[kictanet] Update from Kenya ICT Board Bellagio,

Wed Mar 30 09:32:33 EAT 2011

Robert,

I have raised similar sentiments before (with the McKinsey (sp) study approach- I am yet to get clarifications) but this has been seen as unpatriotic and having a post-Kanu hangover. Not to take anything away from the accomplishments of Seven Seas and KenCall, but are these firms 100%  representative of the industry? Was it too difficult/expensive to collect the views of other players in the industry to capture the true feel of what is happening?

Edwin

  ----- Original Message ----- 
 From: robertyawe at yahoo.co.ukTo: eonchari at lynxbits.com
 Cc: kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke 
 Sent: 3/30/11 1:32 AM 
 Subject: Re: [kictanet] Update from Kenya ICT Board Bellagio,

   Paul,
Sorry for having to pour cold water on this initiative but as a tourist destination and being that we are trying to sell the countries capabilities would it not have been more productive and cost effective to have had the session in country?
If this session was held here and we shipped in the 20 experts we would have been able to include 100 Kenyans in the discussion and therefore have a more balanced result from the activity.  In addition the experts would have been able to get an actual feel of the issues in the country for example by calling some of the local customers service departments and be able to give a more in-touch response.
Just being the devils advocate here but from the report synopsis there is nothing new in the results all this issues have been raised repeatedly over the past couple of years.
Regards
 Robert Yawe
KAY System Technologies Ltd
Phoenix House, 6th Floor
P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200
Kenya

Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696

From: Paul Kukubo 
To: robertyawe at yahoo.co.uk
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions 
Sent: Tue, 29 March, 2011 19:17:22
Subject: [kictanet] Update from Kenya ICT Board Bellagio, Italy Summit 2011

Listers
As my team finalizes the report from the 1st Kenya ICT Board Summit in Bellagio, Italy.  We had invited a team of 20 odd people from all over the world to revalidation of our value proposition. The team comprised BPO analysts and marketers, silicon valley venture capitalists, Europe based Venture capitalist invested here, representative from World Bank, country strategist from Malaysia, International blue chip firm executives representatives. from Kenya we had 3 firms (Seven Seas technologies, and Kencall) and a members of academia. The Permanent Secretary Dr Bitange Ndemo was in attendance. 
I would like to highlight some of the key conclusions. We are already planning for Bellagio 2, next year same time.
The statement of our value proposition now reads as follows: Kenya is a globally competitive ICT partner gifted with entrepreneurial spirit and able to translate emerging market needs and connect them with demanding multinationals. Through much debate, the panel concluded that we need to balance our emphasis on export based BPO, and call centre with support for Kenyan based entrepreunerially based ICT growth.  Both are seen as complimentary in terms of job creation. Our value proposition is thus not just focussed on outsourcing but on overall ICT sector competitiveness. ICT is both a sector (firms that provide ICT) and an enabler of all sectors. We need to look at both in our strategy. Malaysia has done this quite nicely even quantifying the size and impact of both. Kenya has an opportunity to be perceived as a world leader in emerging market innovations: Safaricom MPESA and Mobile Money, USHAHIDI, Livestock Insurance (ILRI), Mastercard-Airtel Mobile Wallet product, to name a few.  There are companies in Kenya that are now attracting international venture capital financing. Both BPO and call centre companies and non BPO tech firms. Once capital starts trickling into a sector, this is most promising. The global BPO sector is quite big and cannot be ignored. many countries are chasing the sector. Kenya's English language talent and skilled professionals provide us with strong credentials that must be leveraged. The Indian IT outsourcing sector and the Philippines call centre sector took years to grow and was led by the private sector. Government support came in much later. Kenya can learn and fastrack, and government support is important. Government services can catalyse the sector. Government and public sector spending on ICT is substantial across infrastructure, applications and services, project management and capacity. Indeed many Kenyan and international firms have benefited and grown from this. what is needed is an improved framework for technology and capacity transfer for the very large projects which have international contractors. rule of thumb is 1/3 consultancy, 1/3 project management, 1/3 technical delivery. As our software and systems firms develop, they will find that the technical bits are only part of a total package, that includes project management, business analysis marketing etc. Indeed some have made the leap quite nicely. Kenya ICT Board needs to continue to implement on the basis of supporting both export based services and exciting and growing the local entrepreneurs. More from us once the final report is concluded.

Paul Kukubo
Chief Executive Officer, Kenya ICT Board
PO Box 27150 - 00100
Nairobi, Kenya

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Tel +254 20 2089061, +254 20 2211960 
 Fax: +254 20 2211962
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