E-Governance in Pacific: mapping a way forward

Australia's Cyber Cooperation Program is supporting governments in the Pacific to maximise opportunities offered by the digital age. Partnering with the e-Governance Academy of Estonia and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute the project worked with Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Kirbati to develop a baseline assessment of existing e-Governance capabilities and required resources to achieve each country's desired digital transformation.

The final project workshop was held in Canberra on 1-3 October 2019 to share key findings and observations of the baseline assessment and to discuss some common issues to all Pacific states, including single access digital platform, national digital ID and security by design.

Officials from each country provided an update of work completed to date and their plans for the future. The workshop also provided a unique opportunity for Pacific government officials working on e-governance meet fellow colleagues from across the region to develop a Pacific community of practice, and attend DTA's Digital Summit 2019 which showcased Australian best practice in e-government solutions.

Founded in 2002, the e-Governance Academy (eGA) is a non-profit think tank and consultancy organisation: a joint initiative of the Government of Estonia, Open Society Institute (OSI) and the United Nations Development Programme. To date, eGA has cooperated with more than 200 organisations and trained more than 5,500 officials in 130 countries and regions.

ASPI is an independent, non-partisan think tank that produces expert and timely advice for Australia's strategic and defence leaders.

Opening the second workshop, Cameron Archer from DFAT outlined Australia's cyber engagement in the Pacific. Credit: DFAT
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