education
A mother of two overcomes the COVID-19 pandemic and separation from her young children to pursue a higher qualification abroad.
Eric Piette
The Papua New Guinean is on a two-year Australian scholarship and is set to graduate with two master's degrees from James Cook University early next year.
Sharon Gore is proud to be able to help shape the environment around the ethical use of rapidly advancing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies through her teaching.
Gore, 36, from Popondetta in northern Finland, and his Danish and Australian colleagues carried out a study into the ethical use of AI technology as a major research project for the joint Master of Information Technology and Master of Business Administration (MIT-MBA) programme, which led to a proposal for a governance framework for preliminary consideration for its adoption by the private sector.
And the research is being considered by the authors at Springer Publishers for inclusion as a book chapter in the latest edition of the Handbook of Generative Artificial Intelligence, which is used in accounting and business education.
Commenting on the achievement, the Computer Programmer and Systems Analyst at the Community Development and Religious Ministry said, “Our MBA final business research project was inspired by the fact that AI technology is developing at a very fast pace, yet there are not enough governance frameworks or regulatory guidelines to regulate its use. We therefore set out with the objective of providing the private sector with a framework of ethical considerations that could prevent the infringement of individuals' privacy rights, given the widespread use of personal data by AI technologies.”
“It also provides preliminary guidelines for businesses to ethically deploy AI technologies to mitigate risks.
“Our research was sent by our supervisor to the authors at Springer Publishers, who, after further investigation, are considering publishing it as a chapter in a new edition of the book.
“And to have it eligible for publication is a great achievement by academic standards and something we are all very proud of.”
Such an achievement – successfully completing a joint master’s degree and having some of the research at the forefront of international academic publications – may seem easy at first glance, but it was by no means easy for a mother of two who faced post-COVID challenges and left her young family behind to pursue her studies in May 2022. At the time, her younger son was just under nine months old and her older son was nine years old.
“I left to study in May 2022, shortly after Australia opened its borders, but as you know, there was still a lot of uncertainty in the air,” Gore said, expressing his fears about leaving home after the deadly COVID-19 pandemic rocked the world.
We need to attract more young people into technology careers so that as a country we can build our own local tech solutions.
“However, thanks to the excellent counselling provided by JCU counsellors, international students were able to continue with their programmes.”
Sharon initially feared the aftereffects of COVID-19, but the Brazilian expression “há males que vêm para bem” (in English: “With every good thing, bad things also come”) rang true for her living in Australia.
COVID-19 has meant that technology has changed dramatically, with lectures and educational programs moving online, allowing her ample time to visit her young children in her hometown of Port Moresby during her studies.
Sharon is one of 41 Papua New Guineans to win the prestigious Australia Awards Scholarship in 2022. Sharon is currently back home after completing her program in May this year and awaiting her official graduation, scheduled for February 7 next year, but she has already been awarded her degree on June 13.
She says the opportunity to study abroad not only helped her grow academically, but also exposed her to different cultures and created a lifelong network with other international students. Now highly educated, Sharon wants to use her knowledge to benefit her country and is grateful to the Australian people and government for this opportunity. She is also grateful to her employers, the Ministry of Community Development and Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Human Resource Management, for their efforts in approving her nomination and facilitating her award, respectively. And finally, family ties are what a support system is all about. In good times and bad, Sharon says her Melanesian family is a pillar of strength she can rely on.
“A family support system is paramount to a woman's success and I would like to thank the vital support system behind the scenes who enabled me to focus on my studies. As a woman, daughter, wife and mother, juggling studies with a young family has not been an easy journey but with the support of my family, my husband and his family, I have succeeded.”
With technology evolving rapidly and featuring as a common denominator in everyday work, Sharon advocates for her country: “As a country, we need to attract more young people to pursue careers in technology so that we can build our own bespoke technology solutions specific to our region.”
Twelve years ago, Sharon decided to study Computer Science, Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Papua New Guinea after hearing a memorable line from a tech-savvy lecturer: “There are many ways to do a task, but technology can help you take shortcuts.” This inspired her to study computer science, mathematics and statistics at the university.
And recently, a work colleague of Rose Mori's testified to Sharon's technological resourcefulness, saying, “We were having trouble putting together our time management reports so we asked Ms. Gore for help. Specifically, we were using Excel spreadsheets and she simplified everything and made it easy to create the reports.”
That's the beauty of technology and being tech savvy.
- Eric Piet is a freelance writer.
