Many Pacific island countries face shortages of medical practitioners. There are hopes, therefore, that information and communications technologies can help compensate for the lack of medical services. The goals of this project are to offer ICT training at Japan's Tokai University to Pacific islanders involved in health administration, and dispatch Japanese experts to Pacific island countries to provide education to local officials, thus constructing a new health service model in the Pacific region.
In fiscal 2007, two officials from the Nauru Department of Health were invited to undergo three months of training at Tokai University for the development of a medical information management system that meets local needs, with its small population and insufficient medical services even in the largest city. The trainees learned about the basics of ICT, database development, and the Near Vertical Incidence Skywave system.
The NVIS system utilizes near-vertical radio waves reflected from the ionosphere and is considered suitable for communication among isolated islands, as it is designed for short-distance communication and does not require high power. Experts were also dispatched from Japan to investigate communication conditions in Pacific island countries toward the introduction of the NVIS system.