[kictanet] Day 1 of 10 :-BPO discussions, Policy Framework
Walubengo J
jwalu at yahoo.com
Tue Jun 2 14:10:05 EAT 2009
MM,
Thanx for your insights - you seem to have re-surfaced with enhanced wisdom after some self-imposed silence ;-).
I am however unable to place my hands on the document from Ministry of Planning that u say details the BPO sector/strategy. The one I could get @
http://www.communication.go.ke/media.asp?id=611 seems to be a shallow on BPO. Also you cite BPO studies you did for UNCTAD - Plse share the urls if possible.
In the same spirit, I seem to recall that a while back the Kenya BPO Society launched a - was it a BPO Policy or Strategy. Someone should give us the url to such a document. In addition, it would be nice to know to what extend this Policy/Strategy was (not?) adopted by the GoK.
Plse share your ideas since we have less than half-a-day to the close of this theme.
regards,
walu.
--- On Tue, 6/2/09, Catherine Adeya <elizaslider at yahoo.com> wrote:
> From: Catherine Adeya <elizaslider at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 1 of 10 :-BPO discussions, Policy Framework
> To: jwalu at yahoo.com
> Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2009, 2:19 PM
> Muriuki,
>
> Your input is interesting and you touch on a number of
> areas that even go beyond policy. I think the key in a study
> like the one the UON has undertaken is that the selection of
> the countries may not be comprehensive mostly (I believe)
> due to funding constraints but they do give a solid basis to
> inform policy in Kenya. As I have noted on this forum
> before, there are a number of studies that have been
> undertaken (most are not in the public domain) and it is
> time we geared their findings in a common direction for
> Kenya's sake. Therefore, some of the studies you mention
> below (and maybe others may mention) would be useful
> especially if the findings/issues are collapsed into the
> relevant themes. However, your analysis is useful.
>
> Best,
>
> Nyaki
>
> From:
> muriuki mureithi <mureithi at summitstrategies.co.ke>
> To:
> elizaslider at yahoo.com
> Cc: KICTAnet
> ICT Policy Discussions
> <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Sent:
> Tuesday, June 2, 2009 12:11:57 PM
> Subject: Re:
> [kictanet] Day 1 of 10 :-BPO discussions, Policy Framework
>
>
> Thanks Tim for the context, it is now feasible to
> participate
>
> Walu you may want to revisit your structure of the
> discussions to ensure
> that your structure maps to the objectives of the
> study. A very interesting
> topic - BPO marketing strategy is not in your discussion
> structure and is
> key to success of BPO. This is one of the study
> objectives
>
> On the questions raised by the moderator and especially Q2
> - a more detailed
> document published by ministry of planning - Kenya
> Vision 2030, A Globally
> Competitive and Prosperous Kenya published 2007 is
> very detailed on bpo. It
> gives a detailed background on bpo, the opportunities and a
> strategy to
> exploit the opportunities. The Document further
> develop an approach , the
> target markets and the strategy with timelines that
> can be monitored. One
> would expect that operational details would be worked out
> by the KICTB
> which I
> believe was the intent of v2030
>
> On the broader aspect of the question, it is necessary for
> the country to
> have a specific policy on BPO. A desk study we did
> last year for
> International trade centre of UNCTAD - BPO/ITO
> activity in Sub Sahara
> Africa:Lessons from BPO/ITOs activity in selected
> (13) English speaking
> countries in Africa - noted the
> advantage of a policy that is BPO
> specific . The need for a policy is in cognisance that
> a wide array of
> multisectoral resources need to be deployed to ensure
> success of the sector.
> That policy helps to bring together and coordinate those
> resources and
> create synergy. Nigeria for example developed
> and promulgated a BPO
> specific policy. The policy explicitly recognizes the
> opportunity presented
> by the sector but also notes the challenge the
> sector faces to exploit
> the opportunity, defines the
> role of the stakeholders and the contribution ,
> incentives to realize the benefits. It also sets out the
> time frame but most
> importantly the market strategy.
>
> In the policy development, the strategy to
> exploit is critical. It is
> inadequate to stress the huge size of the market and
> focus of that
> market(off-shoring) without addressing our capacity
> to exploit the market
> considering the global competition. We can learn from
> some of the
> successful competitors like South Africa who built
> offshoring bpo on the
> back of inshoring . likewise, Nigeria policy strategy
> is based on local
> outsourcing first. Clearly, It is much cheaper to build
> local outsourcing
> capacity and then use this capacity and skill base to
> exploit offshoring
>
> In developing such a policy we should not lose sight of the
> fact that bpo
> is not an end in itself but a means to fully exploit the
> immense
> benefits of
> ICTs
>
> Cheers
> MM
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Prof Waema [mailto:waema at uonbi.ac.ke]
>
> Sent: 02 June 2009 10:56
> To: mureithi at summitstrategies.co.ke
> Cc: 'KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions'
> Subject: RE: [kictanet] Day 1 of 10 :-BPO discussions,
> Policy Framework
>
> Hi Muriuki,
>
> Thank you for the comments. There is no complete report at
> the moment but it
> is under preparation. The idea is to share the results so
> far and discuss
> salient issues before we have a stakeholders workshop later
> on this month.
> However, find below some background info:
>
> The overall aim of the project was “to undertake
> comprehensive research in
> the business process outsourcing (BPO) sub-sector in
> pioneer, emerging and
> mature
> markets to provide evidence and a deeper understanding of
> the
> imperatives for success in this industry to better inform
> Kenya’s policy
> decisions and investment choices”. The specific
> objectives were:
> To provide empirical evidence and
> recommendations to inform the
> development of BPO legislation, policy and strategy
> To identify the critical success
> factors that underlie the BPO
> industry in developing countries (in pioneer, emerging and
> mature markets)
> To examine and provide comprehensive
> case studies of eight countries
> representing pioneer, emerging and mature BPO markets
> To analyse the business
> environment/culture in Kenya in order to
> identify a unique BPO marketing strategy.
> To provide a deeper understanding of
> youth employment and gender
> issues within the BPO sector in pioneer, emerging and
> mature
> markets
> To increase the level of awareness
> and input among key stakeholders
> through interactive dialogue on key BPO issues within the
> Kenyan context
> To contribute to knowledge in this
> emerging sector through
> publication and dissemination.
>
> The project was carried out using the case study method and
> involved desk
> research on the Internet and in libraries, review of
> existing documents, key
> informant interviews and structured questionnaires. The
> case study involved
> BPO firms and relevant national institutions in six
> countries classified as
> follows:
> BPO clients: U.S.A. and U.K.
> Pioneer BPO services: Kenya
> Emerging BPO services: South Africa
> Mature BPO Services: India and
> Mauritius
>
> The project is funded by IDRC and the University of
> Nairobi. It was carried
> out by the
> University of Nairobi in collaboration with the Ministry
> of
> Information and Communications, the Kenya BPO and Contact
> Centre Society,
> the Kenya ICT Board and KICTANET.
>
> I am sure you can commend on the policy framework without a
> full report.
>
> Regards
>
> Tim Waema
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: kictanet-bounces+waema=uonbi.ac.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> [mailto:kictanet-bounces+waema=uonbi.ac.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke]
> On Behalf
> Of muriuki mureithi
> Sent: 02 June 2009 08:47 AM
> To: waema at uonbi.ac.ke
> Cc: 'KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions'
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 1 of 10 :-BPO discussions,
> Policy Framework
>
> Hi Walu
>
> Thanks for madaraka day gift - a bpo.
>
> To provide a context of the discussion, could we access
> the full report.
> This will help us to understand some aspects for example
> the TOR/objective
> for the study, how the three economies were selected and
> the time frame of
> the study among other issues.
> There are some other economies that have promulgated some
> BPO specific
> policies and innovative approach to BPO development. A
> deeper insight on the
> context will help us to see how to introduce such
> thoughts in the
> discussions
>
> Cheers
> muriuki mureithi
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: kictanet-bounces+mureithi=summitstrategies.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> [mailto:kictanet-bounces+mureithi=summitstrategies.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.k
> e] On Behalf Of Walubengo J
> Sent: 02 June 2009 08:14
> To: mureithi at summitstrategies.co.ke
> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
> Subject: [kictanet] Day 1 of 10 :-BPO discussions, Policy
> Framework
>
> Morning all,
>
> I trust you have had a well-deserved, long weekend. Today
> we kick-off the
> BPO discussion by focusing on the BPO Policy
> environment. Indeed Policy
> informs both the Legal, Regulatory and Insititutional
> frameworks such that
> if we get things wrong at the Policy level, then naturally,
> the rest of the
> frameworks will not fly.
>
> The BPO Research (synthesis attached) established very
> comprehensive Policy
> frameworks in the selected countries of study - S.Africa,
> Mauritius and
> India. When
> compared to the Kenyan situation, the Researchers found
> that at
> a National level, BPO is simply listed as one of the six
> KEY sectors of the
> Economic Pillar within Vision2030. They also found
> that the National ICT
> Policy (2006) does not explicitly mention BPO - even though
> some of the
> objectives may implicitly relate to BPO.
>
> Which brings us to the specific questions for discussion:
> Q1: Should we at a National level be placing emphasise on
> an "ICT Sector" or
> on a "BPO Sector"? which of the two should be a
> subset of the other?
> Q2: Beyond the BPO policy statements in our V2030 document,
> dont we need to
> do more by creating clear and monitorable plans/targets for
> the BPO sector -
> BPO Strategic Framework? How should this be done?
>
> We have only today for your views on this since tmrw we
> move into the Legal
> and Regulatory frameworks.
>
> walu.
> Encl: BPO Research Synthesis1:-Policy, Legal, Regulatory
> Frameworks
>
> ----e-Discussion Program outline-----
> 1.The policy, legal and institutional frameworks for BPO
> sector (2days, Walu
> moderating)
> 2.Subsidies accorded to BPO sector (2days, Walu
> moderating)
> 3.Human capacity issues (2days, Walu moderating)
> 4.Youth and gender issues (2days, Dr. C. Adeya moderating)
> 5.Strengths and challenges for Kenya as a BPO destination
> (2days, Dr. C.
> Adeya moderating
>
>
>
>
>
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