PROTECTING trans-Pacific submarine cables and climate-proofing data infrastructure against worsening cyclones and rising seas have been elevated to core national security priorities for Fiji.
Speaking at the Fiji Tech Summit 2026 in Natadola on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Industries, Commerce and Business Development Manoa Kamikamica said the National Security Strategy 2025–2029 placed cybersecurity and data sovereignty alongside climate change and transnational crime under the banner of ‘Protect, Progress and Promote’.
Since Fiji serves as a regional hub for undersea cables carrying vital financial and emergency communications, Mr Kamikamica said safeguarding physical and digital pathways was critical.
With sea levels around Fiji rising faster than the global average, he said the Government aimed to ensure 90 per cent of designated critical infrastructure featured redundant data pathways, disaster-ready data centres and cloud recovery.
The roadmap, he added also targeted a 20 per cent cut in digital infrastructure energy consumption alongside new e-waste recycling schemes, building on a national grid already powered roughly 53 per cent by renewables.
“Cyclones, floods and rising seas, which around Fiji are rising faster than the global average, can threaten our networks as surely as any hacker.
“So, our digital infrastructure must be built to survive the weather as well as the attack.”
Mr Kamikamica acknowledged that Fiji’s domestic cyber workforce remained small and faced brain drain overseas, and stressed that securing the nation required a whole-of-nation partnership with private industry.
