Digital transformation enhances economic growth and creates new opportunities, and emerging markets worldwide seek to reap these rewards. Digitizing commerce and state services requires significant spending on Information Communication Technologies (ICT), and Pacific Island Countries such as Papua New Guinea (PNG) have launched ambitious ICT initiatives. The process of how ICT infrastructure projects are planned, pursued, and procured is often opaque, depending on the funding source. Many countries in the Pacific region still need to develop an integrated digital governance framework, leading to governance gaps that expose public institutions and residents to extensive vulnerabilities ranging from corruption to cybercrime.
This is a regulatory environment review to understand and assess the existing legal and governance systems in which ICT infrastructure projects are planned, pursued, and procured in PNG. Through this report, CIPE, the Institute of National Affairs (INA), and the Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS) contribute accurate and comprehensive information to the country’s national conversation on ICT development, describing the existing infrastructure, the current legal and regulatory environment, and the origins and consequences of governance gaps in the planning, funding, and procurement processes.
CIPE supports Pacific Islands partners to achieve a digital future with an open, secure, and reliable internet in which democracy delivers tangible benefits and the opportunity for all to prosper.
To learn more about CIPE’s digital governance work in the Pacific Island region, check out the resources highlighted below:
-
Papua New Guinea’s Digital Transformation: Understanding the Governance Structure
- Understanding the Regulatory Environment for ICT Infrastructure in Papua New Guinea: A Case Study on the Integrated Government Information System (IGIS)
- Understanding the Regulatory Environment for ICT Infrastructure in Papua New Guinea: A Case Study of the Coral Sea Cable System
- Harnessing the Power of the Digital Economy (HPDE) Tok Pisin-English Digital Vocabulary Mini Dictionary
Published Date: February 26, 2024