Published: November 11, 2024

The 2024 PaCSON Annual General Meeting (AGM) took place from 9 to 12 September in Rarotonga, Cook Islands. It was a valuable opportunity for the PaCSON community to share key cyber information, collaborate and come together in-person. The agenda for the four-day program aimed to provide PaCSON members, partners and friends with the chance to learn from one another in both formal and informal settings. Activities included presentations, hands-on training, workshops and networking events.

The 2024 event marked the largest ever attendance at a PaCSON AGM, highlighting the growth PaCSON has undergone in the previous 12 months, including welcoming a new member and new partners and friends. New member Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) waswelcomed by the PaCSON community, as were new partners; the French Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) and the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, (CCCS) and new friend; the Pacific Fusion centre (PFC). You can read more about these new additions to the community on their profile pages on pacson.org/community.

Cook Islands as Outgoing Chair

The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) of Cook Islands served as the host for the AGM as PaCSON Chair. As the AGM serves as the transition period for leadership to be handed from the Chair to Incoming chair, the Cook Islands were farewelled from their position. In the role of Chair, OPM served the PaCSON community diligently; ensuring members voices were heard and that decisions made by the EC were informed and in the best interests of the community.

Cook Islands is congratulated for their superb hosting the AGM in Rarotonga. The team was actively engaged throughout the planning process in the lead up to the event, and took great initiative to coordinate the AGM in such a way that ensured it ran smoothly and efficiently. During the AGM, the team was on the ground providing support to ensure all participants were enjoying themselves and getting the most value possible. Without the efforts from the OPM team, the AGM would not have been the success that it was, and the community is very grateful for their endeavours.

AGM Agenda

The agenda for the week was full of valuable opportunities for learning and sharing. Some of the highlights include:

The ‘Capture the Flag’ cyber challenge

This occurred after the opening ceremony and took up most of day one. Participants worked hard to complete as many tasks as possible and thereby capture the most flags. It was a tight race, with multiple teams vying for the top spot towards the end of the day. In the end, the winning team was comprised of: Catherine Subhaydas (Fiji), Georgina Kiele (PNG DICT), Fiona Habuka (PNG DICT), Rajnesh Chand (RBF), Bernard Fong (RBF) and Mohammed Moishin (Fiji).

Launch of the Cook Islands’ Cyber Security Strategy and formal dinner

The Cook Islands launched their new Cyber Security Strategy, one of the key pillars in their National Security Strategy during the week. The event was attended by VIPs including former Secretary General of PIFS and former Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Henry Puna and the Honourable Tingika Elikana, Minister of the Crown, who launched the strategy alongside PaCSON Chair Ben Ponia. Early access hard copies of the strategy were provided after the launch, ahead of its official release the following day. Attendees then came together for a formal dinner and cultural show, which was a fun and enjoyable event.

Working group meetings and updates:

The AGM provided an opportunity for the three working groups to come together and meet in person to discuss past work and create a future work plan. The four working groups in PaCSON are:

Awareness Raising Working Group (ARWG)
Capacity Building Working Group (CBWG)
Communications Working Group (CWG)
Partners Working Group (PWG)

The four groups used this time to create an outline of what they hoped to achieve within the coming year. Following the meetings, the ARWG, CBWG and CWG presented updates on work that had occurred in the past year, and presented their future ideas to members. The AWRG launched their new Cyber Smart Pacific campaign for 2024, focusing on the familiar sea creatures from last year’s campaign with some newly developed merchandise and materials. The CBWG announced they had elected a co-convenor (Tonga) and discussed their plans to reintroduce the remote session series- or something similar. The CWG focused on the launch and subsequent sharing of the Cyber Upskill Program (CUP), which has been a major body of work for the group for the past couple of years. The CWG aims to focus on sharing the CUP with even more individuals and communities in the Pacific going forward.

Visit to the Avaroa Cable landing site and Vodafone data centre

Attendees visited the cable-landing site of the Avaroa cable and Vodafone data centre on the final day of the AGM. The visit included a tour of the data centre, presentations, and a few lucky attendees even got to see the cable up close. The visit provided key insight into Cook Islands’ evolving capabilities, and was a great way to see more of Rarotonga.

2024/2025 Executive Committee

An important aspect of the AGM is the election and introduction of the new Executive Committee (EC). The host of this year’s AGM was then Chair Cook Islands, who were gracious in handing over Chair position to Incoming Chair, Kiribati. The PaCSON community welcomes the new EC for 2024/2025, which is:

Kiribati as Chair
Samoa as Deputy Chair
Papua New Guinea (DICT) as Incoming Chair

The new EC will work together to lead the PaCSON community for the coming year, representing and making decisions that benefit the community.

Looking forward

The 2024 AGM in Rarotonga, Cook Islands provided a great opportunity to reflect the previous year’s hard work and look to the future and plan for what comes next. PaCSON has had a busy year, including adding new members, partners and friends and launching the PaCSON CUP. The PaCSON community recognises the threat malicious cyber activity poses to the region, and the value that cooperation can offer when addressing this threat.

Sesilia Fahiua from CERT Tonga highlighted the importance of the AGM:

“Due to the borderless nature of cybercrime and the improvements of connectivity in the region, we are no longer excluded by our geographical remoteness. We are susceptible to cyberattack, whether it is a direct target or as mere collateral damage. This year’s PaCSON AGM allowed us members to continue learning, networking, sharing with one another and move forward as a united and cyber-resilient region.”

As the PaCSON community continues to grow in both size and influence, the AGM will continue to be an important fixture in the PaCSON calendar to provide opportunities to learn from and share with one another. The community is already looking forward to next year’s AGM, which will be hosted by Chair Kiribati.

AGM attendees at the opening ceremony