Tuesday, September 30, 2008
PNG can save millions by using Open Source Software
Mr Schilt, an Australian currently on assignment at
He also noted that though software copyright laws have been effective in PNG for over five years, many institutions both government and private continue to deploy unlicensed software throughout their organisations.
“This illegal practice eludes criminal prosecution due to the non-existence in PNG of a Government Body to regulate these unprofessional practices,” Mr Schilt said.
“It also distorts IT budgets as software license costs are generally omitted from the financial planning process thus giving an inaccurate and under-estimated financial snapshot of Total Cost of Ownership (TOC).
“The Open Source Software (OSS) model for applications development is based on principles of openness and collaboration compared to the proprietary model which is closed and is primarily focused on profit,” he said.
“Open Source Software is a development method for software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process.
“The promise of Open Source is better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in.”
Mr Schilt quoted a recent Garter report, The State of
The report goes on to say that “by 2012, more than 90% of enterprises will use Open Source in direct or embedded forms”.
“Although a thorough analysis and study of processes and business requirements should always precede the decision as to which software is to be used in any organisation, there currently exists a window of opportunity in
“ This window of opportunity that now exists within PNG can be attributed to the so called ‘Green Field’ situation and the fact that many institutions are now just embarking upon Information Systems (IS) projects and thus are able to bypass the high costs associated with migration from a Proprietary to an Open Source solution.”
Mr Schilt said the tangible benefits when adopting an Open Source method to software implementations within PNG Hospitals were as follows:
- Open Source Software is almost 100% immune to virus, spyware and other forms of malicious attacks. One can safely deploy PC's in an organisation without the need to install complex and costly virus protection software and at the same time feel confident that their PC's will remain virus free. This point alone gives incredible strength to the argument for Open Source. Goroka General Hospital has close to 60 PC's deployed, not one runs any form of anti virus software and in the past 12 months it has not had not had one single virus incident.
- There are no software licensing costs associated with Open Source Software. Because Open Source is based on a collaborative model rather than a model for profit, the costs savings in software licensing alone make for a very strong business case for Open Source. Goroka Hospital’s IT Training Center as an example has saved the Hospital K5,000 per PC, that is approximately K60,000 in software licenses that would have been needed to purchase had it installed PC's with Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office.
- Collaboration groups around the world that are currently involved in software development initiatives for Health Information Systems (HIS) are mature and offer a wide range of Health Informatics application software solutions. These groups, too many to name, have had a major impact on the delivery of health care solutions not only globally but also in the Pacific Region.
“The ultimate objective of our work at
“This goal will only be achieved through the provision of efficient, reliable and integrated health information systems that are cost effective.
“The IT Team at
Mr Schilt has over 25 years experience in the IC&T Industry and comes to the
Before coming to PNG in 2005 he was a key team member on a high-profile, large-scale and successful E-government implementation.
Through him Goroka General Hospital is the first in the country to have its own website with an online health forum soon to follow, an intranet is soon to follow, staff have been trained using Open Source Software, new training modules are being developed, and the next major challenge is the development of an Electronic Patient Records System (PRS) including the tidy up of hospital's records whilst adhering to recognised international health record keeping standards.
“This task has already commenced and is envisaged to run for the next 18 months to two years,” Mr Schilt said,
“The basis and starting point for a PRS at
Mr Schilt can be contacted on email address rschilt@hotmail.com or through his website at http://www.trupela.com/.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Why film making is not taking off In Papua New Guinea
Funding is number one problem identified
By
From Demolition Man to Spiderman to Star Wars, Papua New Guineans have watched these Western films so many times that they have become household names.
Whether they be on DVD, video cassettes or on HBO, we have become so accustomed to American movies that we never give a second thought to the possibility that we could make our own.
The first film made in
Most films after that were ethnographic documentaries about the way of life in the country.
Then we saw the emergence of some short films such as Urban Drift, Fourth Child, Warriors in Transit, Marabe and Stap Isi, all about life in developing
The first fully Papua New Guinean 16mm drama film, Tukana-husat I Asua? was made in 1982, by the
Then in 1990, the second Papua New Guinean entertainment film, Tinpis Run, was made. This half a million
Films like Tinpis Run, Tukana, Marabe, Stap Isi, Stolen Moments, are locally made, yet over the years the film industry in the country has been fighting a desperate battle just to survive.
Why?
Because making films in
Tukana cost about US$30,000 to $40,000; Stolen Moments was made for less than $10,000 with money raised from local businesses and the unpaid services of many.
That was some 10 years ago.
It is a different story today.
Ruth Ketau, film editor at the National Film Institute in Goroka, says the biggest problem is lack of funding from the government.
“Since PNG is a developing nation with many mouths to feed and is facing an economic downturn, the government can’t afford to put money into film making because it doesn’t see it as a priority.”
Yet the national information and communications policy (revised edition 1993), says: “It shall be the policy of the government to encourage and support the production of short educational films by both the private and public agencies.”
But can all the blame be put on the national government for
One major hurdle the film industry is facing is that
Dr Nancy Sullivan, an American who was producer and co-director of Stolen Moments, says a big problem is video piracy.
“Whatever gets produced doesn’t get any revenue because it’s just copied and shown without being sold.
“Certainly the first step to an indigenous film industry would be the institution of copyright laws.”
Thirty-seven-year-old Oscar Sam Wanu, who played the lead role in Tinpis Run, says the film was professionally made.
Even though it won the ‘Best Acting Movie’ in
“PNG has no copyright law and the moment one film is shown, it’s copied. To tell you the truth, even before I received a copy of the finished product of Tinpis Run, one of my wantoks had already shown it to his neighbours.”
Wanu also says that Papua New Guineans have been producing educational and documentary films but are less strong on entertainment films.
He said “If we are to break into the international film market we must be competitive because that is where we can make the big bucks.
“Tinpis Run has stunts, special effects, lighting and sound effects which are ingredients of a successful entertainment film.
“Most PNG films need these to even start attracting international audiences.”
But Sullivan points out that
In PNG, there is a blur between real entertainment films and documentary.
“Unlike Western films, we produce ones which have fiction yet with facts to say something about the PNG way of life.
“There are not so much ‘aliens coming to earth’ or fantasy-type films but ones that have some truth about PNG culture.
“Because of that uniqueness, we can gain international audiences who are already tired of these crazy American films.”
The PNG National Film Institute (NFI) in Goroka is the only place in
The institute comes under the National Cultural Commission, along with bodies like the
The National Cultural Commission gave K368, 500 to the NFI, out of the total K2.1 million allocated to it by the national government last year (2002).
“It’s just not enough,” says Ketau.
“We were not able to make any major films in the last three years because of the cost associated with filmmaking in the country.”
Rodney Sinaune, who owns and operates Niugini Piksa Productions in Goroka, knows exactly why independent filmmakers like himself are also struggling.
“There was a National Film Symposium held in Goroka in 1987 where filmmakers, producers and editors formulated policies to help the industry, but since then, the policy has been shelved.
“There is talent out there but people don’t see the significance of an industry that can’t even make its own money and support itself.”
With the film industry ailing, another opportunity that has arisen is short television productions. The national television station, EMTV, has contributed by airing locally made programmes such as CHM Super Sounds, South Pacific Music, Insait, NCDC News and My People My Country.
But TV shows cannot really be a substitute for the missed chance of making indigenous
And while the film industry is busy fighting its battles, the country’s audience will continue watching foreign films to fill the entertainment void
Items that have been recalled due to China's milk scandal
Hi Friends,
I believe this information is very important so spread the news.
Here are some items that have been recalled in
For your information, the following items have been recalled due to
1. M&M
2. Snickers
3. Mento's Yoghurt Bottle
4. Dove Chocolate
5. Oreo Wafer Sticks
6. Dutchlady Sterilised Milk
7. Wall's all natural mango
8. Mini Poppers Ice Cream
9. Magnum Ice Cream
10. Moo
11. Mini Cornetto
12. Youcan Ice Cream
Stores have been asked by AVA Singapore to remove them. If you have any of these items at home, don't eat them.
Consumers who have bought the affected products are advised not to consume them, the AVA said in a statement.
The latest test results bring the total number of milk and related products from
The other two affected products are ‘Yili Brand’ Choice Dairy Fruit Bar
Yogurt Flavoured Ice Confection" and ‘Dutch Lady’ brand of strawberry flavoured milk.
All the affected products have been recalled earlier.
Since Sept 19, 2008, AVA has suspended the import and sale of all milk and milk products from
These products include milk, ice-cream, yoghurt, confectionery such as chocolates, biscuits and sweets as well as any other products containing milk from
Retailers and importers have also been instructed to recall these
products and withhold them from sale.
AVA will not hesitate to prosecute any retailer or importer who fail to
remove these products from their shelves. Under the
As a precaution, consumers are also advised not to consume any milk or
milk products from
Old Lae pictures (continued)
Picture 1: What the Botanical Gardens used to look like
Picture 2:
Picture 3: And to think that the Botanical Gardens once had a pool
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