Status of ICT in Papua New Guinea

1
Status of ICT in Papua New Guinea

• Programme Officers/ Focal Points Workshop 12-14
  Feb 2004
• Klaus-Peter Glatzel
• Programme Officer ICT4D UNDP PNG

2
PNG Some Facts

• Population 5.1 million
• Languages 800
• English, Motu, Pidgin
• Land area 462,840 sq km
• Population density 9.9 per sq km
• Capital Port Moresby
• population 350,000
• Islands 600

3
Institutional Arrangements

• Policy makers
• Department of State Enterprises and Information
  Communications
• Office of Information and Communications
• Department of National Planning and Rural
  Development
• Regulators
• Independent Consumer Competition Commission
• economic regulator (consumer protection, pricing
  , licensing)
• PANGTEL
• technical regulator (standards, numbering,
  spectrum management)
• Service providers
• Telikom PNG Limited
• National Information Technology Board
• National Censorship Board

4
National ICT background

• Lack of ICT strategies. Nobody knows who is
  doing what on ICT in the country.
• The Government has developed a National ICT
  Policy in 1994 but this policy is in need to be
  rewied.
• PNG Government institutions are willing to resume
  the process of building a national ICT strategy.
• Recommendations of the APDIP mission 2001 should
  be revisited and reviewed.

5
Challenges Issues

• Need for ICT Strategies and Plans
• Need for ICT laws and regulations
• Insufficient infrastructure
• Lack of appropriate content and development
• Lack of awareness
• High start-up and recurrent costs
• Illiteracy and lack of ICT skills

6
Present activities

• Our desire is to reduce poverty level with ICT
  as an enabling tool in line with our national
  development goals (Arthur Somare, former
  Minister for State Enterprises and
  Communications, Oct. 2003)
• E-readiness assessment
• Replication of Pfnet project to PNG/
  Bougainville
• Telecentres Pilot Project ITU

7
Objectives of the E-readiness assessment

• Analyze the Countrys ICT level.
• E-readiness assessment should be finished with a
  report based on the reality to start the
  development of a national ICT strategy.
• Bringing together and facilitating dialogue
  between all stakeholders on the priorities of ICT
  and the common understanding of the strategic
  importance of ICT in the economic and social
  development of PNG.

8
Key areas of E-readiness assessments

• Access and connectivity (Electricity, internet
  availabitliy, network speed and quality, pricing,
  service and support, other technology issues)
• Training and Education( ICT use in schools,
  universities and in work places, technical and
  vocational training, availability of trained
  workforce)
• Government leadership(Policy regulations,
  E-Government, political openess, public online
  access to E-Government Services)
• Business and Private Sector(B2C and B2B
  E-commerce, privatisation, trade in ICT products
  and services, foreign investment)
• Social Development(Use of ICT in everyday life,
  utilization of technology, illiteracy, poverty,
  social factors, regionally and locally content,
  consumer trust, political- , business- and
  social- history)

9
Obstacles

• Reputation of UNDP
• 3 Ministers within the last 10 months
• Nobody knows who is doing what on ICT in Papua
  New Guinea