Blockchain in Mauritius is evolving

The globalization of the economy and culture, exacerbated by the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), entails risks of cultural and linguistic standardization to the detriment of the values, the contents and the interests of the various countries and regions. In this context of this global situation, there is weak ownership of ICT by French-speaking developing countries (DCs), particularly in Africa, and in the various sectors of activity. Thus, their current capacities to produce, use and disseminate digital commons are still very modest, whereas these digital resources and devices open to all users in a logic of sharing and promoting equal access to knowledge and contribute to value creation.

Role of OIF

Aware of these issues, the OIF has set up a program as part of its 2019-2022 action plan to support digital transformation (P18 program), including the Direction de la Francophonie économique et numérique (DFEN). This program is involved in digital governance, digital commons (including open educational resources) and the creativity and technological innovation offered by emerging technologies (artificial intelligence, big data, etc.). This program can contribute to reinforce the preconditions of a sustainable and equitable growth by a better taking into account, within French-speaking countries.

The OIF defines a program 'Enseignement et apprentissage massif et de qualité du et en français – Formation des maîtres (IFADEM)', implemented by IFEF, contributes to the achievement of these development goals which aims to "Ensure access for all to quality education on an equal footing and promote lifelong learning opportunities". Increasing the efficiency of education systems involves improving the professional skills of teachers and other education stakeholders, as well as modernizing teaching tools. Open Educational Resources are part of this perspective of offering educational materials to develop universal access to knowledge.

Horizon Africa as a leading Blockchain Startup

Suyash Sumaroo, the co-founder of Horizon Africa, was invited by the OIF to participate in a workshop with the aim of identifying the key components of the blockchain technology that can be used in the context of open educational resources. Suyash contributed as a blockchain expert to provide insightful technical expertise to provide an understanding of how various components of the blockchain technology can be used to create a customised smart contract based solution for tracking and resources integrity problems.