The Vanuatu Prime Minister Sato Kilman has announced that Vanuatu will receive a major award from the United Nations for its achievements in information, communications and technology (ICT).
The Prime Minister stated that, “I am very pleased today to reveal that the United Nations and its ICT agency, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), have decided to honor Vanuatu with the UN/ITU ‘Award for ICTs in Sustainable Development.’ This award was given for using ICTs to help achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.”
The PM said that the award reflected Vanuatu’s many achievements in ICTs in engineering, policy, market structure and regulation. He said that, “Vanuatu has built its first submarine cable, created a competitive ICT market structure, set up an independent and effective telecom regulator, built the Vanuatu Internet Exchange, dramatically increased mobile penetration, and launched and run an effective government-wide communications network.”
“ICTs allowed us to give adequate warning to our citizens about the threat of the terrible Cyclone Pam. After the cyclone passed, our government ICT staff and private Vanuatu firms responded rapidly to rebuild damaged or destroyed ICT infrastructure, so that government operations and private business could return to normal.”
PM Kilman also stated that, “Our biggest recent achievement was to design a plan and sign an agreement among all relevant parties that Vanuatu will reach 98 percent penetration of broadband ICTs by January 1, 2018. We are well on our way toward reaching that goal, which will place us in a position of regional leadership among the Pacific island nations.”