Participants at the 2020 National Conference on Information Technology were urged to collaborate their best practices in IT with a primary aim to benefit Fiji’s people and promote economic growth. The two-day annual IT conference organised by the Fiji National University’s (FNU) National Training & Productivity Centre (NTPC) is being held at the Holiday Inn, Suva.

During his keynote address, Chief Guest and Chief Executive of Fiji Commerce & Employers Federation, Kameli Batiweti said the conference provides a national platform for professionals to collaborate and share knowledge.

“Today, we have the opportunity to meet on an equal footing and share best practices and policy options on a range of subjects pertaining to the Information technology and communications,” he said.

“Most of you come from the private sector and I commend the companies that you represent for sending you to a great conference as such. Please note that it is important that as we collaborate and work together from our individual organisations, we add to our economy and we add to the betterment of the people of Fiji,” Batiweti added.

Over a hundred professionals from the public and private sector are expected to participate in the conference that features ten domestic and internal expert speakers in line with the conference’s theme of ‘Leveraging Technology for Productivity Growth and Sustainability’.

NTPC’s Department of Information Technology’s Head of Training, Praneel Chand said it was very pleasing to see the increase in participant numbers from last year, which was the inaugural year of the conference.

He said, “Following initial registrations, we have noted an increase in participant numbers, including a few international participants. This speaks volumes about the ICT space which we have successfully created since the inaugural conference last year”.

Chand said the focus of the conference on its conclusion is to create an avenue for ICT professionals, academics, vendors and students to build a comprehensive network for the discussion of latest ICT trends and solutions.

“We also expect the formation of an ICT advisory committee comprising of major ICT related stakeholders in Fiji which can assist the Fiji National University in developing new courses aligned to industry needs,” he said.

According to Chand, the conference will ensure Fiji’s ICT industry can learn about best practices internationally and transform into world-class organisations using effective benchmarking.

The conference concludes today.

Participants of the 2020 National Conference on Information Technology in Suva.