Mauritius and Estonia will sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Digital Cooperation in the margins of the fifth Africa-European Union Summit 2017 scheduled on 28-29 November 2017 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Both the Mauritian Prime Minister and the Estonian Prime Minister will sign the accord.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Seetanah Lutchmeenaraidoo, made this announcement yesterday while launching a seminar on Digitalisation at Paul Octave Wiéhé auditorium in Réduit.
In his address the Minister pointed out that the signature of the MoU will send a strong message whereby Mauritius is taking the right decision with regard to digitalising the country and that things are moving forward. Digital Mauritius, he stated, is a dream which in fact consists of making Mauritius to be for Africa, digitally what Estonia is for Europe. This initiative involves not only embarking on a thought process, but also an action plan, a roadmap and clear ideas of what we want, he said.
According to the Minister, the idea of digital Mauritius was born from the Africa Strategy, a concept which was elaborated in 2015. The Strategy outlines that the future and destiny of Mauritius lies within the African continent and also as a part of it, sharing best practices with Africa and be a digital innovator.
"Our mission is to show the way and be the lighthouse of the region and this is the only way whereby we can emerge as a powerhouse in the region and pierce the middle income trap and become a really developed country", added Mr Lutchmeenaraidoo.
The Minister of Civil Service and Administrative Reforms, Mr Eddy Boissézon, who attended the launching ceremony, recalled that digital technology is persistently and inevitably changing the global economic landscape as well as reshaping the dynamics and structures of industries.
"If we are to take full advantage of the emerging growth opportunities and potential of digital technology we need to leave our comfort zone and make the big digital leap", he pointed out.
The vast possibilities that have been created and unleashed by digital technologies, said Mr Boissézon, may be difficult to imagine but they are no doubt leading to a fast growth and development for both Government and businesses. Digitalisation, according to him, is in fact creating a release of energy that is shattering all the other existing forms of power such as the power of machines, individual people and ideas, and more importantly, humanity as a whole to levels that are unparalleled and unprecedented.
About the Seminar
The half-day event addressed the theme Digitalisation: The Game Changer and was organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade in collaboration with the Financial Services Commission and the University of Mauritius.
The key resource person was Dr Ivar Tallo, Founder of e-Governance Academy, Estonia.
Dr Tallo made a presentation on the reasons for the success of Estonia as regards the country's digitalisation process which, he said required a general consensus among the main forces in Estonian society including a commitment of the political elite. He also spoke about the e-Government infrastructure comprising access to digitalised information and formalised exchanges.
While speaking of Mauritius initiatives to go digital, Dr Tallo pointed out that what is attractive for Mauritius is that the digital world makes the physical distance with other countries meaningless. Even if Mauritius is secluded as a small island state it should take full advantage of digitalisation as it opens the way to more opportunities and makes the lives of citizens easier, he said. We are in a new reality where ICT usage is not a hobby, not a tool, but a major building block of that reality, he added.
Dr Tallo, who holds a PhD degree in political sciences from McGill University, Canada, is a Member of the Supervisory Board of the e-Governance Academy. He has promoted the use of ICT among to public sector leaders in Central and Eastern European countries, the Balkans and Africa. Dr Tallo has also been a Member of Riigikogu (Estonian Parliament) and Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. He has also worked as a lecturer on public policy and public administration at Tartu University.
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Quelle/Source: AllAfrica, 24.11.2017
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