Denis Opudo
The 2018 ABAC Digital Innovation Forum successfully took place at Taipei International Convention Centre on 19th and 20th July. The two-day event was hosted by the APEC Business Advisory Council of Papua New Guinea (ABAC PNG) in partnership with ABAC Chinese Taipei. The event recorded the attendance of more than 2,500 attendants and around 40 qualified speakers who came from different parts of the world. The speakers comprised of his Excellency, Estonia’s former president Toomas Hendrick Ilves, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, Skype’s co-founder David Rowan, Phil Libin founding the chief editor of Wired UK, AI Turtles’ CEO and the former Evernote’s CEO. Furthermore, Sophia, the world’s First Android Citizen, was also in the list of speakers who grassed the event. The event also recorded the attendance of Chairman of APEC CEO Summit 2018 and ABAC PNG Member, Isikeli Taureka. ABAC PNG sponsors also sent their representatives to attend the event.
ABAC PNG Member and Chairman of Policy and Secretariat, Mr. Wayne Golding was privileged to offer opening remarks. Golding highlighted his pride in partnering with ABAC Chinese Taipei and thanked the event organizers, media, speakers and attendants for their support towards ensuring that the event was a success. Many media houses including the Financial Times, New York Times, BBC World, and many local Taipei print media and televisions covered the event. This was the first time in 2018 that ABAC PNG hosted such a major event. The platform used the event to give the international world a clear picture of what should be expected in the APEC CEO Summit. The summit will take place in November 2018 in Port Moresby, and ABAC PNG will still be the main host.
One of the keynote speakers at the event David Rowan admitted that that was amongst the best organized and structured technology events that he has been passed off in the recent years. During his speech at the forum’s Gala VIP Dinner David Toua, ABAC PNG Member and ABAC Chairman called for a broader trade partnership between economies of APEC. He also called for the embracing of the digital future by economies. Toua said that there is a lot of potential in PNG to help in doing business with its neighboring countries. He called upon guest to pay PNG a visit to take note of beautiful landscape and unique culture in the country.
Director General of APEC PNG Coordination Authority, Sir Charles Lepani, had the privilege of giving the closing remarks on the last day of the event. According to him, the issue of privacy, consent, and trust was covered extensively during the forum. These aroused the question of the protection of one’s rights, concepts, and governance that hinders democracies. He finished by stating the APEC’s 2018 theme that reads “Harnessing Inclusive Opportunities, Embracing the Digital Future.” According to him, the forum acted in line with the theme. Digital Maker from PNG Nou Vada, Coin-sure’s co-founder offers an insight to the whole crowd on how far technology business has gone and what they expect to achieve soon. Coin-sure is a new cryptocurrency insurance company based in the blockchain.
