Australian’s High Commissioner to Vanuatu, Jeremy Bruer says technological advancement in society has meant that as human beings, our ability to communicate and to access information is much easier now than it has ever been.
However, with increased access, cyber security becomes even more important and for that matter Mr Bruer congratulated the Vanuatu Government for developing its own Cyber Security Policy.
Mr Bruer made the comments at the opening of the annual ICT Day at the new Convention Centre in Port Vila this week.
In April this year the Australian Government launched its Cyber Security Strategy. It’s a blueprint for meeting the dual challenges of advancing and protecting Australia’s interests online.
Mr Bruer said as part of the strategy Australia will appoint a Cyber Ambassador. He or she will work with regional and global partners to advance internet freedom, combat cybercrime and share threat information.
“I think the theme for this year [ICT Entrepreneurship for Social Impact] illustrates how the sector has developed and evolved over the years. Last year, we saw how vital ICT is in disaster preparedness before, during and after tropical cyclone Pam, since then, we have been able to enhance our services based on the lessons learned” he said.
He also recalled the launch of the Pacific Humanitarian Challenge by the Australia’s Foreign Minister and Minister for International Development and the Pacific, saying the challenge is an A$2 million initiative aimed at finding new solutions and testing new technologies that will improve the way that Australia and the world respond to natural disasters in the Pacific.
He said129 submissions were received. From them, 5 innovations were selected to be developed and tested over the next 18 months.
Four of the 5 successful new innovations utilise ICT.
They include:
- using an enhanced drone imagery system aimed at building an open source data system to access and share information collected by drones during a disaster;
- an independent mobile communication system that is designed to work with smart phones, when normal communications fail; and
- mobile insurance provider BIMA working with an investment company and Digicel to improve access to money after a disaster, and to bring low cost insurance to employees of small and medium enterprises.
Mr Bruer assured everyone that funding will be provided to support the development of these innovations and if they prove to be successful, they could be rolled out across the Pacific to be used by governments and others.
In 2015, through the work of the TRR and OGCIO in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Training and the Australian Government-funded Governance for Growth program, the Universal Access Policy fund was able to launch its school-based programs.
Mr Bruer said he is eager to hear about the impacts these programs have had so far in the communities and schools they have been servicing.
As part of the ICT event, a representative of the Pacific Institute of Public Policy (PIPP) spoke on a panel about the findings of research into the socio-economic impacts of increased access to ICT services in Vanuatu, a research which Australia funding supported.
“It will be interesting to see how these findings have contributed to the enhancement and understanding of the vast potential of what ICT can achieve” said Mr Bruer.
Australia’s substantial support to the ICT sector in Vanuatu reflects its strong commitment to supporting Vanuatu’s development and the important role ICT plays in this effort.