Information Technology Education in Papua New Guinea: Cultural, Economic and Political Influences

Abstract

Executive Summary Information and Communication Technology is the driving force in the information intensive global society. Information Technology (IT) professionals with skills and capabilities required by the IT industry are scarce. Industry and policy makers see education institutions as the vehicle to produce skilled IT professionals to bridge the gap between the changing technology and industry needs. Many Least Developed Countries including Papua New Guinea are slowly coming to grips with the rapidly changing IT industry and need for IT education and development. The lack of information policy guidelines in many instances hinders the growth of IT industry in many LDCs. Also there are issues and factors that influence IT education in developing countries especially Papua New Guinea. These include cultural and language impacts on IT education in PNG. Preliminary results from our recent study indicate that PNG IT professionals place a high emphasis on non-technical skills. In this paper we examine a number of social, cultural and industry factors that influence IT education, and postulate several principles that are useful in developing an IT education model suitable for LDCs.