Talofa lava & Warm Greetings from Samoa
It gives me great privilege to address this forum today, on behalf of the Prime Minister and also Chairman of our Digital Transformation Council, Susuga Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Afioga Afamasaga Toeolesulusulu Lepuia’i Rico Tupa’i, the Government and, people of Samoa, especially the children, for which the focus of today’s launching is on.
I would like to, on the onset, acknowledge the Save the Children International and the Fiji Team and the Facebook Regional Policy Team for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Region for initiating the “Save the Children/Facebook Online Safety Educational Campaign for Pacific Island Countries”.
The presence of the Hon, Minister for Women, Children and Poverty and other Pacific Leaders shows the commitment of our leaders in the Region to ensure the online safety and well-being of our children amidst the advances in technology. And the partnership forged with Facebook on this initiative could not have been timelier given the widespread usage and proliferation of social media by our children and youth.
Therefore, our note of thanks to all those behind this crucial initiative and the Samoan Government is pleased to support and be part of the first group to pilot this initiative.
It is without doubt that there continues to be notable achievements across the Pacific Region, in all spheres and areas of development especially in the ICT Sector. Our respective Governments have taken unprecedented and at times, swift actions to strengthen our digital infrastructure and the digital domain, to ensure that our Island Nations do not lag too far behind other technologically advanced and developed Nations.
The commissioning of the Tui-Samoa and Manatua Submarine Cables for Samoa and its partners, has enabled the Country to experience fast, reliable, accessible and affordable connectivity. In addition to this, Samoa for example continues to support the Pacific Digital Agenda in creating opportunities for development and collaboration within and across the Region. The resultant Digital Pacific Conference is one of the initiatives under the Pacific Digital Agenda and has unleashed a new era of entrepreneurship and innovation, especially amongst the youth.
But with the proliferation and advances of technology, our Island Nations continue to experience mounting challenges, to varying degrees, in our pursuit and drive for digital transformation and digital initiatives within and across our Region. As we become more and more dependent on the Internet and digital platforms, we become more and more exposed to real cyber-threats, the increase in social problems amongst the youth due to cyber bullying, cyber harassment, and numerous other problems. And those most vulnerable to these threats and challenges, are of course our Children!
In Samoa, for the 2019 School Year for example, over 30% of the population are school-aged children, ranging from over 4,000 in Early Childhood Education, to over 43,000 in Primary education, to over 16,000 in Secondary Education. These figures do not include those in Tertiary Education and youth in informal Education, who all have access to technology. While these figures are nowhere in comparison to figures of other Nations in the Pacific Region, it confirms the growing percentage of our population in the younger age group category for which initiatives such as these are so crucial to have in place. The launching today highlights the importance of the I AM DIGITAL initiative in building our children’s awareness and skills in protecting their information, their need to communicate respectfully, and their ability to identify, avoid and address harmful content and activity online.
It goes without saying that our children all have access to the Internet, Schools are equipped with the most advanced technology to assist with the teaching and the learning, children have access to various gadgets and devices, all of which are connected to the Internet. It also goes without saying that a high percentage of our children all have a social media account, which as we have seen, there are mounting social issues brought about by these. It is for these reasons and many more that the Samoan Government continue to support initiatives such as the I AM DIGITAL initiative, as it ensures continued collaboration and partnership with others in the Region, capitalizing on our limited resources to ensure the safety and well-being of our children.
Our People, our Children are the best investments for our future. And therefore, banking on the benefits of this initiative, we must build up our local and regional human capacity, to enable and ensure that our children are more digitally savvy, through programs and schemes that harvest potential digital skills and cyber talent that will evolve tomorrow’s generation, to be pathfinders of these new ventures. In addition to this, this initiative will empower our children to develop digital skills that will enable the harmonization of traditional methods, which are complementary to digital inclusion, with the focus on the dynamics of digital literacy. Not only are we to equip them for tomorrow, but we must also sustain all digital developments through closer collaboration with all key stakeholders, such as Ministry of Education, MPMC, MOPP, MWCSD, OOTR, NGOs and the Private Sector to build a safe and secure ecosystem of digital platforms and tools that will enable everyone, from all levels and walks of life to experience a well-managed Cyberspace.
Educating our people especially our children on how to be safe, secure, and responsible citizens, is the only way to combat these threats online. Such is a common saying in Cybersecurity, “you cannot protect what you cannot see, and you cannot prevent what you do not understand.” Cyber-threat is as real on our Islands as is anywhere in the world. In the last few years, Samoa has embarked on a digital journey, that not only looks at building the Country to be a Digital Nation through recently endorsed establishments such as the Digital Transformation Authority, SamCERT and National Digital ID, but to building relationships with both domestic and regional partners, in strengthening Cybersecurity and strengthening digital talents within the Country to build digital solutions for Samoa and the Region. While a lot of work remains to be done, we are confident that with the support of our Regional and Development Partners, Samoa, like all other Nations in the Pacific will continue to embark on and take full advantage of technological developments while at the same time having mechanisms in place to address the challenges therein.
Lastly and as I alluded to earlier, Samoa is very pleased with the forging of partnership with Facebook for this pilot initiative. Facebook has provided a social platform for communication which has also brought a lot of benefits in connecting our citizens, communities and providing business opportunities for our Private Sector and Entrepreneurs. However, we believe that Platform custodians and Providers like Facebook and the like, also have an obligation to play, in ensuring that our Region and respective Island Nations heritage and cultural beliefs are honored and our children are protected and safe on such platforms.
In closing, I would like to reiterate the Samoan Government’s full support for this timely initiative and we look forward to working with Save the Children, Facebook and all Key Stakeholders to ensure the success of this pilot and thereafter, in due course, see this initiative being rolled-out and implemented to other Pacific Island Nations.
Fa’afetai lava
