Noulakaz

The blog of Avinash, Christina, Anya and Kyan Meetoo.

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Independence Day in Mauritius

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There is something I have noticed lately: most Mauritians do not care about the Champ de Mars independence day celebrations. This is in stark contrast with people from other nations such as France, the USA and India who put a lot of emphasis on properly celebrating their national day.

The only thing I can conclude is that Mauritius is not a nation yet despite our hymn (as one people, as one nation).

If you think about it, this is perfectly normal: a nation designates larger groups or collectives of people with common characteristics attributed to them.

Up to now, politicians have not managed to propose common characteristics that we could share and adhere to.

According to this definition, we are not a nation yet.

My nomination as Chairperson of the ICT Advisory Council

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20150308-technology-growth

On Friday 6 March, the Government announced my nomination as Chairperson of the ICT Advisory Council. As specified in Part VII of the ICT Act 2001:

  • The Information and Communication Technologies Advisory Council consists of ten members including the Chairperson,
  • The Council shall advise the Minister of Technology, Communication and Innovation, Hon. Pravind Jugnauth, on the promotion of the interests of consumers, purchasers and other users concerning IT services, equipment and effect of any tariff policy in Mauritius,
  • The Council shall also advise the Minister on research opportunities in ICT, the adoption of new technologies as well as the improvement of existing services.

ICT is an enabler: it allows people to do things that they couldn’t do before. During the past few decades, ICT has revolutionised the world. But this is nothing compared to what is going to happen next…

As you can see, the Council has a broad mandate and I am looking forward to contribute to make Mauritius better through the proper use of ICT in all fields.

To be complete, it should be noted that the ICT Advisory Council is distinct from the ICT Authority (ICTA). In a certain way, the ICTA looks at the present while the ICT Advisory Council looks at the future.

I would like to thank all of you who have sent me words of encouragement. My apologies for not being able to reply to every single one.