Thursday, June 17, 2010

Faure appointed ICT Minister



Vice-President Danny Faure has been appointed Seychelles’ the new Information and Communication Technology Minster following the latest cabinet reshuffle.

He replaces Jacquelin Dugasse.

The reshuffle means that ICT will now get a stronger focus under President Michel’s Cabinet. Previous the department was part of the National Development ministry, lead by Minister Dugasse.

The sudden shift in leadership has produced a strong note of optimism within Seychelles's ICT industry.

Observers say they are hopeful that communication around major ICT initiatives, such as the planned fibre-optic submarine cable project would speed up.

In his first interview following his appointment, Vice-President Faure gave the impression that there is now a better understanding of what technology can do for Seychelles within the government.

After having supervised the IMF-sponsored economic reform since October 2008, Faure has now been trusted with the Public Administration and ICT industry reforms.

But political observers say it would work better if it wasn't a politically-based appointment, commending the Obama administration for having taken a senior technology industry person into that role.