The National – Monday, July 4th 2011

The Apec Digital Opportunity Centre last Friday opened its second centre in Port Moresby. The project will operate from the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG). The project aims to help Apec member economies enhance their information and communication technology (ICT) application capabilities and to transform the digital divide into digital opportunities. Secretary for Communication and Information Henao Iduhu thanked Taiwan for sustaining the ADOC since 2005. He said Papua New Guinea government officers attended three programmes in Taipei as part of a capacity-building process under the initiative. The programmes included the train-the-trainer 2006 ADOC week and the Information ICT Elite camp. “This certainly helped broaden our understanding of the significance of ICT in our national development. “It has indeed provided the impetus for us to adopt ICT as an enabler for our development,” Iduhu said. He is confident the ADOC process is consistent with the PNG government’s overall policy on improving access for the people, particularly those at the rural and district levels. He said the official opening of ADOC facility complemented the PNG government’s efforts to bridge the digital divide in the country. Iduhu hopes for a replication of the project to other parts of the country. UPNG Vice-Chancellor Prof Ross Hynes said they were looking forward to the project as a cooperative partner and had a list of targeted groups. The groups included women and children.