e-TALANOA www.spc.int Issue 5 — 2011 Strengthening ICT capacity for Pacific parliaments Palau National Congress Vice President (fifth from left), Clerk (second Samoa Parliament staff receive training from SPC from left) and Senators with SPC staff It has been widely recognised in the Pacific groups of ten staff members attended the region that effective use of information first training workshop. and communication technology (ICT) is crucial for socio-economic development SPC also donated two new computers, and good governance. The support of a printer, two uninterruptable power parliaments therefore is critical in this supply (UPS) and necessary peripherals Contents regard and equally important is the need to the Parliament of Samoa. for them to be adequately equipped to From PICTO................................... 2 The mission to Palau took place in champion ICT for development efforts in October. PICTO conducted two the region. SPC assisted with online separate information sessions: one each presence of Kiribati...................... 3 for members and staff of the House of The parliaments of Samoa and Palau Delegates and the Senate of Palau. The were the latest recipients of technical OLPC News.................................... 4 assistance provided by the Pacific ICT sessions focused on raising awareness Outreach (PICTO) programme of SPC’s of members about ICT and its role in ITU Asia-Pacific Regional Economic Development Division (EDD). driving sustainable development. Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Emergency Assistance was provided under the Areas highlighted in these presentations Telecommunications.................... 5 project, ‘ICT Access for the Poor: and discussions included how ICT can Improving access to ICT by informing contribute to sectors such as health PITAA conference focuses on IT and engaging Pacific ACP Legislators’, and education; the need for a national system........................................... 6 funded by the European Union (EU) ICT policy; the need to update ICT through the African, Carribean and legislation; an ICT policy for Congress; USP-JICA ICT Project conducts Pacific Group of States (ACP). developing a website for Congress to Distance ICT Seminar................... 7 share and disseminate information; and The mission to Samoa took place in the use of ICT for effective and efficient The 4th Policy and Regulation August this year. A workshop was communication for members and staff of Forum for Pacific.......................... 8 conducted to train the staff of the Congress. Legislative Assembly in the use of ICT Asia-Pacific Regional Forum to improve their effectiveness and A train-the-trainer approach was chosen on ICT Human Capacity efficiency in providing support services to ensure sustainability of ICT training Development................................ 9 for parliamentarians. for members and staff of both Houses. About 15 key staff participated in the News from the region................... 10 The content of the training was based six-day training to equip them with the on the ICT training needs of staff as skills to deliver their own in-house ICT American Samoa to host identified through an ICT survey. Two courses. PacINET 2011................................ 11 Produced by: Pacific ICT Outreach Programme, Economic Development Division, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Suva, Fiji e-TALANOA — Issue 5 From PICTO Upcoming events Siaosi Sovaleni Manager Pacific ICT Outreach Programme (PICTO) Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), Fiji PacINET 2011, the annual Pacific Islands Chapter of the Internet Society (PICISOC) conference, will be held in American Samoa from 7-11 November 2011. National information and It is therefore essential to engage communication technology (ICT) members of parliament/congress to policy is key for sustainable and ensure that they are in the loop, that effective ICT development. The their views are considered, and they policy is important as it outlines the understand the implication – positive ICT priorities of a country. But more and negative – and that they take an importantly, it provides the linkages active role in championing ICT as a tool between ICT development and national for development. development priorities – and should address the question ‘what is the role of With financial support from EU ICT in development?’ through ACP, SPC has been actively engaging with the members of It is not an e-government strategy and parliaments of seven countries since not necessarily a telecom reform policy. last year. The level and type engagement Octopus Conference Cooperation against It should address the challenges of the ranges from information sharing, Cybercrime & 10th Anniversary of the various key sectors of the economy – participating in induction programmes, Budapest Convention will be held in Strasbourg, France from 21 - 23 November education, health, agriculture, fisheries website development as well as ICT 2011. – and also the concerns of various training. Two of these interventions are stakeholder groups including the highlighted in this edition of e-Talanoa – private sector, non state actors as well as Samoa Parliament and Palau Congress. communities and disadvantaged groups such as women, youth and people with Furthermore SPC will be participating Tenth PacNOG Meeting, Conference and disability. in the upcoming induction programme Educational Workshop will be held at the for Kiribati Parliament and the Le Méridien Nouméa Hotel, Nouméa, New The policy development process is Micronesian Legislative Conference, Caledonia from 21 - 26 November 2011. equally important. It can be a mechanism 14-16 November 2011 in Pohnpei. to engage various stakeholders and to build some local ownership which are Participating in these parliament key for successful implementation of induction programmes and meeting is the policy. The process can also provide key to raising members awareness and a platform for dialogue to examine disseminating information about key ICT initiatives and emerging issues. and assess what is important for the Pacific Legislatures Hearing on HIV and ICT country and how ICT, as a key enabler, will be held at the Duxton Hotel, Auckland, can contribute to exploiting potential As one key stakeholder once said ‘ICT New Zealand from 13-15 December 2011. opportunities and mitigate some of the is no longer an option but a necessity’. challenges. Malo ‘aupito An important stakeholder in the development of the policy and its implementation are the legislators/ e-Talanoa parliamentarians. Bottom line is without their support it would very hard to have The name of the newsletter ‘e-talanoa’ came from merging the word ‘talanoa’, which largely means an enabling ICT environment let alone talking / communicating / sharing in most Pacific successful policy implementation. languages, with ‘e’ denoting electronic. E-talanoa encapsulates the convergence of the traditional and the modern means of communication and sharing of ideas and news. 2 e-TALANOA — Issue 5 ICT SPC assists with online presence of Kiribati A visit to Kiribati by a representative of Pacific ICT Outreach programme (PICTO) of SPC was carried out in late August 2011 to assist with the development of a website for the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources Development (MFMRD). The website will enable MFMRD at the same time provide them with staff of MCTTD was also undertaken and external stakeholders to access the opportunity to carry out some key to present and discuss the prototype online resources and disseminate work for their countries. of the portal for the Government of information. Kiribati. This prototype is the starting The Secretary of MFMRD, Mr point for the development of the The visit also assisted the Ministry Ribanataake Awira wished to “…thank Government Portal. of Communications, Transport and SPC for this continued assistance which Tourism Development (MCTTD) in will enhanced MFMRD capability in The outcome of the meeting is the developing their website and an online disseminating vital information over establishment of a taskforce that will portal for the Government of Kiribati. the world wide web”. include representatives from various government ministries and will be A key factor is that the work was The design of MFMRD’s website was tasked to review the work on the online carried out by Mr Wayne Reiher, completed during the visit and will be portal as well as populating it with the ICT specialist from Kiribati, who was officially launched during the Fisheries appropriate data and information. The attached to SPC during that period. & Marine Resources Awareness week aim of this online portal is to serve in the first week of October 2011. The as a one-stop shop for all relevant Mr Tanielu Aiafi, who supervised Mr hosting of the website is also covered information regarding Kiribati to the Reiher, stated that PICTO intends to under the SPC assistance. different targeted audiences namely build the capacity of member countries governments, citizens/residents, through training and attachment and Meanwhile, a meeting with relevant businesses and visitors/travellers. 3 e-TALANOA — Issue 5 OLPC Oceania expands to Kosrae with US support Since our first partnership with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, which began in 2008, OLPC has seen significant deployments in Niue (the first country in the world to realize one laptop for every child), Nauru, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. Last year we expanded our work in the region to start pilots