Speech - Opening of ‘Career & IT Fair 2014’ – Wednesday 23 April at 09.30 hrs
Venue : Octave Wiehe Auditorium,
Reduit
Protocol
Good
Morning,
I am very pleased to be in your midst for the opening of
yet another edition of the ‘Career & IT Fair’ organised by the University
of Mauritius Students’ Computer Club and the ‘Computer Science and Engineering
(CSE) Department’. This is a great
platform to bring the main players of the local ICT scene in contact with our soon-to-be
graduates in the field.
As you know, and as was recently highlighted in the
Budget Speech, the ICT/BPO sector is one of the fastest growing sectors. It is
creating jobs for our youth at a rapid pace. It accounts for 6.4% of our GDP
and provides employment to nearly 20,000 people and counting. We, at the
government side, are providing the right infrastructure and framework for the
industry to continue to grow with the ongoing implementation of fibre cable
connectivity and commitment to upgrading and enhancing quality of internet
connectivity.
The growth and expansion of the local industry will be
led by you and companies such as those represented here today. To thrive and
stay globally competitive in the sector, it is vital to continuously adapt to
change. The common thread that binds all survival and success here is
Innovation. This is one of the key elements of our Ministry’s Strategic Paper
2013-2025 where one the goal is to ‘Enhance Research and Innovation”.
In this context, we are talking about innovation within
ICT itself or ICT as a supporting tool in innovation. Such is the critical role
of innovation in government’s vision of transforming our nation into a
knowledge hub by 2025 that an initiative of launching a 100 million rupee fund
for Research and Innovation collaborative projects has been announced in our
last Budget. The guidelines are
soon to be finalized and …..
The
guidelines are soon to be finalised and I would encourage young and soon-to-be
professionals like yourselves to be on the look-out for such opportunities and
schemes to innovate and think creatively for your companies and the country.
Thinking big is what also the idea of Big Data is all
about. I was recently in South Africa for the inauguration of the first of a
series of large radio telescopes for the largest astronomical projects ever
undertaken- SKA (the Square Kilometer Array).
Mauritius
is an integral partner of this science experiment and each of the hundreds of
detectors that will be used will be generating data of 4.7 GigaBytes per
second, meaning when fully operational the SKA observatory will produce enough
information to fill approximately 4.5 million DVDs per day!
The challenge of Big Data will imply innovating in ways
to process vast amount of data in the most efficient and productive manner and
will rely on advances in software engineering, data mining, algorithm
development and so on. These are not issues restricted to fundamental science
and engineering but equally applicable to commercial data and information. I
would like to see you, upcoming generation of ICT experts and professionals, be
innovators to tackle such challenges.
While thinking big, it is also important to keep one’s
feet on the ground and be aware of the opportunities to bring ICT closer to
population and the public of all generations. During the ICT Expo 2014 this
past week-end at Bel-Air, I mentioned that it is our mandate to bring Science,
Technology and Research closer to the people. As you think about your own
personal future growth and career, you graduates who are conversant in ICT and
the latest technologies, I make a call that you do not neglect such endeavours
of popularising ICT to the citizens of this country. This could be through CSR
programs of the companies that you’ll be joining or other independent
initiatives.
All in all, dear students, I fully believe that such
events are to be commended/highly laudable for they provide a unique
opportunity for you all to meet face to face with main players of the ICT
industry in Mauritius, here at your own doorstep.
I am made to
understand through such events, students may be handed job offers even before
their graduation like last year, which :
(1) will alleviate a lot of the post-graduation stress of
job-hunting, and
(2) indicates the ICT sector is still expanding and
readily able to absorb/recruit new
graduates in its fold.
Irrespective of the
situation you find yourself in today, do make the most of such privileged
interactions to find out more about the organisations present. May the Computer
Club and Department continue to lead such initiatives and may an ever-growing
number of companies continue to be part of this exercise.
Thank
you.
