Samoa and Singapore have held talks on areas of cooperation in the Information and Communications Technology sector.
Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Afamasaga Lepuia’i Rico Tupa’i and the Chief Executive Officer, Fualau Talatalaga Matau Matafeo met with Minister for the Singapore Ministry of Communications and Information recently.
Talks between the two Ministries centered around the Strategic Goals outlined in the APT Singapore Statement to guide efforts to build a connected digital future in the Asia-Pacific region, which are:
- Digital Transformation
- Digital Innovation Creativity
- Digital Community
- Digital Trust
- Digital Capacity Building and Partnerships.
The talks also centered around Singapore’s Digital Transformation journey and the digitization of Government services, and the lessons Samoa could take from the Singapore experience.
Minister Afamasaga Lepuia’i Rico Tupa’i emphasised the importance of these talks for Samoa given the Government’s strategic direction for ICT in the country.
These talks were crucial given the on-going developments in the ICT Sector in Samoa with the launching of the Tui Samoa Cable in 2018 and until recently, the announcement by the Government for the establishment of the Digital Transformation Authority (DTA) whose purpose will be to drive the digital transformation agenda of the Government going forward and act as a central lever through which we can make changes in a coordinated and Whole-of-Government manner among many others.
The meeting also provided an opportunity for the Minister and the CEO to look into areas of further collaboration between the two Ministries, with capacity building opportunities for Samoa being a priority agenda, given the crucial need to upskill personnel in the ICT Sector with the fast-pace growth of technology.
Photo supplied