Papua New Guinea’s Digital Transformation: Progress in context with regional peers
Papua New Guinea has achieved significant progress in digital transformation over the past four years, establishing comprehensive legal frameworks, measurable infrastructure outcomes, and demonstrable commitment to digital governance. While this progress deserves recognition, it reflects broader regional momentum toward digital maturity across the Pacific. PNG’s journey, alongside parallel efforts in Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, and Tonga, represents a collective Pacific response to the digital imperative.
PNG’s Digital Governance Framework: progress and context
A legally binding foundation
PNG established the Digital Government Act (2022) as a legally binding framework for digital governance: an important institutional commitment. PNG is not alone in formalizing digital commitments. The act represents disciplined execution of a strategic vision, but similar commitments are emerging across the region through different legal mechanisms.
Compare this to the regional landscape: Fiji is advancing through sectoral legislative approaches, with the newly endorsed National Privacy and Personal Data Protection Policy (2025) laying groundwork for comprehensive data governance.
Solomon Islands launched its National Cybersecurity Policy in August 2024 after consultations beginning in 2020. Samoa, with World Bank support, is implementing the Digitally Connected and Resilient Samoa Project and preparing its Digital Transformation Strategy (2023-2030).
Tonga recently launched TongaPass, its digital identification system (2025), with integrated civil registration infrastructure.
Vanuatu, though smaller, published its National Cyber Security Strategy 2030 (March 2021), establishing a coherent long-term vision.
PNG’s distinction is not unique legislation but sustained legal integration with implementation: a strength worth highlighting.
Three complementary policy instruments
PNG’s policy architecture encompasses three integrated frameworks developed sequentially between 2020 and 2024:
The Digital Transformation Policy (2020) established measurable subcomponents across six pillars: digital infrastructure, digital government, cybersecurity, digital skills, innovation, and financial inclusion.
The National Cybersecurity Policy (2021) and updated Strategy (2024) represent genuine iterative refinement based on implementation experience. This evolution demonstrates learning and adaptation.
The Data Governance and Protection Policy (2024) addressed personal data protection: a gap PNG identified and acted upon. However, Fiji’s National Privacy and Personal Data Protection Policy (endorsed 2025) similarly prioritizes data governance, and Vanuatu’s National Cyber Security Strategy 2030 includes comparable data protection objectives.
PNG’s integrated approach is valuable. Yet regional peers are pursuing comparable integration through different sequencing. Fiji’s approach links digital infrastructure investments with policy development. Samoa coordinates connectivity projects with capacity building through World Bank partnerships. Tonga integrates digital ID, civil registry, and e-government platforms simultaneously.
Electronic transactions leadership
PNG established an Electronic Transactions Act, providing a legal foundation for e-commerce, and PNG’s achievement is distinct: it is the first to integrate electronic transactions law with comprehensive digital government and cybersecurity frameworks across all public bodies.
Solomon Islands, Samoa, and Tonga lack comprehensive electronic transactions legislation at the same legal level as PNG, making PNG’s integration meaningful. Fiji’s approach, through multiple instruments, provides similar protections through different mechanisms.
Cybersecurity rankings: context and trajectory
PNG’s ITU Global Cybersecurity Index improvement is genuine and striking: PNG moved from Tier 5 (score 26.33 in 2020) to Tier 3 (score 62.6 in 2024), a 37-point improvement representing accelerating institutional momentum.
This achievement merits full recognition. In comparison in the region:
Vanuatu (69.29) maintains the highest Pacific score. Vanuatu’s sustained investment in digital commerce frameworks since 2000 demonstrates that early adoption, combined with consistent focus, produces durable advantages. Vanuatu’s higher score reflects not superior current efforts but sustained institutional commitment over two decades.
Fiji (53.81) started higher than PNG in 2020 (29.08) but improved only moderately to 53.81. PNG’s trajectory (26.33 to 62.6) has surpassed Fiji’s absolute performance, suggesting PNG’s accelerating momentum is real. However, Fiji’s recent initiatives—including the 2025 launch of its first-ever Cybersecurity Strategy 2025-2030, the National Privacy and Personal Data Protection Policy endorsement, and the planned accession to the Budapest Convention and Second Protocol—indicate Fiji is intensifying its cybersecurity focus after addressing other priorities.
Samoa (43.08) declined from 29.33 to 43.08—seemingly contradictory. However, ITU methodology changes between the 2020 and 2024 assessments affect comparability. More importantly, Samoa’s focus has been broadband infrastructure resilience and digital connectivity (World Bank-supported Digitally Connected and Resilient Samoa Project), with cybersecurity capacity building integrated within that broader infrastructure narrative. Samoa’s lower score reflects prioritization choices, not lack of progress.
Solomon Islands (17.7) remains low despite the August 2024 cybersecurity policy launch. This gap between policy adoption and measured cyber resilience reflects a common development challenge: policy exists, but implementation capacity and technical infrastructure require time to mature. Solomon Islands launched its SICERT project (March 2025) to operationalize its cybersecurity policy—demonstrating the iterative process all developing nations face.
Kiribati (55.64) improved significantly from 13.84, demonstrating that small island nations can achieve rapid cybersecurity advancement when focused.
PNG’s trajectory is accelerating and impressive. But PNG is not the only nation advancing cybersecurity maturity: it is one of several demonstrating that Pacific Island nations, despite constrained resources, can systematically improve their cyber resilience.
Broadband Connectivity: Infrastructure Achievement
PNG increased broadband coverage from 40% in 2020 to 80% by the end of 2024. This infrastructure expansion is genuine and significant.
Several contextual factors require mention:
Coverage versus penetration: PNG achieved 80% population coverage, but this means infrastructure availability, not active usage. Actual mobile broadband penetration remains 30-40%, according to PNG’s National ICT Authority. Citizens in covered areas may lack devices, affordability, or digital skills to access services. This distinction is important for understanding actual digital inclusion.
Regional comparison context:
- Tonga achieved near-universal 4G coverage (96% mobile 3G/4G), among the highest in the Pacific, reflecting concentrated population and political prioritization of connectivity.
- Fiji reports 96% 3G/4G coverage with robust banking infrastructure (M-Paisa) and strong digital wallet penetration, demonstrating that coverage combined with financial infrastructure creates functional digital ecosystems.
- Samoa faces affordability challenges despite achieving near-universal mobile coverage; last-mile connectivity and subsea cable bandwidth costs constrain actual usage relative to coverage.
- Solomon Islands has approximately 60% mobile broadband coverage, with constrained last-mile infrastructure in dispersed island communities.
- Vanuatu, despite being smaller and economically constrained, achieved comparable connectivity through sustained investment and public-private partnerships.
Digital Government: From Policy to Service Delivery
PNG’s Digital Government Plan (2023-2027) outlines an ambitious sequenced implementation roadmap. The government has moved beyond planning to deploying operational systems:
- Digital Transformation Offices across public bodies
- Service Pass (digital ID for citizens)
- Service Portal (centralized government services access)
- Service Wallet (citizen-controlled identity and records)
These represent real institutional progress. Citizens of PNG can now access integrated digital services.
Regional comparison reveals varied approaches, not sequential stages:
Fiji: Developing digital government infrastructure primarily through pilot programs. However, Fiji’s M-Paisa digital wallet (established earlier) demonstrates functional digital service delivery for payments and financial inclusion. Fiji’s recent National Cybersecurity Strategy and privacy policy suggest acceleration of whole-of-government digital integration going forward.
Samoa: The Digitally Connected and Resilient Samoa Project (approved October 2024) focuses on broadband infrastructure and government capacity building before full-scale e-government service deployment. This phased approach is rational given infrastructure constraints but places Samoa in earlier implementation stages than PNG’s current position.
Tonga: Recently launched integrated digital government with TongaPass digital ID, e-government portal (gov.to), and API integration platform (May 2025). Tonga’s implementation mirrors PNG’s approach—comprehensive integration across multiple systems—and represents simultaneous achievement, not sequential progression.
Solomon Islands: Has designated digital transformation structures, but implementation remains fragmented. This reflects constrained institutional capacity—common in smaller, resource-limited island nations—not lack of commitment.
Vanuatu: Developing e-commerce and digital government strategy with less institutional integration than PNG’s whole-of-government approach. Vanuatu’s governance model reflects different institutional structure and sequencing choices.
PNG’s movement to citizen-facing service delivery is a qualitative achievement. Tonga’s parallel achievement (2025) and Fiji’s planned acceleration suggest the Pacific region is entering an implementation phase across multiple jurisdictions simultaneously, rather than PNG leading others sequentially.
Governance reconsidered: context and constraints
The original critique, that PNG’s governance challenges would prevent digital transformation, requires nuanced reconsideration.
Governance is not monolithic. PNG has demonstrated effective governance in digital transformation specifically by establishing clear legal authority, institutional accountability, sequenced implementation, and measurable outcomes. This domain-specific governance success is valuable and real.
PNG established:
- Legal authority through the Digital Government Act (2022)
- Institutional responsibility through designated Digital Transformation Offices
- Resource coordination through a Project Management Office
- Outcome measurement through the Digital Government Plan’s specific targets
- Cross-government alignment through the ICT Steering Committee
Domain-specific governance capability does not imply perfect governance across all sectors. PNG, like other developing nations, faces real governance challenges in resource management, accountability, and implementation fidelity in other sectors.
The achievement in digital transformation reflects focused political will and institutional design for a specific priority, not comprehensive governance transformation.
Regional peers face comparable constraints. Fiji, despite having a larger economy and more developed institutions, started digital transformation earlier but progressed more gradually, suggesting that sequencing and institutional prioritization matter as much as overall governance capacity.
What explains PNG’s current progress: an honest assessment
Three factors deserve recognition:
1. Political commitment with institutional continuity
PNG maintained consistent leadership and political backing for digital transformation across government transitions from 2020 to 2024. This is genuinely rare in PNG politics and reflects deliberate prioritization. The Department of Information and Communications Technology sustained vision and resources through political change—a significant achievement.
Comparable nations experienced similar conditions: Vanuatu’s sustained e-commerce investment despite governance challenges. Tonga’s recent political prioritization of digital government under the World Bank partnership. Fiji’s selective investment in digital sectors aligned with economic development priorities.
Institutional continuity is necessary but not sufficient; it requires alignment with other enabling factors.
2. Integrated Policy Architecture
PNG designed policies to work together: cybersecurity protects digital government services, data governance protects citizens during digital transactions, and digital infrastructure enables all three.
This integration is valuable. However, regional peers pursue comparable integration through different sequencing. Samoa’s World Bank-supported approach links infrastructure investment with capacity building and policy development as integrated projects. Tonga’s simultaneous deployment of digital ID, civil registry, and e-government platform represents comparable integration through different institutional mechanisms.
3. Implementation focus over perfection
PNG launched frameworks knowing refinement would be necessary. The National Cybersecurity Policy (2021) evolved into the Strategy (2024) based on experience. The Digital Transformation Policy (2020) informed the Digital Government Act (2022), which informed the Digital Government Plan (2023-2027).
This iterative, learning-based approach is effective. However, it is not unique to PNG. Regional peers similarly launched policies and adapted based on experience. The Solomon Islands’ National Cybersecurity Policy (2024) followed consultations and learning from 2020 onward. Samoa’s Digital Transformation Strategy reflects World Bank technical input and regional peer learning. Fiji’s recent strategy launches reflect adaptive refinement of earlier approaches.
The Regional Digital Transformation Landscape
The Pacific’s digital journey reflects widely varying starting conditions, populations, economic constraints, and institutional capacities. A fair assessment acknowledges distinct contributions:
Vanuatu, despite economic constraints, achieved the highest ITU cybersecurity score (69.29) through two decades of sustained e-commerce and digital governance investment. Vanuatu’s sustained institutional focus demonstrates that consistent, long-term prioritization produces durable digital maturity.
Fiji commands the largest digital economy in the Pacific and maintains sophisticated financial infrastructure (M-Paisa). Fiji’s recent acceleration in cybersecurity and privacy policy frameworks (2024-2025) indicates renewed strategic focus on institutional digital governance, following earlier emphasis on digital financial services.
Samoa pursues deliberate, World Bank-supported digital transformation emphasizing infrastructure resilience, climate adaptation, and digital services alongside connectivity. Samoa’s approach is holistic and contextually appropriate for a nation recovering from recent climate disasters.
Solomon Islands launched its cybersecurity policy in August 2024 and SICERT operations in March 2025, establishing institutional foundations for cyber resilience despite implementation challenges related to constrained capacity.
Tonga deployed integrated digital government infrastructure (May 2025) with World Bank support, demonstrating that small island nations can achieve simultaneous digital ID, e-government, and civil registry integration through strategic partnerships and political prioritization.
PNG’s distinction is not isolated regional dominance but disciplined institutional integration combined with measurable infrastructure outcomes (80% broadband coverage, 62.6 cybersecurity score, operational digital public services). PNG’s achievement reflects political prioritization, consistent leadership, and sequenced policy implementation. However, PNG is one of several Pacific nations demonstrating that strategic digital transformation is achievable within resource constraints.
Conclusion: Digital Transformation in the Pacific Context
The narrative that developing nations cannot govern digital transformation effectively requires revision. The Pacific region demonstrates that with clear political will, institutional focus, and strategic sequencing, rapid progress is achievable.
PNG merits recognition for combining legal frameworks, integrated policy architecture, institutional coordination, and measurable connectivity outcomes into a coherent system. PNG has proven that governance, discipline, and sustained focus can overcome the structural constraints critics assumed were permanent.
The Pacific’s digital future is not determined by inevitability or by isolated national achievement. It is determined by collective commitment to digital transformation, strategic use of partnerships and regional learning, and disciplined execution of contextually appropriate digital strategies.
Papua New Guinea is choosing digital transformation. So are other Pacific nations. The region’s collective progress, reflecting diverse approaches suited to varied contexts, represents genuine digital maturity emerging across the Pacific.