PacINET 2007 – A quick review

PacINET 2007 – A quick review

PacINET 2007 has just finished in Honiara, Solomon Islands. PacINET is organised every year by the Pacific Islands Chapter of the Internet Society (PICISOC).

PacINET is the prime event in the region in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and this year, it has proven an even bigger success.

The Asia Pacific Top Level Domain (APTLD) organisation, the Pacific IPv6 Forum and the Forum Regulators meeting took place during PacINET.

Attended by more than 300 participants, with about 100 from outside Solomon Islands, and opened by the Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Hon. Manasseh Sogavare, participants congratulated the Local organisation committee chaired by Christina Wini for running a very successful International meeting.

"It is important that all Pacific islanders encourage their governments, Internet Service Providers and Internet users to collaborate on effectively harnessing the power of the Internet as a global repository of knowledge.", Hon. Manasseh Sogavare said in his opening speech.

The Workshops, some run by APNIC, on IPv6, Security, and System Management were well attended, showing a real need for knowledge and information in the Pacific Islands.

Themes and topics covered at PacINET 2007 will include e-Health Initiatives in the Pacific, Building Connected Communities, An Open Source World, e-Government and the Pacific, Internet: Safety and Security, ICT in Education, the VoIP (R)Evolution, IPv6, Women in Technology and New Media.

Guest speakers at PacINET 2007 included John Crain, ICANN CTO, Dr Jimmie Rogers, Director General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), Latif Ladid - President, IPv6 Forum and Karen Rose, Internet Society Director of Education and Programs. Dr Vinton G. Cerf , considered one of the fathers of the Internet and Vice President at Google, had also prepared a keynote message to participants via video.

The whole conference was broadcasted using the Marratech system of the Internet Society (ISOC). It was attended by people all around the world, especially during the launch of the One Laptop Per Child Project (OLPC) in Oceania.

The PICISOC members of Papua New Guinea and Cook Islands made excellent bid to host PacINET 2008. The PICISOC members present selected Cook Islands after a tight vote. Cook Islands bid has the support of the its Prime Minister Hon. Jim Marurai.

PICISOC chairman Rajnesh Singh said moving the conference around helps spread ICT knowledge and developments throughout the region. "It's good to see a lot of local IT people and other interested people coming in to attend the conference," he said.

ENDS

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