PRESS RELEASE ICT officials and ministers from the Pacific to meet in Tonga this week

PRESS RELEASE

ICT officials and ministers from the Pacific to meet in Tonga this week

Secretariat of the Pacific Community, 15 June 2010 – Ministers responsible for information and communication technology (ICT) in Pacific Island nations will gather for a regional meeting in Nuku'alofa, Tonga on 18 June 2010 to endorse important ICT initiatives that are expected to expedite the development of ICT in the region.

The theme for the meeting, 'ICT for development, governance and sustainable livelihoods', symbolises the key role that ICT plays in fostering economic development while enhancing social cohesion, cultural enrichment and environmental conservation.

Prior to the ministerial meeting, ICT government officials will meet from 16–17 June (also in Nuku'alofa) to discuss the issues at length and prepare an outcomes document that will be tabled for endorsement at the ICT ministers meeting on 18 June. 

The meetings are expected to focus on important ICT issues regarding partnerships and coordination; policy, legislation and regulatory frameworks; capacity building; infrastructure and access; international connectivity; cyber security and ICT applications; and review of the Pacific Plan Digital Strategy.  

Another important document that will be tabled for endorsement by ministers is the 'Framework for Action on ICT for Development in the Pacific', which outlines a new approach to developing and improving ICT services in the Pacific region. The framework acknowledges that national ICT policies and plans, and an integrated coordinated approach, are the principle means of steering ICT to contribute meaningfully to sustainable development. The framework also promotes a 'whole of sector' approach, based on the concept of 'many partners, one team'.

About 80 participants are expected to attend the meetings, including representatives of prominent regional and international organisations such as the Commonwealth Secretariat, Council of Europe, International Telecommunication Union, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, InternetNZ, Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Pacific Islands Telecommunications Association, Pacific Legislature for Population and Governance, Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, University of the South Pacific, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and World Bank.

The Secretariat of the Pacific Community is organising the meetings in association with the Government of the Kingdom of Tonga.

For more information, please contact:

Siaosi Sovaleni, ICT Outreach Coordinator, Economic Development Division, SPC, Suva, Fiji. Email: SiaosiS@spc.int; or

Avnita Goundar, Information Officer, Economic Development Division, SPC, Suva, Fiji. Email: AvnitaG@spc.int

PACINET2010 Conference - Next Generation Internet: Security And Governance

Press release

Vanuatu won the bid to host PACINET2010 in Papua New Guinea Last Year
2009. PacINET is a regional conference organize by Pacific Island
Chapter for Internet Society (PICISOC) for practitioners, developers,
researchers and those interested in Information and Communications
Technology (or ICT) from all sectors to exchange information on the
system design, enabling technologies, and anecdotal experiences
related to the use of Information and Communications Technology in the
Pacific Islands. It has evolved to become the Pacific's largest
regular Information and Communications Technology conference.

This year's conference will happen in September 13th to 17th at the
Universityof the South Pacific's (USP), Emalus Campus. The Theme will
center on "Next Generation Internet: Security and Governance

PacINET conference is composed of several types of contributions
including Paper Presentations, Demonstrations, Tutorials and
Workshops, Panel Discussions and Invited Talks. Traditionally PacINET
was a technical conference, but due to member requests (and to cater
for the different member groups present at every conference), from the
2007 conference onwards, PacINET was split into dedicated technical
and non-technical streams. This was deemed to better serve member
needs and travel/work schedules.

Typically, there are various sub-themes centered around the general
conference theme and presentations are made on topics of interest to
ICT in the Pacific including (but not limited to):

* Client-Server Computing
* Computer Applications
* Database Systems
* e-Government
* eHealth
* Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing
* ICT for Development
* ICT Policy
* Internet Security
* Open Source Systems
* Networking and Routing
* Protocols and Standards
* Risk Management
* Rural/Remote Telecommunications
* VoIP and Convergence

The ground work and preparation for the conference is under taken by a
local committee comprises of volunteers of IT community. Most of which
serve in various important sectors such as the Financial Sector,
Education, Government, NGO's and Telecommunications Industry.

Strategically this is an important conference that will inspire ICT
capacity building. Our young and aspiring IT people will be able to
meet and communicate with experts from the region and the world. It is
a well known fact in the Pacific region that, 'Opportunity' is a
defining factor in the people's progress. In the spirit of opening up
opportunity, the conference's admission will be free. Hopefully as the
preparation unfolds we hope to broadcast the excitement to our young
people not only on Efate but on other Islands who are ambitious and
aspiring do work in the IT world and join the rank of IT professional
in Vanuatu who are directing their energy towards issues of equity
which by far characterize the 80% of our population.

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FIJI TO CUT INTERNET CHARGES BY 34 PERCENT

Provider FINTEL faces price regulation

SUVA, Fiji (Fijilive, June 4, 2010) – Fiji's Commerce Commission has
decided to regulate the price of bandwidth sourced from the Fiji
International Telecommunications Limited (FINTEL),effectively bringing
about a reduction in internet charges. Commission chairman Dr Mahendra
Reddy today announced that prices will decrease by as much as 61
percent in the next two years with a reduction of 34.6 percent from
next month.

The regulation will also ensure operators have direct access to the Southern
Cross Cable Network. Reddy said the commission undertook a study on
March 4 to examine if FINTEL had Substantial Market Power (SMP) in
relation to control of Fiji's Landing Station.

"We found that FINTEL had Substantial Market Power in relation to its
control of the Landing Station," he said.

"We concluded such SMP over the Landing Station could be detrimental for the
country as demonstrated by prevailing high bandwidth price offered to
operators obtaining bandwidth from FINTEL."

[PIR editor's note: Fiji International Telecommunications Limited
(FINTEL) is a private company licensed by the Fiji government to
provide Fiji's international telecommunications. The company is
jointly owned by the Government of Fiji (51 percent) and Cable and
Wireless Communications (www.cwc.com) of UK (49 percent).] Reddy said
with the prices of wholesale bandwidth being regulated, the commission
expects retail price to get regulated automatically by an average of
34 percent to benefit the end users. "We want the retail rates to go
down as well and if this does not happen, it means the Internet
Service Providers are keeping the money," he said. He added the
commission will be coming down hard on ISPs who do this.

Source: Pacific Islands Report briefs for Monday, June 7, 2010

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[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies]
"WriteProtect"=dword:00000001