Thursday 9 May 2024
ICT Minister Hon. Timothy Masiu delivering his Keynote address during the Inaugural PNG DNS Forum at Hilton Hotel, Port Moresby, Thursday 9 May, 2024
The PNG Domain Name System (DNS) Forum co-hosted by the Department of Information and Communications Technology and PNG University of Technology commenced on its fourth day at the Hilton Hotel, with a focus on policy collaboration, with emphasis on combined effort in progressing the .PG domain of PNG for a digitally inclusive future.
Key figures from government, industry, academia, and also the civil society converged to address issues surrounding PNG’s internet landscape.
With DICT’s Deputy Secretary for Digital Government Mr Russell Woruba setting the tone for the inaugural forum with an overview of the combined efforts of the Department of ICT and PNG Unitech, Professor Ora Renagi, Vice Chancellor of the PNG University of Technology (Unitech), emphasized on the importance of safeguarding the .pg domain ownership within PNG.
“There are 70,000 companies and only 20,000 are using the internet, so we will work to improve that,” Professor Renagi stated.
“We try our best to keep the .pg ownership to Unitech, and outside external influence. Infrastructure has always been our challenge, however Unitech has made a lot of progress in DNS, our staff will be built up, and will continue to build capacity with DICT and Queensland UOT, and we’ll continue to work together to progress the use of internet in PNG,” stated Professor Renagi.
“Unitech is prepared to build the curriculum in our institution to support the progress of ICT, therein lies the capacity to support internet expansion and progress. infrastructure is a challenge not just for Unitech, but for PNG.”
Minister for Information and Communications Technology, Hon. Timothy Masiu, delivered a compelling keynote address, shedding light on PNG’s current internet landscape and the imperative for transformative action.
Minister Masiu outlined the forum’s objectives, which include updating the .PG DNS Policy and informing proposed internet development policies. He stressed the need for collaboration among government agencies, internet service providers, and domain registrars to build a resilient DNS ecosystem.
“We are here to exchange knowledge, share experiences, and forge partnerships that will drive innovation and propel Papua New Guinea towards a digitally inclusive future,” remarked Minister Masiu.
He expressed optimism about technical training initiatives and underscored the government’s commitment to supporting digital transformation as a cornerstone of PNG’s development agenda.
The forum, co-hosted by PNG Unitech and the Department of Information and Communications Technology, garnered support from key partners such as, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and APNIC. Sponsors including Telikom, Datec, PNG DataCo, and NICTA demonstrated their commitment to advancing PNG’s digital landscape.
The DNS forum 2024 aims to lay the groundwork for concerted efforts to use ICT and leverage the potential of the DNS truly define its advantage as an effective contributor towards PNG’s economic growth.
The workshop ends tomorrow , Friday 10 May 2024.