Mauritius is preparing for a new phase in its e-governance journey as the country's e-government strategy for the years between 2013 and 2017 draws to a close.

The island nation organised the 4th edition of State Informatics Limited (SIL) e-Government Conference under the theme "Digital Transformation in Public Administration" this week.

The conference, organised between SIL, Oracle and the Government of Mauritius, investigated the impact of SMAC (social media, mobile computing, analytics and cloud-based computing) technologies.

Yogida Sawmynaden, Minister of Technology, Communication and Innovation for Mauritius emphasised that the government wants to make the ICT sector one of the main pillars of the economy.

"Digital technology and digital transformation in the public administration system are important to meet the ever-changing landscape with the adoption of the e-Government strategy in the wake of daunting challenges in the public service."

Minister Sawmynaden says the country's new e-Government strategy will include initiatives such as Open Government Data to empower citizens and businesses with data building blocks for data analysis and development of mobile apps; as well as a Data Sharing Policy which will make it possible for Government agencies to capture data once and share it among themselves.

The strategy will also include an Open Source Software Policy to outline the country's willingness to develop an open source software industry.

UN e-govt ranking

The United Nations e-Government Survey 2016 ranked Mauritius in first place in Africa, followed by Tunisia

Mauritius achieved an e-Government Development Index of 0.6231 in the survey placing it in 58th place globally. The survey shows that digital technologies are being increasingly utilised in Mauritius and that e-government has the potential to help support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its 17 sustainable development goals.

In its 2013-2017 e-government strategy, Mauritius predicted that by bringing together the right policies, IT systems/e-services and supported by appropriate funding, it would thrust itself into the Top 50 leading countries as measured by the UN e-Government Index by 2017 and lay the groundwork for the country's transformation into a High Income Country by 2022.

Mauritius is also sharing its expertise in the field of e-government with African counterparts following the signing of an agreement to collaborate with Ghana in areas that include e-government.

The agreement was reached during a visit by the Vice President of Ghana, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.