Papua New Guinea’s proposal submitted for consideration at the Regional Information and Communication Technology (ICT) conference places emphasis on broadband development.
The conference staged in Port Moresby this week is an Asia Pacific tele-community (APT) event.
Participants will deliberate on proposals from 38 member countries and formulate a regional common proposal that will be submitted to the World Telecommunications Development Forum (WTDF).
PNG’s proposal highlights the significant role played by telecommunications/ICT’s to enable countries to meet development goals by developing broadband.
PNG National Information Communication and Technology Authority (NICTA) chief executive officer, Charles Punaha says PNG needs to improve on its broadband accessibility.
Punaha revealed that most developing countries in the Asia Pacific region lack high-speed Internet access and PNG is no exception.
The proposal stated that increased focused must be on assisting member States in the development of broadband access in rural and urban areas.
The APT should initiate and support proposals that will promote and enable citizens with greater access to ICT applications including e-government, e-education, e-health, e-agriculture and e-banking.
PNG believes that APT should consider contributions that focus on facilitating an enabling policy environment that encourages competition and private sector investment in ICT services.
The proposal also addresses ICT issues mainly on accessibility, cyber security and reforms in the ICT sector.