The Second Economic Miracle will be driven by technology and innovation. Internet Connectivity, Broadband, Information and Communication Technologies and Innovation will be at the heart of all Government’s economic and social strategies, cutting across not only through existing pillars but, also via all the new economic sectors that will be created.
This was the gist of the intervention of the Minister of Technology, Communication and Innovation, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, in the National Assembly yesterday during debates on Government Programme 2015-2019. According to him, the ICT Sector has an inherent dynamism for boosting economic growth through wealth and employment creation.
It is expected, said the Minister, that with the new innovations in computing which will change the way IT services are delivered to the business and end users, new employment opportunities can be created in the sector through the mastering of the latest trend in IT architecture comprising of Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud technologies.
As regards the development of the ICT-BPO industry, Minister Jugnauth said, the expectations are that through the provision of the necessary incentives to attract foreign direct investments, global players will establish their operations in Mauritius in the various sectors. Among these: BPO Non-Voice-Back Office, Payroll, Finance & accounting, Legal Process Outsourcing; Information Technology Outsourcing-software development, Mobile apps development, Web development, E-commerce, Multimedia; and, IT Services-Data Centres, Disaster Recovery, Training and Consultancy.
The Minister also spoke about Government’s commitment to fully maximise the potential of the African dividend. For him, through a compelling alternative for higher value works, Mauritius will increasingly leverage as an ideal platform for the delivery of ICT-related business services to Africa. ‘We will strive our best to make of Mauritius the back office of Europe and the USA through the provision of high-end knowledge process outsourcing’, he stressed.
High speed connectivity
As regards delivery of high speed connectivity at competitive costs across the island, the Minister said that broadband and digital technology should be made available to everyone, and shortly proposals will be made on the strategies to be executed to achieve this target.
The Minister informed the House that his Ministry is already working with service providers in Mauritius to connect at least 50 000 new households across the country to the digital economy before the end of this year. In the same breath, WiFI structures on 300 sites comprising schools and colleges, community centres, shopping malls, campuses and libraries and airport will be installed.
Government wants to make basic broadband connectivity available to all by 2016 and stands ready to intervene for the deployment of high-reliable speed internet to all citizens and all sectors of the economy the Minister stressed. In that respect, negotiations are ongoing with major service providers, the Regulator and other stakeholders of the industry to come up with an integrated Action Plan, he said
‘We will have to determine how and when we can upgrade the norm to a higher level of speed, say 30 megabits and to eventually start deploying 100 megabits by 2020, in line with targets set in some countries of Europe and South East Asia. Work on these long-term targets, even if they appear to be ambitious and challenging, has already started’, he added.