[kictanet] Notice:-BPO eDiscussion, June 2nd-15th, 2009

Thu May 28 12:29:19 EAT 2009

David,

Unfortunately, no funds were forthcoming from Kenya ICT Board and CCK. The researchers were forced to scale back and left out two countries. But we believe the rigorous research approach used has yielded some useful findings that can guide this country going forward. Strong collaborative links have been maintained with these key institutions and the Ministry of InfoCom during the entire research period.

The online consultation about to be launched is part of the research process to ensure input from all key stakeholders (in addition to the face2face workshops held since last year). The last stakeholder workshop will be held towards the end of June 2009 (next month).

I would encourage us all to thoroughly scrutinize the findings that will be shared with a view to provide constructive contributions and recommendations that can guide policy and development of the BPO sector in Kenya. We strongly believe that local people must take the lead in producing and applying development knowledge to address the challenges they face.

I look forward to stimulating discussions.

Edith

________________________________
From: kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of David Otwoma
Sent: 28 May 2009 11:09
To: Edith Adera
Cc: Luvisia Bakuli; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Notice:-BPO eDiscussion, June 2nd-15th, 2009

Walu,

Please receive much appreciation to what you are doing.

It is true there are the efforts being done by Prof. T. Waema et al. We were present during the launch at KICC of the study and among GoK organizations which, then, pledged to be part of the study included Kenya ICT Board and CCK. The Kenya BPO&CC Society had strong representation on the team (in the persons of the Chair and Vice Chair) and the only funder at that point was the Canadians through IDRC. Did more organizations top up what IDRC had put on the table?

The McKinsey part has been shrouded in usual GoK bureaucracy and it would be interesting to know who are the team members and how they were recruited. More interesting is that the buzz that the report is 'ready' and what is yet to happen is its 'launch' (before or after Stakeholders feedback should be the question!).

That aside, there is also another effort by Prof. David L. Bakuli .........

read on......below on past emails.

Have a great day all.

David

David Otwoma to Gilda, Gilda, Esther, Nancy, Edwin, Peter, Lucy, Peres, peres, Luvisia, Luvisia
show details May 19 (9 days ago) Reply

Morning Executive Members,

Prof. David L. Bakuli is a long time acquaintance who is now at Westfield State College as the Business Internship Coordinator in the State of Massachusetts in the USA. During the Conference on Dissemination of Research Results and Exhibition of Innovations organized by the NCST from 4th to 8th May, 2009 he was in Kenya to attend it.

Below please find a self explanatory email he sent me. If you are willing to participate in his request you may get to him directly (have ccd him this email) or you may use me. He is aware that we have a strong Kenya Business Process Outsourcing and Contact Centre Society with all of us as the Executive but more important the issues he raises in the questions may be of interest to our future, present and past members.

Just as a point of information to the good Prof. BPO is one of the flagship projects in the Economic Pillar (Vision 2030). It appears on page 78 of the Vision 2030 First Medium term Plan 2008-2012 as section 4.5. 4.5.1 deals with Situation Analysis, Emerging Issues and Challenges. 4.5.2 on page 79 deals with Programmes and Projects for 2008-2012. 4.5.3 deals with Policy, Legal and Institutional Reforms. It may interest all of us that 'the BPO and CC policy will guide the operations of BPO and CC and set a framework that will guide the growth of the BPO sector' is the only sentence in section 4.5.3!!!!!!! Do not be surprised when, IDRC, Rockfella (sp), McKinsey & Co. etc.come to jump in to fill this void (no policy framework, etc etc.)

Please feel free to ask for clarifications where there might be haziness.

Kind regards,

David

Luvisia Bakuli to me
show details May 18 (10 days ago) Reply

David - Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) has been identified as one of
the four pillars to support Kenya's overarching Vision 2030. The BPO
sector, according to a recent Gartner report, is supposed to grow
despite the global economic slowdown.
I am looking for stories about successful and not so successful
outsourcing businesses in Kenya. Your comment during the conference
prompted me to follow up with your experiences in the private sector especially
outsourcing business. I am writing a series of short cases and will
disguise the information so that individual businesses and owners are
identified. For this reason, I have the following questions that I would
like you to answer for me as part of this series on the study of the BPO
or call centre business in Kenya.
Thanks so much,
D. L. Bakuli

    1. Question 1: What was the name of your business and in what
       sector was your business?
    2. Question 2: How long did you operate your outsourcing/call
       centre business?
    3. Question 3: What were the highs and lows in the operation of
       this business?
    4. Question 4:Reflecting on your experiences operating the
       business, what advice would you give a person starting out now
       to operate a similar business in Kenya?
    5. Question 5: As a current or past member of BPO & Contact Centre
       Society (BPOCSS), what is your view about what role the society
       has played or ought to play in fostering the BPOCC sector in
       Kenya?
    6. Question 6:Are there any handicaps that BPOCC society faces in
       its operations within Kenya?
    7. Question 7:As a former Kenyan in the Diaspora, what role do you
       think professional Kenyans can play to support business process
       outsourcing in Kenya?
    8. Question 8: What do you think are the top key success factors in
       the BPO and Call Centre Business? That is, what are the vendors
       looking for when they engage a Kenyan-based call centre or BPO?
    9. Question 9: From where do the the top vendors who outsource in
       Kenya hail? (North America, Western Europe, Africa, etc.)
   10. Question 10:Beyond listing BPO as one of the four pillars to the
       Vision 2030, what else can the Government of Kenya do, or has
       done so far, to support the BPO sector?
   11. Question 11: Looking back at your experience and that of other
       firms in the BPOCC sector, what would you say are Kenya's
       strengths as compared to say India, South Africa, Brazil, etc?
       What are its weaknesses?
   12. Question 12: What is your estimate of domestic outsourcing? That
       is what percentage of outsourcing business in Kenya is by Kenyan
       vendors such as banks, manufacturing business, etc located in
       Kenya?
On Thu, May 28, 2009 at 8:40 AM, Eric M.K Osiakwan <emko at internetresearch.com.gh<mailto:emko at internetresearch.com.gh>> wrote:
Walu,

I may be wrong but there is also a BPO study being done under the auspices of Kenya ICT Board by McKinsey.......

Eric here

On 27 May 2009, at 09:27, Walubengo J wrote:

Dear esteemed Listers (& apologies for cross-posting),

I must seek your apologies for having to bring forth the BPO discussion ahead of the eContent Discussion as earlier planned.  This is due to the fact that the BPO research undertaken by UoN, Prof. T. Waema et al has some strict publishing deadlines and he did NOT want to go to press without feedback from the community.

We therefore seek your indulgence to ran the BPO discussion next week from Tuesday 2nd June 2009 for 2weeks according to the following themes and specifications:

e-Discussion 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)

The Aim of the e-discussion is to:
Present the interim findings from the BPO research team and to get inputs from the ICT community and other e-participants in Kenya.

The Objectives of the e-discussion are:
* to share the interim findings of the BPO study
* to obtain inputs from the e-participants
* to begin to build consensus on the policy implications

The Outputs
The main output is a summary of the e-participants contributions. This summary will be used to enrich the findings to be presented in a stakeholders' workshop at the end of June 2009.

We look forward to your active contribution to this important discussion next week and promise to run the eContent discussion soon after.

walu.

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