Responding to National Priorities through Special Call for Applications (SCA)
In order to improve and accelerate the response to the economic and social challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and improve the country’s resilience to unforeseen situations, the MRIC launched a Special Call for Applications for Fast-Track Innovation Initiatives aimed at supporting short term innovative projects in thematic areas such as Emerging Sectors (Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Blockchain, Fintech, Robotics), Smart Agriculture (Field Management, Automated Crop Management, Precision Agriculture, Bio-fertilisers, Nutraceuticals), Circular Economy (Alternative to Plastics, Sustainable Materials, Upcycling, Recycling, Reuse) and Inclusive Innovation (Social Entrepreneurship, Poverty Alleviation, Women Empowerment, Mainstreaming of vulnerable groups).
By: Dr N Gopaul and Ms C Ruhee
NanoCASH: The Only Licensed Digital Financial Inclusion Platform – Development of Scoring Engine
NanoSAIO Ltd, the Fintech arm of the Anglo African Group based in Mauritius, has secured an in-principle license from the FSC to offer innovative digital micro-lending loans to Mauritians to address the gap on the Mauritian market. Their project entitled, NanoCASH: The Only Licensed Digital Financial Inclusion Platform – Development of Scoring Engine, was approved for funding. The scoring is now being used as part of a Digital Lending Platform to assess credit worthiness before disbursing credit finance to applicants. Various parameters have been implemented that are essential in the design of the big data scoring engine so as to meet all the criteria as per the Financial Industry Standards. Moreover, the project has also focused on some value-added parameters which will make the scoring more dynamic and ingenious.
By: Dr N Gopaul and Ms K Banee
Characterisation of construction and demolition of waste (C &D waste) for Reuse, Reduce, Recycle (3R’s)
Construction and demolition wastes obtained from the building of roads, bridges, buildings and residences, have become a waste hazard in Mauritius. These types of waste made up of concrete, wood, metal, glass and plastics, in the absence of a proper waste management master plan, could end up in waterbodies. In collaboration with the University of Mauritius, Gamma Materials Ltd (GML), one of the pioneers in the supply of aggregates in Mauritius, has responded to the MRIC Scheme: Special Call for Proposals: Fast track Innovation Initiatives to conduct a study on the characterization of construction and demolition waste for Reuse, Reduce and Recycle (3R’s). The project was successfully completed in May 2022. The project comprises 4 themes: (a) characterization of construction and demolition wastes at Gamma Material Premises, (b) mapping of illegal dumping sites throughout the island, (c) quantifying construction and demolition wastes and (d) proposing guidelines for construction and demolition waste management to all stakeholders to foster the recycling of such types of waste. As part of the study, GML has brought a touch of innovation to the project by looking into the possibility of creating new building materials from construction and demolition wastes known as the Recycled Concrete Aggregates.
By: Dr V Bissonauth and Ms S Bhojoo
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MoServices
The MoServices - Rapid AI Mobile Process Builder (MoServices) is an artificial intelligence powered single mobile app for an easy to implement, fast deployment and can be integrated with national services such as MauPass. MoServices allows creation of several forms (e.g. application for a permit, license or other) to be created, along with workflows with several level of approvals (managed by authorized users). For new processes, the client/organisation provides a brief, which nVisionIT loads into the builder. Using Artificial Intelligence, the initial forms are created within seconds, without having to update the application. nVisionIT will then optimise the form. This ensures rapid and risk-free addition of new processes, forms, certificates and other document to accelerate digital transformation. The project consisted of a web application to be used by organisations/enterprises to load their required forms data, and a mobile application which generates forms dynamically to be used by the public. The advantage of this project is that all types of forms can been generated dynamically without code changes and deployments.