MPs undergo training on the use and benefits of ICT

As Members of Parliament (MPs), you are in a perfect position to transform Parliament. You have an unprecedented opportunity to capitilise on the benefits of ICT to enhance your efficiency and effectiveness in performing your constitutional functions.

These were the comments by the Speaker, Hon. Ratu Epeli Nailatikau while opening the two-day workshop on ICT currently underway at the Warwick Fiji Resort in Sigatoka.

“As parliamentarians, you realise as much as I do, how favourably we value the importance of ICT, which has impacted our lives over the past few decades and took mankind into leaps of progress with an accelerated pace that knows no boundaries.

“We live in a world where literacy is increasingly defined as certainly not the lack of ability to read and write but rather the inability to understand, communicate or make use of information and communication technology. This goes across the board from science to households. This goes from the hands of skilled labour to the fingertips of our children and grandchildren,” the Speaker said.

This workshop follows on from the recent issuance of new ICT gadgets to adequately equip MPs with the necessary tools to carry out their responsibilities.

“As these technologies have matured and grown in sophistication, they have acquired the necessary flexibility and capabilities to assist legislatures in their most important responsibilities: making the laws that guide the nation; conducting oversight of the executive as it carries out its mandates; and communicating with the citizens, whom they represent.

“In today’s ‘wired world’, Parliaments must capitalise on the benefits of ICT to function effectively, to interact with the public and to collaborate with other parliaments around the world,” Hon. Ratu Epeli added.

Minister for Fisheries Hon. Semi Koroilavesau said the training was overdue as they did not receive such training during the 2014-2018 Parliament session.

“I think a lot of MPs are not accustomed to this electronic age as compared to the younger people. I find the workshop very useful because we start to learn from the basics and we can understand how to operate the various gadgets that has been provided for us,” Hon. Koroilavesau said.

The training covers key areas such as the WIFI connections, use of new ICT gadgets, security settings, cloud storage, chat systems and use of online apps or online tools.

The workshop ends tomorrow, Wednesday 26 June 2019.

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