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Information and Communication Technology Expert Team conducts Public Consultation in FSM for National ICT Plan

Palikir, Pohnpei (FSM Information Services): January 6, 2011 - The Department of Transportation, Communication and Infrastructure in partnerships with the ITU ICB4PAC Project and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), under its ICT Out Reach Program for the Pacific Region, conducted visits to all FSM states from December 14-21, 2010, to consult with relevant stakeholders on the country's proposed National Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Policy Plan. The primary purpose of this consultation with the states is to solicit public views to ensure these views are taken into account in the development and finalization of this proposed National ICT Policy Plan.

Technologies through ICT and its applications have changed the way people all over the world live, work, learn, deliver health-care and conduct business. Technologies not only provide valuable tools, but also bring access that could have negative impacts on our daily lives. It is for these and many other reasons that the government must ensure the use of appropriate technologies providing benefits to the people under sound and practical ICT policies.

President Manny Mori defined very clearly the ICT Policy Vision as reflected in the policy plan. FSM requires not only safe, reliable and affordable telecommunications, but also equitable access for all the people in the FSM regardless whether one lives on a remote outer island or in the urban state centers of Pohnpei, Yap, Chuuk or Kosrae. ICT is declared by the United Nations as a basic human right.

It is in this connection that the Ministers, including Secretary Francis Itimai, attending the Pacific Regional ICT Ministerial Meeting held in Tonga in June 2010, through the Tonga Declaration, unanimously supported the initiative to seek assistance from regional and international organizations (like ITU, SPC, etc) to assist all the countries in the region to develop their National ICT Policy Plan.

Jolden Johnnyboy, Assistant Secretary for Communication, FSM Department of Transportation, Communication and Infrastructure, is undertaking the project. He joined the ITU ICT Expert Team for the states' public consultations, which comprised of Mrs. Gisa Fuatai Purcell, the Pacific Regional Coordinator for the ITU ICB4PAC Project that funded the project, and Mrs. Christina Higa from the University of Hawaii, Manoa Campus.