GOOD STUFF: The New One-Stop Website for Coronavirus Information in the Pacific

As Covid-19 continues its unprecedented course, there has not been a single, easy-to-find location where Pacific Islanders can quickly get all the right coronavirus news and business strategies that they need.

PacificActions.com and its complementary mobile app easily and rapidly link to more than 450 of the most important local, regional and international websites and articles about the coronavirus and how to best deal with it. It was conceived and designed to save time, money, businesses, economies and most importantly, families and lives.

The Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific International (FSPI), a regional NGO, together with Webmedia South Pacific (WMSP), a Fiji-based Communications and IT agency, took it upon themselves to respond to this urgent need for a one-stop news hub, more advanced than anything of its kind.

Mr. Nathan Powell, the spokesman for WMSP, shared that “Webmedia South Pacific uncovered a huge gap in how people, organisations, businesses and stakeholders cannot find or access critical information in a matter of seconds. This platform does all the heavy lifting. It’s free, fast and simple-to-use.”

This impressive website and mobile app are a unique combination of automatic updates and hand-selected articles, all cleanly laid-out to provide the best quality content for individuals, businesses, organisations and leaders at every level and in every sector. A simple scroll highlights breaking news in every country in the Pacific region, click a few tabs and your business will learn how others all over the world are successfully dealing with the virus.

Data in the region is generally very costly and mobile phones offer small viewing areas, therefore Pacific Islanders will value the website and app because of their efficiency in providing regional inclusiveness, speed, design, a wide range of articles and editorial filtering.

There are sections for videos, for essentials-to-know, for maps of testing centres, for podcasts, for businesses and so much more. No matter whether the virus has reached a particular country’s shores or not, there is content for everyone.

Ms. Roshni Chand, the Senior Program Manager/Acting CEO for FSPI, emphasised the great importance of such a digital platform.

“The Internet is ALREADY dominating the lives of Pacific Islanders… it has far more viewers than any other media channel in almost every Pacific Island nation. The great thing is that this site actually feeds the news sources that are online… it rewards them for good content by directly linking back to the original publisher’s website to provide them with more traffic,” she explained.

In addition to this website is the mobile app available for both Apple and Android users soon to be available on Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The mobile platform makes it even easier for individuals to stay connected and keep up with the latest happenings of the coronavirus while on the go.

Ms. Verona Lucas, a founding trustee for FSPI was elated with how the platform has come together. “Webmedia approached us with a vision because they knew of our reputation and abilities to further empower individuals, businesses and proactive organisations. Nothing empowers more rapidly than access to great information. So we saw this as the perfect blend of tech and tactics to help support the Pacific region as we combat all the unknown challenges ahead from this Covid-19 crisis,” she noted.

Mr. Steve Reid, the Director of Webmedia South Pacific, summed up the objective of Pacific Actions. “This platform was developed by a dedicated team who volunteered more than 2 months of unpaid effort during the worst crisis of our lifetime in order to create a platform to save lives, save families, save businesses and preserve cultures.”

He continued saying, “I cannot say enough great things about the team at FSPI that shared our vision, and who are tirelessly helping us to deliver this empowerment platform to all the People of the Pacific.”

Click here to visit the website