The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) has released the Draft National ICT Policy 2025–2030, outlining Samoa’s digital priorities for the next five years. The draft reflects extensive consultations with government ministries, the private sector, and community.
Over the past two decades, Samoa has achieved major ICT progress including near universal mobile coverage, expanded international bandwidth and upgrades to the Samoa National Broadband Highway (SNBH) as one of the national projects. These developments have strengthened digital services and e-government foundations.
However, challenges remain: affordability barriers, rural connectivity gaps, outdated legislation and persistent digital skills shortages.
The new draft policy responds to these issues and builds on national initiatives such as the National Digital Identification System (NDIDS) and the Street Addressing Project, aligning with the Pathway for the Development of Samoa. MCIT acknowledges all stakeholders for their contributions, with special thanks to the Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT) and Professor Stan Karanasios for technical support.
The policy is guided by principles of inclusion, trust and safety, Fa’asamoa, sustainability, collaboration, responsible data use and strong cybersecurity. It reinforces MCIT’s role in providing national direction while enabling ministries to manage their own ICT systems under shared standards.
It is structured around 5 strategic pillars with its own strategic priorities and Cybersecurity as cross-cutting requirement:
1. Resilient Connectivity and Infrastructure – improving infrastructure, service quality and nationwide access.
2. Digital Economy – supporting MSMEs, e-commerce, data privacy and safer digital payments.
3. Digital Government – delivering secure, citizen-focused services with integrated platforms.
4. Leadership & Governance – strengthening ICT oversight, procurement and regulation.
5. Digital Skills – building capability across schools, communities, the workforce and public service.
A strong monitoring and evaluation framework will ensure annual progress reporting and continued stakeholder engagement. The Draft National ICT Policy 2025–2030 sets a clear, practical direction for expanding access, improving trust in digital systems, enabling economic growth and preparing Samoans with the skills to thrive in a digital world.
