Staff Reporter
WINDHOEK – Mauritius has rolled out its first cloud camp where people from all walks of life, who have interests in information technology trends, could learn from one another and create unique and innovative ICT solutions. Mauritius is pushing to emerge as a digital hub par excellence in the SADC region and currently ranks first in Africa on the ICT Development Index 2017.
The camp, launched on May 10, saw around 100 participants getting their hands-on experience on disruptive technologies such as Block-Chain, Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things. Team-building activities were scheduled as well as peer-to-peer interactions.
A first for Mauritius, the camp was meant to establish a new partnership, while bridging the digital divide and allowing for the modernisation of government, the Mauritius government said in a statement.
“In fact, Mauritius ranks first in Africa and 73rd in the world on the ICT Development Index 2017 of the International Telecommunication Union, which represents a sure measure of the progress we made on the provision of ICT infrastructure,” said Minister of Technology, Communication and Innovation, Yogida Sawmynaden.
The minister said the event prepared participants to be “doers” rather than just “learners” and become “agents of change” who are capable of developing cloud-based applications employing emerging technologies and making digital transformation a reality.
Sawmynaden pointed out that mobile penetration in Mauritius stands at 144 percent and Fibre To The Home (FTTH) is a reality across the island with 100 percent coverage since December 2017. With 55.2 percent FTTH household subscribers as at September 2017, Mauritius occupies the 8th position
worldwide.
Sawmynaden announced that next year Mauritius will be connected to two more submarine cables, thus making the country very resilient and even more ready to host data centres and disaster recovery centres providing cloud computing services across the world.