(www.pita.org.fj)
PHOTO: Alisi Tuqa
Photo supplied by: Alisi Tuqa
By Dionisia Tabureguci
MEET Alisi Tuqa, new training coordinator for the Pacific Islands Telecommunications Association (PITA), a job that is getting increasingly important as PITA members in the region face the changing world of ICT.
Tuqa comes to PITA with a knowledge background in ICT, having spent four years with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) as a Researcher in Infrastructure, covering civil aviation, urban management, energy and ICTs.
It was there, she says, where her interest and work in ICT began and have since developed and grown.
“I clearly remember my first year at PIFS and working on the Pacific ICT Survey with PITA and recalling the barriers to ICT development in the region,” Tuqa said in an interview with Islands Business magazine. “One that was clearly evident was the sets of barriers/obstacles pertaining to human resources and institutional capacity – namely, the lack of qualified people in the ICTs sector, (but this is changing as more people are taking up ICT courses/training); retention issues (losing what qualified people had to Australia and New Zealand, etc); and the limited and lack of funds dedicated to training in both private and public sectors,” Now directly involved in the development of the Pacific’s pool of ICT knowledge and skills, Tuqa knows only too well that the need for training those involved in this field comes with a sense of urgency, as things change very fast.
“For a sector such as telecom/ICT, developments are so rapid and ongoing that one needs to be continually updated and on the same token be aware and well versed on those updates. And that includes training and/or information sharing, whether it be technical training (on new systems, models, technology) or more generic business type training (pertaining to HR. financing models, legislation and policy, etc).”
She added that while the PITA membership, including its core membership of regional telecommunication companies, are a varied group, a common issue is the need for continued training and the coordination of this need from PITA is important in that training is pooled. “This allows several members to attend a training session, as opposed to one member trying to coordinate and convene training solely for their staff. This can be very expensive so it is always a worthwhile arrangement to convene regional training for the telcos.”
PITA’s training schedules try to cover a broad area of the telecommunication business, whether it is technical, finance or human resource. An example of this, said Tuqa, is the Pacific Network Operators Group (PacNOG), a weeklong training for Pacific network operators and administrators held every year in June. Other trainings planned for the year, Tuqa said, include: training on Access Technologies (on wireless and fixed; and for converged platforms); on network planning and operations; on fraud and revenue assurance; and GSM roaming.
“PITA is focusing training in these area because it’s what members have requested for and for training such as fraud and revenue assurance, it’s in great part due to increasing trends of fraudulent activities affecting the telecom sector and which is taking place in the region,” Tuqa said.
“A key factor is liaising with consultants, experts and trainers to be able to come and conduct these trainings; particularly for the very technical training, it’s important that we nail these down as soon as possible so we can guarantee having the required trainers and experts to come and deliver the trainings. Sourcing funding too is vital to assist with training delivery as we have very limited resources.”
Tuqa said this year’s training is scheduled to begin next month (May) after endorsement of training budget from PITA members at this month’s Annual General Meeting in Tahiti.
“We’re looking to convene around 12 trainings this year and that is separate from workshops/seminars/meetings we convene in partnership with organizations such as Asia Pacific Telecommunity, International Telecommunications Union, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, etc.”
(NOTE: This article was published in the Islands Business Magazine (www.islandsbusiness.com) as article titled: New Training Coordinator, p.28, April 2007 edition.)
******
No comments:
Post a Comment