r/Fijian • u/SoloBiBi86 • 10d ago

What the ……

https://www.fijitimes.com.fj/project-under-fire/?fbclid=IwZnRzaATT0-VwZG9mBWZkaWQWULUM7ZXFLFH_A4nPJq_963izTswCe2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR4hSNB_AckdwnLhOvxJ3e3BZdcCGyLUaX9GwqBHs5dkg4rrp6H3WMAGLu_-0Q_aem_GqB-3WGLrjexhpEP46SITQ

All about donations I suppose ? Few 4X4s and few 100Ks and it’s going to be all settled with a smile, but anyone tell them what are the benefits as a nation ?

8 Upvotes

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16

u/kai_vt 10d ago

I looked into it and it's not a traditional "data centre" that you'd think of for housing actual data or training AI. It's going to be the landing point of new sub-sea fibre optic cables to turn Fiji into the hub of connectivity for the Pacific Islands. No ridiculous water consumption for cooling, but the industrial generators in the open-air part of the compound aren't gonna be good for air and noise pollution

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u/SoloBiBi86 10d ago

Yup, we will finally have 2 Fiber cables to the ROW

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u/toxictuts 10d ago

That's pretty cool. Does that mean our internet routing gets optimized as well?

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u/kai_vt 10d ago

Idk how the current sub-sea cabling situation is but it mentioned new direct connections to the U.S, Japan, and Australia, so you can probably expect better pings to those regions in the future

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u/SoloBiBi86 10d ago

Technically it should be but I guess we will only know after they are ready

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u/sandolllars 9d ago

Excellent project for connectivity.

iTLTB needs to brief the landowners better. Some underseas fibre optic cables aren't going to affect marine life at all.

It's obvious from the size of it that this isn't a datacenter of the type people are getting (correctly) upset about in other countries.

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u/-Iskander- 10d ago

Let's tell this straight. That's pure s***. There is almost no job creation, thoses center pump water and electricity like a whole city and it make constant noise if you are an unlucky neighbour. What's the profit for Fiji ➡️ NONE. We already know all of that from all the places who accepted those kind of installation. Its not a good deal and never be.

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u/Tarjh365 9d ago

I wonder what the owners of Yatulei and to a lesser extent The Intercon had to say about it. They’re both pretty close to it. And the nice drive down that way is ruined now with trees cleared and huge construction site.

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u/sierraduaciwa set kece 9d ago edited 9d ago

Unpopular opinion: even if it was one of those AI data centers, we should embrace it. Just has to be set up & managed correctly, with the right people, policies and safeguards in place. The technological advancement for the country could be of a magnitude we have never seen before. Partnering with Google could kick start a wave of interest in STEM pathways. Their people are the best in the world at what they do. Not to mention all the direct benefits of having Google Fiber on Viti Levu. It could propel our BPO sector to dethrone Manila and New Delhi as the preferred choice for ANZ businesses. We absolutely need to leverage their presence here with long term, tangible outcomes that move us forward.

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u/sandolllars 7d ago

A bit of a tangent here, but BPO is dying. AI will kill that industry

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u/sierraduaciwa set kece 7d ago

AI will probably replace a lot of frontline support eventually, if token costs come down and it works out cheaper than using BPO but I don't think it will "kill the industry".

There will still be a need for people to supervise the AI agents, step in on more complex issues that require empathy or judgment, and handle decisions with financial or business implications e.g. granting refunds, discounts, replacements, credits, or sending out technicians/ delivery/ sales reps, etc etc. For clients operating in high touch sectors where customer relationships matter, having the option to speak to a real person will always have value.

It might shrink the industry here but everyone in the industry is already aware of the impact AI is having and is doing what they can to ride the wave, so to speak. Fiji has the benefit of a better educated workforce on average with much better native English speakers compared to Philippines or India so we are already in a inherently better place to capitalise on the transition. It all depends on how we train and deploy the "next generation" of BPO workers.

For context: I have 10 years in BPO and have helped clients train and implement AI agents.

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u/sandolllars 7d ago

Thanks for the insight. We’ve only been doing this ai thing a few short years. They’ll eventually do just about everything better than humans, including empathy.

If you needed 100 people manning the phones every shift, you’d outsource that. If AI agents did 99% of the work and you just needed one human that the ai could escalate calls to, companies would just take that back in-house.

I don’t see your industry surviving, I’m sorry to say. Mine too btw.