Dr Christopher Malcolm suggests that it is possible to resolve differences among people using various tools based on human intervention and technology. He has the experience as a Dispute Management Practitioner, Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law, The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus (The UWI)and Secretary General, Jamaica International Arbitration Centre Limited (JAIAC), to encourage the use of amicable processes and digital systems to assist persons in the process of disputes resolution in Jamaica and other parts of the world.

Dr Malcolm founded I-NEUTRAL, an end-to-end digital platform designed to bring all conflict resolution procedures online. Going to the JAIAC website, one can engage the I-NEUTRAL platform, which enables online or hybrid access to an assortment of dispute resolution modalities, including arbitration, mediation, facilitated contract renegotiation, adjudication, expert determination and neutral evaluation.

The JAIAC hosts the I-NEUTRAL platform and allows end-users to have a full circle of conflict resolution processes powered by proprietary templates while offering a variety of alternatives for parties seeking alternatives to litigation for resolving their disputes. The templates are fillable online with prompts requiring, for example, that persons using the platform indicate the parties’ names, the dispute’s nature, the subject matter, and the method by which the parties wish to have a resolution. The platform also allows for the use and appointment of “Neutrals”, independent third parties they engage to serve as mediators, arbitrators, adjudicators or in any other capacity. These neutrals must be impartial in their roles. The platform’s procedures are user-friendly and economical while accommodating parties’ differing needs. Additionally, the platform facilitates online payment methods that are available worldwide.

There is a sense of pride that the I-NEUTRAL platform developed by Jamaican developers and tech experts, proving that Jamaica and the region have the capacity and capabilities to make a global impact in any field. Dr Malcolm is proud that the platform has been favourably received by local and regional end-users and is already in use beyond the Caribbean region in parts of Asia and Africa. His ultimate goal is for I-NEUTRAL to be further developed in collaboration with other parties for even more widespread global use while continuing to meet the needs of Jamaica and the Caribbean and influencing development in dispute resolution far and wide.

Dr Malcolm believes that the development of digital technology enables people to be location independent while positioning themselves to compete globally. He emphasised that, as a result, our competitive advantage can be exploited in the digital sphere so that we can accomplish what we cannot do physically. Therefore, Dr Malcolm is thrilled that he and his team at the JAIAC, and in particular through I—NEUTRAL, have embarked on a worthwhile path, knowing that they can develop and create technology from home that enables the capacity to compete anywhere in the world.

Even though Dr Malcolm is a lawyer by training, he does not consider the law his ultimate discipline. Instead, he sees himself as a dispute management practitioner whose primary focus is sustainable economic development with the discipline of law leveraged in support. He wishes to use his abilities, including through teaching at The UWI, to assist in the growth of individuals so that they can improve their capacities and become purveyors of their craft by reference to best global practices.

Dr Malcolm sincerely feels that understanding our commonalities and providing mutual support can sustain growth and advancement and maintain peace.