At the 2009 GIS Awards Ceremony held jointly by the office of the prime Minister and the Land Information Council of Jamaica, Silburn Clarke was awarded the Land Information Council of Jamaica’s GIS Lifetime Achievement Award.
In his acceptance speech, Silburn Clarke emphasized the characteristics of the early GIS pioneers in the Caribbean who assisted and supported him on his journey. Silburn spoke of their brilliance, innovation and creativity in developing and executing a GIS vision and goals. He spoke of the challenges faced by these pioneering individuals – importation of solutions rather than developing local solutions and a general preference for basic knowledge industries rather than high‐value‐add knowledge undertakings.
Silburn closed by expressing his satisfaction of achievement after years of being associated with the geospatial industry in Jamaica and the Caribbean and expressed his willingness to continue serving in any needed capacity.