Speaker – Ms Tupou'tuah Baravilala
Ms Tupou’tuah Baravilala
Director-General Digital Government Transformation
Cybersecurity and Communications, Ministry of Communications, Fiji
Biography
Tupou’tuah Baravilala is a digital transformation specialist with a passion for digital equity, cybersecurity and creating a more inclusive society.
As the Director-General for Digital Government Transformation, Cybersecurity and Communications, Ms. Baravilala has extensive experience in helping bridge the digital divide in society through an ambitious effort to digitalise key government operations and services, in addition to progressively expanding meaningful connectivity to remote communities. She spearheaded the development of the digitalFIJI platform –– a secure single sign-in portal granting access to an expanding range of e-government services, including birth registration, feedback submission, and digital company registration. She oversaw the roll-out of digital tools to aid Fiji’s COVID-19 containment and recovery strategy. Ms. Baravilala is keenly interested in exploring the nexus between ICT, cyber policy, law and international relations. She has also served as the Acting Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Communications.
Ms. Baravilala has over 11 years of experience in the civil service, providing direct support to ministers and successfully deployed nation-wide programmes across different government agencies. She represents the Government as an expert and lead negotiator on cyber matters at the United Nations, International Telecommunications Union, Council of Europe, Asia-Pacific Telecommunity, and the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation. She is also the Vice-Chair of the Asia Pacific Telecommunity Policy and Regulatory Forum for the Pacific.
Ms. Baravilala is a member of the Government Information Technology and Communications Steering Committee which is the approving authority for ICT procurement for whole of government and is a board member of the Telecommunications Authority of Fiji which is the regulatory authority for the telecommunications sector. She has served as a company director on several boards in the infrastructure and telecommunications sectors. In 2019, Ms. Baravilala was awarded the Women in Business Public Manager of the Year and was also one of Fiji’s “30 under 30” honorees. She graduated with a Bachelor of Laws Degree from the University of the South Pacific and a Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice.