Stakeholders of The National ICT Strategic Plan (NICTSP) 2011 – 2014, which focuses on the development of a comprehensive broadband policy for Mauritius with a view to making cost of, and access to, telecommunications services one of the most affordable in the world, will be made public soon.
The announcement was made by the Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Mr T. Pillay Chedumbrum, this morning at the opening plenary of the SWIFT African Regional Conference - Africa 2011 held at the Intercontinental Hotel, Balaclava. According to the Minister, the recommendations in the NICTSP would benefit those sectors relying heavily on ICT services, in particular the banking and financial sectors.
SWIFT is the global provider of secure financial message services in business operations. The three-day Conference aims at enabling the 325 delegates from 44 countries to express their views on issues that are highly relevant to the SWIFT Community in Africa, to discuss the key trends and challenges of the financial world and take stock of SWIFT products and services. The Conference theme is ‘Fostering Africa’s growth in the New Reality – From vision to action’.
In his opening remarks, the Minister of Information and Communication Technology highlighted Government’s utmost commitment to ensure the country’s preparedness to the ever-increasing cyber security threats that may jeopardise safe and secure electronic transactions.
As part of initiatives taken by the Government on that score, Mr Pillay Chedumbrum stated that his ministry is in the process of finalising a comprehensive Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Framework, an invaluable instrument for the protection of critical infrastructure, including in the banking and financial sectors. The Framework, which has already been validated by the International Telecommunication Union, is based on the adoption of internationally recognised information security management systems, such as ISO 27001, the reporting of cyber security incidents and the undertaking of third party audits on Critical Information Infrastructure.
Furthermore, the Minister said that a marketing strategy would be elaborated to encourage stakeholders, including those of the financial services sector, to adopt the Mauritius Public Key Infrastructure as a trusted and secure e-commerce platform. The measure would contribute to establish Mauritius as a trusted hub for e-commerce by providing a wide range of security and services.
For his part, the Governor of the Bank of Mauritius, Mr R. Bheenick, recalled the contribution of SWIFT in establishing safe and secure inter bank transfers. He also highlighted the efforts of the Bank of Mauritius in making the payment and settlement systems more resilient through the use of state-of-the-art infrastructure in line with international best practices.
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