The Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, make this statement yesterday morning at the Core Building, in Ebène at the opening ceremony of the second edition of the University of Mauritius’s (UoM) Innovation Week 2021.Government is laying emphasis on policies that can stimulate inclusive innovation and benefit everybody in the society. Innovations should directly improve the wellbeing of all including the lower income and excluded groups.
The Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Education, Tertiary Education, Science and Technology, Mrs Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun, the Vice-Chancellor of the UoM, Professor Dhanjay Jhurry, as well as other eminent personalities were also present.
Mr Jugnauth highlighted that this event provides an opportunity to officials, business people, research funding institutions and higher education institutions to get together and brainstorm on the way forward for the country’s socio-economic progress, especially in this post COVID-19 context.
He underlined that the new normal, shaped by the global sanitary crisis calls for new innovative ways for reconstructing our economy. We need to rebuild our economy and we know that we can only be on the growth path by being innovative, the Prime Minister added.
In addition, Prime Minister Jugnauth indicated that developing a new economic architecture requires innovation and starts with the establishment of new economic industries such as the green energy industry. This new industry, he pointed out, will be the engine for significant economic growth and will create opportunities for new jobs.
In the same vein, he added that the agro processing sector is another sector where innovative solutions can be brought to local problems. In this context, Mr Jugnauth recalled that the launching of the UoM Agritech Park in February 2020 is one commendable initiative that aims to modernise agricultural practices and create new opportunities for strategic public private partnerships.
Furthermore, the Prime Minister emphasised that promoting digital entrepreneurship is an essential driver within the innovation system and, in this context, Government is shaping the digital future, developing the knowledge industry and, promoting skills and talent. However, attaining the above goals calls for a multi-stakeholder partnership that includes representatives of academia, industry and the community, he underlined.
Universities, Prime Minister Jugnauth underscored, can be strategic partners in these endeavours through capacity-building, research and innovation. He enumerated some partnerships where the collaborative approach taken by the UoM to help solve problems has delivered concrete results, namely, the partnership with the Traffic Road Safety Management Unit which has led to the setting up of a road safety observatory and; the collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change in the establishment of an “Observatoire de recherche” at the University.
As regards the future generation, the Prime Minister reiterated the need for businesses to adopt an inclusive innovation business model which is driven by concerns for resources and environment. Economic growth is important but businesses should embrace the idea that resources cannot be used faster that they are replenished and our waste generation cannot exceed carrying capacity of the ecosystem, he pointed out.
Moreover, he underscored that as there is a greater demand for a greener model around the planet, focus on green innovation would be the key to ensure environmentally sustainable growth. ‘I encourage higher education institutions to collaborate with the industry to support the offer of new programmes in emerging technologies, spur the creativity and innovation in our learning and, generate solutions to pressing problems of national interest’, Mr Jugnauth said.
For her part, the Vice-Prime Minister stressed that it is important to drive systemic innovation at all levels, and highlighted that innovation is something quite unique and comes from an individual’s creative mind. Besides devising policies and setting up structures, important as these are, we should at the same time reflect on how to increase creativity and instill an innovation culture in our workforce and that too, at the individual level, she added.
In addition, she reiterated the need to decide what type of education system will trigger creative curiosity in our lives and foster a culture that supports innovation. In this context, she emphasised that it is imperative to empower and value human resources as well as adopt a pedagogy that places a premium on creative thinking, problem-solving and flexibility, among others.
Furthermore, she highlighted that science, technology and innovation are emerging engines on the path towards renewed growth and development that will lead to the creation of new futures. Universities, the VPM underlined, need to be the place where opportunities are provided for the blooming of creative potential.
As for the Vice-Chancellor, he underlined that innovation has been the key focus of the new UoM vision and recalled that in 2020, the first UoM Innovation Week was organised and the theme was on the tripartite relationship with stakeholders and on the ecosystem required for innovation to thrive. One of the main recommendations, Professor Jhurry pointed out, was to set up a National Innovation System advocating a three-pronged approach to foster innovation, notably, Macro, Meso and; Micro.
For this second edition, he indicated that the theme ‘Sustainable Innovation in the Making’ was chosen so as to lay emphasis on the innovation capacity of the UoM working closely with stakeholders and how the UoM is contributing effectively to sustainable innovation.
