The Pacific Information and Communication Technology Academy (PICTA) was a one-year pilot educational training program with an intense focus on ICT operations, networking, and database systems during the fall of 2005.
The program was established by the Pacific eCommerce Development Corporation (eCDC) in collaboration with the American Samoa Government, other public agencies, the American Samoa Community College (ASCC), the University of Hawaii, and other federal, community, and business organizations.
The Telecommunications Information Policy Group supported the Pacific eCDC program by providing technical assistance and instructional support in the development, management, and administration of PICTA and its associated activities.
PICTA offered 3 academic courses that may have been counted towards any degree program at the American Samoa Community College. The courses included:
ICT 210: Operating Systems Technology;
ICT 230: Telecommunication Systems and Networking and;
ICT 250: Application Systems Development and Design.
The goal of PICTA was to establish an ongoing program that provides basic training to high school and community college students, government employees, and private sector employers in American Samoa to meet the needs of the community, government and business for professionals who have basic knowledge and skills in ICT networking, server configuration,network troubleshooting, application systems design and development.
The program objectives were to:
Develop practical ICT knowledge to maintain and support ICT infrastructures in Am. Samoa;
Provide educational opportunity for academic development and;
Earn officially recognized vendor certification in the field of ICT.
Upon successful completion of PICTA courses and passing of national exams, candidates were certified in:
HP IT Essentials (A+ training equivalent)
Microsoft IT Academy Program (Microsoft Certified Systems Associate)
Cisco Networking Academy (Cisco Certified Networking Associate)
Individuals who participated in this pilot program included ASG (Procurement, Property Management, DPS, Fono, Governor, Human Resources, Port Administration, Treasury, DOC, DOE), ASTCA, LBJ, ASCC Students, and DELTA/eCDC. PICTA was held on the ASCC campus in the newly renovated PICTA classroom. This room also has a video teleconference connection to the Telecommunication Information Policy Group where the primary instruction was delivered.
