Tuesday 25th April 2023
Estonia is keen to support Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) in terms of digital services in the country, according to Her Excellency Ms Kersti Eesmaa, the Estonian Ambassador to Australia, accredited to Papua New Guinea and the Pacific.
“Papua New Guinea has all necessary elements to roll out more digital projects to deliver services to the people,” Ambassador Eesmaa said.
She said the intention to support DICT in digital government services is imminent as DICT is heading into right direction in terms of capabilities and resources to push out those government projects.
“PNG has many remote areas but with the accessibility of mobile phones, they would have access to government services, for instance mobile services are very popular so you can move straight to Mobile ID and not ID by card,” she added.
“It is the first time I visit this country and I am very impressed and when it comes to digital transformation, I ‘am really impressed on how much progress the Department of ICT has made.
“And I learnt that the department is very new so I have to really congratulate the Minister responsible, Hon. Timothy Masiu on the progress made so far.
“Of course, we all know implementation is always the most difficult part, but Estonia is ready to offer our expertise to assist the department going forward in terms of technology.”
She said Estonia is fairly a young country, gained independence in 1991, but have made progress in ICT space for the past 32 years of being an independent state.
“Money is not always the key but leadership is the key and also it comes down to people who really need to make the choice to use the digital services that are provided and those that will be provided in the future.
“People need to make the choice to services they felt comfortable with,” she added.
She added that with the current trend of rapid changes in technology sector, it would be great to also include more women and girls into the ICT society to offer them better access to services as well as people with disability.
Ambassador Eesmaa further stated that discussions are already being done to take the cooperation between Estonia and PNG forward in a practical and concrete ways in terms of digital services.
“We are happy to taking the cooperation forward in Cybernetica, but also with other government academy or with other government organizations,” she further stated.
“Estonians we like to be more practical so whatever we can do practically will improve the progress.”