A media professional from Thailand has been appointed as the new Secretary General of SIGNIS, a Vatican-accredited global forum of Catholic audio-visual communication experts.
Dr. Peter Rachada Monthienvichienchai, Executive Director of LiCAS.news, is the new secretary general of SIGNIS Executive Officers 2022–2026.
The other members include re-elected President Helen Osman, Vice President: Father Paul Samasumo, Vice President: María José Centurión, and General Treasurer: Emmanuel Bonnet.
"I am grateful that Peter Monthienvichienchai accepted the nomination and that our Assembly of Delegates overwhelmingly approved his election as Secretary General of SIGNIS," said Osman.
"Peter joins the executive team at a very critical moment for the church and SIGNIS. His generosity in bringing his talents and expertise to SIGNIS at a time when we are expanding our vision of what it means to be the worldwide association of Catholic communication professionals tells me he has the heart and mind of a servant leader. I'm excited for the next chapter of SIGNIS' story," she added.
Meanwhile, Peter hopes that in the position of Secretary General of SIGNIS, he will be able to enable more collaboration between Catholic media organizations.
"It is truly my privilege to be appointed as secretary general of SIGNIS. The World Congress in Seoul this year demonstrated just how much potential there is in a network of communicators united in their mission to support the Church, to fight misinformation, and to be the voice and hope of the voiceless," Peter told RVA News.
"However, World Congress also showed the multitude of pressing challenges facing Catholic communicators today," he added.
Peter looks forward to meeting those challenges by building on the tremendous legacy of his predecessors and the achievements of its members through digital transformation and the celebration of its diversity while remaining united in its mission to live the Gospel through its work as Catholic communicators, Peter said.
Peter was educated by Benedictines in the UK at Ampleforth College. He is a joint Thai-British citizen.
He has a doctorate in Computer Science with a specialization in Educational Technology from University College London (UCL).
From his research background, he developed his expertise in digital transformation and industry disruption.
Peter is experienced in leading culturally diverse and geographically distributed teams. As Chief Research Officer, he provided leadership and coordination of the research and development activities of 22 European organizations in an EU-funded research project with a total budget of €9 million.
As Chief Information Officer of what was one of the largest private education institutions in Thailand, he led strategic and technical transformation towards cloud infrastructure and ensured business continuity during natural disasters and political instability of national proportions.
Peter is also experienced in executive-level talent management and retention in a variety of industries.
He has particular insights into how best to support those in leadership positions and the appropriate coaching that they need to perform at their best.
He co-founded LiCAS.news, one of the newest and most engaged Catholic regional news publishers in Asia. LiCAS.news brings solutions journalism to its readers with a focus on Catholic solutions to chronic social issues in Asia.
Even before the start of the pandemic, Peter implemented a no-office structure at LiCAS.news with all staff working from home or co-working spaces, reducing the daily operational costs while still maintaining the same publishing output and, crucially, team cohesion.
LiCAS.news’ popular Spotlight series makes extensive use of multimedia to tell the stories of those living on the fringe of society in Asia. Its inter-religious perspective provides a valuable resource for digital evangelization and is well suited for further deployment in a meta-verse-dominated future.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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