In the general context of globalisation, information and communications technology (ICT) has been developing even faster than other sectors of the economy. To a large extent, it can be said that ICT has actually contributed to globalisation of business. Indeed if the internationalisation of firms is not a recent phenomenon, it is real time communication which differentiates the truly global economy from what we have witnessed in the past.
As for Mauritius, which has the ambition of becoming a “cyber island” and a regional knowledge hub, the initiative taken recently by the Ministry of Information Technology in collaboration with the UNDP to draw a strategic plan for the sector is most welcome.
Since the beginning of the 1980’s, two reinforcing processes – technological innovation in information and communications technologies and liberalisation of the regulatory context of the media and telecommunications sectors – have changed the global communication landscape. In the technological field, digitization has provided possibilities of integrating graphics, text, video and sound, including voice into versatile services and applications.
At the political level, liberalisation and privatisation have opened up new markets for investment and innovation. Both evolutions lead to the so-called convergence, regardless of the technological platform, of formerly separate realms such as audiovisual media, informatics and telecommunications. These changes have primarily taken place in the developed world.
Unlike other technological changes, the rapid developments in and diffusion of ICTs and the emergence of multimedia applications have the potential to bring about profound changes in, not only the economic order but also impact heavily on social and cultural activities in all countries. Witness the immense leap in communications technology that has taken place in Mauritius ever since the mobile phone was introduced and its impact on behaviour patterns of people.
As Mauritius positions itself to be a regional hub for a number of activities in which it can leverage its competitive advantages resulting from its fairly developed public and telecommunications infrastructure, application of ICT will become a key tool for improving competitiveness in existing and emerging sectors of economic activity.
It is now agreed by all those who are involved in policy making in the country that Mauritius will seek to position itself in niche markets and knowledge intensive and high value added services and products as a generic strategy for its integration into the global competitive economy. Again, ICT will have an important role to play in making a success of this strategy.
The level of penetration of ICT in the private and public sectors can be superficially calculated by the number of computers, which have been installed, or by the number of users connected to the Internet. Even on these criteria, Mauritius is still performing rather poorly in relation to its avowed ambition of becoming a “cyber island.” The real test of IT adoption however is to what extent ICTs have transformed the way in which the private sector businesses are organised, operate and manage relations with their customers.
A strong export-oriented IT industry
In the public sector, these should change the way that services are being delivered to the public and government interact with citizens. Taking a global view of the ICT industry, which encompasses a wide variety of products and services, including computers, software, communications equipment and networks, fibre optics, interactive video, satellite infrastructure and services, radio frequency identification technology, and a growing number of complementary devices for work, education, health and entertainment, etc, seems to have been the missing link in our strategy up to now. All the above constitute parts of the puzzle which we need to put together in order to arrive at two broad objectives which will add up to form the “cyber island”. These two broad objectives would be:
- Maximisation of the application of ICT to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of all sectors of the economy including the private and public sectors.
- The development of a strong export-oriented IT industry or ITES.
E-government, which has been described as “a comprehensive concept that involves any aspect of government to consumer, government to government, government to business interaction that can be enhanced through the use of information and communications technologies” and which may require “radical reconceptualisation” of some processes will constitute an important component of the strategy.
Regarding the application of ICT, the private sector will be involved at two levels. First there will be very interesting business opportunities concerning procurement and supply of hardware as well as software. Then there will be the same concerns for radically transforming the business processes to improve consumer service and to enhance productivity generally.
The development of the export oriented IT enabled services in Mauritius is the second leg of the “cyber island” concept. The approach here will be more market driven and the test of success will be in our ability to respond to the demands from that market. It is estimated that the global outsourcing business from firms in developed countries in 2010 will amount to USD 300 billion. Mauritius should position itself to capture a small fraction of this total market within its specialisation and niche market strategy. Creating the right business environment for attracting local and foreign investments in the sector will be one of the determining factors of success.
These two components while sharing large, common and overlapping requirements do have their own distinctive characteristics and have needs, which are peculiar to each. There is also some common ground that can be covered within the following six headings:
- IT manpower: To develop a group of IT professionals and experts to enable enterprises to exploit IT fully.
- IT culture: To prepare the people for the emerging IT society.
- IT application: To facilitate all economic sectors to exploit IT to the fullest.
- Information Communications Infrastructure: striving to have the best telecommunications facility as a matter of high priority.
- Climate for productivity, entrepreneurship and innovation: To create a stimulating environment which will promote creativity and enterprise, and develop local capability and applied solutions.
- Coordination and collaboration: To coordinate the efforts of the different organisations involved in various aspects of development of IT.
Having said this, even the most sophisticated and elaborated plans will remain fruitless unless there is full commitment from the leaders of the private as well as the public sector of the country. In this connection, there are two sets of issues that need to be considered. The first of these is linked with creating the appropriate environment and leadership, for which the necessary preconditions are:
- Is there enough commitment to really want a successful IT plan to be implemented?
- Are people receptive to considering new ideas and experimenting with new actions?
- Is the nation embracing a clear sense of urgency about the need to implement a new IT plan?
- Is there a shared vision and enough synergy between the public and private sectors’ actions?
- Is the country’s leadership prepared to act on each of the four above preconditions for change?
“The global outsourcing business from firms in developed countries in 2010 will amount to USD 300 billion. Mauritius should capture a small fraction of this total market”
The second set of issues, which are important for the success of any future strategy, has to do with the Regulatory Framework and the vital question of cost of connectivity. The Information and Communications Technology Authority needs to urgently beef up its capacity to be able to confidently determine issues which are essential for the survival and development of ITES.
The cost of connection to the SAFE cable and the proper management of the opportunities which are coming up with the EASSY cable under the aegis of NEPAD offer several policy options to government regarding the ownership structure and processes which will be adopted in this regard. These will be crucial decisions that will determine the future of the ICT industry in Mauritius and its ability to capture a sufficient fraction of the global business process outsourcing and attract investments from foreign as well as local players.
The experience of the US economy at the close of the last century has shown that the gains in productivity, associated with investments in ICT, can sustain economies, which are otherwise facing economic woes. Strong correlations have been established in many other instances between investment in ICT adoption and productivity growth.
As Mauritius struggles to confront the many challenges with which it is faced, an ICT Strategy will address some of the issues which have the potential to make a significant contribution to domestic growth and jobs creation while contributing to enhance one of the key determinants of economic development: the rate of productivity.
Autor/Author: Rajiv Servansingh
Quelle/Source: L'express, 10.05.2006
