02 February 2010

Mauritius : MoU to enhance collaboration among stakeholders of the ICT sector

In a bid to support the efficient growth of the local Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry, the National Computer Board (NCB), the University of Technology (UTM) and the Mauritius Information and Technology Industry Association (MITIA) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to give concrete expression to their commitment to collaborate together to develop and build capacity in ICT.

The three institutions are major stakeholders of the local ICT sector. The NCB is a parastatal body whose main mission is to facilitate the transformation of Mauritius into a regional ICT hub through a series of initiatives and services that foster e-powerment of people, of businesses and of the public sector. As for the UTM, it is a multi-level tertiary education provider whose goal is to offer continuing professional education to meet the needs of the country in terms of human resource development. MITIA, which regroups IT hardware and service companies of Mauritius, works at creating a favorable and suitable environment for the development of an industry that supports national development.

The MoU sets out a framework to enable the stakeholders to explore potential collaborative opportunities to achieve the country’s objectives in creating a pool of qualified manpower to support and sustain the development of the ICT industry. The collaborative programmes cover areas such as experience and knowledge sharing; training and capacity building in the fields of Business Process Outsourcing-Information Technology Enabled Services, Customer Relationships Management, Enterprises Resources Planning; development of link programmes between academia and private sector and entrepreneurship development in ICT, among others.

The signature of the MoU coincided with the visit of Mr Som Mittal, President of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) which is the premier trade body and the Chamber of Commerce for the IT – BPO industry in India. Mr Mittal shared the Indian experience with staff and students of the UTM in a public lecture on “Developing ICT as a Strong Pillar of the Economy’ on 29 January before attending the signature ceremony.

Mr Mittal reckoned that education and training add high value to the personnel of the ICT sector. He said that NASSCOM was ready to enhance collaboration with the Mauritian side through best practices and share learning to contribute to the expansion of the ICT sector.

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