Author Archives: Ian Chen

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

Society uses new MIS

THE National Farmers Savings and Loans Society can effectively conduct its operations, while catering for the growth of the society after launching a new management information system (MIS) last week, which is known as the Ultracs 3 Retail Banking System.
The National Farmers S&L is the ninth society in PNG to start using this Ultracs 3 Banking System.
Bank of PNG Governor and Savings and Loans Registrar Loi Bakani said the roll out of the Ultracs 3 System had seen eight societies successfully using the banking information software which include Nambawan S&L, Air Niugini S&L, Central Bank S&L, PTP S&L, PNG Power S&L, Alekano S&L, Niu Ailan S&L and Financial and Private Sector S&L.
National Farmers S&L will increase the number to nine in total and there were indications that other societies would also join as well.
Mr Bakani who was speaking during the launching in Kokopo said that the Ultracs 3 Banking System was built on a service-oriented architecture and was integrated across all business processes and channels.
he system can be tailored for each individual society market needs as well as key elements such as customer information, loan administration, micro financing, loan portfolio and management, integrated general ledger, branch systems, financial reporting, management reporting and teller services,� he said.
He said that the system can also provide a fully integrated, secure and convenient solution for other customer access and services such as SMS query, internet banking for online savings, web lending, mobile phone banking, automatic teller machines (ATM), branch and branchless banking, call centre and agency.
Mr Bakani said the features of the new MIS (Ultracs 3) will incorporate and assist the society in achieving financial inclusion and mobile banking for the members to enjoy and said the system was a much modernized management information system well suited for savings and loans societies.
He congratulated the board of directors, management and staff of the society and challenged them to utilize the features available by the system to improve services to their members and stakeholders.

http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20120124/tuhome.htm

News from Post-courier online

Indians to help form ID card system

A team of experts from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIA) is in the country to look at the possibility of establishing a formal national identification card system for PNG.
Chief Government Secretary, Manasupe Zurenuoc, yesterday officially welcomed them during the opening of a three-day special meeting of selected government agencies in Port Moresby.
Mr Zurenuoc said the team visit was to inform the government about the benefits of having such a system in place and how it could be introduced and advantages it would have for nation wide programs like the elections.
aving such a system in place would greatly assist in the eradication of ghost names on the common roll,� he said.
he National Executive Council (NEC) on January 12, 2012 rescinded all previous programs of identification cards and decided to seek assistance from the UIA to look at this card system which is in place in India and to see how best we can work with them to set up a similar system for PNG.� He said the government has further directed that dialogue be formally established with the Indian embassy in PNG to facilitate the project.
Representatives from the PNG Defence Force, National Intelligence Organisation and the social sector met with the group to discuss specific issues which they would conclude and later present to the government.
The UIA team includes its deputy director general BB Nanawati and assistant direct general Arup Kumar.

http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20120124/tuhome.htm

News from Post-courier online.

Reading between the mobile lines

FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2011

 

By JONATHAN FARAPO
THE recent acquisition of local ISP provider DataNets by the mercurial Digicel Group could be the feather in the hat for its local mobile operator as the company looks to upgrade its existing mobile services to third generation telephony, commonly referred to as 3G.
With the advent of mobile phone technology in the past 20 years and its introduction in the last 10 years to the wider urban and rural Papua New Guinea populace local consumers will no longer be content with just phone calls and text messages.
The introduction of the mobile internet service, social networks and free email accounts means business and pleasure will only be a tap away via your mobile phone.
But what’s the story behind this recent turn of events in PNG’s mobile phone industry and what will it mean for local consumers.
In its 2010 financial report Digicel Group announced that it had acquired DataNets PNG through a share buy-out, although the acquisition was down played according to some savvy net users it has paved the way for the establishment of 3G services for mobile phones in PNG.
One Digicel executive who wished to remain anonymous claims the acquisition could mean a comparative advantage for the mobile company.
This could hold true given PNG’s own telecommunications regulator NICTA has three license categories one which includes Digicel as an ICT Service Provider and DataNets as an ICT Network Provider.
Basically, that would mean Digicel holds a comparative advantage in the market place similarly to that of part nationally owned bemobile, however the downside is that Digicel will still pay Telikom for use of its internet gateway in PNG.
Almost like an answer to the avid mobile internet user’s prayers Digicel PNG’s recent broadband announcement will give consumers access to a form of mobile phone technology only available through overseas operators and even more importantly at an affordable price which appears to be easily accessible.
According to a statement by the mobile operator released this Friday (06/04/2011) the new mobile broadband service is PNG’s ultimate internet solution with high speed access, mobility, control and true value.
The local mobile king pin says 3G is the very latest in innovation and Digicel’s Broadband will greatly improve connectivity within PNG and is underpinned by Digicel’s commitment to best value, best network, best service and best innovation.
“No more cables or wires required, high speed 3G Broadband access will now be available through a range of convenient solutions to meet the needs of business people on the go or internet surfers seeking the coolest entertainment, social networking and latest news,” a statement from Digicel said.
Even Digicel’s top boss, chief executive offier John Mangos joined the hype by declaring that Digicel’s broad band will probably set the mobile house on fire.
“Digicel continues to lead the way in communications in PNG and our Digicel Broadband solution will provide customers with unrivalled convenience, high speed access and great value broadband internet connectivity. We believe that Digicel broadband will provide a major boost to business within PNG as well as significantly increasing internet penetration within the country. Recent research from CESifo* suggests that a 10 per cent increase in broadband penetration can help to raise annual per capita GDP growth by 0.9 to 1.5 percentage points. With Digicel Broadband, the possibilities are endless.”
DataNets now have a bigger role to play in the internet market that is not limited to acting and maintaining its function as an ICT network provider that will most definitely involve reaping the benefits of PNG’s fastest growing mobile network.
*CESifo Group, made up of the Center for Economic Studies (CES) and the Ifo Institute for Economic Research and the CESifo GmbH (Munich Society for the Promotion of Economic Research) is a research group unique in Europe in the area of economic research.