DR AMANDA H A WATSON
Mr. Peni Keris, Executive Director of the Village Courts and Land Mediation Secretariat, worked together with the Chief Magistrate, Ms. Nerrie Eliakim, on the law and justice sector project.
A trial project to collect data utilising mobile phone text messaging has been completed in the law and justice sector in partnership with two government agencies: the Village Courts & Land Mediation Secretariat and Magisterial Services.
The aim of this trial was to determine if data collection via mobile phone is more effective than other data collection methods, such as asking officers to post or fax paper forms. The trial involved the electronic submission of data related to Village Courts using mobile phone text messaging. The trial has shown that data collection through text messaging can be valuable, speedy and cost-effective in accessing data from around PNG.