Martin, who was formerly the ICT expert from the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission in Fiji, said it is time that concrete steps are taken by Pacific Islands Forum Leaders to “move from the old mindset and embrace the Internet.”
“What I’m saying is that we do not have a champion at the leaders’ level. Someone that pushes for ICT issues and makes sure they are on the agendas. At the regional level the (Secretariat of the Pacific Community) is pushing to put ICT on many agendas, but I have noticed that regional organizations are likely not to be heard if a country does not actively support the issue,” Martin told Pacific Magazine yesterday from San Francisco. Also it is about ICT and not telecommunications,” he said.
The U.S. Department of the Interior reported last month that the 34 million people living in the Pacific islands and Oceania, which includes major trading partners Australia and New Zealand, now have a higher Internet penetration than the total world average. It quoted from www.Internetworldstats.com, which said that Internet penetration into the Pacific Islands and Oceania is growing in lockstep with social networking sites.
According to Internetworldstats.com from 2000 to 2008, Internet use in the Marshall Islands increased 340 percent; Micronesia’s Internet use increased 700 percent; and, Guam’s Internet use increased 1,200 percent.
Even www.comsScore.com, reports that social networking usage in the Asia Pacific Region is up 23 percent for the year ending June 2008.
The Forum is the region’s premier political and economic policy organization consisting of Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Nauru, New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Niue, Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Former Observers New Caledonia and French Polynesia were granted Associate Membership in 2006 and current Observers include Tokelau (2005), Wallis and Futuna (2006), the Commonwealth (2006) and the Asia Development Bank (2006), with Timor Leste as Special Observer (2002).
At this year’s Forum Leaders’ Meeting in Niue they again urged that the Pacific Plan Digital Strategy in 2005 finds technological solutions to bridge the communication and digital divide in the Pacific islands region and in relation to Submarine Cable Technology.
“If you look carefully, it kind of endorsed but did not have the same endorsement as the Pacific Plan per se. The world economy is based on who masters ICT. Look for instance at the tourism industry without ICT it does not work. First no planes would fly then no hotel bookings,” Martin reiterated.
Last month PICISOC met in the Cook Islands and various key issues they noted among others were Internet governance, security, accessibility, IPv6 and ICT in education.
Meanwhile, the World Bank has also commenced its study of connectivity looking to assess potential benefits, costs and constraints on various connectivity technologies and in particular, satellites and cable technology.
