As part of its planning and development strategy. The OPT-NC is committed to an open and collaborative process through regional and international actions to become a major digital actor in the Pacific.
A concerted process involving the major digital actors, collectivities, and institutions has been initiated since 2015 to durable links and present the OPY-NC’s iconic projects.
By listening to its partners, the OPT-NC benefits from their proposals and works to make sure that its decisions, positions, and projects as one of the country’s developers, are coherent with those initiated country-wide by the companies working in the sector.
Collaborate with Other Digital Actors
The OPT-NC regularly meets with digital actors such as ISPs ( Internet Service Providers) The Government’s Digital Economy Unit (ECONUM), the ONNC ( New Caledonia’s Digital Observatory), the ACTIC (New Caledonian Association for Information and Communication Technologies), the OPEN NC ( The Organization of New Caledonian Digital Economy Professionals), the ACI ( The New Caledonian Innovation Agency), data centers and many more.
Numerous actions demonstrate the OPT-NC’S commitment to benefit the innovation and digital technology sector in New Caledonia : The coordinated connection of about twenty school to the wired high-speed internet network ( THD), support for the “digital huts” project, strong involvement in events (Smartday, Techday, TEDx et Pacific Business Forum)… The OPT-NC also supported four partners in their real-life testing of connected objects, and facilitated education through digital technologies through an agreement with the University of New Caledonia (UNC) to establish the digital and technology pole (PNT) in Nouville.
Since 2015, more than 70 information and exchange sessions have been initiated by the OPT-NC.
These meetings improved the collaboration between collectivities , notably on projects such as the fiber optic roll-out, the extension of the mobile network’s coverage, the roll-out of PO box blocks (IBP), addressing issues, the setting up of outdoor Wi-Fi terminals in public spaces.
The cooperation with the Government of New Caledonia’s Departments has enable the OPT-NC to integrate the service-public.nc portal or to participate in the elaboration of New Caledonia’s “Natural Park of the Coral Sea’s candidacy “ by responding to the call for expression of interest(AMI) “Territories of Innovation and Great Ambitions” (TIGA).
The OPTNC’s strategy based on openness led to the signing of framework agreements with different partners such as ENERCAL, EEC, the CCI, the SIC, to implement shared projects.
A recognized international role
As an international operator, the OPTNC has been a member of the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) for about 15 years and is positioned as an internet stakeholder in the Pacific.
The APNIC is an international organization which manages internet issues and evolutions in the Asia/Pacific region (China, Japan, South Korea Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Australia, New-Zealand, Vanuatu, New-Caledonia…). It gathers 350 telecommunication and digital technologies professionals (telecommunication and internet operators, industrials, service providers, Internet Service Providers…) from 55 countries in the region.
The OPT-NC is regularly participating in conferences and workshops to:
- Reinforce its role as a driving digital actor in the Pacific,
- Meet international digital actors whether they be commercial (Google, Facebook, Telstra, Amazon,) or linked to regional and international internet governance (PITA1, APTLD2,ICANN3…),
- Enable technicians and engineers to develop their skills thanks to high level training.
The stakes are essentially linked to security issues and internet growth. Traffic has been multiplied by two every 18 months. We need to be able to support this growth while meeting cybersecurity challenges.
1Pacific Islands Telecommunications Association : association of Pacific Islands telecommunication operators
2Asia Pacific Top Level Domain Name Association : Manager of internet domain name
3 Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers : International organization which notably manages .nc.
Facilitate Regional Cooperation
To stay up to date with technological advancements and meet operators in the Pacific region The OPT-NC participated to two major digital technology events in Hawai in January 2018: PITA (Pacific Islands Telecommunications Association) and PTC (Pacific Telecommunications Council).
PITA is an organization aimed at representing the interests of small island territories in the Pacific region in the telecommunication area. A PITA member since 2002, the OPT-NC learnt about technological evolutions on the market and current projects as well as exchanged with their counterparts in neighboring countries (Salomon, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tahiti, Guam, Tonga, Samoa and Tuvalu) on underwater cable projects and satellites, notably those that could impact New Caledonia.
The OPT-NC is also a member of the UIT (International Telecommunication Union), a United Nations agency for the specific development of information technologies and communication. It has 193 member States and 700 members and associates from the sector.