Pacific CROP ICT Working Group’s mandate on ICT, plans for ... CROP ICT Working Group... ·...
Transcript of Pacific CROP ICT Working Group’s mandate on ICT, plans for ... CROP ICT Working Group... ·...
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Pacific CROP ICT Working Group’s
mandate on ICT, plans for the future,
update on the submarine cable
developments
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First Session of the
ASIA-PACIFIC INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY
Steering CommitteeDhaka, Bangladesh
2nd Nov 2017
Kisione W. Finau
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Outlines
1. Updates from CROP ICT Working
Group
2. Updates -Telecommunications and ICT
in the Pacific Region
3. Case Studies – Fiji & Tonga
4. Observations
5. Ways Forward
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CROP ICT Working Group
1. What is CROP ?
Council of Regional Organizations in the Pacific
1. Pacific Forum Secretary
2. Secretarial of the Pacific Community (SPC)
3. Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency
4. South Pacific Tourism Organization
5. Secretarial of the Pacific Regional
Environment Programme (SPREP)
6. The University of the South Pacific (USP)
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• CROP has a series of Sectoral Working Groups.
• These Working Groups are responsible for
collaboratively working on various regional
projects and policy initiatives.
• The primary objective of having Working Groups is
to enhance sectoral coordination and development
initiatives to strengthen integration, encourage
synergy, and collaboration for the purposes of
advancing sustainable development.
CROP ICT Working Group
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• The ICT Working Group is Chaired by USP (Vice
Chancellor & President).
• The Pacific Islands Forum Leaders adopted five key
initiatives at their Summit in Port Moresby, Papua New
Guinea in September 2015.
• One of them was ICT, which they recognised as a game-
changing, transformative enabler of development and
regional co-operation and integration.
• The CROP ICT Working Group has overall mandate and
responsibility for ensuring that the vision of the Leaders is
effectively advocated, co-ordinated, and facilitated.
CROP ICT Working Group
The CROP ICT Working Group have two
categories (i) Members; and (ii) Observers
Members: USP (Chair); Representative of Member
Countries; PIFS; SPREP; SPC; PITA; FFA; PIDP; SPTO;
PPA; PASO; ADB; World Bank; Australia; New
Zealand; JICA; PIPSO; and Forum Troika and SIS.
Observers: Vodafone; Digicel; Territories of the
region; ITU; CSOs and others as considered
appropriate by the Working Group.
CROP ICT Working Group Memberships
• Work with donors and business Partners in
coordinating our efforts in developing ICT in the
Pacific region
• Implementing the Pacific Regional ICT Strategic
Action Plan (PRISA)
– Planning to have a meeting early 2018
– Taskforce
• Cyber Security
CROP ICT Working Group main focus 2017
• 10 years ago, No one thought that small countries such as
Tonga, Vanuatu, Marshall Islands would have submarine
cable.
• Currently there are thirteen Pacific Island Countries and
Territories (PICTs) connected to submarine cables and seven
have the new O3B cheaper satellite service.
• Samoa (TUI Samoa) will have it submarine cable ready in
early 2018
• Solomon Islands, Niue, Cooks, Kiribati submarine cable are in
the pipeline.
• Polynesian Submarine fiber – connection Samoa, Niue, Cook
Islands and Tahiti
Updates -Telecommunication & ICT in the Region
Development in the Pacific
Other ICT Developments in the Pacific
• He wants Samoa to take advantage of the
opportunity to assist other Pacific Island
neighbors by becoming the first ICT Hub for
the Pacific Region.
• Tonga will have their Inter-island fiber
(Tongatapu – Haapai- Vavau) ready by 2018
Development in the Pacific
Other ICT Development in the Pacific
• The University of Hawaii is leading an international initiative to
establish an Open Research & Education (R&E) exchange in
Guam.
• This includes both major international systems connecting
Southeast Asia, North Asia, Australia and North America as
well as the smaller regional systems connecting the Marshall
Islands, Federated States of Micronesia and Palau.
• The open market in Guam makes it feasible to interconnect
these systems.
Observations
• Fibre optic submarine cable remains the
optimum medium for connectivity;
• Satellite will continue to play a major role in
connecting the Pacific Islands
• Broadband access to small island
developing states in the Pacific critical to ICT
development;
• ICT development and infrastructure directly
linked to economic development;
• An overarching issue for ICT in the region has been
affordability and accessibility
• Mobile is the main focus for local connectivity with good
progress being made on coverage, however, mobile data is
still seen as expensive and usually only available in the major
centres.
Updates - Telecommunication & ICT in the Region
• It is very critical for the PICTs to collaborate and work
together to address the needs of the people in the Pacific.
• As noted by the ICT Ministers in their 2015 meeting
“Lack of coordination and information around ICT initiatives within the Pacific
region by countries, donor agencies and international organisations that could
benefit from common approaches, standards, resources and infrastructures in
ICT that could provide the force multiplier effect through cooperative
development scaling and multi-purposing of technical resources. This includes
human resource development and harnessing of available expertise and
resources.”
Ways Forward