ICTs as Business and Economic Enablers: The Case of Mauritius

 The Mauritian Institute of Management organised a Management Forum on ICTs as Business and Economic Enablers: The Case of Mauritius which was held at the MEF Management School, MEF-MCCI Building, Ebène CyberCity, Ebène on Thursday 15 October 2009 from 17 30 to 19 00.

Dr K. Oolun, Chief Executive, ICTA was the guest speaker and is the inventor of the digital filter which the American Institute of Physics has named as the ‘Oolun’s filter’ and which has received the interest of Motorola for its mobile phone sets. During the session Dr Oolun pointed out that the ICT sector contributes 5.4% to the Gross Domestic Product and generates Rs12.7 billion (value added). The number of employees employed in 2008 was 11,250,  10% more than in 2007. He explained that ICT enhances productivity across all sectors, including government and contributes to rapid technological progress, strong demand, lower transaction cost and more rapid innovation. Dr Oolun also elaborated upon new challenges of developing policies that provide an appropriate environment conducive to continuous change and adaptation where trust and security are central to the digital economy.

Dr Yousouf Ismael, Chief Economist of British American Investment explained that the correlation between economic growth and availability of communication merely explains how a communication network is mandatory to join the globalised world. He stated “the greater the size of the ICT sector, the larger the positive impact of ICT on growth”. ICT promotes the integration of isolated communities into the global economy and also increases user expectations and demand which enhances growth in global investment and the emergence of a global information infrastructure. In turn, ICT promotes the creation of new kinds of job and improved social development. Dr Ismael also explained the efficiency and the importance of the ICT sector.

Mr Vidia Mooneegan, Managing Director of Ceredian Mauritius and President of the Association of Outsourcing and Telecommunications of Mauritius for his part highlighted that the growth of the IT-BPO industry leads to improvement in the management capability of the economy as a whole, creation of new entrepreneurs and investors, and more demanding consumers. These allow domestic producers to develop expertise in marketing, quality and logistics to better compete internationally. Over 5 million direct jobs have been created in low cost countries for all levels of education and stimulated growth in local markets. Mr Mooneegan explained how ICT can drive economic growth during economic downturn where IT investment delivers more value to a company’s top and bottom lines by creating new efficiencies and increasing revenues than any savings gained from traditional IT cost cutting. He also spoke about the contribution of the IT-BPO sector to the Mauritian economy and the challenges of the local market.