he St. Kitts and Nevis Robotics Association is intensifying preparations for the national team’s participation in the 2026 FIRST Global Challenge in Incheon, South Korea.
Selected young people will represent the Federation at the October 7 to 10 competition, which will bring together students from more than 190 countries.
This year’s challenge, themed “Igniting Innovation,” will require teams to design and build robots to address simulated challenges related to wildfire prevention, mitigation and recovery.
Speaking on Freedom FM’s Issues on Monday, SKNRA founder and chairman Dr. Ricardo Neil said the association now has more than 1,300 registered members locally.
He said its programmes are also being expanded across approximately 16 regional territories through the Eastern Caribbean Robotics and Innovation Association, or ECRIA. Neil stressed that most of the training and international opportunities are provided free of cost.
“What I can say, though, is that Guadeloupe came on recently. So Guadeloupe now is one of our newest countries that come on to be a part of what we’re doing. And what is so important about this initiative is that the majority of what is done is free. The majority of what is done is free. So the young people come. They spend three weeks. We train them. We get them ready. Yeah, so that is our way of ensuring that the young people are given the opportunity, even for them to travel to whether it is Dubai, whether it is Africa, Timbuktu, it doesn’t matter where. It is free for them to actually go, to actually participate.”
Neil said membership remains open and young people are not required to have previous experience in robotics, coding or science. Instead, they are guided into areas suited to their individual strengths.
“Because a lot of times, there are young people who have talent that they themselves don’t even know that they have that talent. So for us to say, well, you have to have a science, or you must be active in coding, and so then what you’re going to do is limit the group. So we say, come as you are, and then wherever you find your strength, you just operate there.”
The association also highlighted the success of its inaugural LEGO League Summer Camp, saying several younger participants are expected to advance into the RoboMindset programme next year.
Neil thanked parents, private-sector partners and the wider public for supporting the association’s work.
“Yes. Yes. And I want to thank you also for having us. I want to thank the parents for consistently supporting us, the private-sector agencies for supporting us, just even those persons who see us on the roadside and say, ‘Hi. You guys are doing a good job.’ We thank you all. And our goal is to make sure St. Kitts and Nevis is the premier island in the Caribbean region and, by extension, the world.”