriculum combines self-paced online learning with face-to-face facilitation through local training partners and leverages open-source geospatial tools including OpenStreetMap, QGIS, KoBoToolbox, and Google Data Studio. The product surface spans an Introductory program (5 courses, 12 weeks), a Level II program (4 courses, 8 weeks), and specialized courses in geospatial mapping and disaster resilience (e.g., the PEGASuS Project, NextGen Mappers, Women-Centred Disaster Resilience in SIDS). Supporting platforms include a Virtual Community of Practice with social networking and integrated Zoom video calling, a three-month Mentorship Programme, and an Employers' Network for internships and job placement.

CSOD operates on a freemium model in which all training is free to students; revenue is sourced entirely from grants, with Google.org (via TIDES Foundation) as the principal funder for the scale-Up project and CCRIF SPC supporting the NextGen Mappers initiative. Implementation is distributed through country leads and training partners including MSBM (University of the West Indies, Mona) in Jamaica, Fundación Taigücey/CTC in the Dominican Republic (11 sites), the University of Guyana Department of Computer Science, C3Tec in Puerto Rico, and Sir Arthur Lewis Community College in St. Lucia, supplemented by community partners such as Change Makers, Sameer Younis Foundation, and the Trust for the Americas DIA Urban Lab.

Name

Caribbean School of Data

Legal name

Caribbean School of Data (CSOD)

Website

https://coi-csod.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Caribbean School of Data is a non-profit distributed training initiative under the Caribbean Open Institute that delivers free digital and data literacy training to underserved youth aged 16-30 across five-plus Caribbean territories through a partner-led network, funded primarily by Google.org.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Skills Education

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Educational Support Services (611710), Computer Training (61142)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Data Science & Analytics (Data Literacy, SQL, Visualization) (EDAMACAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Online Learning Content & Course Publishing Platforms (BPAMAJAL), Assessment, Testing & Analytics Platforms (Formative/Summative) (EDAJAMAC)

Keywords

• Digital literacy training
• Data literacy education
• Geospatial data courses
• Vocational training programs
• Online learning platforms

Headquarters

HQ city

Kingston

HQ country

Jamaica

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: CSOD is a grant-funded initiative. The primary funding comes from Google.org through the TIDES Foundation for the scale-Up project targeting 1,500 marginalized youth. Additional funding from CCRIF SPC supports the NextGen Mappers initiative. The organization does not charge students for training.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Caribbean School of Data (CSOD) is a distributed training institution that delivers free digital and data literacy training to underserved youth across Caribbean countries. It offers a structured curriculum spanning an Introductory Program (5 courses), a Level II Program (4 advanced data courses), and specialized programs in geospatial mapping, drone technology, and disaster resilience, supported by a Virtual Community of Practice, Mentorship Programme, and Employers' Network.

Product overview

Caribbean School of Data (CSOD) is a distributed training institution offering a structured digital and data literacy curriculum through multiple interconnected platforms and course offerings. The organization provides a three-tier educational program: the Introductory Program (5 courses covering foundational digital skills, productivity tools, social media, data fundamentals, and a capstone), the Level II Program (4 advanced courses on data preparation, visualization, geospatial analysis, and a data entrepreneur capstone), and specialized courses focused on geospatial mapping and disaster resilience. The platform is supported by a Virtual Community of Practice for social learning, a Mentorship Programme connecting students with Caribbean professionals, and an Employers' Network facilitating job placement and internships. All courses are mobile-enabled and self-paced, designed for youth aged 16-30 across 7 Caribbean countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CSOD INTRODUCTORY program: A 12-week introductory curriculum designed to equip youth with practical digital and data skills for the digital economy, covering foundational digital literacy, productivity tools, social media, and data fundamentals.
• CSOD LEVEL II program
• CSOD Mentorship Programme
• CSOD Employers' Network
• PEGASuS Project
• NextGen Mappers
• Women-Centred Disaster Resilience in SIDS

Products and services

• CSOD Introductory Program A 12-week introductory curriculum of 5 courses equipping youth aged 16-30 with foundational digital literacy, productivity tools, social media, data fundamentals, and a critical-thinking capstone for entry-level digital employment.
• CSOD Level II Program An advanced 8-week curriculum of 4 courses covering data preparation, data visualization, geospatial data analysis, and a data entrepreneurship capstone for graduates pursuing data-focused roles.
• PEGASuS Project A blended learning project offering courses on open geospatial data, participatory mapping, and drone technology applications for disaster risk reduction and community resilience in the Caribbean.
• NextGen Mappers: GIS For Disaster Resilience A youth-focused geospatial learning program introducing secondary school students to GIS, data literacy, and Disaster Risk Management through practical and community-based learning in Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.
• Women-Centred Disaster Resilience in SIDS A five-module course providing comprehensive understanding of GIS concepts and applications in disaster risk reduction, with a focus on strengthening the resilience of women and girls in Small Island Developing States.
• CSOD Virtual Community of Practice An online community platform bringing together students, alumni, mentors, and employers with personalized profiles, social networking, integrated video calling via Zoom, multimedia sharing, and organized groups.
• CSOD Mentorship Programme A three-month mentorship program connecting students with technology, business, or marketing professionals from Caribbean nations and the diaspora to increase employability through digital and data literacy.
• CSOD Employers' Network An online network connecting CSOD graduates with employers through employment exchange, internship matching, and sponsorship opportunities for underserved youth.
• Open Cities: Jamaica A five-module course enabling students to understand the value of open geospatial data and prepare them to participate in the Open Cities Mapping project in Jamaica using mobile devices for data collection.

Quantifiable outcome

• Train 1,500 marginalized youth across 7 Caribbean countries in digital and data literacy through the Google.org funded scale-up project

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and supporting.

• Caribbean Open Institute (COI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCOI is a regional coalition promoting open development approaches to inclusion, participation, and innovation within the Caribbean. It functions as a regional hub within the global Open Data for Development (OD4D) network and is the parent organization that initiated CSOD.
• SlashRoots Foundation (SRFDN)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerSlashRoots Foundation serves as the Grant Manager for CSOD. They are a principal COI partner implementing the CSOD, focused on youth development and capacity-building initiatives.
• Mona School of Business and Management (MSBM)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerMSBM acts as proxy to Caribbean Open Institute and serves as Country Lead, Implementation Partner, and Training Partner for CSOD in Jamaica. It is the Lead Implementation Partner for the Caribbean region, operating within the University of the West Indies Mona campus.
• Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCSOD is the Caribbean training partner for HOT. Through this collaboration, they have delivered capacity-building initiatives including Women-Centred Disaster Resilience in Haiti and OpenCities: Kingston. The partnership focuses on geospatial data collection and disaster resilience mapping.
• Geographic Information Systems Society of Trinidad and Tobago (GISSTT)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGISSTT partners with CCRIF SPC and CSOD to deliver the NextGen Mappers program, adapting curriculum from the Women-Centred Disaster Resilience (WCDR) in SIDS programme. GISSTT brings expertise in GIS education and professional development.
• Sameer Younis Foundation (SYF)supportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCommunity Partner and Training Partner working with corporate agencies and social relief agencies to up-skill underserved Jamaican youth.
• Change MakerssupportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCommunity Partner and Training Partner focused on youth development and capacity-building initiatives in Jamaica.
• Fundación TaigüeycoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCountry Lead and Training Partner guiding CSOD curriculum implementation in the Dominican Republic, operating across eleven community technology center sites.
• Centros Tecnologicos Comunitarios (CTC)supportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCommunity Partner and Training Partner in the Dominican Republic, implementing CSOD curriculum within eleven sites under Fundación Taigüey's guidance.
• Centro Criollo de Ciencia y Tecnología del Caribe (C3Tec)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCountry Lead and Training Partner in Puerto Rico. C3Tec is an interactive science and technology space that promotes discovery, learning, and exploration among children and teens, and has partnered with Piloto 151 since early 2020.
• Department of Computer Science, University of Guyana (UoG)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCountry Lead and Training Partner leveraging CSOD curriculum to engage underserved populations in Guyana. The Department has a vision to be the vanguard of ICT in Guyana and produce internationally credible graduates.
• Trust For the Americas DIA Urban Lab (Jamaica)supportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerTraining Partner supporting CSOD delivery in Jamaica through the DIA Urban Lab youth innovation program.
• Sir Arthur Lewis Community CollegesupportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCountry leader in St. Lucia deploying CSOD curriculum across two sites, bringing opportunities to the small island's most vulnerable young people.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Andela: Global distributed talent platform that trains and places software engineers from emerging markets into remote roles. Comparable to CSOD in its emerging-market, distributed-training mission to convert underserved talent into digital-economy workers.
• Code for Africa: Pan-African civic technology and open-data organization that trains journalists and data practitioners. Highly comparable to CSOD given shared open-data ethos (Caribbean Open Institute / OD4D), focus on data literacy, and use of open-source geospatial tooling.
• Generation: Global nonprofit that trains and places underserved young adults into technology and data careers through employer partnerships. Closely aligned with CSOD's mission of moving marginalized youth into digital employment via training-to-placement pathways.
• ALX Africa: Pan-African tech training organization offering free, mobile-friendly courses in software engineering and data, with strong employer partnerships. Most comparable to CSOD in target learner profile (unemployed youth), freemium model, and distributed delivery through local training sites.
• Moringa School: East Africa-based digital skills training school that combines curriculum, mentorship, and employer pipelines to place graduates into tech jobs. Directly comparable operating model to CSOD's distributed training-plus-employability approach in an underserved regional market.

Broad incumbents

• Coursera: Largest global MOOC platform with extensive data literacy, digital skills, and data science course catalog including free tiers. Competes for the same Caribbean/learner mindshare as CSOD with broader course variety but without CSOD's localized partner-driven distribution and employability stack.
• DataCamp: Global online learning platform specializing in data literacy, data science, and analytics skills. Overlaps CSOD's Data Fundamentals, Data Preparation, and Visualization curriculum at a global scale, though DataCamp is a paid commercial incumbent versus CSOD's grant-funded non-profit model.
• Holberton School: Global project-based software engineering school with campuses in multiple emerging markets. Comparable digital-skills training and peer-learning pedagogy to CSOD's blended self-paced plus facilitated model, but operates as a paid tuition-based incumbent.

Emerging players

• African Leadership University: Network of tertiary institutions across Africa (and Mauritius) focused on developing African youth for the digital economy. Comparable to CSOD's mission of building a regional digital-talent pipeline, though operating at a higher education-degree level.
• Microverse: Online-only coding school targeting ambitious talent in emerging markets, with an income-share agreement model. Comparable in mission to convert underserved learners into remote tech workers, though with a tuition/ISA-funded rather than grant-funded model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/csod_coi
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/caribbean-school-of-data

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Caribbean School of Data