Technology affects all aspects of our life, health, education, business and government. Following the latest technological developments and trends can help companies to up their game and create new business opportunities. Government can provide better and faster services to the population, education institutions can facilitate the learning process, and complicated operations, such as neurological ones, are made easier with technological tools. All of which is great until greed, corruption and power (a.k.a. The forces of evil) get involved, the latest example of which being the Cambridge Analytica data scandal involving Facebook – or closer to home the government portal that cost over MUR 50 million!

On a personal level technology can improve our lives, while some devices are for comfort, others are more like status symbols. There is nothing wrong with this inherently and with precautions and insight into the environmental and social impact; technology can become a force for good. However, at the current rate of development it is important to re-train every 6 to 12 months and research the pros and cons thoroughly. You may think that the younger generation can cope with these constant changes since they grow up with a mobile in their hand, so the information superhighway, new apps and smart gadgets are second nature for them. This may well be true, but we also have to think about who is guiding them, if anyone, and showing them how to evaluate what is good and what is bad and how to research the information they receive so that they do not just consume it raw. Preventing addition is also another important factor, addiction to anything tech related, from gaming to social media. Addiction to devices and gadgets can render them incapable of staying in good physical health?!

We pose some of the questions that as Mauritians we should try to answer, and we will continue to do so in upcoming articles about tech trends and the technology influencing our lives.