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Thank you, ADOC at Unitech

My name is Miriam Suma. My husband and I live in Morobe, Papua New Guinea. I am a nurse and my husband is a head teacher at the Taraka Primary School.

I have been trained as a nurse since 1975. To assist the doctors to examine Tuberculosis (TB), I also received training in using microscope. Therefore, I am a nurse and also a TB Microscopicist Specialist at the Angua Memorial Hospital. Part of my job responsibilities is to prepare reports with statistical results. But I did not know how to prepare a report electronically. It made my work harder because I could not keep the files and documents electronically. I thought that I was too old to learn how to use an advanced technology, such as a computer, or study an advanced degree. It was possible that I would live without using computers in the rest of my life.

One evening, my husband went home after work. As the head teacher at the Taraka Primary School, he was planning a one-week basic computer training course in the ADOC at Unitech for his teachers. My husband has knowledge and basic skills in computers. He asked me if I could be his substitute in the upcoming training course. I was so excited and willing to attend the course because it would be an opportunity to learn something new about computers!

On the first day of the course, everything was new to me. It was hard because we were learning the parts and the functions within a computer. Frankly speaking, the functions were complicated to me. But my instructor was nice and made me feel comfortable to use the machine.

In the one-week course, I have learnt the basic knowledge about a computer – the windows, the fundamentals of a desktop, the programs running in the computer, the files and folders, MS Word, how to insert pictures when I am editing a document, … etc.  And I learnt how to use MS Excel to prepare for my statistical reports!!

I am thankful for having the opportunity to be trained in the APEC Digital Opportunity Center. I especially thanks to my husband, the head teacher at the Taraka Primary School, and those teachers who make the basic computer training course happened in the ADOC at Unitech. In the near future, I believe that I am able to manage my official documents well.

Now, after taking the course in ADOC, I am considering to purchasing computers for myself, my family and my work.

Thank you very much, APEC Digital Opportunity Center.

Computer literate vital, says army instructor

By PISAI GUMAR
BEING computer literate is vital for the development and growth of a modern military workforce, PNG Defence Force Academy chief Instructor Lt-Col Michael Banda says.
He said this last Friday at the completion of a computer training course for sappers, heavy equipment operators, fitters, welders of the engineer battalion at Igam Barracks in Lae.
The participants were trained in Microsoft word, excel, power point presentation, basic computer concept, user interface including usages of military software. Training was conducted by chief warrant officer Allan Nasa.
“One feels uncomfortable if computer illiterate when send abroad to further enhance skills therefore at Igam Barracks, all soldiers including civil servants and spouses were provided an opportunity to learn computer,” Banda said.
He said the computer training facilities were funded by the Australian Defence Force under the Defence cooperation programme between the two countries.
Banda added that the facilities were also accessible to police and correctional service officers.Source:
The National Online

http://www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/47923

PNGSDP gives laptops, printers

By IMELDA WAVIK

PNG Sustainable Development Program donated laptops and printers to 16 students under the Western Province scholarship program.
The students, all from the Western province were each presented a laptop and a printer to help facilitate their studies in their respected tertiary institutions, However, only half of the group were present to receive the donations as the other half were studying outside of Port Moresby.
PNGSDP Program Manager Lawrence Stephens said these donations were given in order to encourage more students to apply for the scholarship.
He added that apart from PNG scholarships, there could be awards for studies abroad as-well.
“In offering scholarships and benefits, we will encourage students to compete more for a spot and thus lead them to become whatever they want in life,” he said.
PNGSDP introduced the scholarship program in 2011 and so far five students have graduated from tertiary institutes under the program.
The scheme was designed to promote and maintain a culture of striving for learning for the people of Western province and is awarded to undergraduates, postgraduates and students studying in colleges, vocational and technical tertiary institutes in the country.
PNGSDP CEO David Sode said that K2.1 million was allocated for this program and it was set up to ensure that the province continues to benefit from the Ok Tedi mine well after it closes.
“I can think of no better way to do this than to provide the provinces’ young people with the intellectual and social skills to be the leaders of the future,” Mr Sode said.
“The scholarship is an investment that will pay very significantly in the future. They are intended to enable promising young people to gain knowledge and skills so they can contribute to the long-term development of Western province.
“The donations of computer equipments as part of the scholarship will be a big help for the students as they progress through their studies,” he said.
Meson Tumsok, a 4th year student studying in UPNG under the scholarship program and representing the students, said that since the introduction of the scholarship program many students have applied and only a few have being chosen.
“We are the privileged students to be under this program which has eased us of the burden of school fees and given us benefits which some of us couldn’t afford,” he said.
He thanked PNGSDP.

Source: Post Courier (PNG Daily Newspaper)

http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20130408/southernpost01.htm

PNG prepares to host APEC meet

PNG is now in the process of preparing to host and chair the APEC series of meetings, including the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting (AELM) in 2018.
An estimated budget for this process is being worked out at the moment at the officials’ level.
It should be noted that while the monetary costs of hosting such a gathering of Leaders of some of the world’s developed and leading economies would be huge, it would be greatly outweighed by the capacity building initiatives, infrastructure and institutional developments the country will go through in order to host and chair these series of meetings successfully. Prime Minister Peter O’Neill will make a formal announcement when he attends the AELM in Bali, Indonesia later this year in October, 2013. The issue of security and the high cost of internet, among other issues, are of utmost importance which PNG will need to take seriously into account in the preparations.
Seeking the assistance of our bilateral partners remains one of several options available in order to make the environment in 2018 conducive and secured to APEC delegates, including the leaders.
The PNG APEC Secretariat has already completed a draft Operation Plan 2018 which, after the inputs of the Prime Minister and relevant Ministers, will be tabled in Cabinet for approval.
Indonesia is chair of APEC in 2013 and as part of this process, it is convening the Second APEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM2) and Related Meetings in Surabaya from April 7-22, 2013. Mr Ivan Pomaleu, Papua New Guinea’s APEC Senior Official will lead the PNG delegation to these meetings.

Source: http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20130408/mohome.htm

Education fair kicks off in Papua

The Papua administration officially opened the 2012 Education Festival on Wednesday; the event aims to support and inspire educational development in the province through information, communication and technology.

“The festival is one of the best events in Papua. It started in 2009 and has kept improving year-on-year,” Papua Governor Syamsul Arief Rivai said in a speech read by second assistant for the Papua administration, Elly Loupatty, on Wednesday.

“We hope that the event will have a positive impact on the educational development in Papua,” he added as quoted by Antara.

Through the speech, the governor emphasized that the region must begin to exploit electronic media to enable the fast, effective and efficient distribution of information.

Throughout the event students have the opportunity to take part in various workshops and competitions.

Officials from the Education and Culture Ministry as well as other representatives also attended the opening ceremony of the fair. (fzm/lfr)

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/09/26/education-fair-kicks-papua.html

News from the Jakarta Post

Softlink upgrades library

By Mary Destiny Tulasoi

THE Papua New Guinea Institute of Public Administration (PNGIPA) – School of Government Library, has gone a step further with the installation of a Library Management System, Liberty version 5 (v5) that manages a diverse range of collections in an efficient and cost effective manner.
The Software, Liberty v5, is a product by Softlink, a leading global provider of Integrated Library Management Software solutions (ILMS) for a wide range of sectors including: Schools, Specials, Academic and Public libraries. Designed by librarians for libraries, Softlink offers tailored, web-based solutions, that have assisted more than 10, 000 libraries, across 108 nations to achieve their individual goals.
PNGIPA, under the Management of its Acting Director Mr Yala Yatu, has engaged two (2) Softlink consultants, who were recently in the country to set-up and install the software for the PNGIPA library, at the same time conducting two weeks software (Liberty v5) hands-on training for its (PNGIPA) librarians, from the 13th – 25th August, 2012.
Softlink consultant, who is a librarian by profession, Lyn Walker said that Liberty v5 is user friendly – a solution developed for Special Libraries that suits the needs of a wide diversity of users and is capable of managing the most unique collections.
“Once the software is up and running, it will give the PNGIPA Library more prestige. The PNGIPA Liberty system (s) will in the near future, go on the web for the world to see,” she said.
Librarian with the PNGIPA library, Mr Eric Nandoma said that he finds the system (Liberty v5) very simple and easy to use, and thus provides consistency with circulation, cataloguing, and database keeping. We, the librarians, only need to familiarize ourselves with getting to know and using the system.
Other Softlink Liberty users in PNG include: UPNG Medical Faculty Library, University of Goroka Library, Bank of PNG Library, National Research Institute, Divine Word University Wewak campus, and PNG Forest Authority, to name a few.
Softlink was established in Brisbane, Australia in 1983.

Source: Post Courier Online 
                http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20120830/thhome.htm

PoM links up to high-speed IT gateway

Source: The National, Thursday July 26th, 2012

AFTER almost two years of delay, Port Moresby is preparing for its imminent connection to Papua New Guinea’s 10 gigabyte per second (gbps) fibre-optic gateway in Madang.
Connected via a 750km cable that will piggyback the ExxonMobil liquefied natural gas (LNG) pipeline, the new connection is expected to drastically reduce internet rates, thus serving as a catalyst for wholesale market change across the telecommunications sector.
Following liberalisation calibrations introduced in 2007 and enforced by the National Information and Communication Technology Authority (Nicta) since 2010, the telecommunications industry in PNG has been thriving.
Mobile phone subscriptions rapidly increased from 100,000 in 2006 to 1.9 million in 2010.
In the same period, secure internet servers increased 12-fold to 48 last year.
However, PNG’s international gateways have long been the industry’s Achilles heel that has frustrated efforts to roll out affordable web-enabled mobile and ICT services nationwide.
Until this year, the country has been largely reliant on the APNG-2 submarine cable connecting Port Moresby’s digital exchange in Boroko with Cairns, Australia.
Just 48% of the APNG-2 undersea cable is actually working and the remainder is at 99% capacity.
While PNG was wired into the fibre-optic Pipe Pacific Cable 1, a 6,900km connection that runs between Sydney and Guam, in October 2010, no provisions were made to connect the Madang gateway to the rest of the country.
Only in January last year did the government grant the Independent Public Business Corporation, an independent entity that holds the majority of state-owned commercial assets including 14.9% of the PNG LNG project, funding to purchase a US$35 million, 41.67% share in a fibre-optic cable connecting Madang to Port Moresby.
Some 20 months later, the country’s ICT sector is now braced for change.
All of PNG’s large internet service providers (ISPs) are looking for alternatives to the APNG-2 cable, and once the Madang fibre-optic cable comes online, a migration of customers away from state-owned enterprise Telikom PNG (Telikom) is widely expected.
Ahead of the cable coming online, PNG’s local ICT players have worked to consolidate their market positions.
Mobile service provider Digicel PNG and long-term local ISP Daltron are expected to lead the charge.
Digicel was awarded an international gateway licence in July last year, which has enabled it to roll out high-speed 3G internet nationwide.
Meanwhile, Nicta will rule on Daltron’s application next month.
Industry confidence is running high following Nicta’s adoption of an open licence regime in 2010, which allows providers to migrate their licences and offers a greater variety of services.
NICTA also awarded a flurry of licences to a number of telecoms operators in July 2011, which has encouraged companies to diversify their business models.
It is anticipated that the largest future growth vectors will be in corporate services.
Acquisitions by Digicel in 2011 of local ISP provider DataNets, which has a network incorporating 30 towns outside PNG’s main urban areas, and its subsidiary NEC PNG, have bolstered its means to begin building wired infrastructure and capacity.
This opens up the market for consumers to alternative services, as well as markets beyond PNG’s principal urban centres.
While key population centres will certainly benefit from the fibre-optic cable’s completion, ahead of tributary cables planned for 10 national development corridors outlined in PNG’s 2030 Development Strategic Plan, the fibre-optic cable’s widespread application is still restricted. Many of the cable’s direct paths will remain reliant on VSAT capabilities, which are two-way satellite ground stations with ICT capabilities, until the tributary cables can be laid.
The current practical limitations of the cable contributed to Telikom’s decision last month to upgrade its Ku-Band Broadband ViaSat system to optimise bandwidth usage.
The hub upgrade will provide more applications and services, reducing downstream bandwidth requirements by up to 63% and up to 18% for uploading, Telikom’s head of programme management, James Banduru, told local media last month.
The forthcoming cable means that PNG’s mobile service providers stand to take advantage of cheaper gateway rates, passing the savings onto its customers.

Source: http://www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/36165

Micro bank boosts ops with new tech

Source: 
The National, Friday 22nd June 2012

NATIONWIDE Microbank (NMB) is using SmartPhone technology to open new accounts as it strives to be the most-innovative bank in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific.
Managing director Tony Westaway said PNG was a unique operating environment with different cultures and its own challenges, therefore, NMB was constantly looking at doing things better.
“An example of our innovation is the use of SmartPhone technology to open new accounts,” he said.
“Our MiCash teams now enter villages, obtain a photo of the new customer and identification documentation.
“These are forwarded to our head office over the Digicel network, and upon receipt a new account is opened within six to seven minutes.
“The customer receives confirmation of account opening by text to their mobile phone.”
Westaway said NMB products would continue to be tailored for ordinary Papua New Guineans, meaning, they needed to be affordable and be able to be delivered at village level using various technologies and delivery channels.
“Certainly we can learn from the developed world, however, one needs to undertake local market research and concept testing before introducing new products and services,” he said.
“We certainly undertook research and concept testing before launching our Mobile Money product MiCash.
“And recently, we have partnered with Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP) and Women’s World Banking (WWB), to do research in various parts of PNG.
“This research will assist in the further development of micro insurance, and banking products for women”.
Another key advantage of innovation, according to Westaway, was having the ability to move quickly.
“We are fortunate to have a supportive board and development partners,” he said.
“Our relative smaller size as a financial institution has meant that we have the ability to make quick decisions, and coupled with a management team with a ‘can do’ attitude, we can introduce new technology and take product to market perhaps more easy than some larger institutions”.

Source: http://www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/34579

BSP to use state-of-the-art technology

PAPUA New Guinea’s Bank South Pacific (BSP) has become one of the first banks in the world to use hand-held tablet computers to sign up new customers.
Across the Pacific, the push is on by banks to get their services out to new customers, and to do so banks have deployed everything from staff on motorbikes through to armoured vehicles.
In Papua New Guinea, the spoils of the resources boom, particularly the massive royalties from the PNG LNG project, have given the race a new urgency, as many of the landowners who will receive those royalties, have never used banks.
Most live in the PNG Highlands, some in areas that do not even have road access, but Bank South Pacific’s Managing Director, Ian Clyne, says they do have mobile phone coverage.
“BSP is using state-of-the-art technology,” he said.
“We have got about 350 Galaxy tablet computers, with a wireless card swipe and using that tablet, we can now open an account anywhere in the country in very, very remote areas in 5 minutes and give the person a working debit card that they could, technically, walk up to the next ATM or Eftpos and withdraw the money immediately,” Mr Clyne told BAC news this week.
Westpac and the ANZ Bank are also moving as fast as they can to use innovative ways of signing up new customers.
ANZ’s Papua New Guinea CEO, Vishnu Mohan, plans to open a new kind of branch inside the main PNG LNG project compound in the Highlands.
“We as an institution, we are in the process of setting up a bank-tainer, which is essentially a 40-foot container in the Hides area, at the request of ExxonMobil who as you know are the operators of the project,” he said.
“It is actually to help some of these landowner groups to bank the money and put the money into the formal sector. Simultaneously, we are also launching a mobile phone banking program, which is essentially to bank the unbanked and this, hopefully, will be launched towards the last quarter of this year in PNG and some of the other Pacific countries.”
ANZ and Westpac are a long way behind Bank South Pacific in reaching rural customers; BSP has more than double the number of rural branches and many more agents and automatic teller machines – all of which need supplying with cash.
Ian Clyne says moving cash around in Papua New Guinea can be a dangerous business.
“In 2011, we did 3000 cash deliveries around PNG of which 300 were flights,” he said.
“Law and order, as we all know, is a major consideration for a bank in any country, but in PNG with the challenges that the police and government have, it means that BSP has to run our own security operation and we have over 460 people working for our security department.”
“To be honest, we are under threat on a daily basis. As you can appreciate 80 per cent of the cash that circulates in Papua New Guinea we are distributing.
There are and have been attempted robberies and successful robberies”, he reported.

Post Courier Online

Source: http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20120622/frhome.htm

Telco inks new satellite deal with Telikom

Source: 
The National, Thursday June 21st, 2012

WORLD-leading satellite operator SES has announced that it has signed a new multi-year capacity deal with Telikom Papua New Guinea, the country’s incumbent telecommunications operator.
The deal involves a renewal of satellite capacity on NSS-9 at 183 degrees East and on NSS-6 at 95 degrees East.
 In total, Telikom PNG currently contracts more than 100 MHz in capacity with SES and is one of SES’ largest customers in PNG.
Telikom PNG is the premier operator of voice and data services in PNG.
The renewal will enable Telikom PNG to continue expanding its cellular services into new regions and provide telephone services over challenging mountainous terrain by providing cellular backhaul between a large number of sites around the country and the capital, Port Moresby.
Deepak Mathur, senior vice-president commercial, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East at SES, said: “NSS-9 deploys state-of-the-art technology and is one of the most powerful satellites in SES’ fleet of 50 satellites, enabling customers like Telikom PNG to optimise their networks to get the maximum throughput to save costs and operate more efficiently.
“We are delighted to support Telikom PNG’s service expansion to improve connectivity for enterprises, governments and consumers, and contribute further to the development of the telecommunications sector in PNG.”
Charles Litau, acting chief executive Telikom Papua New Guinea, said: “The new deal will allow us to provide our customers with connectivity to the remotest locations – the highlands, mining camps and islands of PNG.
“We have benefitted from SES’ global expertise and excellent technical and engineering support, and we look forward to further developing our strong partnership by exploring other business opportunities in PNG.”
SES is a world-leading satellite operator with a fleet of 50 geostationary satellites.

Source: http://www.thenational.com.pg/?q=node/34502

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