An international-standard event bringing the best of new technology, creative solutions and innovative thinking to Papua New Guinea’s business and government communities.

This is our old site – to get all the up to date information on Innovation PNG 2025, head to our new website.

Innovation PNG 2025 will take place at the Stanley Hotel, Port Moresby on Thursday 27 and Friday 28 March 2025.

Hosted by the Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Business Advantage International, Innovation PNG 2025 follows the highly successful event held in November 2023.

The only event of its kind in Papua New Guinea, our 2025 conference will provide the opportunity for PNG’s wider business and government community to learn from, be inspired by, and engage with the best innovators from PNG and overseas.

We welcome participation from individuals at all levels including senior managers, business owners, middle manager and emerging talent regardless of background and experience. Our aim is to provide an inclusive space that values the diverse perspectives and contributions from everyone.

27 March 2025

What to expect

27 February 2025 Women in Tech Breakfast (hosted by POMCCI, venue TBC)

27 March 2025 Gala Award Dinner for Innovation Awards (The Stanley Hotel)

28 March 2025 Innovation PNG25 conference and EXPO (The Stanley Hotel) featuring separate streams for most of the day

Official Government Partner

Program

The 2025 conference program will feature international keynotes, local leaders and SME innovators on topics including:

Harnessing AI
Cyber-security
Digitisation and e-government
Productivity
Connectivity and cloud services
Sustainability
Fintech
Funding your innovation

Speakers

We’ve revealed our first round of speakers. Stay tuned for more exciting updates!

International Speakers include:

Mark Pesce – Futurist

Mark Pesce co-invented the technology for 3D on the Web and has written ten books, including Getting Started with ChatGPT and AI Chatbots (2023) and Augmented Reality: Unboxing Tech’s Next Big Thing ( 2024). He was for seven years a judge on ABC TV’s “The New Inventors” program, is a multiple-award-winning columnist and a professional futurist and public speaker. He has founded graduate programs at both the University of Southern California and the Australian Film, Radio and Television School, holding appointments as Honorary Associate at the University of Sydney, and Honorary Adjunct at UTS. Pesce brings his skills as a futurist to diverse sectors of the economy, including business ranging from CBA, World Bank, Essential Energy and v2Food, while also mentoring startups.

At Innovation PNG 2025, Mark will be talking about the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it can be best used by business and government.

Vignesh Kumar – Co-Managing Partner, GD1

Vignesh Kumar is a Co-Managing Partner at New Zealand-based venture capital firm GD1. At GD1, Vignesh focuses on emerging technology, where he is an investor in, and board member of, several innovative companies. Prior to GD1, and after successfully overcoming his own 9-month battle with blood cancer, he co-founded Journey Health, a digital health patient-reported outcomes platform for oncology care. Prior to this, Vignesh was based in Cupertino and led hardware execution for Apple across the US and Asia for its portable line of products, and was a product design engineer at Fisher & Paykel Healthcare.

Vignesh holds an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He also earned a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) degree in Biomedical Engineering and a Master of Engineering Studies (Hons) in Medical Device Design and Technologies from the University of Auckland. A native of India, Vignesh grew up across Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea and Auckland, New Zealand.

At Innovation PNG 2025, Vignesh will be talking about financing innovation and how PNG entrepreneurs can get their ideas “investor-ready”.

Aditya Bhagat – CEO & Co-founder, Bankbuddy.ai

Aditya Bhagat is a seasoned financial technology professional with over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. Throughout his career, he has been instrumental in scaling startups from inception to category leaders, notably with companies like i-flex and Kony, across more than 50 countries. His expertise spans core banking, digital banking, contact centres, and artificial intelligence, reflecting a deep commitment to technological innovation in financial services.

As the CEO and Co-founder of BankBuddy.ai, Aditya leads the development of AI-driven solutions aimed at enhancing customer experiences for financial institutions worldwide. His passion lies in leveraging artificial intelligence to transform the way banks interact with their customers, ensuring more personalized and efficient services. Under his leadership, BankBuddy.ai has emerged as a key player in the fintech space, driving innovation and setting new standards in customer engagement.

At Innovation PNG 2025, Aditya will talk about what PNG can learn from the approach of Dubai, which has become a world centre for technological innovation.

PNG-based Speakers include:

Tarik Boudiaf, CEO, Digicel PNG – the new CEO of PNG’s largest telco
Sundar Ramamurthy, CEO and founder, Sola Paygo – an innovation in payments for electricity
Nellie Varmari, Founder, Central Mamina Coffee – an innovation SME in agribusiness
Gary Seddon, CEO, Air Niugini – Gary will talk about the airline’s new hi-tech fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft and how the airline is preparing for their arrrival.

Innovation PNG Awards

The Innovation PNG Awards have been created to celebrate and encourage innovation in PNG organisations and local communities.

A Gala Awards Dinner will be held on Thursday 27^th March (on the eve of Innovation PNG 2025) to announce the winners (see below).

To encourage a greater cross section of submissions, the 2025 awards categories have been expanded from 2023 and now include a total of five (5) categories as follows:

The Innovation PNG Award for Small Business (open to businesses with less than 10 employees)
Sponsored by Kina Bank
The Innovation PNG Award for Large Business (open to businesses with 10 employees or more)
Sponsored by Remington Group
The Innovation PNG Award for Digital Government (open to government agencies and departments)
Sponsored by Nasfund
The Innovation PNG Award for Female Innovator of the Year (open to female innovators from any sector)
Sponsored by Moni Plus
The Innovation PNG Award for Young Innovator of the Year (open to innovators from any sector, aged 21 years or under on 27 February 2025)
Sponsored by Vodafone

Submit your entry for the 2025 Innovation PNG Awards here

Information on each Award category criteria, eligibility submission process will be provided shortly. The awards will be judged and shortlisted by an expert panel of local and international representatives with the winners announced at the Gala Dinner held Thursday 27 March 2025.

2023 Innovation PNG Awards winners

2023 Innovation PNG Award Winner (small business): GoFood PNG

2023 Innovation PNG Award Winner (large business): MiBank

2023 Innovation PNG Award Winner (government): Credit Guarantee Corporation.

The awards were judged by an expert panel led by the futurist, Dr Jane Thomason.