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Hon. Filipe Bole, CBE Minister for Education, National Heritage, Culture & Arts and Youth & Sports at the commissioning of the Student’s Computer Laboratory, at 9.00am on Friday 9 May, 2008 ADDRESS ∑ THE CHAIRMAN AND MEMBERS OF THE FIT COUNCIL, ∑ THE DIRECTOR AND MEMBERS OF THE STAFF, ∑ LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, INTRODUCTORY REMARKS I AM VERY PLEASED TO PARTICIPATE TODAY AT THE COMMISSIONING OF THE STUDENTS’ COMPUTER LABORATORY. FURTHERMORE, I APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO MEET WITH THE COUNCIL, THE STAFF AND MEMBERS OF THE FIT COMMUNITY. AT THE OUTSET, I WISH TO COMMEND THE INSTITUTE FOR THE SUBSTANTIAL PROGRESS MADE IN THE RECENT PAST. FROM ITS EARLY DAYS OF OFFERING TRADE CERTIFICATES ONLY, FIT HAS FURTHER ADVANCED TO OFFERING PROGRAMMES IN DIPLOMAS AND DEGREES. THE EXPANSION, NO DOUBT, ENCOMPASSES AN ADDITIONAL RANGE OF TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES, WHICH APPARENTLY WILL FALL SQUARELY ON THE SHOULDERS OF THE COUNCIL, THE MANAGEMENT AND STAFF. I CONGRATULATE YOU AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMITMENT AND YOUR PERSEVERANCE. THE STUDENTS’ COMPUTER LAB, BEING COMMISSIONED TODAY IS EVIDENCE OF HOW THE ORGANIZATION IS MINDFUL OF THE SERVICE IT PROVIDES TO ITS STUDENTS AND STAKEHOLDERS. BEFORE I PROCEED FURTHER TO THE COMMISSIONING OF THE COMPUTER LAB I WOULD LIKE TO SAY BRIEFLY WHAT MY VISION IS FOR THE FIJI INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. WHEN THE NAME OF THIS INSTITUTION WAS CHANGED FROM THE DERRICK TECHNICAL INSTITUTE (DTI) TO THE FIJI INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (FIT) SOME YEARS AGO, THOSE OF US WHO WERE INVOLVED IN THAT EXERCISE WERE NOT SIMPLY ADOPTING A NEW AND FANCY NAME. WE HAD LOOKED AT PROGRAMMES OF INSTITUTES OF TECHNOLOGIES IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD AND THE SORT OF MANPOWER THEY WERE PRODUCING FOR THEIR OWN COUNTRIES TO MEET THE TECHNICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL NEEDS OF THEIR OWN DEVELOPMENTS, AND WE THOUGHT WE COULD DO THE SAME HERE IN FIJI AND STRIVE TO SATISFY FIJI’S NEEDS AT FIT. IN OUR VISION FIT WAS TO BE THE APEX INSTITUTION FOR THE EDUCATION, TRAINING AND PRODUCTION OF FIJI’S DEVELOPMENT MANPOWER NEEDS. THERE WAS TO BE NO LIMIT, BOTH IN LEVELS AND PROGRAMMES OF STUDIES, IN WHAT FIT SHOULD OFFER IN ITS TEACHING. TO US, AT THE TIME, THAT MEANT THAT IN ADDITION TO THE CERTIFICATE, DIPLOMA AND HIGHER DIPLOMA LEVEL COURSES, FIT WOULD DEVELOP COURSES AT DEGREE AND HIGHER LEVELS, SO LONG AS THEY WERE RELEVANT TO THE DEVELOPMENT NEEDS OF FIJI. THIS VISION REMAINS TRUE TO THIS DAY. I THEREFORE EXPECT FIT AND ITS COUNCIL TO REMAIN WITH THEIR VISION AND WORK TOWARDS ITS FURTHER DEVELOPMENT. I WOULD EXPECT A PLAN DOCUMENT EMANATING FROM THE INSTITUTE TO OUTLINE HOW THIS VISION CAN BE DEVELOPED FURTHER AND IMPLEMENTED. FOSTERING COMPETITIVENESS THROUGH THE USE OF COMPUTERS LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, SINCE TIME IMMEMORIAL, LAND AND LABOUR SEEMED TO HAVE BEEN REGARDED AS THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS OF PRODUCTION HERE IN FIJI. IN THE RECENT PAST, IT HAS BECOME IMPERATIVE THAT WE ADD TECHNOLOGY, BECAUSE IT IS QUITE CLEAR THAT TODAY NO COUNTRY CAN INCREASE ITS WEALTH, PRODUCTIVITY AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE WITHOUT HEAVY AND DELIBERATE INVESTMENT IN TECHNOLOGY. THE WORLD IS EMBARKING ON A NEW PHASE IN GLOBAL COMPETITION, AND AN IMPORTANT PRIORITY FOR BUSINESS IS THE USE OF COMPUTERS. A HIGHLY SKILLED WORKFORCE WILL BE THE FOUNDATION FOR FIJI’S COMPETITIVENESS AND PROSPERITY. IN AMERICA, AS OF SEPTEMBER, 2001, 65 MILLION OF THE 115 MILLION ADULTS WHO WERE EMPLOYED, AND OF AGE 25 AND OVER, USE COMPUTERS AT WORK. GOVERNMENT COMMITMENT TO THE PROMOTION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY [IT] ACCORDING TO ITC, A VERY LOW PERCENTAGE OF FIJI’S POPULATION HAVE COMPUTER SKILLS. COMPUTER SKILLS ARE INCREASINGLY THE ENTRY TICKET TO THE JOB MARKET AND TO BETTER JOBS. AND A LACK OF IT WILL PREVENT PEOPLE FROM PARTICIPATING FULLY IN THIS 21ST CENTURY KNOWLEDGE-BASED ECONOMY AND SOCIETY. IT IS FOR THIS REASON, THAT GOVERNMENT IS VIGILANTLY PURSUING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE E-GOVERNMENT MASTER PLAN. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF THE PLAN ARE TO IMPLEMENT FINANCIALLY SUSTAINABLE SERVICE DELIVERY MODELS TO PROVIDE CITIZEN-CENTRIC OUTCOMES. ON OUR PART, WE HAVE 12 SCHOOLS THAT ARE HOSTS TO E-COMMUNITY LEARNING CENTRES. MOST OF THESE SCHOOLS ARE LOCATED IN REMOTE AND ISOLATED PLACES. MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY, MOSTLY VILLAGERS AND RURAL DWELLERS ARE USING THESE COMPUTERS TO CONDUCT BUSINESS. IT HAS SAVED THEM A LOT OF TRAVELLING EXPENSES AND TIME AND IT HAS ALSO OPENED UP A TOTALLY NEW WORLD OF DOING BUSINESS ON THE INTERNET. THE E-GOVERNMENT PROGRAMME, WHICH OF COURSE BEGINS WITH THE USE OF COMPUTERS, AIMS TO RAISE AND SUSTAIN GDP GROWTH, REDUCE UNEMPLOYMENT, BUILD COMPETENCIES ACROSS THE CIVIL SERVICE AND ALLEVIATE POVERTY. THE DIGITAL WORKPLACE IN THE LAST DECADE, COMPUTERS HAVE BECOME AN INTEGRAL PART OF EVERYDAY LIFE AT HOME, WORK, SCHOOL AND NEARLY EVERYWHERE ELSE. AND OF COURSE, EVERY COMPUTER USER ENCOUNTERS A PROBLEM OCCASIONALLY, WHETHER IT IS THE ANNOYANCE OF A FORGOTTEN PASSWORD OR THE DISASTER OF A CRASHING HARD DRIVE. THE EXPLOSIVE USE OF COMPUTERS HAS CREATED THE DEMAND FOR SPECIALISTS AND HELP-DESK TECHNICIANS, AND IN THIS REGARD, I BELIEVE FIT IS WELL-PLACED TO ENSURE THAT FIJI EXPLOITS THE POTENTIAL OF THE IT INDUSTRY. FIJI HAS AN ENORMOUS POTENTIAL IN THE INDUSTRY, NO DOUBT. I HAVE BEEN INFORMED THAT THE OTHER 22 LABS THAT ARE LOCATED IN THE FIT CENTRES THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY ARE SPECIFICALLY TEACHING LABS. THIS NEW STUDENT LAB IS THE FIRST WHERE EVERY STUDENT WOULD HAVE ACCESS TO IT FACILITIES. IT IS ENCOURAGING TO NOTE THAT THE INSTITUTE INTENDS TO DEVELOP SIMILAR FACILITES AT ITS OTHER CENTRES. FURTHERMORE THE POLICY OF THE INSTITUTE TO MAKE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMPULSORY FOR ALL STUDENTS IS HIGHLY COMMENDABLE. FIT, OBVIOUSLY HAS EMERGED FROM A PROVIDER OF PURELY TECHNICAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION TO A PROVIDER OF TVET AND HIGHER EDUCATION. I BELIEVE THAT IF THE INSTITUTE IS TO FULLFULL ITS OBLIGATION OF PROVIDING OUR NATION’S REQUIREMENTS IN TECHNOLOGICAL EMPLOYMENT, THEN IT NEEDS A MASSIVE EXPANSION IN COMPUTER STUDIES. MUCH WHITE-COLLAR WORK HAS BEEN INDUSTRIALIZED, AS SOFTWARE TOOLS PERMIT MORE AND MORE COMPLEX TRANSACTIONAL AND OPERATIONAL TASKS TO BE CARRIED OUT BY COMPUTERS. A PROFESSOR TIM BRESNAHAN OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY STATED IN ONE OF THE ISSUES OF THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL THAT “COMPUTERS ARE GOOD AT REPETITIVE TASKS – AND BUREAUCRACIES ARE FULL OF REPETITIVE TASKS”. UNQUOTE. YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I, THAT GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS, HAVE BEEN ACCUSED OF MULTIPLE RED TAPES AND BUREAUCRATIC PROCEDURES. IN THE PAST MOST OF THESE REPETITIVE TASKS WERE MANUALLY DONE. FORTUNATELY, COMPUTERS HAVE NOW MADE US MORE PRODUCTIVE AND MORE TIMELY IN SERVICE DELIVERY. I BELIEVE THAT OUR MINISTRY IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF HOW EFFECTIVE SERVICE DELIVERY CAN BE ACHIEVED THROUGH THE USE OF COMPUTERS. EDUCATION HAS A WORKFORCE OF OVER TEN THOUSAND. EACH EMPLOYEE HAS A FILE. IN OTHER WORDS, WE HAVE OVER TEN THOUSAND FILES. SO IF WE EFFECTED TWO THOUSAND TRANSFERS AND APPOINTMENTS AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH YEAR, THEN WE WOULD BE MANUALLY TRANSFERRING TWO THOUSAND FILES FROM ABOUT FOUR DIFFERENT SECTIONS LOCATED IN TWO DIFFERENT BUILDINGS AND UP AND DOWN THREE FLOORS. LAST YEAR, THE MINISTRY INSTALLED A NEW COMPUTER PROGRAMME –- THE FIJI EDUCATION STAFFING APPOINTMENT SYSTEM -- BETTER KNOWN AS FESA. THE PROGRAMME HAS ALLOWED US TO STORE THE INFORMATION OF ALL TEN THOUSAND EMPLOYEES IN THE COMPUTER AND ENABLE TRANSACTIONS TO BE CONDUCTED ON-LINE. WE NO LONGER NEED TO CART FILES FROM QUALITY HOUSE TO MARELA AND THENCE TO THE VARIOUS FLOORS OF THE TWO BUILDINGS. WONDERFUL PROGRESS, WONDERFUL SERVICE, THROUGH THE USE OF SUCH A SIMPLE-LOOKING MACHINE! THE WONDER OF THIS MARVELOUS MACHINE, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, HAS MADE OUR WORK, MORE EFFICIENT AND LESS STRESSFUL! CONCLUDING REMARKS IN CONCLUSION - YOUR NEW COMPUTER LAB, WILL NO DOUBT BE WELL-UTILISED. THIS IS A GREAT DEVELOPMENT FOR FIT AND IT WILL DEFINITELY OFFER A MARVELOUS OPPORTUNITY FOR STUDENTS TO PROGRESS AND ENJOY THEIR LEARNING EXPERIENCE. IT WOULD BE REMISS OF ME, NOT TO MENTION, THAT THIS WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT THE FORESIGHT AND THE VISION OF YOUR COUNCIL AND MANAGEMENT. FINALLY, I AM INDEED GRATEFUL, FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE HERE TODAY, AND I NOW HAVE MUCH PLEASURE IN OFFICIALLY DECLARING OPEN THE FIRST-EVER STUDENT COMPUTER LABORATORY FOR THE FIJI INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. VINAKA VAKALEVU! ---------- |
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