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    Showing 9 of 128 news items in Connectivity & Digitization
    Guarding the Federated States of Micronesia’s Digital Frontier: How CSOs are Laying the Groundwork to Protect the Island From Online Vulnerabilities
    Connectivity & DigitizationJuly 23, 2024

    Guarding the Federated States of Micronesia’s Digital Frontier: How CSOs are Laying the Groundwork to Protect the Island From Online Vulnerabilities

    Excerpt and Photo from undp.org The Pacific Digital Democracy Initiative, funded by the European Union, extends its efforts in enhancing digital readiness and promoting democratic engagement across the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). This initiative focuses on two major components: (1) Increasing government capacity development; and (2) Partnering up with civil society organizations (CSOs) to protect the digital landscape from cyberthreats and supported through Low Value Grants. The project aims to promote whole-of-society digital transformation through extensive capacity building with civil society and providing training to government officials on digital transformation leadership. By doing so, it seeks to make public service delivery more transparent and efficient, ultimately benefiting citizens across the region.

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    Digital disconnect in remote Indigenous communities limits Far North’s economy and career opportunities
    Connectivity & DigitizationJuly 5, 2024

    Digital disconnect in remote Indigenous communities limits Far North’s economy and career opportunities

    Picture: Samuel Davis. Retrieved from cairnspost.com.au First Nations digital creators across Far North Queensland risk being left behind with poor internet service hurting economic development in remote communities, leaders say. Innovation Minister Leanne Linard announced two funding initiatives aimed at increasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ digital skills in Cairns on Tuesday. But remote communities north of Cairns risked missing out on taking advantage of such opportunities if patchy services didn’t improve, Seisia-based community organiser Talei Elu said. “It’s not just internet and phone reception, it’s also power outages that trigger connectivity issues as well,” the [former Queensland Young Australian of the Year said](https://www.cairnspost.com.au/news/cape-york/talei-elu-of-seisia-in-cape-york-wins-queensland-young-australian-of-the-year/news-story/0d1f4c091d0cacb7c8b2f0e0317dd4c5). “A lot of jobs in the future will be tech-based and we hardly talk about those innovations like 3D printing, AI and other developments in our communities and schools.

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    In Assam, Solar Energy Helps Doctors & Medicines Reach Island Dwellers on Boats
    Connectivity & DigitizationJuly 5, 2024

    In Assam, Solar Energy Helps Doctors & Medicines Reach Island Dwellers on Boats

    Excerpt and Photo from thebetterindia.com Primary healthcare was a distant dream for the remote riverine community until 2009 when floating health clinics were introduced. Prior to this, hundreds of thousands of rural residents remained isolated in want of healthcare services. Interestingly, these [boat clinics](https://thebetterindia.com/348884/senior-citizens-healthcare-boat-clinic-in-sundarbans-shis-foundation-abdul-wohab-sabitri-pal/#google_vignette)harness solar energy to efficiently run the programme. The brains behind this project was Sanjoy Hazarika, a journalist and filmmaker who started the non-profit [Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research](https://thebetterindia.com/6801/hope-floats-assams-boat-clinics-help-women-plan-families/) (C-NES), driven by the tragedy he had witnessed on a ferry. In collaboration with the National Rural Health Mission, the non-profit launched the boat clinics in 2005 to bridge the healthcare divide. Since then, monthly health camps have been organised across 14 districts including Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Jorhat/Majuli, Sonitpur, and Nalbari. For this purpose, 15 such floating health clinics are operating along the river to cater to the isolated communities.

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    Catching Up with the Fellows Who Dreamed Up the Island Institute Fellows Program
    Connectivity & DigitizationJuly 5, 2024

    Catching Up with the Fellows Who Dreamed Up the Island Institute Fellows Program

    The [introduction of the Island Institute Fellows program, in 1999](https://downeast.com/land-wildlife/how-the-island-institutes-fellowship-program-became-a-maine-coast-fixture/), helped cement the organization’s reputation. “We didn’t invent this model,” Conkling notes, “but we knew what kind of fellow would work in which community, and we were good at matching them, and we were good at identifying future leaders.” Soon, communities up and down the coast were reaching out to the Island Institute to request fellows of their own for help with local projects. “There’s a wicked-tight network out there, and the coconut wireless is pretty effective,” Ralston adds. “People started coming to us for all sorts of things.” Recently, the old pals and colleagues met up at Ralston’s photography gallery, in Rockport, to reflect more on the long run of the fellowship program. **Where did the idea for the fellowships first come from?** **Conkling:** The backstory is that in the 1990s there was a lot of cognitive dissonance about what was happening to the lobster fishery in Penobscot Bay. The federal scientists who make the regulations were saying the fishery was on the verge of collapse and the industry needed to be cut back by 50 percent, but fishermen were saying the population was booming. The government was basing their decision off landings data, but some other crucial population statistics were missing. So, in 1998, we got a big federal grant to study lobster dynamics in Penobscot Bay. The only way to collect that missing data was to station graduate students on lobsterboats, which required the trust and participation of fishermen, which is what we brought to the table. We thought if we got a dozen boats to participate in this sea-sampling project, that would be a win. But that first summer, we got on 78 lobsterboats, which was a complete revelation. The insight on a larger scale was that the grad students were young, they didn’t pretend like they knew everything, and they were meeting the lobstermen on their home territory.

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    SIDS Future Forum working paper series
    Connectivity & DigitizationJuly 2, 2024

    SIDS Future Forum working paper series

    In May 2024, the [4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4)](https://sdgs.un.org/smallislands/about-sids4) took place in Antigua and Barbuda under the theme of “Charting the course toward resilient prosperity”. The conference, which aimed to assess the ability of SIDS to achieve sustainable development, resulted in an intergovernmentally agreed 10-year roadmap for SIDS, the “Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS: A Renewed Declaration for Resilient Prosperity”. Earlier in 2024, the [SIDS Future Forum 2024](https://islandinnovation.co/events/sids-future-forum/) gathered policymakers, researchers, development partners and community leaders in a collaborative effort to begin building this 10-year roadmap. Discussions were underpinned by a series of 12 working papers commissioned by the [Resilient and Sustainable Islands Initiative (RESI)](https://odi.org/en/about/our-work/resilient-islands/).

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    Global Sustainable Island Summit Highlights Innovations and Solutions for Island Communities
    Connectivity & DigitizationJune 28, 2024

    Global Sustainable Island Summit Highlights Innovations and Solutions for Island Communities

    Excerpt and Photo from impakter.com The [Global Sustainable Island Summit 2024](https://islandinnovation.co/events/global-sustainable-islands-summit/) kicked off in Canada’s smallest province, Prince Edward Island, on May 21, with the three-day event uniting over 250 attendees and speakers from 50+ islands around the world to share best practices on renewable energy and sustainability matters. Experts and representatives discussed research, policy, and dwelled on shared experiences while overlooking the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, realizing that despite their geographical locations, they shared common challenges, issues, and were pioneering similar solutions. A leader in renewable energy implementation, Prince Edward Island has set aggressive net-zero goals that would make the province carbon neutral by 2040, ten years before the rest of Canada. “You always want to ask yourself in government, ‘Are we doing enough? Are we doing it the right way?’” [posited](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-global-summit-climate-change-1.7211881) Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King, “The best way to do that sometimes is to measure yourself against other jurisdictions, to say, ‘What are they doing? How are they doing it?’”

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    The Power of Working as One: Connecting the Small Island Developing States
    Connectivity & DigitizationJune 21, 2024

    The Power of Working as One: Connecting the Small Island Developing States

    Excerpt and Photo from undp.org Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are facing multifaceted challenges caused by climate and debt-related crises while still rebuilding from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The [SIDS4 Conference in Antigua and Barbuda](https://sdgs.un.org/conferences/sids2024) in late May 2024 has been another opportunity for a sharing, listening, and learning process among SIDS to amplify their voices. This was the fourth such conference in the last 4 decades. **From Samoa to Antigua & Barbuda …** The [Samoa Pathway](https://www.un.org/ohrlls/content/samoa-pathway) emphasized climatic threats to SIDS through sea-level rise and other adverse impacts of climate change, which continue to pose a significant risk to Small Island States. Additionally, SIDS have been grappling with external debt shocks, which have surged by 70 percentage points since 2009. Consequently, the average rate of external debt to gross domestic product has increased by 11 percentage points to 61.7 percent in 2019 [(UN (United Nations) Resolution A/RES/77/245)](https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n23/004/55/pdf/n2300455.pdf?token=Y65gWdZHd9CCc8SDcb&fe=true). This increased fiscal pressure requires that SIDS reengineer their future to foster their resilient prosperity. In this context, raising domestic revenue is becoming increasingly pertinent to bolster SIDS’ capacity for sustainable development.

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    Pacific Islands Development Program and University of the South Pacific Sign Memorandum of Understanding to Strengthen Collaboration
    Connectivity & DigitizationJune 21, 2024

    Pacific Islands Development Program and University of the South Pacific Sign Memorandum of Understanding to Strengthen Collaboration

    Excerpt and Photo from eastwestcenter.org The Pacific Islands Development Program at the East-West Center and the University of the South Pacific have signed a memorandum of understanding to solidify their shared commitments to leveraging resources and expertise in service to their Pacific Islands stakeholders. The agreement strengthens collaboration between the two member agencies of the Council of Regional Organisations of the Pacific, or CROP. East-West Center (EWC) President Suzanne Puanani Vares-Lum and the Pacific Islands Development Program, or PIDP, were honored to welcome University of the South Pacific (USP) Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Pal Ahluwalia, Chief Operating Officer Mr. Walter Fraser, and Development Cooperation Coordinator Mr. Aneet Kumar to EWC for the signing of the memorandum. As two of nine CROP agencies mandated by Pacific Islands Leaders to strengthen Pacific regionalism, provide high-level policy advice, and collectively respond to priorities identified by Pacific Islands Forum Leaders, the agreement between USP and PIDP indicates a strong commitment to improving cooperation, coordination, and collaboration between Pacific regional organizations.

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    CARICOM’s 50th anniversary to be celebrated with commemorative rum
    Connectivity & DigitizationJune 21, 2024

    CARICOM’s 50th anniversary to be celebrated with commemorative rum

    Photo:  CARICOM. Retrieved from caribbean.loopnews.com In a tribute to the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) 50th anniversary, thirteen member states of the West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers Association (WIRSPA) are set to honour the regional organization with specially crafted rum blends. This initiative marks the culmination of a year-long celebration of CARICOM’s achievements and contributions to the Caribbean region. The participating rum producers, representing all rum-producing CARICOM member states, will present their commemorative blends during ceremonial events scheduled throughout the month of June. These events are designed to formally acknowledge and celebrate CARICOM’s half-century of regional cooperation and development. The distillers involved in this historic gesture include well-known names such as Mount Gay Distilleries (Barbados), Demerara Distillers (Guyana), Suriname Alcoholic Beverages, Angostura (Trinidad and Tobago), Saint Lucia Distillers, Belfast Estate (Dominica), Antigua Distillery, Grenada Distillers, Travellers Liquors (Belize), Watlings Distillery (The Bahamas), National Rums of Jamaica, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines Distillers.

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