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The MRIC joined the regional EU project - STI for strengthening STI capacities and building more resilient and sustainable societies – in December 2022.  The objective of the programme is to develop operational roadmaps for future investments in research and innovation priorities. These roadmaps are based on the unique potentials and challenges of each target country and mobilise science, technology and innovation to address key societal, environmental and economic issues in line with the achievement of the SDGs.

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Following a number of meetings and discussions between MRIC and Joint Research Centre (JRC) of European Commission (EC), it was agreed that the program should focus on one SDG. The selected SDG for Mauritius was SDG 3 - "Good Health and Well-being", more particularly on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). The JRC in collaboration with MRIC adopted a systematic approach to help identify and prioritise STI investment areas to tackle NCDs. The approach included interviews, surveys and participatory workshops.

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In the above context, the following events were organised:

(1) A hybrid workshop was held on Thursday, 29 February 2024. 25 participants attended the workshop where a series of presentation were made:

• Introduction of the project: context, objectives and methodology by the JRC- European Commission expert, Dr Pierre Rialland (Economic and Policy Analyst, Territorial Development Unit, Directorate Fair and Sustainably Economy).

• Scope and initial findings of the project by the JRC- European Commission expert, Prof. Sirin Elci, (President of INOMER).

• NCDs in Mauritius: Status, Challenges, Measures taken & role of STI by Dr S Kowlessur, C.S.K., MA, PhD, Director, Health Promotion and Research, Ministry of Health and Wellness.

• Science, Technology and Innovation relate to NCDs in Mauritius by Dr B. Ori, Director General Health Services, Ministry of Health and Wellness.

• Monitoring & evaluation of SDGs in Mauritius by Mrs Prateema Kutwoaroo, Ag. Lead Analyst, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration & International Trade.

• A group discussion was also moderated by Prof Sirin Elci to gather initial feedback and suggestions from stakeholders online.​

 

2. An in-person workshop was held on Monday 25 March 2024 at the Telecom Campus, Ebéne Cybercity, conducted by the JRC- European Commission experts, Dr Pierre Rialland (Economic and Policy Analyst, Territorial Development Unit, Directorate Fair and Sustainably Economy) and Prof. Sirin Elci, (President of INOMER) and Professor of Innovation Ecosystems at the Institut Mines-Télécom Business School, Paris.  Dr Laurent Bochereau, Minister-Counsellor, Science, Technology and Innovation, Delegation of the European Union to the African Union in Addis Ababa, was also in Mauritius for the workshop. The workshop was attended by approximately 50 participants from a range of institutions from Academia, Private sector, Public sector and international development partners. The workshop consisted of interventions from experts from EC and brainstorming sessions on the leveraging of STI to address NCDs in Mauritius.

 

3. Post-workshop interviews were held from to 26 March to 27 March 2024, with 30 participants including Academia, Industry, Public institutions and Ministries.

 

The discussions led to a number of STI priority sectors requiring investment to address NCDs. Opportunity areas were identified, including improvement of coordination & collaboration, developing STI infrastructures, developing research expertise to provide holistic treatments and developing AI for health diagnosis & prevention.

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The report is presently being finalised by the EC and will be used as foundation for the Health and Wellness thematic during the reviewing process for the National Roadmap for Research and Innovation (2023 -2027).