Keynote Speech @ 2019 MTMI International Conference on Emerging Issues in Business, Technology and Applied Sciences

The title of the presentation was "Digital Workforce Needs, and the Role of Universities in the New World - The Case of the University of Mauritius". The 21st Century workplace requires individuals with different skills and competencies to operate in rapidly evolving technology-enabled environments. As per the World Economic Forum these 7 technologies are actually changing our world – and this is what is being termed as the 4th Industrial Revolution. These are Big Data and AI, Digital Health, Large Scale Digitization, Internet of Things, Blockchain, Digital Learning and Wearable Internet. Traditional curricula dispensed by Universities are seen to be too static and rigid to respond to these needs. Industry often criticizes academia for not doing enough to address the skills gaps, while Universities often counter-argue that their role is not to produce a workforce for the short term but to prepare individuals for life. Both stands of industry and academia are not wrong per se, but they can only be seen as half-truths as long as they each maintain their stand without a critical introspection.

However, it is important to recall that Universities in the developing countries were mainly developmental, to produce a workforce capable to contribute to the socio-economic development. It is a fact that the requirements for current jobs have changed and the new workforce has to operate on the frontiers of disciplines. Furthermore, state of the art technologies such as Internet of things and artificial intelligence changing the way professionals work in different sectors. It is therefore imperative that Universities review their curriculum models to address these emerging needs and prepare individuals for the jobs of the future. Universities are also facing other types of challenges with respect to their long-term sustainability with the emergence of other credible alternatives (for e.g. MOOCs and open badges as credentials) to higher education. Many employers are no longer requiring formal higher education qualifications as pre-requisites to be hired for jobs. Technologies such as augmented/virtual reality, video-conferencing and digital learning platforms are changing the way students learn. The content is no longer at the centre of the teaching and learning process. High quality content is available as open educational resources in a variety of formats. Therefore, Universities cannot keep on teaching using the same traditional methods. 

Universities, especially in developing countries, are therefore bound to be disrupted in the digital world driven by knowledge societies and economies. The key question therefore is how can Universities in the developing world adapt to these evolutions and address the key challenges they are facing to still be relevant in the digital age, sustainable and prepare the workforce for the future of work? The rethinking of the role of our Universities is therefore important and it is clear that the status-quo can no longer be envisaged. In so doing, Universities can bridge the skills gap and prepare the digital workforce of the future in collaboration with industries and embrace innovation while at the same time maintain a balance within the so-called “ecosystem of disruption” so as not to deviate from their core values, independence and academic freedom. In this presentation, we look at the digital transformation of Universities within the triple helix model to promote public-private-academia collaboration and the new approaches to teaching, learning and certification using the University of Mauritius as example.

Digital Workforce Needs, and the Role of Universities in the New World - The Case of the University of Mauritius

from M I Santally

Workshop "Blueprint for the setting up of a Mauritian NREN"

The workshop was held on the 4th December at St Regis Hotel, a beautiful resort situated at Le Morne. Well that was not the most important part! The Vice Prime Minister and our Parent Minister, Hon Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun was the main guest for the opening of this workshop jointly organized by the University of Mauritius and the University of Technology, Mauritius. I represented the University in the opening ceremony and made the speech as below.

It is my pleasure to be addressing you today on behalf of the University of Mauritius for this workshop with the theme, I quote “Building a Roadmap for the Establishment of a Mauritian National Research and Education Network (commonly known as NRENs).

NRENs are specialised internet service providers dedicated to supporting the needs of the research and education communities within a country. The primary focus of NRENs is to provide universities and research institutes with high-quality network connectivity and related services by connecting campuses and institutions to each other, and to the rest of the internet. While doing some reading online, I came across a statement, I quote “NRENs have pioneered networks, technologies and services for research and education since the internet's inception”. This is a very commendable achievement indeed. However, I wish to highlight that Technology has a history of ‘perpetual evolution’ and we have to be conscious and aware that the focus cannot solely be on the technology. 

Researchers in education have constantly brought forward the technology paradox, characterizing the fact that technology ever since the radio and the TV were invented we have not really witnessed the so-called education revolution in the way it was meant to be. We have over the years witnessed the same phenomenon with the internet, smartphones, and other technological developments such as Virtual Reality, that demonstrated huge potential, but have never become or have yet to become integral and ubiquitous components of mainstream education.

I still recall some 18 years ago, somewhere around the year 2001-2002, when we started the eLearning initiative at the University of Mauritius, one of the key projects we undertook was the development of an interactive CD for the ambitious Mass Computer Literacy Project of the Government.

Colleagues present here and who know about this project, will no doubt tell you that the real success behind the CPP was neither the technology nor the nice interface or content we developed, but it was about the underlying educational philosophy and the ability of the stakeholders (government, academia, private sector, and the people) to work coherently together to achieve something extraordinary.

This is simply to highlight that while we deploy the technologies, any blueprint has to pay equal or even more emphasis on the human dimension and the tangible impacts of having such networks over the targeted beneficiaries. The networks should not be of machines, and IP addresses only but of people with common interests to promote education through communities of practice in the relevant areas. If policies are conceived in such a way so as to put technology at the service of humanity, then the results will be much more impactful and transformative.

Indeed, this is why collaboration is one of the main recipes for successful NRENs. I am very pleased and thankful to see that close collaboration has been established between the public TEIs, AUF, Ministries of Education, ICT and UbuntuNet Alliance. We are also grateful to the CEO of Zamren and SomaliREN to be present here to share their experiences with us. I am reassured that the NREN by its nature fosters collaboration, it will provide us the opportunities to work together and engage in fruitful exchanges at local, regional and international level.

At the University, we ensure that our Institutional goals through our main strategic thrusts, drive our Information Technology strategy and not vice-versa. To this effect, we have setup an institutional IT Strategy Committee that engages into brainstorming and identification of key policies, strategies and actions that will help the University to maintain a competitive edge and improve efficiency through appropriate process re-engineering.

In terms of our Information Technology capabilities, the University of Mauritius has implemented comprehensive technology solutions to power institutional growth and to improve efficiency within the institution. We have a fully online Student Life Cycle System, an integrated back office system and I am informed that we have also deployed IPv6 on our Internet facing servers. This year we have upgraded our Fibre Optics backbone network to improve our bandwidth. We have also upgraded our Wi-Fi network to achieve practically full WIFI Coverage across the campus.

We are therefore committed to share and contribute to the successful setup of the Mauritian NREN. Our eLibrary which is currently available for access by other public TEIs will be part of the initiative. Industry engagement, which is one of our strategic thrusts, has to be a significant player within the NREN. Over the past three years, our key engagement priorities have been in research, quality education, digital innovation and entrepreneurial activities. We have setup a Digital Technologies incubator and we have established a living lab for innovative pedagogies which is accredited by the European Network of Open Living Labs.

I can personally see here how a convergence of the activities falling under these two entities, can contribute to impactful projects. For instance, the application of of AI-powered techniques such as learning analytics to develop smart learning environments which can lead to improvement of student learning outcomes and achievement in our Universities. I would like here to quote Tom Freston – Co Founder of MTV – “Innovation is taking two things that exist and putting them together in a new way”

On a concluding note, I wish to thank the Honourable Ministers for their unflinching support and presence, the NREN local organising team, all participants, and the speakers of today’s event. With these words, I wish all of you a successful workshop.