Vanuatu to Host Pacific Internet Conference

The Pacific Islands Chapter of the Internet Society (PICISOC) will be holding its annual PACINET conference at Chantilly's on the Bay hotel in Port Vila, Vanuatu from August 23-27, 2004. The theme of this year's conference is Education and the use of Internet and Communications Technology (ICT).

PICISOC is the regional chapter of the Internet Society, a non-profit, non-governmental, international, professional membership organization with more than 150 organizations and 16,000 individual members in over 180 nations. PICISOC serves the Internet Society's purposes by representing the interests of the global Internet community through its presence in the Pacific Islands. It focuses on local issues and developments, and acts as an impartial advisor to governments and the people of the Pacific Islands on issues relating to ICT and the Internet. The PICISOC Annual General Meeting will be held on the final day of the conference.

PACINET is an annual forum where everybody can speak freely and share views on ICT. This year, 40 delegates will be coming to Vanuatu for the conference, in addition to another 30 local delegates. The Internet Users Society of Niue sponsors PACINET every year ( http://www.niue.nu ). Other ongoing sponsors include PATARA Communications & Electronics Ltd. This year, additional sponsors include: CityLink, Internet New Zealand, UNDP, UNESCO and Netsafe ( http://www.netsafe.org.nz ). In Vanuatu, the conference is being sponsored by Chantilly's on the Bay Hotel ( http://www.chantillysonthebay.com ), Computer and Network Systems ( http://www.cns.com.vu ), Datec Vanuatu Limited, and Telecom Vanuatu ( http://www.tvl.net.vu ).