First things first, let us start with the obvious – there is a general consensus now that the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector will be an important component of the future socioeconomic development and economic growth of our country. We make a distinction between these two categories because it is important to differentiate between identifying ICT as a development cluster and application of ICT to achieve greater efficiency in the process of production of goods and services. Whereas the latter can happen without the former, the reverse is not necessarily true.

This consensus which is now gathering more and more momentum is the result of a process whereby the initial skepticism which was shared by a lot of people – not least among whom the private sector – has been giving way to a more optimistic scenario as the government pushed forward and invested heavily in the cyber tower. Once completed the infrastructure has become the focal point of a marketing exercise to which we shall come at a later stage in this article.

Whereas developments in the world economy recently have been overwhelmingly detrimental to the traditional “pillars” of the Mauritian economy, it is a different story for the global business environment in the ICT industry, although there have been some early signs of nervousness from certain countries and governments resulting in the rising of the ugly head of protectionism. Overall however, most analysts agree that the global environment for cross border trade in services, especially the so-called “I. T. enabled services” is fast becoming a major area of growth in international trade. This has been made possible through the convergence of three main factors: advances in technology have made it possible to engage in trade across borders which were not possible before without the actual physical movement of providers of services; the availability of a large source of educated labour in certain developing countries at rates of compensation not comparable to what exists in developing countries; a new view of the value chain and constant search for competitiveness have led to the out location of service activities by multinational enterprises in the manufacturing and services industry to offshore locations.

Such is therefore the favourable internal and external contexts from which the ICT sector can benefit in the foreseeable future. Our success or not in materializing our dream of a cyber island will therefore depend on our own ability to take up the challenges of developing an industry by building on our strengths and minimizing our weaknesses.

<B> A new partnership</B>

The launch of ICT in Mauritius has not deviated from a pattern that has characterized past initiatives in sectors such as garments and textiles or financial services. In all these cases, the State has been the driving force behind the introduction and launch of these activities. The initial skepticism that marked the launch of the whole concept explains the lack of participation of the private sector in what is now, with retrospect, being considered in many quarters, might have been a missed opportunity. In our view it is essential to go beyond this traditional business model if we really want ICT to become a major component of our socioeconomic future and of the development process. We believe this to be so for several reasons. First, by its very nature, ITC is a globally networked industry intimately related to what has been described as the Global Information Society (GIS) and therefore dependent on a Global Information Infrastructure (GII). It will be extremely difficult for a State driven effort to connect into these networks. At the very least, we would be unnecessarily making things much more difficult for ourselves.

Then, one must understand that among developed nations and international organizations, there has been a broad consensus about the framework in which the development of the GII - GIS needs to take place. At both national and international levels, a framework is favoured which supports dynamic competition, encourages private investment, supports flexible regulatory frameworks and allows for open access to networks and other essential facilities. How far we are from such a framework can easily be illustrated by the difficulties being experienced by private telecom operators in simply securing a level playing field – i.e. one that creates the necessary conditions for operators to establish new businesses in the sector in fair competition to Mauritius Telecom.

Having said the above, however, it is abundantly clear in our mind that the liberal framework adopted by the developed nations is built on certain assumptions and a level of economic maturity which no developing country can match. This is why it is critical for Mauritius to give serious thoughts to a new model of public – private partnership which can be operationalized so as to plug in smoothly into the dominant scenario keeping in mind that the privatization and liberalization of the telecommunication market in Europe, for example, resulted not in less regulation but rather in an increase of qualitatively different regulations. Instead of becoming obsolete, the State has continued playing a pivotal role in balancing economic, social and political goals.

It is now time for the private sector to, like it were, take the driver’s seat, as we shift gear and enter a new phase of development of the ICT cluster development. The role of the State remains critical in the national effort to facilitate access to information technology and its content and development of the “human” and “institutional” capabilities which are two important components of any information society. The onus is on the private sector to develop the strategic alliances which create the kind of synergies which build on our strengths and minimize our weaknesses in our endeavour to capture an increasing share of a globally fast expanding market.

<B>A marketing approach </B>

Among the many models that have been proposed for favouring the development of particular sectors within a national economy, the following looks like the most relevant to conditions prevailing in Mauritius with regard to the existing the level of collaboration which characterize the public - private sector partnership. (See analytical agenda below)

The responsibility for carrying out this five steps approach will be that of a work group comprising stakeholders from the Industry and government officials from different related ministries.

Apart from the fact that this approach will actually benefit from the existing close collaboration between the private and public sectors in Mauritius, it will have the added advantage of providing a focal point to the numerous and dispersed efforts which seem to characterize the actual state of affairs in the search for the way forward. Public - private sector collaboration could take the form of a private sector chairmanship of the working group while implementation could be the responsibility of the BOI – ICT Secretariat.

Finally the model proposed here is market oriented and will allow a proper identification, of the client segment which we want to serve, how to position Mauritius in the Global Information Society and by extension, the competitive advantages which we shall need to leverage to attain our stated goals.

H. R. Binod, Vice-President Infosys Technologies, a company which has recently located its operations in the cyber tower at Ebène had this to say about what are the locational parameters favoured by his company.

“The four key parameters that we consider before opting for any location are client convenience, employer convenience, strategic convenience and cost of operations. The top two parameters are most important as it is related to the core assets of any organization – customers and employees. The client’s perception of the location, connectivity, hospitality as well as the proximity of employees is very important. The strategic advantages and cost of operations can be managed from within the company.” In that same speech though, Mr Binod had deplored the fact that the cost of telecom was still higher in Mauritius compared to India.

Gurus of the information society such as Bill Gates and Nicholas Negroponte proclaim that the world is entering a phase in which economies of scale will become less important. Through the use of the Internet, small and medium sized enterprises have a global potential reach.

The above statements should be music to the ears of Mauritians and enhance our commitment to the ICT project. It is crucial, however that policy makers remember that if the cyber island dream is not to be limited to creating the conditions for opportunistic investments in low value added activity a number of conditions need to be met.

<B>An integrated approach</B>

The most important element which will characterize the shift in gear which we mentioned before is the move away from a predominantly technology driven strategy to one which is predominantly determined by the need to create the institutional and individual capabilities needed to turn information into useful knowledge. The mere connection to ICT is not sufficient to foster development. More importantly new capabilities are needed throughout the whole of society. Within both the workforce and households these will be a prerequisite in order to use new services productively. To create new capabilities major changes are needed in formal education as well as institutions contributing to informal learning.

<B>Conclusion</B>

There is an urgent need to clarify, at the level of the policy mix, the different approaches needed for: formulating and implementing developmental policies directed at entry into the global market for IT enabled services (e.g. BPO) and those which are directed at strategies to build capacities for using ICTS within the existing developmental parameters (e.g. applying ICT to improve productivity or transport logistics).

Early efforts to build capacities have not been very successful as illustrated by the up to now, unsuccessful efforts to make e government take off.

As far as entry into the global market for IT Enabled services are concerned it would be fair to say that a first successful phase has been undertaken – to wit the fact that we are connected to safe and the completion of the state of the art cyber tower at Ebène.

The next phase would be a merging of these efforts while keeping in mind the distinctive characteristics. It is critical for the progress of the cyber island concept that we move towards an integration of the policy realms and put an end to the wastage of different organizations working at cross purposes.

<I>“At both national and international levels, a framework is favoured which supports dynamic competition, encourages private investment, supports flexible regulatory frameworks and allows for open access to networks and other essential facilities.”</I>

<B>Rajiv Servansingh

Deputy Secretary-General

Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry</B>