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© 2025 Island Innovation. All rights reserved.

    News

    Curated stories and analysis from islands and sustainability leaders worldwide.

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    Showing 9 of 126 news items in Connectivity & Digitization
    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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    UNESCO and the EU Showcased Young Caribbean Photography at PHotoESPAÑA 2024
    Connectivity & DigitizationJune 17, 2024

    UNESCO and the EU Showcased Young Caribbean Photography at PHotoESPAÑA 2024

    Photo and Excerpt from unesco.org Selected from an open call that received applications from over 150 candidates, 15 young photographers from 7 Caribbean countries exhibited their work at the 17th edition of the International Festival of Photography and Visual Arts, PHotoESPAÑA. The festival took place from May 28 to June 5, 2024, in Madrid. The participation of these creators was made possible through the support of the UNESCO programme [Transcultura: Integrating Cuba, the Caribbean, and the European Union through Culture and Creativity](https://www.unesco.org/en/transcultura), funded by the European Union. PHotoESPAÑA, known for its strong social focus, annually transforms Madrid into a hub for the global photographic community. The main theme for 2024 was ‘Perpetuum Mobile’, symbolizing the dynamic nature of photography and aiming to highlight actors and issues that are often marginalized or overlooked. We have designed a comprehensive programme of professional exchange, training and cultural immersion that not only allowed the young participants to engage with the cultural sector on this side of the Atlantic, but also enabled our network of cultural actors (curators, editors, gallery owners, artists, managers) to become familiar with the creativity of a vibrant region such as the Caribbean.

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    Wahine Māori surgeon gets $300k boost for breast cancer research
    Connectivity & DigitizationJune 11, 2024

    Wahine Māori surgeon gets $300k boost for breast cancer research

    Photo: John Stone. Retrieved from teaonews.co.nz Northland surgeon Dr Maxine Ronald (Te Kapotai ki Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Rangi) has been appointed the inaugural Māori Breast Cancer Research Leadership Fellow in a move to address the health disparities experienced by wāhine Māori and Pasifika women with breast cancer in Aotearoa New Zealand. The fellowship, funded by Breast Cancer Cure and Breast Cancer Foundation NZ, provides Ronald with $300,000 over three years to conduct research under the supervision of Hei Āhuru Mōwai Māori Cancer Leadership Aotearoa. Wāhine Māori and Pasifika women are more likely to develop breast cancer (35 percent and 20 percent, respectively) and face higher mortality rates than their non-Māori counterparts (33 percent and 52 percent, respectively). Ronald, the world’s only wahine Māori consultant breast cancer surgeon, has spent much of her career focusing on her commitment to indigenous health equity. The focus of her fellowship is to collaborate with researchers across New Zealand to enhance Māori leadership and capacity in breast cancer research, aiming to influence policy changes and improve survival outcomes.

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