Digital Pacific Update
Our monthly Digital Pacific Update offers a snapshot of some of the exciting technological developments happening in the region. This month, we look at further developments throughout the Blue Economy, advancements in Pacific agricultural development, coral gardening and Pacific culture in outer space.
Rethinking our Oceans: Investing in the Blue Economy
Globally, the blue economy, including tourism, fisheries, marine renewable energy and biotechnology, is predicted to grow at double the rate of the rest of the world by 2030. Find out more about sustainable digital pacific initiatives that are being introduced to capture this growth.
Visa launches its Future of Security Roadmap for the South Pacific
The roadmap includes measures to protect sensitive account holder data, innovative fraud prevention tools such as 3D Secure 2.0 for e-commerce and mobile transactions, and advanced transaction controls and alerts to cater for the growing demand of self-service banking. It has been developed in consultation with South Pacific governments and industry partners.
Coral gardening to save Fiji’s reefs from bleaching
Could a unique reef restoration technique called ‘coral gardening’ help restore Fiji’s reefs and save the Fijian tourism industry? Marine biologist Austin Bowden-Kerby, who has been experimenting with this technique for almost 40 years, believes it can be part of the solution.
Drones deliver vaccines to remote South Pacific communities in world first
A Melbourne-based start-up founded by a robotic engineer and former RAAF pilot has bagged world-first commercial contracts to ship vaccines via drone delivery for international aid. Vanuatu’s geography and lack of infrastructure make drones a useful solution to the problem of delivery medical supplies.
Pacific success stories shared in CTA’s new report
The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) has released a compilation of 12 success stories about regional agricultural development in the region. The stories, which are drawn from Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, represent the many challenges facing Pacific Islanders. The projects include agro-biodiversity, risk management and resilience, marketing and capacity building.
Pacific music is broadcast in outer space
NASA’s Voyager 2 space probe has entered interstellar space. It’s carrying ‘The Golden Record’ – a selection of songs and sounds from all corners of the globe. The record is intended to communicate to extra-terrestrials the story of our world. All-but-unknown music from PNG and Solomon Islands are featured. It’s a thought that makes family members of the original artists “very happy”.
