Opinion | Proposed DiasporaLink Initiative Could Transform USVI Into Key Digital Gateway to Africa

Last week, Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) reintroduced the bipartisan DiasporaLink Act which unanimously passed the House of Representatives in the 118th Congress. This  transformative legislation would provide strategic national security advantages to the United States while bringing significant economic benefits to the USVI.   DiasporaLink is envisioned to give the USVI strategic national security relevance and offer Virgin Islanders an opportunity to become direct stakeholders in the global digital economy, while prospering individually from lower critical infrastructure costs. What is The DiasporaLink Act? The DiasporaLink Act is a bill that authorizes the Commerce Department to conduct a study to assess the value, cost and feasibility; that is the economic and strategic benefits of running undersea fiber optic cables from the US Mainland and US Virgin Islands to West Africa. If the study, which is to be conducted within one year of enactment,...