The first phase of the Papua New Guinea Government’s new ‘State in a Phone’ project aims to give citizens access to an online government information portal before the end of the year. There will also be benefits for business.

Department of Communication and Information Technology’s Steven Matainaho. Credit: BAI/Rocky Roe

The introduction of the Coral Sea Cable means that Papua New Guinea is swimming in bandwith for the first time. It makes sense for the government to be the first in line to dip its toe into the water, with the development of an smartphone-friendly portal for government services – ‘State in a Phone’.

Steven Matainaho, Acting Secretary of the Department of Communication and Information Technology, says that new technology will be enabled by the introduction of the cable. This requires the government to have a clear online strategy.

‘We are also looking at how to improve public service so we are working on a digital clock-in and clock-out system for public service.’

The provision of ‘e-government’ – providing public services to citizens online – is a high priority, and there are already some precedents.

In September last year, the PNG Immigration and Citizenship Authority introduced online visa applications, a move that drastically cut wait times and allowed for online payment. Similarly, PNG Ports offers ship arrival times and berthing information via their shipping schedule mobile app.

Citizens first, then business

For Matainaho, the first step is to lay the proper legislative foundation, which includes centralising and standardising ICT products and services. He tells Business Advantage PNG the government will also be speaking to all its agencies to ease the transition so that, in Phase One of the development of the portal, most government services will be available at the touch of a button.

The e-government push will also create opportunities for the streamlining of government operations.

‘We are also looking at how to improve the public service, so we are working on a digital clock-in and clock-out system for the public service – so we may have some departments where that works,’ says Matainaho.

‘We are looking at the option of an innovation hub where we might invite SME and IT specialists to come in and utilise the space to grow their business.’

Businesses, however, will have to wait before receiving any benefits from the State in a Phone project.

‘From an e-government perspective, we are trying to look at this sequentially, so we want it to be citizen-driven. The information portal will focus more on citizen-driven services but it’s the tip of the iceberg,’ he says. ‘Then we will look at government-to-government – which agencies need to talk to each other in terms of data sharing and data centralisation. Then, the next step would be government-to-industry. So, that is the sequence we are looking at.’

Potential new high-tech hub

Tech-focused small and medium enterprises (SMEs) may be well placed to get in early on the proposed transformation of the public service.

Matainaho says that while the Department of Communication and Information Technology may not have a huge budget, it does have a lot of space at its new headquarters near Ela Beach.

‘We are looking at the option of an innovation hub where we might invite SME and IT specialists to come in and utilise the space to grow their business – at the same time, they can contribute to some of the development requirements,’ he says.

Matainaho believes there is enough IT skill within PNG to kickstart the project. But he warns that it may be necessary to import some skills in the cyber security area.