  Software plays a central role in modern societies, with its high economic
value and potential for advancing societal change. In this paper, we
characterise challenges and opportunities for a country progressing towards
entering the global software industry, focusing on Papua New Guinea (PNG). By
hosting a Software Engineering workshop, we conducted a qualitative study by
recording talks (n=3), employing a questionnaire (n=52), and administering an
in-depth focus group session with local actors (n=5). Based on a thematic
analysis, we identified challenges as barriers and opportunities for the PNG
software engineering community. We also discuss the state of practices and how
to make it inclusive for practitioners, researchers, and educators from both
the local and global software engineering community.
