Focus on working with industry players to reach rural areas

THE Department of Information Communication Technology corporate plan will provide a guide to work with industry players to extend services to rural areas enabling people to engage in small businesses.
Minister Timothy Masiu said this during the launch of the plan in Kwikila, Central, on Tuesday.
Masiu said the corporate plan 2020-2024 aligned the department’s vision, goals and objectives to the recent government’s decisions and policies on developing and transforming the country through the use of information communication technology (ICT).
“It is Government’s policy that telecommunications, broadcasting and ICT services are made available, accessible and affordable to the people, particularly those living in rural areas,” he said.
“The organisations under the ministry exist to ensure these policies are implemented and translated into achievable outcomes.
“Therefore, the corporate plan is an important document that should link any public institutions and agencies vision, goals and objectives to the overarching the government policies and development plans so that there is coordination, consistency and collaboration in implementation and delivering of goods and services.”
Public Service Minister Soroi Eoe, who was present during the launch, urged the government to use ICT to solve problems for the country and the economy.
“How can ICT solve public service delivery?” he said.
“Can we use ICT to increase access to education and health?
“What about agriculture, can ICT be used to improve the agriculture sector?
“Instead of looking for a quick solution like cutting public service salary or manpower, we should look at innovating the way we deliver our services.”
Eoe also noted that the Government, through the National Executive Council, had approved the Papua New Guinea digital transformation policy.
He said the formulation of the plan was a big step forward as it showed that the Government was serious about taking charge of the ICT sector and using it to its advantage to improve public service delivery.