Friday May 5th 2009 - Letter from Jimmie Rogers SPC Director General to all SPC Staff

I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Phill Hardstaff to the position of ICT Manager.

As one of our longer-serving staff members Phill is well known to most of you. He was with SPC between 1986 and 1989, then worked in Australia until he rejoined SPC in 1992.

Phill trained as a telecommunications technician and has acquired various professional qualifications including Microsoft certificates. Following more junior roles at SPC he held the position of Senior Systems and Support Engineer for many years until he became Acting ICT Manager following Mr Sam Taufao’s departure in 2008.

Phill’s appointment comes at at particularly interesting time: the role of the SPC ICT Section and its Manager has expanded considerably over the last few years. SPC now plays the lead role in the implementation of the Pacific Plan Digital Strategy (PPDS). It currently coordinates three major projects under the strategy: 1) facilitating consultations among Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs) on a new submarine cable network; 2) implementing the roll-out of the new pan-Pacific, low-cost, satellite-based Rural Internet Connectivity System (RICS); and 3) coordinating the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative in the region. Under PPDS, SPC will also work with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) to assist countries in their reform agendas in relation to the policy and regulatory environment in the ICT sector.

To address this new expanded role, SPC is planning to establish a specific unit to manage and coordinate the implementation of PPDS. This unit will need to be resourced appropriately to ensure that the current ICT support to SPC programmes is not unduly affected.

Complementing PPDS, the third major role of the ICT Section is to assist SPC member countries and territories in the development of national ICT capacity. This support takes place through attachments at SPC, regional and in-country training and technical assistance.

Phill is responsible for the development of ICT policies and strategic initiatives within the framework of SPC’s Corporate Plan and the Section’s own strategic plan; and for the resources of the Section, in particular its staff.

More specifically, the Manager’s role covers: (i) the development, management and provision of ICT services and systems for the Secretariat at all sites, including (a) technical advice to the SPC Executive and senior managers on ICT matters and (b) the development and implementation of the Corporate Information System; (ii) the further coordination and planning of the initiatives under PPDS; and (iii) support to national ICT capacity development.

Please join me in congratulating Phil to this new responsibility

Jimmie