STARTUPS – The National

From left: Niunet chief technical officer David Valentine, Kennedy Kitheka of Seedstars Asia, Niunet chief operations officer Rebekah Ilave in Cambodia just after the announcement that Niunet was chosen represent the PNG Startup ecosystem in Switzerland. Right: The Niunet Box device and a phone showing the Niunet App home page.

Free learning resources online

A PAPUA New Guinean startup has set its sights on greatly improving the academic achievements of students who access its resources and materials.
The company, Niunet is focused on improving educational outcomes in our country through the use of innovative technology. They have developed a device called the Niunet Box that gives access to open educational resources and digital learning materials to anyone connected to their network for free.
The primary goal of the Niunet Box is to provide quality educational resources for free to everyone and anyone that needs them. Users connected to the Niunet Box can stream or download content using any smartphone, tablet or laptop.
The Niunet Box has all kinds of educational content and digital learning material which includes pdfs, audio books, videos, tutorials and full courses.
There are open university courses and coding classes in some of the most popular coding languages. You can even use an offline version of Wikipedia. Unlike an e-library system Niunet provides its users with the ability to interactively request new content which is then sourced or created by their team and provided on the network to benefit all users.
Niunet said that it was their own experience in self-learning that led them to create the Niunet Box. That the old adage about education being the key, isn’t something to be taken lightly.

**Niunet chief technical officer David Valentine at the Seedstars Asia event to qualify for the Seedstars World event in Switzerland in April this year.**

“Our experience comes from our individual drive to learn more about the world around us, and that led us to online learning materials that have impacted our lives significantly. We want to give that same level of access to every Papua New Guinean,” Niunet chief technical officer David Valentine said.
Currently there are four sites with Niunet Boxes installed. There is one at the PNG Womens Business Resource Centre and thanks to a partnership with The Voice Inc, a device at their Dream Hub in town, and their Centre’s for Leadership (CFLs) at the UPNG and the UoG.
Niunet is currently looking to build partnerships with communities, NGOs and companies that want to host a Niunet Box device at their premises to benefit users in their area. If you want a Niunet Box in your community/company you can reach out by sending them a message on Facebook or by sending an email to [email protected].
They will be travelling to Switzerland in April to represent the PNG Startup Ecosystem in the Seedstars World Competition where they will be meeting with investors, mentors and other startups from all over the world.
You can follow and be a part of this journey online by following them on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.

Sincerity in public service

By ERIC PIET
FRIDAY, Jan 31, 2020 would long be remembered by many public servants in the nation’s capital as a historic moment.
This was the day Prime Minister James Marape addressed the capacity-filled Sir John Guise Indoor Stadium on the occasion of the fourth annual public servants dedication service and launch of departmental annual operational plans in Port Moresby.
Public servants turned up in multitudes but in a spirit of oneness and true desire for radical transformation from every government department with their heads also in attendance.
The dedication service was coined around the theme of “Promoting sincerity in the public service”.
Chief Secretary to Government Isaac Lupari, Ministers of State and Members of Parliament also made their presence felt at the event with speeches and welcome remarks delivered by Lupari, Public Service Minister Soroi Eoe and Minister for Community Development, Youth and Religion Wake Goi, whose department hosted it under the continued sponsorship of Motor Vehicle Insurance Limited and National Gaming Control Board.
Since its beginning in 2017, the annual event has each time seen a marked improvement in organisation, attendance and a commitment of attendees to the true meaning of service.

**Department for Community Development and Religion, National Volunteer Services and the Office of Child and Family Care choir presented at the 4th Public Service Dedication Service in Port Moresby.**

This year the departmental choir groups have for the first time rocked the stage in presentation of songs signifying the passion for whom they serve and with the Spirit of the Lord leading them, such that the spirits rejuvenated could penetrate to touch the souls in the remotest parts of the country in their line of duty and service.
The renewed aspirations of these souls occupying the public offices consciously gel well in uniting to work towards making the vision of PM Marape a reality in “making PNG the richest black Christian nation.” In literal sense this means for services to reach every corner of our land resulting in improvement of living standards, and not so much in becoming a top nation in the world where one may be led to think in such a way.
Already a sense of awakening has dawned in many of the government departments that in order for impactful services to reach the people out there every public servant should first be inwardly transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit and accept His leading, and to stand united in achieving the developmental goals.
The conviction of having the self transformed before reaching out to the masses and uniting in oneness to positively impact them was first and foremost explicitly expressed by the combined choir of the Department for Community Development and Religion, National Volunteer Service, and the National Office of Child and Family Services with the song titled Where No One Stands Alone from the Gaither Vocal Band and originally composed by Elvis Presley.
The late Presley, a rich American singer and actor, who died in August 16, 1977, expressed in the second verse of the song that although he lived like a king in the palace with all the great riches of his own, without Christ and the Spirit of the Lord in him, he could not imagine a thing in this entire world that was worse than being alone. Hence Presley’s earnest call for the Lord to hold his hand every moment of his life.
Department Secretary Anna Bais therefore said that every staffer in the public service needs the Lord’s guidance to take the lead in effective service delivery.
As sure as there are many souls out there in our land who earnestly long for physical and spiritual enlightenment and uplifting, another powerful choir presented by the Department for Personnel Management titled “Go Light the World” took a center stage in relaying a message of penetrating the darkest world with hopes like flickering candles.
And the chains that are binding the systems and situations that hindering the effective services delivery would be without a doubt loosened, as was demonstrated be a musical dance group by the Kwikila youths, if the candles of hope are wholly taken to the darkest corners in Jesus’ name.
Of course nothing is impossible for God to do, when our government, the public service and the entire population wholeheartedly embrace the Lord’s guidance, we will never go wrong in every dealing even with the increased influence of foreigners in our land for our resources.
We will prosper like Joseph in the Bible in Egypt who succeeded against all forms of foreign influences, as was pointed out by Rev Charlie George of Teshuva Trumpet Worship Centre in his dedication service message.

Eric Piet is a communications officer with the Department for Community Development, Youth and Religion.