An international-standard event bringing the best of new technology, creative solutions and innovative thinking to Papua New Guinea’s business community.
The event is over. It took place on Friday 8 November, The Stanley Hotel, Port Moresby.
VIEW GALLERY CONTAINING PHOTOS OF THE EVENT.
Hosted by the Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce and Business Advantage International, Innovation PNG 2019 will be the first event of its kind in Papua New Guinea. It will provide the opportunity for PNG’s wider business and government community to learn from, be inspired by, and engage with the most relevant innovators from PNG and overseas.
The broad spectrum of topics will include developing an innovation culture in your business, how better internet connectivity will transform local business, digital banking and how local entrepreneurs are finding creative ways to solve uniquely PNG challenges.
What happened?
This Plenary Conference featured international keynote speakers and multiple streams for the afternoon session. The Expo Plus section included company booths and technology-related services/attractions.
The Workshops provided hands-on training for smaller, special-interest groups.
Program
The conference was opened by the Hon. James Marape MP, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea.
The conference program combined international keynotes, panel sessions, Q&As and case studies from the smartest PNG innovators (especially SMEs).
International experts:
Click on the hyperlinked name to view slide presentation.
- Pete Williams (Chief Edge Officer, Deloitte Centre for The Edge)
- Paul Burman (Magatrends Ambassador, Hewlett Packard)
- Mohammad Chowdhury (Telecom, Media and Technology sector leader, PwC Australia)
Speakers and presenters:
- Ramachandran Arunachalam (Vice Chancellor, IBS University)
- Loi Bakani (Governor, Bank of Papua New Guinea)
- Virginia Bruce (CEO, Real Impact)
- Ray Paul (Chief Commissioner, PNG Customs)
- The Hon. Powes Parkop (Governor of National Capital District)
- Charles Punaha (CEO, National Information and Communications Technology Authority)
- Alberto Cimas (IT and cyber security specialist, Deloitte PNG)
- Khafra Kambon (Commercial Director, Digicel Pacific)
- Roboam Kakap (Lecturer, School of Business, Pacific Adventist University)
- Nuni Kulu (General Manager Digital, Bank South Pacific)
- Emily Kula-Lea, eNova Software Solutions
- The Hon. James Marape MP, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea
- Steven Matainaho (Acting Secretary, Department of Communications, Information Technology and Energy)
- Alan Milne (Managing Director, Air Niugini)
- Jessie Mitir (Stakeholder Engagement Manager, PNG Biomass)
- Vani Nades, Emstret: Emstret’s business incubator
- Marsh Narawec, CEO, Kumulsoft: Asset management software
- Emmanuel Narokobi, Managing Director, Masalai Communications: The Yua Project
- Jeffrey Noro (Director, Papua New Guinea Science & Technology Secretariat)
- Une O’Ome (GM Commercial, PNG Dataco)
- The Hon. Rainbo Paita MP (Minister for Communications and Energy)
- Reeves Papaol (ICT Manager, Pacific Adventist University)
- Steven Pocock (Senior Program Manager, Economic Governance and Inclusive Growth Partnership, Abt Associates)
- Sundar Ramamurthy (Managing Director, Invoc Pty Ltd)
- Jane Ravusiro (Senior Program Manager – Inclusive Economic Empowerment, Abt Associates)
- Jaive Smare, Jive Market
- Sophia Soli (PNG Flying Labs)
- Will Unsworth (Group TDS Manager, New Britain Palm Oil)
- David Valentine (Chief Operations Officer, Niunet)
- Tony Westaway (CEO, MiBank)
James Marape
Prime Minister, Papua New Guinea
Pete Williams
Deloitte Centre for the Edge
Paul Burman
Hewlett Packard
Nuni Kulu
Bank South Pacific
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The 2019 conference is over.
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Innovation PNG Awards
Innovation PNG Awards — winners announced
The inaugural Innovation PNG 2019 Awards were announced on 8 November at the Innovation PNG 2019 Conference.
An initiative of the Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Business Advantage International, the Awards were created to celebrate and encourage innovation in PNG business, government and other organisations.
The Innovation PNG Awards received 33 entries from 29 organisations. The entries were notable for their imagination, quality and variety.
They covered industries as diverse as agribusiness, manufacturing, telecommunications, tourism, education, technology, mining, infrastructure, engineering and financial services.
They covered all kinds of innovation, from the development of new products and services, to new technology such as software, innovative marketing ideas and adapting offshore solutions to PNG conditions.
Some ideas were well-funded by large organisations; others were passion projects with no funding at all.
All the entries showed a commendable focus on solving a specific PNG problem, and a willingness to try new ways of doing things in order to solve it.
Congratulations to every one who entered.
While it was only possible to select two winners – one small (under 10 employees) and one larger organisation (over 10 employees) – several entries merited special mention.
‘Ones to watch’
Several entries showed sufficient promise and potential to make the judges consider them ‘ones to watch’ for the future.
These included:
- TIPA Innovations from the Trobriand Islands, for their Smart Bricks, which are made from cheap, locally-available resources
- Siale Travel and Tours, for their reservations and ticketing system for small travel agents
- Rural Tech Development, for their Internet of Things ecosystem in Port Moresby and robotics program
- D’jest Investment Ltd t/a Tumbuna TV, for their mobile TV app
Special commendations
A few entries deserve a special commendation for their impressive innovation.
These include:
- Outspan PNG, for their deployment of a tech-driven system to collect and analyse information on PNG’s smallholder farmers
- ICTSI South Pacific Ltd, for their digital transformation project, which has the potential to greatly improve terminal operations in PNG
- Huon Birding, for their birdwatching camp on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province.
The winners
After much discussion and deliberation, the Judging Panel, chaired by Peter Williams, Chief Edge Officer, Deloitte Centre for The Edge, decided upon the following two winners. Our congratulations to both winners.
Small organisation.
Sustainable Alluvial Mining Services, for their support program for alluvial miners. This showed potential to help develop a sector which is unique in PNG but which hasn’t received the attention and resources it could. If properly encouraged, it has clear economic potential for SMEs in many provinces across the country.
Innovation PNG Award Winner (small organisation) — Immaculate Javia from Sustainable Alluvial Mining Services
Large organisation
SP Brewery’s cassava project. This project is massive in scope and could be seen both as an innovation in product development and also in agribusiness. It’s an imaginative project of complexity and vision, with the potential to encourage other efforts to replace imports with PNG-grown and made produce, delivering a positive economic impact.
Innovation PNG Award Winner (large organisation) — Nancy Gah from SP Brewery
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