Cook Islands Internet Action Group

§ 01 — Who we areMandate

A small society with a seat at the world's table.

Founded in 2010 and incorporated under Cook Islands law, CIIAG exists to promote the safe and effective use of the internet — for Rarotonga, for the Pa Enua, and for the wider Pacific.

We are an At-Large Structure allied to ICANN and a partner of the Pacific Islands Chapter of the Internet Society. Our members sit on global boards, shape national digital strategy, train the next generation, and represent the Pacific where the rules of the network are written. Membership is honorary, and open to all who share the kaupapa.

Established: 5 July 2010
Legal status: Incorporated Society
Register no.: I343
Mandate: Safe & effective internet
Affiliation: ICANN · PICISOC
Committee: 22 members
Seat: Rarotonga

§ 02 — What we doFour lines of work

Digital inclusion & capacity

Bringing skills, safety and opportunity from Rarotonga out to the Pa Enua.Cyber training · CEIT robotics · Smartie payments · national digital strategy

ii.

A Pacific voice in internet governance

Small island, full seat at the table — board seats and chairs across the bodies that steward the global internet.ISOC Board · DotAsia Board · GFCE Pacific Hub · ICANN At-Large

iii.

Language & knowledge, carried forward

Cook Islands Māori built into the technology itself — and support for community-owned knowledge keeping.Māori IDNs (ā ē ī ō ū) · translation & hymn apps

iv.

A self-sustaining digital future

The only Pacific applicant in ICANN's next round of new top-level domains, with DotAsia.New gTLD round 2026 · ICANN Applicant Support Programme

§ 03 — The horizonTe Kupenga

The net that holds what matters.

Kupenga is the fishing net — and the net of knowledge. The same word reaches the Inter-net. CIIAG helps weave both: connecting the Pacific outward, and helping each island hold its own stories, language and protocols close.

01
Community engagementRelationships across the 12 inhabited islands, built over fifteen years.
02
Digital inclusionMeeting communities where they are — skills, safety, access and trust.
03
Sovereignty by designInfrastructure open, knowledge sovereign — each community keeps authority over its own.
04
Pacific connectionLinking local work into regional cooperation across Te Moana Nui.

§ 04 — Our reachThe log

15^yr

serving the Cook Islands internet community

global boards & hubs held by members

inhabited islands within our reach

1^st

and only Pacific applicant, ICANN next gTLD round

2024

Gold — World Robot Olympiad, AthensThe CEIT girls' team brings home gold for the Cook Islands.

2024

Appointment to the Internet Society BoardA Cook Islands voice in the global governance of the internet.

2024

Director, GFCE Pacific HubLeading regional cyber capacity-building across the Pacific.

2024

Smartie — first Cook Islands digital payments solutionHomegrown fintech, with a tourism super-app in development.

2023–24

National Digital Strategy & eCommerce Acceleration WorkplanHelping shape the country's digital direction.

ongoing

ICANN · IGF · APRIGF — Brisbane, Taiwan, WellingtonRepresenting the Pacific in the multistakeholder forums of the internet.

§ 05 — LeadershipOffice bearers

Maureen Hilyard

President & Chair

Internet Society Board, DotAsia Board and ICANN At-Large — a leading Pacific voice in internet governance.

Anonga Tisam

Vice President

Builder of the Smartie payments platform and Cook Islands Māori language and hymn apps.

Pua Hunter

Secretary-Treasurer

Director of the GFCE Pacific Hub, driving cyber capacity-building across the region.

A committee of twenty-two.

Volunteers across Rarotonga, the Pa Enua and the diaspora — honorary, and open to all who share the kaupapa.

Add your voice to the kaupapa.

Membership is open to all who care about a safe, open and inclusive internet for the Cook Islands and the Pacific — and includes membership of the Pacific Islands Chapter of the Internet Society.

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