DC-SIDS Pacific Report @IGF 2021
DYNAMIC COALITION ON SMALL ISLAND DEVELOPING STATES IN THE INTERNET ECONOMY
DC-SIDS IGF 2021 SESSION: THE PANDEMIC INTERNET: ENSURING SIDS DO NOT FALL BEHIND
(Thursday 9 December 2021)
Maureen Hilyard (Cook Islands) — DC-SIDS Pacific Co-Chair, ALAC Chair, DotAsia Board Chair, DNS Abuse Institute Advisory Council member, former PICISOC Board Chair
PACIFIC SPEAKERS
1. Cherie Lagakali (Fiji) — PICISOC Board Chair, Pacific Liaison to the Global Forum of Cyber Expertise and also on the Advisory Board. Recent appointee to the IGF MAG — provided an update on PICISOC activities and in particular, the Pacific IGF
2. Andrea Giacomelli (Geneva) — Trade Policy Advisory for the Permanent Delegation of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat based in Geneva — provided an update on the Pacific eCommerce initiative which is being coordinated by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in Fiji and Geneva in collaboration with the World Trade Organisation as well as other International Organisations in Geneva
3. Dalsie Baniala (Vanuatu) — PICISOC member, former Telecom Radiocommunications and Broadcasting Regulator on Vanuatu — the only Pacific woman to have had this role in our region. She now shares her knowledge and expertise around telecommunication and regulatory issues, as a Pacific consultant.
4. Alisi Tuqa (Fiji) — PICISOC member, former CEO of the Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation, before becoming the Programme Office and Team Leader of the Private Sector Development Section of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. The Pacific Islands Forum is the gathering of Pacific Island leaders which makes decisions on regional initiatives and ICT developments associated with the Forum’s 2050 Strategic Plan for the Blue Pacific Continent
SUMMARIES
· (MH) Pacific community have been able to maintain contact and dialogue with each other during the pandemic by way of a mailing list which has enabled PICISOC members to discuss and support each other’s interests and concerns about digital issues as they impact end-users in the Pacific.
· During 2021 the key activities for the Pacific Leaders have been organising the Pacific IGF and working with the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat on a new Pacific eCommerce Initiative,
· (CL) PICISOC continued their online ‘Talanoa’ sessions with Pacific panelists discussing issues raised by the community; ISOC provided funding to support Vanuatu ICT Day, Solomon Is Girls for ICT Day, and the relaunch of Tongan Women in ICT; virtual Pacific Islands IGF was in collaboration with USP and APTLD (637 registrants, 36 different countries, 9 in-country hubs — 7 of which had up to 100 participants linked to their hub over the 4-day event, 124 speakers) — Pacific IGF identified the need for more of these discussions to bring the community together
· The Pandemic impacted island states such as Fiji which was in lockdown for 6 months and has only just opened up their borders. The internet survived the lockdown because big families had to adapt to working from home with zoom work calls as well as dealing with schooling online. Fiji had to catch up with countries such as Tonga and Samoa who had already put their education online. But the increase of zoom calls for those having to work from home required long hours of online meetings, often resulting in zoom fatigue.
· Future considerations for 2022 include setting up a GFCE (cybersecurity) hub in the Pacific and providing capacity building for Pacific cyber end-users; UNDP has offered to fund a Pacific Hackathon (Feb 23, 2022) partnering with USP Fiji; also working with Papua New Guinea to launch their new Digital Transformation Bill (Samoa recently launched their bill).
· (AG) While covid has impacted negatively on many aspects for the Pacific Islands, it has also offered new opportunities to increase electronic use in our day to day transactions within the Pacific. A Pacific Trade and Invest (PTI) survey indicated a big increase in electronic access to goods and services. At the beginning of the pandemic, Pacific access was at 12%, we are now at 35%.
· The Pacific Island Forum believes in the importance of collective action in order to address its challenges, especially when they require sufficient scale. In 2020, the Forum’s Trade Ministers decided to include eCommerce as one of the four pillars of the Pacific Strategy.
· The pandemic has made businesses look at different ways of delivering their goods and services. Tourism for example, has produced interesting forms of virtual tourism as another way of personalising tourism online
· National eCommerce diagnostic assessments were undertaken in 2020 with 11 of the Pacific countries responding. The results greatly contributed to the development of the eCommerce strategy and roadmap which embeds prioritised and collective action for eCommerce and subsequently, regional change. 174 stakeholders from around the Pacific contributed input into the roadmap during online consultations from March to June 2021 and this was validated at a workshop in August attended by 250 participants.
· The strategy includes 7 policy areas covering eCommerce Readiness, Infrastructure, Trade logistics, Legal frameworks, ePayment solutions, eCommerce skill development, and access to finance. The strategy identifies 54 priority measures which have been costed at US$55 million.
· The measures also include the establishment of the (dot)pacific domain, as well as a Pacific portal. The strategy has reached the second phase which will focus on its implementation, and it is proposed to have this up and running by the second quarter of 2022. An eCommerce Project team will be formed to coordinate the strategic activities.
· (DB) During the pandemic, regulators realised the importance of internet governance in relation to eCommerce and online business. Vanuatu developed a national Digital Governance Working Map as its framework in preparation to welcome eCommerce businesses.
· The challenge for Pacific regulators and governments is who is responsible for what? Access for many in the rural areas is still not reliable or enabling, so they are left behind. The pandemic impacted education and health in particular for those affected by the lack of access.
· (AT) The 2050 Strategy was a renewed vision developed by the Regional Leaders as a long-term strategy to ensure the future security of the people of the Pacific. One of the pillars of this strategy is Technology and Innovation — recognising that this will be a major driver of change. The pandemic, and how we have worked and communicated, over the last 18 months, has really reinforced this. We need to all build on this momentum and the uptake of the ICTs, internet and online use and activity.
· The strong links between ICT and eCommerce, is essentially founded on a recognition of several activities over several years, such as growth in emerging technologies, which has been accelerated by covid. In the Pacific these have brought to the fore, the need for ICT skills and capacity building across the region both in the public or private sector.
· A gap analysis is needed, which can identify where we are doing well and what are the gaps, eg online schooling. Covid identified Pacific country readiness (or not) for the unexpected. Lots of lessons learned there.
· Capitalising on technology especially in the private sector has been crucial and will be in the future. The pandemic has shown us how it has affected supply chains. More policy work is required from an eCommerce perspective especially in relation to banks, for example. There are lots of challenges when it comes to digital financial services — internet banking, payment platforms — particularly for businesses and what’s available to them.
· Financial technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence are some of the issues raised at the Pacific IGF this year, how they can enhance the efficiency and availability of trade finance, especially for the SMEs in the Pacific.
· In the absence of national policies, there is a big reliance on regional frameworks for support. This is where organisations such as the Forum Secretariat and other agencies, including networks like PICISOC, become important with regards to collective issues.
· In July the Pacific Trade Ministers endorsed the development of the Pacific Regional Private Sector Strategy, to complement the 2050 Strategy, but looking at the competitiveness of businesses and expanding trade opportunities. But at the heart of this new strategy will be Technology and Innovation — a strong feature for moving forward.
· Promoting regional public services — using digital platforms for reaching citizens (eGovernment). The network of the IGF is really fundamental to and complements the work of the Forum because it promotes greater participation. Citizenry opens up doors for local, national, and regional calls for action. The Forum looks forward to seeing how they can work with international partners who are also working in the Pacific.
· The Forum has also recently re-engaged with ICANN GAC who can better support Forum members with internet governance issues and to promote regional public services and digital platforms to work with citizens. They are looking forward to working with Pacific ICANN contacts as part of that network.
ACTION ITEMS
1. Organise an intersessional meeting during 2022 with the Pacific, Caribbean (and hopefully the African/Indian/Mediterranean) Island communities, for members to discuss the potential for a Joint Pacific/Caribbean/AIMS DC-SIDS IGF.
2. In the interim, coordinate a joint session for a collaborative session at the next Caribbean IGF (2022) and the Pacific IGF (2023) to discuss a topic of common interest
3. Continue to include our SIDS MAG members into our DC-SIDS IGF programme for updates
4. To work towards a coordinated capacity building programme for DC-SIDS end-users
