Connecting Islands, Empowering Lives: Wallis and Futuna’s Digital Leap

Wallis and Futuna are embarking on a remarkable journey toward digital transformation. The French Territory embraces cutting-edge technology to enhance and promote economic growth and foster digital transformation by participating in the Pacific Digital Champions training program under the Digital Transformation Project (Phase 2). The New Zealand Government funds this through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (NZMFAT).

Workshop participants commended the day and half digital training on September 5^th-6^th, recognising its relevance to industry demands. Tahiti-based digital consultant Judith Rodriguez facilitated the training in Wallis and Futuna.

Aligned with the SPTO Digital Strategy, the Pacific Digital Champions training program aims to empower individuals with the necessary skills and knowledge to navigate the digital landscape successfully.

SPTO member countries that have completed Wave One training are New Caledonia and Timor Leste, followed by American Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Samoa, and the Solomon Islands and Tahiti, Cook Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Republic of the Marshall Island, Nauru and Niue Federated States of Micronesia and Kiribati, Fiji, and Wallis and Futuna. Wave Two training will continue virtually until December 31, 2023.

SPTO Chief Executive Officer Chris Cocker attended the digital training and profiled SPTO as the lead organisation.

Mr Cocker had an audience with the King Keletaona Eufenio Takala and Chiefs of the Sigave district on Futuna to profile SPTO and the purpose of the training. SPTO’s first visit to Futuna was followed by a meeting with a French Representative on the island and key tourism stakeholders.

“Overall, the visit to Wallis and Futuna was productive. It provided an ideal platform to engage with key tourism stakeholders to further identify needs and collaborative opportunities and promote SPTO and the October meetings. SPTO’s presence through training in both islands was vital to ensure that Wallis & Futuna sees value in their Return on Investment for their membership. Both islands still require training in digital upskilling, a lot of support in their sustainable tourism journey, and Research and statistics upskilling. Wallis and Futuna is one of SPTO’s newer members and requires a lot of assistance in tourism development,” Mr Cocker said.