Africa-Press – Mauritius. A roundtable focusing on the theme, “Innovation in the New Normal”, led by the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council (MRIC), was held this afternoon in context of the University of Mauritius (UOM) Innovation Week 2021, at the UOM in Réduit.
The MRIC presented its innovation initiatives followed by a multi-stakeholder panel discussion which focused on Innovation in the New Normal, to brainstorm on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications on national innovation policies.
In his welcome address on the occasion, the Vice-Chancellor of the UOM, Professor Dhanjay Jhurry , underlined that the Innovation Week has so far been enriching and that the MRIC roundtable is a key session of the activities organised.
Speaking about research and innovation at the UOM, he stated that the institution will now adopt another mechanism, the top-down approach for the undertaking of multidisciplinary research.
He also spoke about the need to do research in a sustainable manner for which he indicated, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer an incredible framework for research to thrive. SDGs, he said, will enable us to respond to partnership, prosperity, peace and people that in turn will allow the UOM to develop innovation.
In addition, Professor Dhanjay Jhurry underpinned UOM’s five poles of research excellence which are namely, health, agriculture and marine, sustainable energy, policy and tourism, as well as IT and digital technologies.
These, he added, allow the institution to prioritise research areas. As for the Executive Director of the MRIC, Mr. Theesan Bahorun, he dwelt in his presentation, on the objectives of the MRIC, including to foster a research, innovation and entrepreneurship culture.
He informed that their mandate has been extended and that they are now full-fledged in research and can now conduct research and applied research and develop innovation in strategic national priority areas.
Furthermore, the Executive Director of the MRIC pointed out that during the New Normal, the MRIC has approved 85 projects, with a project value of Rs 165.9 M and with Rs 93.2 M funded by the MRIC.
Key in house programmes and projects, he added, include the National innovation indicators, implementation of projects for Rodrigues, development of a space programme, and a National Innovation challenge, amongst others.
UOM Innovation Week
This second edition of the Innovation Week has kickstarted since Monday 18 up and will span up to Friday 22 October 2021. The theme for this year’s edition is “Sustainable Innovation in the Making” and will focus on the need for sustainable innovation, using the SDGs as the guiding framework, in shaping capacity and impact for the future.
The Innovation Week provides a unique platform for close collaborators from the public and private sectors, research funding institutions and Higher Education Institutions to come together and brainstorm on the way forward post-COVID.
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