Tech, bamboo and privacy tops panel discussion Ronald Singh

Technology means sharing of data, data is stored in data banks. The way banks protect your money, there should be rules and regulations protecting data.

This is what the final panelist of the fourth episode of Reset Fiji brought to discussion.

A lawyer with Munro Leys, Ronald Singh, says that technology is here, and people need to accept it, but what is important is protecting your privacy.

The fourth episode of Reset Fiji, titled Innovations and Technology was aired on MaiTV on July 2, 2020.

“Technology is here, we have to accept it, but it is all about protecting your privacy,” Mr Singh said.

“If we treat data as a goal, then the way the banks are protecting your money, these data banks should be protecting your information.

There has to be rules and regulations as the monetary banks are regulated.

Mr Singh said out of the 656 pieces of legislation that had been passed since 2006, there hadn’t been one that protects personal information.

“When you talk about the careFIJI app, the data collection, you have to ensure that there are specific provisions, specific legislations in line to protect this information,” he said.

“You would be surprised to know that since 2006, there have been 656 pieces of legislation that have been passed, and not one of them is specifically on the provision of protecting your personal information.

Masi Latianara

The director of Habitat for Humanity believes that Fiji needs to implement guidelines for constructing with bamboos into the building code.

Masi Latianara, who has worked in the construction industry for 35 years, said that Fiji had the perfect climatology, geology for growing bamboo for building climate-resilient houses.

An architect, Mr Latianara said that bamboos only took five years to harvest while the harvesting period for timber was minimum 30 years.

“You can harvest bamboo after five years for construction whereas timber takes minimum 30 years to harvest.

“If you cut the tree, you have to start again from the seedling, but with bamboo, you can keep harvesting, after five years from the same plant,” he said.

He said with 34 per cent population below the poverty line, families with a combined household income of $20,000 will not be able to build a resilient house.

“These families, with the current building costs and materials, will never be able to build a resilient house so we need to look at a couple of issues.

“The first issue, we need to look at alternative technologies to build houses,” Mr Latianara said.

Kenneth Katafono

Technology talent and capacity in Fiji needs to be developed to find solutions to problems in our nation.

While speaking at the episode, the founder of TraSeable Solutions, Kenneth Katafono, said that fisheries and agriculture were amongst the biggest sectors in the Pacific and need innovation.

TraSeable Solutions is a digital tech company founded by him and his wife, Shauna in 2017.

The other panelists that featured in this episode of Reset Fiji- A People’s Post-COVID-19 dialogue series were ACTON founder and director, Mukesh Lodhia and the principal administration officer for the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs, Simione Sevudredre.

The next episode will feature renowned panelists from the tourism industry.