Republic of Mauritius- Blockchain Technology and its impact on Digital Transformation of Mauritius

Organised by the Ministry of Technology, Communication and Innovation in collaboration with the UOM, the themes addressed were: What is blockchain? ; and, How does blockchain technology assist in the digital transformation?  The resource person was Mr Bojan Hadzisejdic, Blockchain Expert, Cotrugli Business School, Republic of Croatia.

In her address, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Technology, Communication and Innovation, Dr (Mrs) R. Y. Moorghen, pointed out that the Digital Mauritius 2030 Strategic Plan was launched last year to chart the way forward with the aim to further boost the ICT sector.  The plan clearly outlines the major role of emerging technologies like blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and others engines of growth for the sector.

According to Dr Moorghen, over the past few decades a lot of investment has been injected in the digitalisation of public services of Mauritius.  However, she indicated, there comes a time where it is necessary to reinforce the layers of trust to be able to have an even higher adoption of ICT in public sector and even higher take up of e-services by citizens.

She recalled that in October 2018, the Ministry of Technology, Communication and Innovation had selected Cotrugli Business School consultants following a procurement exercise with the aim to develop a blockchain strategy for Government. 

These consultants have had a number of meetings with various Ministries and departments, the ICT industry associations and other partners so as to take the pulse of ICT activities in the public sector and to devise an approach for tapping on blockchain technology given the robustness of the technology. 

Following meetings with different stakeholders, the consultants have prepared a Blockchain Strategy which clearly states that Mauritius is ready for its blockchain journey and that various services could avail of this technology, said Dr Moorghen.  The ones that have been prioritised are the issuance of PINs for property, the issuance of Digital birth certificates and the securing of transaction logs on the Info Highway, Mauritius’s national data exchange layer.

The consultants have also proposed the setting up of a national permissioned blockchain which will be open to public and private sectors in a phased manner.  This chain, which has been named MoChain, will be a local blockchain and will work on the latest concept which is proof of authority instead of proof of work.