The need for PNG to improve its ICT

Picture at left: Personal computers should be made available to underprivileged demographic groups in PNG

The overwhelming response to my two articles on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Papua New Guinea, from both within the country and abroad, shows the urgent need for the country to improve its ICT in this rapidly-globalised world.

I was overwhelmed by the responses to my articles in The National on Friday September 7 titled “Building your own website” and the one last Friday titled “Internet cafes and the digital divide”.

This week, I’d like to share with the readers of this column, some of the many responses to my articles over the last two weeks.

I was inundated by the constant stream of SMS text messages and emails from people, particularly small business men and women wanting to build their own websites, as well as those complaining about the very high Internet usage fees being charged in PNG.

A good friend of mine built his own website free of charge after reading my first article without having to pay exorbitant fees for a website designer, a domain name, or Internet Service Provider (ISP) rentals.

It was a dream come true for this friend of mine, who has been trying for years to have his own website, only to be met with the brick wall of high costs.

A handful of individuals and small business men and women are now in the process of building their own websites, while I am advising several others all over the country how to build their own, without being ripped of by unscrupulous companies and individuals.

Second-year Divine Word University IT student Julia Komoru commented: “We have completed a unit on website developing recently, and it’s not at all difficult to create a website.

“It’s really hard to understand why individuals and organisations charge so much for doing something so simple.”

Last Friday’s article on the very high Internet rates in this country, particularly those being charged by ISPs in Port Moresby at their cafes, brought back a swift and emotional response.

I particularly compared the high rates by charged by Data Nets and Datec to the low rates being charged at the RH Hypermart and the Sports Inn.

“I read with interest your article in the Weekender Section on ‘Internet cafes and the digital divide’,” wrote Data Nets general-manager Sundar Ramamurthy

“The piece that caught my eye was your basic comparison between our Cafe pricing (as an ISP) and those at the Sports Inn and RH.

“The question that is asked is ‘Why are our prices much higher than your favourite places i.e. Sports Inn and RH?

“Answer:

“1) Like any business the charging is market-driven. It could very
well be that RH and Sports Inn subsidise their Internet access so
people come in and have a drink or buy goods. This is often called a
‘loss leader’ that attracts customers to come to their shop to buy
other goods whilst they are on the Internet.

“2) One needs to compare the speed. Fifteen minutes at a more expensive
place might be equal to 30 minutes at a slower cafe. So price needs to be
compared to performance. In Internet terms this means speed and
throughput and value.

“In broad terms, there is broad concurrence that cost and reliability
(power and telecommunications) are critical to the future of PNG's
communications requirements.”

Datec general-manager Tony Westaway wrote: “I read with interest your article in the National on Friday 14 September 2007.

“You talked of a need to develop and expand the ICT industry and the country keeping in touch with world standards.

“You mentioned that students need to be educated on the potential of ICT.

“Datec is holding a Technology Expo over the 12th and 13th of October 2007 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Port Moresby.

“We will have a significant number of International exhibitors in attendance.

“It will provide an opportunity for business people, IT specialists, and most importantly students, to see the most recent developments in Information & Communication Technology.

“Datec has already distributed over 1000 free tickets to students in technical colleges, UPNG and TAFE, and other institutions in Port Moresby.

“By the way Datec is currently reviewing its charges for the Internet Café in Port Moresby.”

An anonymous reader wrote: “Internet access in PNG is much more expensive than you probably realise.

“For example Datec charges K100 for 80MB Wireless Internet access.

“In New Zealand KOL charges K100 for 10GB or 10,000MB Broadband Internet access.

“That is, PNG is 125 times more expensive! Further the speed is considerably slower!

“My understanding is that these ridulously high charges are because of the ridiculously high charges Telikom charges Datec and other ISPs.

“I can only afford very limited Internet access compared in PNG compared to what I used to be able to afford in New Zealand.”

Sam Roth wrote from Japan: “Thanks for keeping us informed on the development of ITC in PNG, especially with Internet.

“I have a good collection of your latest articles on IT and am quite pleased with your work.

“Keep up the good work and know that you have fans all over the world.

“In fact, it is an area of interest for me especially my Masters Thesis, and am amazed that I am not alone in this to make our beautiful country catch up with the rest of the world in ITC.”

Sam signed off with a quote from Einstein: "Among every impossibility lies an opportunity."

For comments and feedback, email the author at malumnalu@yahoo.com or SMS 6849763.

Internet cafes and the Digital Divide

Picture at left: Making the Internet affordable and accessible to the people...the Comserv Internet cafe at RH Hypermart

Being a regular user of Internet cafes in Port Moresby, it quite surprises me that cafes owned by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) charge among the highest rates.

For instance, Data Nets charges K5.50 for 15 minutes, K11 for 30 minutes, and K22 for an hour.

The country’s largest ISP provider, Datec, charges K10 for 15 minutes, K15 for 30 minutes, and K20 for an hour.

Rates charged by major hotels in Port Moresby vary but can be quite astronomical.

Compare these to the low K3 for 15 minutes, K6 for 30 minutes, and K12 for an hour being charged by the Comserv café at the RH Hypermart.

Closer behind is the café at the Sports Inn which charges K6 for 15 minutes, K9 for 30 minutes, and K12 for an hour.

I regularly haunt the RH Hypermart as it has arguably the best and cheapest Internet café in Port Moresby.

In theory, Internet cafes should be making the Internet affordable and accessible to the general public, however, they seem to be going the other direction in this country, making the Internet unaffordable and inaccessible.

High Internet costs are a major setback for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) who don’t have Internet access, as they use these cafes to try and sell their products and services.

It is also a turnoff for tourists, students doing research, as well as members of the general public as they try to check their email as well as surf the Internet.

Talk about trying to create a knowledge-based economy!

I have heard many complaints from tourist friends about the very high Internet usage fees being charged in Papua New Guinea.

Perhaps Telikom and the ISPs in this country should look at countries like Singapore, who have very-efficient and cheap Internet services.

Anyone who’s passed through Singapore’s world-famous Changi Airport will tell you that you can access the Internet for free all around the terminal buildings.

The hotel I was staying at in Singapore last month offered free Internet services.

Strolling through the streets of Singapore’s Geylang district, I was able to use the Internet at one of the many such roadside cafes for about S$2 an hour.

I was also able to talk to my wife in Port Moresby over the Internet – Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) – for only S$1 a minute.

High Internet costs contribute towards making the much talked about Digital Divide in Papua New Guinea an enormous barrier to the ability of the people to participate in and benefit from the digital economy.

Measures of the Digital Divide include:
Affordability – Can underprivileged small businesses and individuals afford to use quality computers and Internet services?
Internet access – Are there wide band communication networks accessible to businesses and households both in urban and rural areas?
Personal computer penetration – Are personal computers economically owned by the underprivileged demographic groups?
Training – Are there training programmes of computer and Internet provided to underprivileged sectors of the population?
Relevant content – Are there relevant software packages, local language contents rich enough to address the needs of the underprivileged population?
IT sector – Are there efficient ICT industries who are able to serve the needs of local businesses and individuals?

On Wednesday last week, I attended a seminar organised by the PNG Computer Society, being someone who is very much interested in ICT.

Society secretary Sadiq Ali said as PNG gradually developed its economic and political sphere, there was an imperative need for the ICT industry to develop and expand in the country.

“PNG, although it is not apparent it is suffering from a need of advanced communication industry, the country needs to keep touch with world standards of information systems and networking,” he said.

“Costly as it may seem, the investment will do good to match the first-rated countries and furthermore, the future generation of this nation will be the ones to make use and improve on this.

“Coming from an educator’s angle in ICT, PNG needs to educate its younger generation on the potential of the ICT and the good it will do for the economy.

“Students need to be educated on the new technology and innovation so that they too become independent thinkers and networkers.

“The commercialisation of the ICT industry provides a good opportunity to develop and inspire the young.”

Meantime, I was overwhelmed by the response to my article in The National last Friday titled “Building your own website”.

I was inundated by the constant stream of SMS text messages and emails from people, particularly small business men and women, wanting to build their own websites.

They concurred that companies and individuals are benefiting from the ignorance of the little people by charging them huge amounts of money to build a website for their small businesses.

And after being ripped off, the little people then feel the brunt of paying excessive fees for a domain name, regular rental to the ISP, as well as Internet usage fees to Telikom.

The response to my article highlighted, at least to me, the need for training programmes of computer and Internet to be provided to all sectors of the community, particularly our SMEs.

For comments and feedback, email the author at malumnalu@yahoo.com or SMS 6849763.

Building your own website

Several companies and individuals in Papua New Guinea are profiteering from the ignorance of our little people by charging them huge amounts of money to build a website for their small businesses.

And after being ripped off by these companies, the little people then feel the brunt of paying excessive fees for a domain name, regular rental to the Internet Service Provider (ISP), as well as Internet usage fees to Telikom.

Caption for above: www.freewebs.com is one of the most popular free website building and hosting websites in the world.jpg

In a small economy such as that of PNG, small businesses cannot survive with such exorbitant costs.

This should no longer be the case, as it is quick and easy to design a website using templates freely available on the Internet, where you do not have to pay for a domain name or ISP rentals.

Your just have to pay for your Internet usage fee at the nearest Internet café if you don’t have Internet access in your office.

More often than not, these small PNG business men and women, are not Internet-savvy and will not know basics like uploading their website onto the Internet or registering their website with Internet search engines and web directories.

The situation for many Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) all over the world, including PNG, is that an entrepreneur owns a small or medium enterprise.

The company produces an interesting product such as organic coffee or arts and crafts, or provides a novel service such as taking tourists across the Kokoda Trail.

The problem: How do we use the Internet to sell the product or service?

The general methodology is to plan, analyse and enact E-marketing activities.

This methodology can be used by anyone who wants to use the Internet to access customers.

Components include:
Goals – What do we wish to achieve through E-marketing?
Resources – What resources can we expect to support our actions?
Actors – Who are the marketing actors in the E-marketing process?
Spaces – Where will our E-marketing take place online?
Actions – What specific E-marketing actions should we take?
Outcomes – What outcomes should we expect from our E-marketing activities?

Competing on the Internet is different because it is highly fragmented and holds more than 8 billion web pages.

The Internet features a “winner-take-all market” where a few winners get a lot of traffic while most sites get low traffic

A short-term goal may be stated in this way: “Our goal is to attract 100,000 visitors to the page in one week.”

A long term goal may be described in this way: “Our goal in the next one year is to get 3 million visits and 50,000 downloads of application forms for new accounts.”

Typical goals include:
Traffic to a website – How many hits, unique visitors?
Product purchase – How many visitors buy the product?
Brand excitement - How many visitors write about the product and tell others?
Repeat visits – How many visitors come back to buy more?

Existing resources should include the website and staff.

New resources to be considered include:
Do you have a marketing budget to attract more customers to your site?
Do you have a technology budget to build a better website and other digital services?

Actors’ orientation towards the company will be friendly, agnostic, or hostile.

The important decision is should you create your own website or go through a platform?

When you create your own website, it is hard to build awareness and traffic, and is a risky investment.

On the other hand, it is not a sure bet to go through a platform, and you must share revenue with the platform.

Making a free website these days is fast and really easy, which is certainly good news for SMEs all over PNG.

Government departments, statutory organisations, non-government organisations, sporting teams, provinces, villages, families, individuals, and many more should also be looking at seriously building their own website if they don’t already have one in this rapidly-globalising world.

Each of our 109 MPs should have their own website to share information with their voters and the people of PNG.

You can also create your own online Blog – which basically is an online diary - free of charge in which you can broadcast your views to the whole world.

I have my own Blog http://malumnalu.blogspot.com/ in which I feature some of the stories I have written about PNG and I have received response from around the world.

You can also send short video clips to YouTube, one of the most-popular and fastest-growing websites in the world, free of charge.

Many world leaders, including Australian Prime Minister John Howard, use YouTube to broadcast their video clips.

All over this increasingly-globalised world, a massive Information Revolution is taking place as economies use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a passport to what economists call the “New Economy”.

I have said before, and will say it again, that the ICT monopoly in PNG, exorbitant telephone and Internet costs, as well as lack of knowledge about ICT and E-business all contribute to this digital divide.

Papua New Guinea will continue to remain light years behind the rest of the world if we do not jump on the ICT bandwagon in this globalised world.

The digital divide within PNG is an enormous barrier to the ability of the people to participate in and benefit from the digital economy.

Access to Internet, adequate infrastructure, human capacity building and appropriate policies on ICT are central issues in addressing the digital divide.

Success in this globalised world is predicated on ICT knowledge and successful knowledge-based economies will be based on the efficient and widespread use of ICT by all sectors within any given country.

Small and medium enterprises, the backbone of the PNG economy, must be prepared with ICT knowledge.

If they are not ICT-savvy, they will not receive the benefits of globalisation and they will be left behind the rest of the world.

For comments and thoughts, or assistance with building your website, contact the author on email malumnalu@yahoo.com or SMS 6849763

Thunderstorm

There was a big thunderstorm in Taipei yesterday afternoon during the third day of our APEC OVOP Workshop on E-Commerce.

At left is a picture of the Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world, being hit by lightnight.

There was loud thunder, lightnight flashes, and heavy rain.

This followed on from last Saturday's typhoon which lashed Taiwan.

Fortunately, the thunderstorm ended and the sun came out to shine.

Douglas Keari and I visited an electronics shop in Taipei before returning to the Grand Hotel to rest.

Death of the Macdhui

A small, but significant, anniversary took place on Monday June 18, 2007.

That was the 65th anniversary of the sinking of the motor vessel Macdhui, sunk in the Port Moresby harbour by Japanese bombs in June 1942.

One of the best-known landmarks in Port Moresby is the wreck of the Macdhui in the waters just off the Port Moresby Technical College at Kanudi.

Many people just drive or walk past without knowing the significant role that the Macdhui played in the development of Papua New Guinea.

Recently, I was asked to be a tour guide for a retired US veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars, and one of the World War 11 relics I showed him was the wreck of the Macdhui.

As we stood at Kanudi looking out to sea, I wondered what stories the deep blue sea, the rolling hills, and the wide sky could tell me about what they saw that fateful day in 1942.

It was then that I realised that June 18, 2007, would be the 65th anniversary of the sinking of the Macdhui and decided to put pen to paper.

The Macdhui, 4630 tonnes, built in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1930, was owned and operated on the Australia-Papua New Guinea service by Burns Philp and Company Limited.

Macdhui’s maiden voyage took place in March 1931, sailing to Suva, Fiji, via the Azores, Jamaica, and the Panama Canal, with a load of coal.

Then the Sydney to Rabaul route for Burns Philip with 167 first-class passengers’ accomodation.
On June 20, 1931, a fire broke out on another voyage between Madang and Lae, but the passengers were safely taken ashore in lifeboats.

MacDhui was safely towed to Salamaua, New Guinea's then administrative capital, by Neptuna, another Burns Philp & Co vessel.

After patching at Salamaua, MacDhui was sailed to Sydney for six weeks of repairs.

With the onset of war the ship was commandeered by the Navy and used to evacuate civilians from New Guinea, then carrying Australian troops back to Port Moresby.

On June 17, 1942, the Macdhui was attacked by Japanese bombers as it was discharging to lighters in Port Moresby harbour.

It began zigzagging around the harbour but took one direct hit which caused considerable damage.

The vessel later went alongside the main wharf to unload dead and wounded.

The next day, at 10.45am, there was another air-raid warning and the Macdhui moved out into the harbour and began manoeuvring.

Soon after the raid began, it took a direct hit.

The captain headed towards shallow water where his ship finally keeled over onto a reef.

Ten of the crew of 77 were killed along with five Australian gunners from 39 Battalion.

Altogether, the Macdhui took four direct hits.

The dramatic sinking was captured on a black and white movie film shot by the famous Australian cameraman, Damien Parer from a nearby hilltop.

The loss of the Macdhui was a great blow to the morale of the Australian troops in Port Moresby.

Until then it had been the only regular and reliable link between Australia and Port Moresby.

After the war, the Australian government compensated Burns Philp for its loss.

The wreck itself is now deeply pitted and corroded under the waterline.

It is gradually breaking up but even if it does slip completely under the surface part of the Macdhui will remain in Port Moresby.

In the late 1960s the mast was removed and now stands outside the Royal Papua Yacht Club as a memorial to those who died.

One of the bells was erected in the tower of St John’s Anglican Church in Port Moresby and to this day still calls parishioners to worship.

Former vice-commodore of the Royal Papua Yacht Club, Trevor Kerr, tells of a supernatural experience in 1979 when the ashes of the late Captain J. Campbell, skipper of the Macdhui, were laid to rest with his ship.

The powered launch Tina, owned and skippered by yacht club committee member Russ Behan, approached the wreck with Captain Campbell’s two sons, a United Church minister, and Kerr on board.

“The weather in the harbour was unusually placid, not a zephyr stirred,” writes former Port Moresby diver Neil Whiting in Wreck and Reefs of Port Moresby.

“The sea was so clear that the superstructure of the Macdhui could be seen below the surface of the water.

“There was not a ripple on the surface or current drift to break the calm.

“With heads bowed in prayer, the United Church minister upturned the urn containing Captain Campbell’s ashes and scattered the contents into the sea.

“Trevor, observing the ceremony in a more detached fashion than the others, observed the most amazing sequence of events.

“The ashes initially clouded the water as one would expect, but almost immediately condensed into a form similar to a teardrop.

“Then, the most amazing phenomenon occurred.

“The teardrop cloud quite rapidly crossed the six-metre intervening gap between the Tina and the Macdhui and disappeared into the hull.

“At a nudge from Trevor, Russ glanced up and also observed the incredible event.

“The engines of the launch were quickly started and in a state of chilled awe, the funeral party motored away.

“Captain Campbell had returned to his ship.”

Back in Taiwan

Hi everyone,
I've travelled back again to Taiwan for another workshop, this time the APEC OVOP (One Village One Product) Workshop on E-Commerce from August 20-24.
I arrived in Taipei on Sunday August 19 with Douglas Keari from the Papua New Guinea Tourism Promotion Authority.
Douglas is an IT Officer by profession.
The weather was very bad after a powerful typhoon lashed Taiwan on Saturday August 18 and it was a very-turbulent four-hour ride from Singapore on a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777.
We left Port Moresby for Singapore on Thursday August 16 and spent three days in Singapore.
I'll keep you posted.

Regards,

Malum.

Grave robbers wreak havoc in Lae cemeteries

Grave of the late Mathias Nalu, May 2006

There are some things in life that are so hard to comprehend.
These things make you wonder why some people have the audacity to carry out such acts, which include desecrating the memory of loved ones that families and relatives have laid to rest.
These people can stoop as low as stealing brass plaques from graveyards to sell to unscrupulous scrap metal dealers for a fast buck.
In my home town of Lae, this practice has been going on ever since these dealers - who prey on Papua New Guinea's massive unemployment problem - set foot.
Today, a visit to cemeteries in Lae, will show you many headstones on graves that are missing brass plaques.
A case in point is the old graveyard up the road from the famous old Lae airport.
This graveyard is the final resting place for many of the pioneers of Lae and Morobe province, mainly expatriates, and was a relic of a bygone era where visitors could learn so much just by reading the plaques and headstones.
Rest In Peace - RIP - those buried here are supposed to be.
However, this has not been the case over the last 10 years or so, as grave robbers without a care in the world have plundered basically all the brass plaques.
In my younger days, as a journalist in Lae, one of my hobbies used to be wandering old graveyards and reading the plaques and headstones as I could learn so much history.
Sadly, I can no longer do this, as many of the plaques are gone.
And the irony is that people are not making any noise about this daylight robbery going on in front of their own faces.
The grave robbers are desecrating graveyards at the old Lae airport, Second Seven (Malahang), and even my Butibam village, to name a few.
Heaven knows what would happen to the Lae War Cemetery if there wasn't tight security around to prevent these intruders.
We never thought that this practice would come to Butibam until a few years ago when plaques started disappearing overnight.
In May last year, while on a working trip to Lae, I visited my father's grave at Butibam and took pictures.
A short time later, I was surprised to receive a call from my mother, who was in tears as she told me that Dad's plaque had disappeared to these unprincipled grave leeches.
The entire family, just like me, was shocked as we wondered what exactly Dad or we had done to deserve this.
The plaque, to this day, has not been replaced as I somehow have to find the exact wording for a replacement.
My father, the late Mathias Nalu, died on September 17, 1993, after more than 35 years of service with the Education Department as a teacher and later a school inspector.
He had just retired and received his final entitlements, however, never got to enjoy the fruits of his labour as he suffered a severe stroke from which he never recovered until his untimely passing.
Dad was one of those old Dregerhafen and Finschhafen boys who was always proud to call Michael Somare, Paulias Matane, the late Alkan Tololo, and many more, "old school mates".
Dad's school mates went on to become great leaders of this country while he chose to take the backseat as a humble teacher and school inspector.
Hundreds of teachers and public servants packed the St Andrew's Lutheran Church at Ampo in Lae for his funeral service.
The Nalu family was humbled by this show of respect from so many people from all over Lae, Morobe province, and PNG.
I realise that times are hard, but to steal brass plaques from graves to sell to some dodgy scrap metal dealer for a quick buck is unforgivable.
The new government should put in place tough legislation to combat those who steal plaques from graves and those who buy them.
These offenders, as part of their rehabilitation, could be sent to Salamaua where the villagers there will teach them how to look after and respect old graveyards.
The old Salamaua cemetery is a relic of a bygone era of the 1920s and 1930s when fevered gold miners from all over the world converged on this idyllic part of the world.
To visit the old Salamaua cemetery is to step back in time, to a rip-roaring period when gold fever struck men from around the globe.
Today the old Salamaua cemetery, or what remains of it, is well tended to by the local villagers.
The graves are mute testimony to the days when European man, running a high gold fever, was claimed by a fever of a different kind.
I have a very simple message for those who removed my father's plaque and those who bought it.
"May God forgive you.
"I find it very hard to do so."