Thanks to the Head of the Policy Evaluation Unit at the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr. Ashley Wickham, I was invited to the ICT stakeholder’s meeting to discuss the draft paper prepared by Professor Martin Hadlow of the University of Queensland in collaboration with Dr. Gordon Nanau of the Solomon Islands College of Higher Education. I attended in my capacity as the Interim Chair of the IT Society of Solomon Islands, fancy title but there is not much to the responsibility as yet.

However, here are some insights of the proceedings you may not be able to read in the papers and perhaps most importantly a commentary from someone in the industry with just a slight better understanding than a journalist. Lets just say an alternative view on what transpired during the meeting.

More »

I could forgive you if you haven’t the faintest idea on who Susan Boyle is. Oh well, if Susan Boyle had not stepped onto the stage to audition for Simon Cowell’s TV reality show X-Factor, she may very well be sitting at home right now with her cat in Blackburn, West Lothian, Scotland.

The truth is she isn’t at home – she has become an international superstar. A star born when she obliterated a stunned audience into silence by singing her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Misérables. When she said she wanted to be like Elaine Paige you could hear an audible snicker throughout the crowd but no one was laughing at the end of her performance. They were simply stunned and feeling a little silly about themselves!

More »

I have always said, the Internet is like a mirror and many people like taking a good look at themselves in the mirror. I’ve also said that it is important to have a unique presence on the Internet, so pick a unique name and if you were a Solomon Island entity, pick a .sb ccTLD. It tells a lot about you!

However, the One News Television and the Solomon Star websites hardly tell the non-discerning Internet user anything unique about the two organizations. I’ll admit, they are both media news outlets but that is only where the similarities end. Visiting the revamped websites of both companies – I have to admit – they may have grabbed the same website template off the shelf resulting in the same look, the same feel. Mostly everything is the same except the content. Why has this happened? I am willing to put my hand up and offer my theory.

More »

At least by Pacific standards, the hit single by 1Tox, Ramukanji has taken a life of its own on the Internet. I am certain that Bernard Vave & George Kuper Jnr never imagined in their wildest dreams that this song would reach far beyond the Solomon Islands and create its own Youtube following all around the globe.

Spending the past few hours going through the many remix versions available on Youtube, I have to admit that it is pleasantly surprising that this song could make this much of an impact.

More »

Days after I closed my Facebook account, Google goes ahead and does what it would have naturally done anyway – integrate social networking into its already fledging Gmail services. With perhaps membership far exceeding that of Facebook on its free and paid google mail services, it was only a matter of time before Google would do something as daring as this.

Google Buzz, is literally a Facebook clone which allows you to share your images, videos, updates, start conversations and without a doubt more features will follow soon enough. In many ways, I am the geek who believes in integration as sparsely dense littered services is hardly economical. So I could Buzz instead of having a “face” in that popular “book”.

Today, I deleted my facebook account. I suppose what had begun as an experiment to look at why it had become such a global phenomena has finally outlived its usefulness.

I have seen though that it is a powerful platform for online interaction but other than that I am more prepared to leave my social interactions on a more personal note – the value of human interaction cannot be underestimated.

More »

It is now official; NCE candidates currently on the UN roster have begun to receive offers from the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping & Operations for deployment into field missions. In what is described as a pilot program undertaken by the DPKO, the UN will clear the roster by offering P-2 positions in its field missions globally.

Candidates in Programme Management, Administration and Finance have reportedly received offers for placement in Europe, Asia and Africa. Other occupational groups may be getting offers in the coming weeks.

Along with each offer, the candidates are provided generic job descriptions for openings in different mission and they can choose which missions they are interested in. A FAQ is attached which covers questions candidates may be asking about the program and what it would mean for their UN career.

More »