BY LORETTA B MANELE
Technology is transforming economies and societies everywhere and for Solomon Islands this presents both an opportunity and risk, says Solomon Islands National University (SINU) Vice Chancellor, Dr Transform Aqorau.
He voiced this when he delivered the New Academic Year Opening Address 2026 for SINU at the university’s Panatina campus last Wednesday.
Vice Chancellor Aqorau said technological through automation, artificial intelligence, and digital connectivity are changing how we work, how we learn, and how we understand the world around us.
“For Solomon Islanders, this presents both an opportunity and risk,” he said.
Aqorau said we have the chance to leapfrog all barriers, improving telemedicine in our remote islands, using e-learning to reach students far from our campuses, and fostering digital entrepreneurship among our youth.
On the other hand, he said if we fall behind, we risk widening the development gap.
Hence, Aqorau said we must invest in information, communication, technology, infrastructure, and digital skills, so that our people can drive the global knowledge economy.
He also raised that there is also one dimension of this transformation that we must not front-load and it is the rise of artificial intelligence.
Aqorau said tools like ChatGPT and others are not simply new technologies and they are reshaping how knowledge itself is created through access and use.
“In universities around the world, this shift is already unfolding at a pace not seen since the arrival of the Internet. It is no longer something that we can stand aside from.
“Like the tides that shape our islands, this change is already upon us, and our task is to learn how to navigate it wisely,” he said.
Aqorau said for SINU, this is both a challenge and a responsibility.
He said they must not try to stop what cannot be stopped but instead teach their students how to use these tools, in terms of discipline, integrity and critical thinking.
Aqorau mentioned that university is not simply a place where answers are produced but a place where minds are formed.
He emphasised that their students must learn not to accept everything technologies give them but to question it, test it and apply their own judgement.
Aqorau said this is how knowledge becomes wisdom.
“This means embedding artificial intelligence literacy across all disciplines, supporting our staff to adapt their teaching, and ensuring that technology strengthens rather than weakens their quality of learning,” he said.
Aqorau raised that if they get this right, they will not fall behind but will lead.
“If we get this right, we will not fall behind. We will lead. We will produce graduates who are not only technologically capable, but grounded in values, able to think for themselves, and ready to serve their communities in our rapidly changing world,” he said.
Photo credit: Loretta B Manele
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