[kictanet] Day 2 of 10:-BPO discussions, Legal and Regulatory Frameworks

Wed Jun 3 09:37:33 EAT 2009

Hi,

First let me thank Walu for introducing the day 2 discussion so well.

MM - Thank you for sharing the results of the study you were involved
in. This is very useful. If you are kind enough to share a URL where we
can find more. 

As we continue with this discussion, we need to make very specific
recommendations. For example, it is clear that a data protection
legislation is required. What else needs to be done? What about privacy
law?

I know there has been efforts to draw up a data protection legislation
but I have no details. Does anyone have any information on this?

Tim Waema

On Wed, 2009-06-03 at 08:50 +0300, muriuki mureithi wrote:
> Thanks Walu for the early morning call 
> 
> Q4 - yes , one of the key markets we are targeting i.e. UK is a party to the
> European wide data protection arrangement.  This arrangement has stringent
> requirements for cross border data exchange  and particularly to   members
> who are not party to that arrangement. Kenyan law on data protection as you
> rightly state is non-existent.  
> 
> Certainly the fact the key players in the market prefer to operate their own
> contact centres apart from the daring example of Telkom Kenya is a damning
> reminder that we have to do a lot of work to convince ourselves first before
> we go out and  convince others that we can handle their sensitive data. 
> In a multi-country study we did for  university of the Maryland; The bpo
> phenomena in Kenya: Emerging flagship to drive ICT development -A case study
> in 2007,   the legal framework   need to address a number of  issues notably
> - data protection, indemnity for operators , bonding framework for staff -
> the police conduct certification is only good for matatus not high end
> confidential bpo work ,  incentive framework eg use of epza , fiscal etc
> 
> With the legal loop holes the study found that some Kenya bpo were forced to
> register an operation in the target market such that, that operation was
> contractually responsible for the projects being done in Kenya. This immense
> can be overcome by an improved legal framework.
> 
> Now is an opportunity   we should not lose to build a supporting legal
> framework for bpo
> 
> Cheers 
> MM
> 
> -----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: 03 June 2009 08:05
> To: mureithi at summitstrategies.co.ke
> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
> Subject: [kictanet] Day 2 of 10:-BPO discussions,Legal and Regulatory
> Frameworks
> 
> 
> Morning all,
> 
> Yesterday was like my 1st day in school - what a rich learning experience!
> Thanx to Waema, Nyaki, Barrack, Otuoma, and MM whose contributions were
> quite enlightening. Of the two questions asked, it appears that we need both
> comprehensive ICT and BPO Policies and Strategies.  With regard to National
> BPO strategies and targets we learnt that there was quite some detail at the
> Ministry of Planning and the BPO Society which could benefit members if made
> widely accessible.
> 
> Today we move from the Policy to the Legal, Regulatory Frameworks. The
> Research study found very comprehensive Legal and Regulatory environment in
> S.Africa, India and Mauritius that supported their BPO industry.
> Specifically, laws that took care of eTransactions, eCrime, Copyrights and
> Data Protection were well established. Furthermore their BPO Industries had
> adopted stringent Quality Assurance Frameworks for BPO and Contact Center
> Operations.  
> 
> The Researchers found that the case for Kenya was relatively comparable -
> with the recently enacted KCA Act (2009) that deals with eCrime &
> eTransactions leading the way, others like the Copyright Act (2001) as well
> as the Freedom of Information Bill cuurently at an advanced stage providing
> an encouraging Legal/Regulatory environment. 
> 
> Which brings us to the following two questions:
> 
> Q3: With submarine cables landing next week and given the above
> legal/regulatory frameworks, how comes Kenya is NOT experiencing the
> anticipated boom in the BPO sector? What should we do to get local and
> foreign investors to show more confidence in the BPO industry?
> 
> Q4: Could there be gaps in our Legal, Regulatory and Institutional
> frameworks that need to be addresssed?
> 
> Put in black and white- Why hasn't Safaricom, Orange, Zain and several local
> Banks who have all opened their own very large Call-Centers NOT shown
> confidence in the BPO sector by outsourcing their operations to local BPO
> operators?  What of the Government itself? Why cant it outsource non-core
> functions to the local BPO operators before trying attract foreign investors
> to do the same?
> 
> The floor is open, we have only today to get comments/answers to these
> issues.
> 
> walu.
> 
> 
> 
>       
> 
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