A meeting in Geneva, Switzerland last week was told that Tonga was progressing positively in its efforts to tackle cybercrimes, setting up e-government and improving information communication technologies (ICT).
About 1800 participants attended the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) which was first begun in 2003.
Those who attended the meeting looked at how the rise of technology can affect society and how people can prevent others from being left behind.
(Did you know that 43% of the world’s population is online?)
Some of the big questions raised in the meeting were: “how we can use information and technology to accelerate progress, and how technology can be used to achieve development goals”.
Representatives from various countries had the opportunity to “learn about what projects others are involved with around the world” including “discussing internet connectivity, mobile, virtual reality platforms, and much more”.
The Tongan government was represented by the Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva.
A statement from his office said: “The meeting was also advised on Tonga’s positive progress to develop ICT through the establishment of the Cyber Challenges Task Force to address issues of cyber-security, cyber-safety and cyber-crime and the Tonga Computer Emergency Response Team (Tonga CERT) focusing on cyber-security.
“Tonga is also in the process of setting up E-Government connecting all Government Ministries, Public Enterprises and Agencies by fibre optic to provide online services.
The Chief Secretary & Secretary to Cabinet, Dr. Palenitina Langa’oi and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Va’inga Tone also attended the Summit following the meeting of the International Parliamentarians for West Papua that was held in London, England.
