The National Innovation Framework (NIF) 2018-2030 was launched on Monday during a workshop at Cyber Tower 1, in Ebene. The objective is to create an ecosystem for innovation to facilitate the transition of Mauritius from a middle-income economy to a high-income innovation driven economy.
The Framework document was prepared by the Ministry of Technology, Communication and Innovation jointly with the Mauritius Research Council, in consultation with various stakeholders.
The Acting Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Technology, Communication and Innovation, Mr N. Poonye, pointed out that Mauritius, an upper middle income country, is poised to transition to the level of a high income economy where innovation becomes the key driver of socioeconomic development. Also, the country has the potential to steer the African continent into a new wave of growth and become a gateway for global business to enter Africa, he stated.
Mr Poonye added that as a Small Island Developing State, Mauritius tends to think that innovation is difficult to achieve because of limited resources and its geographical location. Yet this year, the country has proved that innovation also depends on hard work, confidence and self-belief. He referred how Mauritius has been successful in developing a nanosatellite which will be deployed into space from in 2019.
NIF 2018-2030 is the culmination of a highly consultative process involving both public and private sectors. It also adopted an evidence-based approach using actual data pertaining to different innovation indicators and was formulated based on international best practices.
Some of the salient points addressed in the document include Infrastructure, Capacity-Building, Incentives and Governance. The critical roles of the private sector and industry-academia partnerships are also highlighted.
The document also presents measures pertaining to Emerging Sectors, Social Innovation, Intellectual Property and sharing of data/information as well as the Governance Mechanism that should be put in place at national level to drive the process of Innovation.