PROJETiQ is the Regional Talent Circulation & Innovation Competitiveness Programme for the Indian Ocean and Eastern & Southern Africa — co-designed with island governments to connect local expertise, attract the right external talent on the region's own terms, and build the innovation infrastructure Small Island Developing States have always needed. The foundation for a global Islands Innovation Network.
"Across the Indian Ocean islands and Eastern & Southern Africa, there is no shortage of ambition, talent, or ideas. What is missing is the infrastructure to connect them — to circulate expertise where it is needed most, to link researchers with real challenges, and to give local entrepreneurs access to the networks that have historically been out of reach. PROJETiQ is being built to change that."
PROJETiQ is the Regional Talent Circulation & Innovation Competitiveness Programme — developed in advanced partnership with the Government of Seychelles and designed from the ground up for the Indian Ocean region and Eastern & Southern Africa. This is Phase 1: a deliberate, government-anchored starting point that builds the foundations for something far larger.
The programme addresses a structural challenge that every island government in the region faces: skills shortages, expatriate dependence, and an innovation gap that widens each year. Rather than treating these in isolation, PROJETiQ creates a connected regional response — circulating talent across island economies, co-designing research programmes with universities, and building structured pathways that bring external expertise in on terms that serve local priorities rather than displacing them.
At the heart of the programme is an AI-enabled matching platform, paired with a purpose-built physical hub at Baie Lazare, Seychelles — a residential, co-working and field station base from which the regional network will be anchored and expanded. Phase 1 establishes the model. Phase 2 extends it across the Indian Ocean. Phase 3 connects the world's island communities — Indian Ocean, Caribbean and Pacific — into a single Global Islands Innovation Network.
Build structured pathways that move island talent across the region — and bring the right external expertise in. Brain circulation and brain gain, not brain drain. Expertise that serves local priorities.
Build the infrastructure that lets talent, researchers, entrepreneurs and policymakers find each other across the region — and begin working on the challenges that matter most to island communities.
Create the conditions for new enterprises and home-grown innovation — closing the gap that small island economies face in building entrepreneurialism, research capacity and competitive industries at scale.
We're starting where Seychelles is already recognised for global leadership — and building out from there.
Indian Ocean positioning & global credibility
Workforce upgrading & brand reinforcement
Green jobs & climate finance readiness
Skills localisation & project execution quality
Supporting Seychelles' ambition as an AfCFTA digital hub
PROJETiQ is in advanced discussions with the Government of Seychelles toward formal adoption as anchor state — and the strategic case is clear.
Strong macroeconomic management, institutional stability and public financial systems that development partners already trust — built over decades.
Internationally recognised Blue Economy governance. Top-tier rankings in African infrastructure and human capital development. A voice that is heard.
No territorial ambitions, no regional rivalries. Other nations engage with Seychelles without geopolitical anxiety — that's genuinely rare, and makes it an exceptionally valuable convening presence in any regional architecture.
Deep bilateral ties across Eastern & Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean. Existing MoU frameworks to build on. This isn't starting from scratch — it's building on solid ground.
The structure keeps the network's mission protected — and is designed to operate under Seychelles Government policy sponsorship as the programme advances toward formal adoption.
Holds the governance, standards, membership and mission. Governed by a multi-stakeholder board with regional representation. Accountable to public interest, with Seychelles Government policy sponsorship as the target governance anchor.
Delivers services at arm's length under licence — platform subscriptions, certification, talent placement, advisory, hub operations. Generates revenue. Cannot direct network policy.
A privately owned 12-acre site in Seychelles — purpose-built for residential stays, co-working and training. The place where the programme comes alive regardless of where formal governance lands. Open to participants, researchers, field teams and partners.
"The question before us is not whether to build a global islands network. It is whether to lay its foundations — and who will have the courage to do it first."
— PROJETiQ Programme Brief, 2026
PROJETiQ is designed to evolve in three deliberate stages — each building on the last, each expanding the network without losing the focus that makes each phase work. We start where the case is strongest, the partnerships are most advanced, and the need is most acute: the Indian Ocean and Eastern & Southern Africa.
Our starting point is the Indian Ocean and Eastern & Southern Africa. Working in close partnership with island governments — and advancing toward formal adoption with the Government of Seychelles — we are co-designing a structured programme that connects skilled talent with island institutions, supports local SMEs and entrepreneurs, and builds the research and innovation infrastructure this region needs to compete globally.
This is not a pilot. It is the deliberate first chapter — and the community we build here becomes the foundation for everything that follows.
As the regional programme matures, PROJETiQ will formalise and expand across the Indian Ocean — bringing Mauritius, the Maldives, Comoros, Réunion and other SIDS into a connected innovation network. University research partnerships will be formalised, a talent exchange framework will be established, and the first wave of cross-island collaboration will begin in earnest.
The institutions and individuals who join in Phase 1 will shape how this network is designed and governed.
The long-term vision: a truly global platform connecting Small Island Developing States across three island clusters — the Indian Ocean, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. Circulating talent, capital and ideas at a scale that gives the world's island communities the influence and opportunity they deserve.
This is where PROJETiQ ultimately goes. But it starts here — with the regional programme, with the right partners, and with you.
Get in touch
Nichole Esparon
Founder & CEO, PROJETiQ
Whether you are a government official, development institution, researcher, or potential talent partner — all enquiries are received directly by Nichole. We are building our founding network of partners and early participants now, and we would love to hear from you.
Email us directly to introduce yourself, register your institution's interest, or ask a question about the programme. We aim to respond within two working days.
partnerships@projetiq.comAt this stage of the programme's development, we are having direct conversations with every prospective partner and participant. Please introduce yourself by email — tell us who you are, what you represent, and what draws you to PROJETiQ.
partnerships@projetiq.comWe respond within two working days. All enquiries go directly to Nichole Esparon, Founder & CEO.
PROJETiQ Insights