Avinash Meetoo

Let us build a Smart Mauritius

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Mauritius becoming a Knowledge Society

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Google is 23 years old today: the company started in 1998, the year Christina and I were finishing our studies in France.

Within a few years, Google would perfect its search engine and create all the novel products it is known for today (Android, Gmail, etc). I do not know much about the way the company works and, maybe, this is one of the few things I regret. I was interviewed by Google in April 2007 but I was not offered a job there. I wonder how my life would have been different if I had obtained the job. Or, in March 2008, when I was offered a job in San Francisco by a consulting company but I had to decline because of the infamous Global Financial Crisis then.

Anyway, for the past 23 years, Christina have been in Mauritius. And we are very happy to have lived this quarter of a century here. We have had two wonderful kids who are big enough to fare for themselves now (and they are not spoilt) and we have managed, over the years, to forge formidable memories with family and friends (and these memories are preserved thanks to public photos and private videos).

In many ways, the world we live in today, where I can easily speak to my daughter in France every day, is one imagined by the founders of companies such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon. They dreamt of an always connected world and we are living in one now.

I also need to pay tribute to all the UNIX and Linux geeks in the world. Thanks to them and over open-source software developers all over the world, software works. Most of the formidable things we admire today (think Tesla cars or the datacenters of Google or Amazon) are powered by Linux and open-source software. Apple is also a major user of open-source software, most notably BSD and Mach for its operating system, macOS.

Of course, not everything is rosy for the Mauritian population. Some people are still on the other side of the digital divide and some still do not know how to use technology for enriching their lives. And, to be blunt, some use technology to (try to) keep people in the dark ages…

But one thing I have been thinking about for a long time now is to use the existing technology infrastructure in Mauritius (the fibre, the Internet and the myriad of online services provided by companies such as Google), to transform the country into a Knowledge Country, not only a Knowledge Economy.

I think that our people are sophisticated enough to form part of a Knowledge Society.

What do you think? What does a Knowledge Society looks like? How can we create one? How can we reach enlightenment?

How to (really) learn

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Yesterday, I watched an intriguing video on YouTube called How I’d Learn Music Theory (If I Had To Start Over) and, interestingly, it’s not really about music theory only but is about how to learn in general. One of the key recommendations was to read articles from research journals and, because the video was about music theory, a peer-reviewed journal called Music Theory Online was mentioned.

In it, I found this interesting research paper, which is actually an “essay”, by Jeremy W. Smith from the School of Music at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, USA. It is about how modern music uses pitch slides (glissandos), crescendos, fade ins, accelerandos, and filter sweeps (which the author calls continuous processes) to create excitement and tension, compared to more traditional notes, melodies and harmonies (which are discrete). Clearly, the author had a lot of fun and is surely a fan of EDM like me.

Underlying everything in the video is the fact that, instead of learning theory for the sake of theory, one should learn enough theory in order to get interesting things done and then learn more of the theory to get more interesting things done, etc., etc. And connect things which were previously disconnected.

By coincidence, I also read The Age of the Essay by Paul Graham yesterday, and he says: “Study lots of different things, because some of the most interesting surprises are unexpected connections between different fields. For example, jam, bacon, pickles, and cheese, which are among the most pleasing of foods, were all originally intended as methods of preservation. And so were books and paintings.”

I fully agree with these sentiments.

Starting as Head of Experimentation Accelerator Labs at UNDP Mauritius & Seychelles

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When I was a kid, I was a computer geek and, at university, I found it natural to study Computer Science (or, more precisely, Informatics). Since returning to Mauritius in 1998, I have worked in many institutions and organisations and I have always tried to put my following mantra into practice:

“It’s not about hardware or software. It’s about people.”

For me, empowering people and unleashing them to fight against problems affecting fellow citizens is the only reasonable way forward…

This is why I am very happy to announce that I am now the Head of Experimentation at the Accelerator Lab of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Mauritius & Seychelles office. As part of a network operating in 116 countries, the Mauritius & Seychelles Accelerator Lab will contribute to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030:

  1. No Poverty,
  2. Zero Hunger,
  3. Good Health and Well-being,
  4. Quality Education,
  5. Gender Equality,
  6. Clean Water and Sanitation,
  7. Affordable and Clean Energy,
  8. Decent Work and Economic Growth,
  9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure,
  10. Reducing Inequality,
  11. Sustainable Cities and Communities,
  12. Responsible Consumption and Production,
  13. Climate Action,
  14. Life Below Water,
  15. Life On Land,
  16. Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions and
  17. Partnerships for the Goals.

This is going to be tough. But I am confident that, with the Head of Solutions Mapping and the Head of Exploration and other colleagues at UNDP Mauritius & Seychelles, we will achieve big. As Head of Experimentation, I will do my best to create multi-stakeholder solutions to address complex problems using innovation, technology, strategic-thinking and leadership.

Prior to joining UNDP, I was Senior Adviser at the Ministry of Technology, Communication and Innovation, a board member of the National Computer Board and a one of the governors of the University of Technology, Mauritius. Here are some key moments during my tenure.

A lot of important and interesting things need to happen during the next ten years.

I want to work with all those willing to put in the effort to make the world better.

Horizon 2030, that’s our new motto 🙂