GSMA-PITA Roundtable: “Progressing towards a Digital Society in the Pacific Islands”
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a negative impact around the globe, and the Pacific Islands were no exception. During this global crisis, mobile technology has been at the forefront in providing access to education, healthcare, and financial services. While the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation in the region, there is still a long road ahead. As the Pacific Islands continue to advance towards becoming fully fledged digital societies, it is important to understand the key enablers that allow citizens to fully realize the benefits of a digital society.
On 6th October, the GSMA APAC team held its first Island Nations roundtable in collaboration with Pacific Islands Telecommunications Association (PITA) bringing together 20 CxOs of mobile operators across the Pacific and 11 government policymakers from the PITA community today.
The roundtable was opened by the Minister of Communications and Information Technology of Samoa, Honorable Afamasaga Toeolesulusulu Lepuia’i Rico Tupa’I and featured speakers from across the Pacific Islands, highlighting achievements in the Pacific Islands. The group also heard from a speaker who provided insights on how to build a sustainable network infrastructure. Following that, we travelled virtually to Fiji to understand the impact of the global pandemic and how it has accelerated the use of mobile money.
This event was held as part of the APAC Island Nations initiative to create an ongoing narrative and agenda with mobile operators and policymakers from across APAC’s Island Nations to seek favourable and direct access to policymakers to support WRC, Mobile for Development and other GSMA programmes.
To continue this conversation, please join us for free at GSMA’s premier regional event, Thrive APAC from 3-5 November. For more information on registration, please click here.