The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has completed a 10-day audit of the PNG Civil and Identity Registry’s information and communications technology systems, infrastructure and security arrangements.

The final audit report was formally presented to Registrar-General Leslie Simon by Jessy Sekere, DICT Acting Deputy Secretary for Digital Government Delivery and Coordination. The report was approved by DICT Secretary Steven Matainaho.

A team of DICT specialists carried out the assessment, covering ICT compliance, cybersecurity, government cloud services, infrastructure, and data governance. The team was granted temporary access to relevant systems to conduct technical reviews and checks.

Simon commended the auditors for their professionalism and expertise, saying the Registry welcomed the findings and recommendations.

“Your team has really done a good job. We witnessed a high level of professionalism, and we are very happy to receive this audit report,” he said.

Simon said the Registry’s management had identified legacy ICT challenges after taking office earlier this year and requested DICT’s assistance to assess the organization’s technology environment.

“With your expertise, we believe DICT is the right department to assess the situation, identify what is working, what is not working, and provide direction on where we can move forward from here,” he said.

He described the age of some existing systems and the risk of losing critical government data as major concerns. The audit, he said, has given the Registry a clearer understanding of its current ICT position and outlined practical areas for improvement.

“This audit was necessary to help us understand where we stand. It has provided recommendations that will help us strengthen our ICT infrastructure and address long-standing issues, including disaster recovery and core database management,” Simon said.

The review covered the Registry’s ICT environment and compliance standards, with recommendations intended to guide improvements to system resilience, data protection and service continuity. The organizations did not disclose the report’s detailed findings or implementation timetable.

The audit completion marks a step in the Registry’s efforts to address legacy technology challenges and strengthen the systems used to manage civil and identity records.