Can Mauritius become the first ‘cybernation’?

Surfing the Intenet in Mauritius Copyright: ADB Networks Ltd

We encourage you to republish this article online and in print, it’s free under our creative commons attribution license, but please follow some simple guidelines:

You have to credit our authors.
You have to credit SciDev.Net — where possible include our logo with a link back to the original article.
You can simply run the first few lines of the article and then add: “Read the full article on SciDev.Net” containing a link back to the original article.
If you want to also take images published in this story you will need to confirm with the original source if you're licensed to use them.
The easiest way to get the article on your site is to embed the code below.

For more information view our media page and republishing guidelines.

The full article is available here as HTML.

Press Ctrl-C to copy

<div class="article-wrap">
<div id="article-introduction">
<h1>Can Mauritius become the first ‘cybernation’?</h1>
<h4></h4>
</div>
<br />
<br />

<div id="article-body">
<p><P>The economy of Mauritius, a small island nation off the east coast of Africa, has relied largely on making textiles and producing sugar from its numerous cane fields. But global competition in these markets is fierce and the country’s revenue from these activities is falling.</P><br />
<P>Now, reports Laurie Goering, the island wants to become the world’s first ‘cybernation’, a high-tech communications hub with countrywide broadband Internet access, that will host call centres, remote data backup facilities, and software development companies. An undersea broadband cable already gives it fast Internet and phone links with Africa, Europe, India and Malaysia.</P><br />
<P>By doing this, Mauritius hopes to boost its economy by creating new jobs and attracting wealth. As well as encouraging all its citizens — from housewives to farmers — to become computer-literate by taking basic evening classes, the government has also built the first of three technology parks.</P><br />
<P>But, reports Goering, the Mauritian government’s reluctance to encourage competition — because it earns a large share of profits from the company with the monopoly on the island’s communication lines — could get in the way of its ambitions.</P><a  href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/chitribts/20050619/ts_chicagotrib/tinynationaimstobe1stcyberisland" target="_blank" onclick="pageTracker._trackPageview('/tracking/external/'+this.href);" rel="noopener noreferrer">Link to full <em>Chicago Tribune</em> article</A></p>

</div>
<div class="quick-links-wrapper">
<h3>You might also like</h3>
[related-articles]
</div>
<p>This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.scidev.net" target="_blank">SciDev.Net</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/sub-saharan-africa/features/can-mauritius-become-the-first-cybernation-ssa/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(e,t,n,r,i,s,o){e["GoogleAnalyticsObject"]=i;e[i]=e[i]||function(){(e[i].q=e[i].q||[]).push(arguments)},e[i].l=1*new Date;s=t.createElement(n),o=t.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];s.async=1;s.src=r;o.parentNode.insertBefore(s,o)})(window,document,"script","//www.google-analytics.com/ga.js","ga");var _gaq=_gaq||[];var _gaq=_gaq||[];_gaq.push(["_setAccount","UA-3223906-8"],["_trackEvent","article interaction","republished","https://www.scidev.net/sub-saharan-africa/features/can-mauritius-become-the-first-cybernation-ssa/",null,true])
</script>
</div>

The economy of Mauritius, a small island nation off the east coast of Africa, has relied largely on making textiles and producing sugar from its numerous cane fields. But global competition in these markets is fierce and the country’s revenue from these activities is falling.

Now, reports Laurie Goering, the island wants to become the world’s first ‘cybernation’, a high-tech communications hub with countrywide broadband Internet access, that will host call centres, remote data backup facilities, and software development companies. An undersea broadband cable already gives it fast Internet and phone links with Africa, Europe, India and Malaysia.

By doing this, Mauritius hopes to boost its economy by creating new jobs and attracting wealth. As well as encouraging all its citizens — from housewives to farmers — to become computer-literate by taking basic evening classes, the government has also built the first of three technology parks.

But, reports Goering, the Mauritian government’s reluctance to encourage competition — because it earns a large share of profits from the company with the monopoly on the island’s communication lines — could get in the way of its ambitions.

Link to full Chicago Tribune article