Building strategic partnerships accompanying the Pacific
UNSW x Papua New Guinea University of Technology
Published on the 09 September 2024 by Mikaela Cicciarello
UNSW, Quick Heal India, and PNG Department of Information and Communications Technology representatives meet in Port Moresby
As a part of our university’s accompaniment of key geographies in the Pacific, a strategic partnership is emerging between UNSW and the Papua New Guinea University of Technology (PNGUoT), the country’s premier science and technology university located in Lae in Morobe Province.
Led by the UNSW Institute for Global Development (IGD), exchanges and interactions in Papua New Guinea, India, Thailand, and Australia over the past several months have identified information and communication technology (ICT) as a strategic area for collaboration between UNSW and PNGUoT.
In the most recent interaction during 22-27 July 2024, a UNSW delegation was hosted by PNGUoT, for five days in Port Moresby and Lae. The UNSW delegation comprised representatives from the Institute for Global Development, UNSW Cities Institute, UNSW Engineering, and , and . In addition to ascertaining needs for teaching, research, and translation specifically in ICT, the delegation held discussions to explore potential collaborations on public health, urban governance, food science, and critical transportation and infrastructure planning.
As a result of the recent interaction, a plan of action has been drafted for key strategic initiatives, including a regional ICT workshop to be held at PNGUoT (hosted in collaboration with the PNG Government’s Department of Information Communication and Technology). A trilateral letter of intent has been shared among the two universities and the department to partner on strategic digitalization initiatives., In addition to submitting a detailed ICT capabilities assessment of PNGUoT, UNSW Engineering has offered to provide mentorship for the Engineers Australia accreditation process, as well as opportunities for student mobility and placement, and collaborative research.
Inter-university relationships at faculty level have been established on civil engineering and urban planning. UNSW has partnered with PNGUoT, Lae City Authority, and three Australian startups to propose a project on Smart Spatial Digital Twins with Augmented Virtual Reality and Conversational AI.
Other areas of promising collaboration between UNSW and PNGUoT include food and water security, and planetary health.