Telecommunications Policy Development
The high cost of telecommunications in the Pacific Islands region remains a barrier to the use of ICT by civic service organizations. The cost is in part a function of the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean and small market size that characterize the region, the absence of a policy and governance infrastructure, a scarcity of technical and policy resources, and others. PEACESAT conducts ongoing research in policy, planning, and technology issues within the region, working with policymakers and program personnel.

PEACESAT, in collaborations with the Governments and telecommunications carriers of the Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau, and with a grant from the Sasakawa Pacific Islands Nations Fund, held policy workshops to discuss issues in telecommunications policy and regulation.  These workshops followed consultations for country ICT plans.

Training and Education
TIPG supports a variety of training and distancelearning emphasizing institutional and individual capacity building in the region. TIPG supports technical training, academic programs, health education, telehealth programs (public health, consultation) and telemedicine activities.

PEACESAT is committed to building local ICT capacity. The building of local capacity is essential if organizations and countries are to make progress in the productive and sustainable use of ICT. It is important to avoid deploying technology without sufficient research and training support. PEACESAT works in collaboration with Pacific Island organizations and institutions to maximize sharing and local-support of equipment and resources.

The Telecommunication and Information Resource Management (TIRM) Graduate Certificate Program (http://www.tirm.tipg.net) is intended to enable its participants with an understanding of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Information Resources Management, and New Media.

It requires completion of fifteen (15) graduate level credits, which are COM 681 (Telecommunication Systems and Networks), COM 682 (Telecommunication and Information Services), COM 683 (Information Research and Development Methods), COM 684 (Telecommunication Planning and Management) and COM 680 (Seminar).

The accredited 10-month TIRM Program is offered by the University of Hawai'i at Manoa (UHM) Graduate Division, the College of Social Sciences (CSS), UHM Outreach College, the School of Communications, and the Telecommunications and Information Policy Group (TIPG) of the Social Science Research Institute (SSRI).

Operations and Maintenance Improvement Program (OMIP)
The Department of the Interior funded an OperationsMaintenance and Improvement training program for PEACESAT operators and technicians. The program included several types of training. The first involved regional meetings in which instructors met face-to-face with the operators for hands-on technical training. In the second form of training, the operator met weekly over video conference for technical status checks, and during the third the PEACESAT Satellite Communications Technician made a site visit to each area for individual training. The goal of this program was to build the support required to increase overall network performance, user satisfaction and participation. The American Samoa Power Authority was the recipient of the grant.

Pacific Information and Communications Training Academy (PICTA)
The Pacific Information and Communications Technology Academy (PICTA) is an intense 1-year educational and training program with a focus on Information and Communications Technology (ICT). Through a partnership between TIPG, the American Samoa Community College, the Pacific eCommerce Development Corporation, and American Samoa Government.

The goal of PICTA is to establish an ongoing program thatprovides basic training to high school and community college students, government employees, and private sector employers in American Samoa.

The mission of PICTA is to meet the needs of the community, government and businesses by developing professionals with proficient knowledge and skills in ICT networking, server configuration, network management, network troubleshooting, application systems design and development.

 

Health

Pacific Association for Clinical Training (PACT)
The Pacific Association for Clinical Training (PACT) (http://www.pactraining.org) is comprised of the UH Department of Family Practice, the Advisory Board members, the Telecommunication and Information Policy Group (TIPG) and other partners.

The goal of PACT is to develop a culturally appropriate and sustainable Continuing Clinical Education (CCE) process for health providers in the United States Associated Pacific Islands (USAPI) that addresses the educational needs of the region as well as of individual jurisdictions and states.

The role of TIPG is to conduct telecommunication infrastructure needs assessment, develop telecommunication infrastructure design and planning for all jurisdictions, facilitate the creation of curriculum modules and library, increase the capacity of computer skills of local health providers, and enable telecommunication access for providers in the region and other technical supports.

The ATA Pacific Islands Chapter (PICATA) (http://www.picata.org)
Link to PICATA Monthly Continuing Medical Education Calendar

Education

Instructional Design and Development
TIPG assists in instructional development for distance learning. TIPG staff will work with projects in the design, development, evaluation and revision of instructional design based on needs, intended audience, goals and available technologies and infrastructure.

Distance Learning Theory and Practice
Distance learning programs are conducted within Pacific Island jurisdictions, regionally and internationally. The subjects range from basic mathematics, history, geography to teacher training, educational technology, agriculture, to more specialized topics such as power and waste water management and sign language for the deaf. The programs are delivered to and from numerous educational institutions including the University of Guam, University of Hawaii, American Samoa Department of Education, American Samoa College of Education, San Diego State University, etc.

Instructional Technologies
TIPG uses a number of software and hardware tools to enhance its instructional programs. TIPG primarily supports the use of open-source software. Other software is used where needed to enhance instructional offerings. The primary instructional technology software used by TIPG is presented below:

E-course management system
Moodle
Moodle (http://moodle.org/) is an open-source course management system (CMS) that is the cornerstone of the instructional offerings of TIPG and its Online Learning Zone (http://ecourse.tipg.net/).

Workforce Connections
Workforce Connections (http://workforceconnections.dol.gov/) is an open-source set of Web-based tools that can be used to help creators of Web content create, share, and control the content easily. The tools are provided, at no cost, by the U.S. Department of Labor. TIPG uses the tools to create and maintain knowledge repositories and online course presentations. The tools can also be used for community-of-practice Web sites and online coaches.

Tegrity
Tegrity™ (http://www.tegrity.com/) is a proprietary set of software and hardware solutions that help intransforming presentations for use in e-courses that are delivered on-line. TIPG uses Tegrity™ to present instructors lectures in a format that allows the e-student to see the instructor and instructional aids (such as PowerPoint) the instructor may use. Whiteboard writing is displayed as it would be in the classroom and video of in-class teaching props can be captured. Whole lectures can be captured as they are given and streamed over the Internet for distance learners.

Impatica
Impatica™ (http://www.impatica.com/imp4ppt/) is a proprietary program (site licensed by the University of Hawaii) that converts Microsoft PowerPoint™ files into compressed Flash™ format for efficient and rapid streaming over the Internet. Files can be attached to the TIPG CMS software for course use. Files are normally 95% smaller than stand-alone PowerPoint™ files.

Camtasia
Camtasia Studio™ (http://www.techsmith.com/products/studio/default.asp) and Captivate™ (http://www.macromedia.com/software/captivate/) are proprietary programs that allow capture all computer onscreen actions. They can capture demonstrations of software and Web activities. Voice can be captured and edited. The captured files can be saved in various formats including Flash™. Files can be placed within TIPG’s course and CMS to enhance the on-line learning experience.

Network Development
Network development is one of the areas that the Telecommunications and Information Policy Group (TIPG) focuses on in its mission to bridge the digital divide. The TIPG has designed, implemented, and maintained many networks throughout the Hawaii and the Pacific Island region. In partnership with the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation and other organizations, the TIPG was able to develop the State of Hawaii Telehealth Access Network (STAN) which is a statewide network cross-connecting many healthcare facilities providing robust access to data and video teleconferencing resources built on an ATM backbone.

The TIPG also works with many education and healthcare facilities throughout the Pacific Islands enabling them to have system wide networks. Some examples of this include the American Samoa Department of Education network which has 48 schools spanning across five islands, the Guam Education Network which connects all public schools and the University of Guam, and the CNMI Partners in Distance Learning Network which connects 22 public schools, the governors office, and the Commonwealth Health Center.

Along with establishing network infrastructures, TIPG also implements and maintains Email, Web, FTP, and DNS servers and is constantly researching new technologies to improve the network and application performance for the organizations and users of these networks.