An ICT strategy todiversify economy

THE EDITOR: With crude oil approaching US$70 a barrel, a price last seen in late 2014 and the recent slippage in the innovation index, local economists are advising TT to diversify its economy as it may risk contracting the “Dutch disease syndrome.”

According to the experts, countries (ie, Venezuela and Nigeria) that gain revenue by rising oil prices tend to spend too much money too fast, which overheats traditional sectors of the economy and may increase the wage bill. TT nationals may gravitate away from entrepreneurship and innovation, as they may become risk averse and prefer stable, well-paying jobs and investments in real estate and trade.

In mitigating these risk, the Ministry of Planning and Development has prioritised specific projects to be undertaken in fiscal 2018 which will help build sectors targeted for information and communication technology (ICT) services, creative industries and financial services etc. These industries have the potential for earning foreign exchange.

While countries such as Norway, Singapore and Estonia are often used as the gold standard for measuring success in ICT and financial services, the island of Mauritius has been overlooked, as several distinguishing features make it more of an appropriate yardstick.

Mauritius’ population is 1.3 million with a similar ethnic and racial background. Fifty years ago, Mauritius’ economy was based on a sugar crop, the country diversified into textiles, then into tourism and settled on the financial sector. Now the country is adapting and is on target to becoming an innovative economy and an ocean economy by year 2030.

Today, Mauritius and TT share similar competitive advantages such as ease of doing business, free movement of people, capital goods, an educated workforce, double taxation agreements, stable currency, stable political climate and a safe, transparent legal platform.

Mauritius and TT also share the same structural flaws associated with an open economy: vulnerable to global shocks (Brexit, revoked US trade agreements etc) and their small size mean they will never achieve the economies of scale as a larger country.

If TT is to follow Mauritius’ ICT strategy, its roadmap ahead would primarily be focused on education with the aspiration of making the nation a knowledge-based society.

In closing, I make the following recommendations:

• Commissioning and distribution of tablets, headsets, and wireless projector screens across all primary schools.

• Implementation of technology boot camps with emphasis on data analytics, artificial intelligence and coding.

• Implementation of a student support programme. This is a web portal of free educational resources accessible from multiple platforms.

• Internet connectivity of ten Mbps and wireless connectivity for all secondary schools (state and private).

• Equipping all primary and secondary schools with desktops in their computer labs.

RAPHAEL JOHN, St Joseph