Australia is proud to be working with Papua New Guinea and regional partners to strengthen digital connectivity and regional prosperity.
Department of Information and Communications Technology Secretary Steven Matainaho recently joined Australia’s Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology Jessica Hunter, along with regional leaders, at the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Principles in the Pacific Immersive Study Tour and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Impact Summit in India.
Hosted by Australia and India’s Centre for Open Societal Systems (COSS), participants engaged with experts in India’s key tech hub in Bengaluru and learned how DPI can be used to address national and regional priorities.
Speaking about AI adoption, Ambassador Hunter highlighted the importance of secure connectivity.
“Bridging the digital divide through AI adoption discussions between Papua New Guinea and Australia starts with secure, resilient cable connectivity. Australia is incredibly proud to be part of discussions with PNG and Google about resilience, strengthening the digital backbone that makes trusted AI adoption possible,” Ambassador Hunter said.
Secretary Matainaho also emphasised the shared challenges across the region.
“We have a lot of countries that have similar problems, not being able to access the most basic of services. There are a lot of common grounds to collaborate on AI because of the lack of data availability. With the common challenges, inclusion would be one of the biggest deliverables achieved,” Secretary Matainaho said.
During the visit, Ambassador Hunter and Secretary Matainaho also met with Shirshendu Bhattacharya, Director and Submarine Innovation Lead at Google.
Mr Bhattacharya welcomed the collaboration noting the close collaboration between Australia and PNG.
“Google welcomes the strong and ongoing relationship with Australia and PNG, specifically in the new digital connectivity initiatives on the horizon. It was great to be part of the AI Summit with these close partners to talk about the future for PNG, Australia and their shared region,” Mr Bhattacharya said.
Australia is committed to working with PNG side by side and step by step to build a digitally resilient, secure and connected future for our region.
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Secretary Matainaho (second from left) with regional leaders and Australia’s Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology Jessica Hunter (Centre) at the AI Impact Summit in India.
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