Digicel Samoa is celebrating its 13th birthday this week and on Thursday brought together corporate and Government leaders to further national ambitions of a digital transformation. 

The Digicel Samoa Chief Executive Officer, Farid Mohammed, said that while they want to grow in the Samoan economy, they are also aiming to raise the Government and their other partners up with them.

"In order to drive the [Information and Communications Technology (I.C.T.)] products to the next level, we saw that the government's ambition and this huge development in the I.C.T. space,” Mr. Mohammed said. 

"It is our responsibility as a corporate citizen of Samoa, we thought it was important for us to invest in bringing Samoa, if not to that level, but helping them and ushering them to get there."

The Irish-owned Jamaican-based Digicel Group, holds the number one positions in 22 markets in which it operates, and brings in a collective USD$2.5 billion in annual revenues.

The Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi, launched Digicel’s I.C.T. Symposium with the aim of promoting discussions and discovery about the sector on Thursday morning.

The one-and-a-half day event has attendees of about 150 delegates including Government ministries and officials, corporates, small business enterprises, suppliers and operators who will be engaging in open panel discussions.

Experts who spoke at the event included those who presented in areas such as e-health, e-education, and national security amongst others.

Tuilaepa noted that these are exciting times for Samoa as it heads into digital transformation.

“The Government of Samoa’s vision is to be among the leaders of the most digitally advanced societies in the Pacific Region within the next decade,” he said.

Samoa’s journey on digital transformation started on February 2018 with the launch of the Tui Samoa cable, linking Samoa to the world and “future-proofing” international connectivity for the foreseeable future.

“This symposium is a commitment by the chairman of Digicel through the honorable Prime Minister top assist government and the private sector of our country as a whole to become one of the most digitally advanced societies in the Pacific,” Mr. Mohammed said. 

“All have sacrificed their time to travel to travel to Samoa to share their success stories and challenges so we might learn and move forward in our journey of digital transformation.”