Page 31 - Islands Business May-June 2022

ICT Views
Resilient, Agile and Smart Infrastructure
CONNECTING THE PACIFIC

Lenovo Event 2022
By Paul McCann and John Hibbard the domestic access networks, whether mobile or wired, are
On April 27th, 2022, VirtualFlex partnered with Lenovo for the Resili- upgraded to accommodate the surge in demand. Across the
ent, Agile and Smart Infrastructure Program at GPH, incorporating Pacific nations require efficient, resilient connectivity to Pacific, when cables have been landed, we have seen demand
Technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a way to solving humani- the global digital highway to participate in e-commerce and increase between 2 and 6 times within just 3 months, with
ty’s greatest challenges. Lenovo’s Asia Pacific Director Sinisa Nikolic provide the services to their nation which are obtainable else- consequent reduction in costs to users.
spoke on how technology and AI can be incorporated into our daily where in the world. Traditionally, Pacific nations have relied Another significant opportunity to exploit the increased
lives bringing about benefits which include improving our way of life, upon satellite and microwave connections - which are fine for cable capacity is with new applications. For example, the
agriculture, environment and business growth. the plain telephone and text services – however satellites are provision of e-health services can improve the quality of life.
Existing customers of VirtualFlex attended this successful Lenovo both bandwidth-limited and vulnerable to adverse weather With the extra capacity, for instance x-rays and MRIs can be
Event, benefitting from the inputs by the speakers. "They will gain a conditions – especially cyclones. It is therefore not surprising done locally and if the interpretation skills are not available
perspective for their organization on how AI and aspects of performance that in today’s bandwidth hungry era of internet and global at the clinic, the results can be sent to say, NZ, Australia or
computing can make them more competitive in the marketplace and cloud services – clouded by fears of global climate change Hawaii for evaluation, potentially avoiding the need for ex-
how they can grow their revenue using this type of technology." - Sinisa ICT representatives from local organizations attending the challenges – that the emergence of fibre optic submarine pensive travel overseas. Other applications include telework,
Nikolic, Lenovo's Asia Pacific Director. Lenovo event at GPH in April 2022 cable solutions has been necessary. where lawyers and accountants can operate in their own
Major construction and installation activities over the past countries rather than needing to locate at their head office in
Fiji Meteorological Services High Performance Computing (HPC) - A First-of-its-kind in Fiji decade have seen almost all Pacific island nations connected another country.
VirtualFlex, in partnership with Lenovo to the global internet by fibre optic submarine cable, the One of the real success stories in the Pacific has been Palau
implemented a unique High Perfor- most recent of which are Tokelau and Kiribati. Of the 22 where in just four years, the traffic demand has risen more
mance Computing (HPC) for Fiji Mete- Pacific Island Nations - it is amazing to realise that only Nauru than 20-fold and quality has gone from a slow, intermittent
orological Services in collaboration with (development in process) and Tuvalu remain to be “cabled”. service to a fast continuous service, thanks to the combina-
the World Meteorological Organisation Submarine cables, which carry several hair-like optical tion of a submarine cable and an upgraded local connectivity
(WMO), and Agency for Meteorology, fibres and are only as thick as a garden hose, have a distinct network. This has enabled a transition to a digital economy
Climacy and Geophysics of the Republic advantage over satellite in that they provide abundant low- which has served them well (particularly during the COVID
of Indonesia (BKMG). This first-of-its- cost capacity. However, unlike satellite, submarine cables period). In fact, they have become so dependent on the eco-
kind in Fiji solution enables the local only operate between two points - they land at one point nomic benefits that they are now well advanced on a second
computing of numerical weather predic- (typically the capital) and go under the ocean to another cable to provide back-up for their current umbilical cord. We
tion data which then can be distributed point (typically a global internet hub). They improve the in- have of course seen and heard of the consequences in Tonga
to the regional public. Using this tech-
nology, the Fiji Met services will be How Connectivity Impacts your Economy
better able to gather more predictable
data to consistently forecast weather
From Left—Right: Jay Shaw (Account Executive, Lenovo), Navin Lal (Chief Technology Office, Virtu- conditions, develop early warning sys- Managing Every 10% increase Increase Internet Access Connectivity
alFlex), Sinisa Nikolic (Director of High Performance Computing and AI, Lenovo), Leonard Bale Country Risk in broadband Outages can provides a brings average
(Acting Principal Systems Analyst, FijiMET), Ravishay Prasad (Group Manager Projects & Innovation, tems, reduces risks of weather disasters, Profile penetration = Farmers cost you $50/ 25% increase Increase in per
VirtualFlex), Adil Ali (Systems Analyst, FijiMET) - source: https://fijisun.com.fj/2022/05/15/ and enable early detection of weather 1.28% GDP profits by up in worker capita income of
threats. promotes Foreign to 33% day/person
investment Increase productivity 15%-19%
Other Milestones
Organizations in the business sector as well as government sector
have benefited over the years from ICT solutions provided by Vir- ternational connectivity needs – and yet in that same process when their sole international submarine cable broke following
tualFlex. They worked with FRCS to provide on premises cloud they intensify the requirement for improved domestic connec- the volcanic eruption.
native technology solution to enable FRCS to fully utilize its taxa- tions to enable the population to access the low latency, high Submarine cables provide abundant high quality lower cost
tion platform. HFC Bank is also adopting the similar technology quality service they afford. connections for countries enabling the economic development
solutions to achieve an cloud like solution but locally, within the As such, one of the key challenges for smaller nations such of industries as well as providing populations to have access
bank’s datacenter. Organizations have achieved more efficient, cost as in the Pacific is to exploit this glut of international capac- to the same services available in larger countries. However,
effective, reduced risk and business focused solutions. VirtualFlex ity. This is best done through a combination of higher capac- garnering these benefits depends on cooperation between the
recently completed the design ity connections from the cable landing point via the telecom telecom carriers and the government service organisations to
and implementation of the Uni- operator to the customer and via the introduction of new provide the network infrastructure and applications to exploit
versity of the South Pacific’s applications made possible by the high capacity. the capabilities of the cables.
voice system (or PABX) imple- For many Pacific islands, the most common way for con-
VirtualFlex Solutons Ltd staff with Lenovo Staff at the Lenovo event at menting a Cisco Unified Collab- Contact us today: sumers to connect to the internet is through their mobile paul@mccann-consulting.net
GPH in April 2022 Phone: +679 3384180
oration solution that includes phone. However, many mobile phone networks were designed
voice, extensions, soft phones and E: info@vflex.com.fj assuming the use of higher cost satellite connections and as Paul McCann and John Hibbard are independent consultants,
mobility. Customers have also benefited from their professional support when it comes to W: www.vflex.com.fj such, operators seek to squeeze as much traffic as possible specialising in the strategic and commercial aspects

ICT. Check us out on on the narrow pipes, which has an adverse effect on quality associated with the development and/or implementation of
VirtualFlex now has offices located in Suva, Nadi, Port Moresby, Auckland and with further plans for expansion. and makes response times slow. It is therefore imperative that submarine cable systems for Pacific Island Nations.

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