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Re: [kictanet] Day 7 of 10- BPO Discussions, Youth and Gender Issues
by Walubengo J 10 Jun '09

10 Jun '09

My comments on the Employment Laws - I maybe wrong but I tend to think the BPO industry is so young and fragile that employers do get away ignoring most of what could be in the employment laws such as leave, working hours, medical cover etc. Most of these youngsters are technically "casual labourers" engaged on long-term basis without the above employment benefits. And as long as Atwoli (that Labour acrobatic Leader ;-) doesnt get to hear about this - it is good for an emerging industry to be very liberal at the beginning. Eventually, with sufficient maturity (when this will be I dont know), then Employers should be compelled to respect and abide by labor laws. walu. --- On Wed, 6/10/09, Catherine Adeya <elizaslider(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > From: Catherine Adeya <elizaslider(a)yahoo.com> > Subject: [kictanet] Day 7 of 10- BPO Discussions, Youth and Gender Issues > To: "Walubengo J" <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> > Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Date: Wednesday, June 10, 2009, 9:11 AM > > > > > - Day 7 of 10- BPO Discussions, Youth > and Gender Issues - > > > > Morning all, > > Walu has done a fantastic job > moderating so far and now you > are stuck with me for the > next four days. Today’s theme is on Youth and > Gender issues. It is > obvious we have touched on a number of issues that focus on > this theme in the > last few days; however, it is still pertinent to address it > as an exclusive > issue. > > Some of > you have > wondered why we keep referring to S. Africa, Mauritius and > India. I would like > to re-emphasize that those are the countries where the > research was conducted > but views from other countries are welcome. The idea is not > to compare Kenya > per se but to bench-mark on our (or potential) competitors. > Views based on > other countries are very welcome, the researchers could not > visit more > countries due to funding constraints. > > It is useful to begin by noting that > the researchers found > that the unemployment rate (2008 est) was 40% in Kenya, > 21.7% in S. Africa, > 7.6% in Mauritius and 6.8% in India. The researchers also > found that the > minimum qualification for professional staff was a > Bachelor’s degree in all > four countries. However, the > minimum > qualification for operators/agents varied. > In Kenya it was a certificate, diploma or degree > depending on operation; > in S. Africa it was Grade 12; Mauritius school certificate > or below and in > India it was a High school certificate. > > The common work related challenges > include project > management (especially meeting deadlines) and long hours. > Some employees in > Kenya complained about challenges with transportation. The detailed summary findings will be > availed. > > > Generally there were more women in > call centres than male > but more males in the professional cadre. The youth are mostly found in the > agent/operator jobs. The following are some country > specific issues: > > In, India there is the > Equal Remuneration Act ensures that there is equal > remuneration to men and > women for same jobs. Under this law, no discrimination > is permissible in > recruitment and service conditions except where > employment of women is > prohibited or restricted by the law. NASSCOM has launched the Women in > Leadership-IT Initiative > to enhance participation of women in the workforce and > ensure there are > more women leaders in the IT-BPO industry.In South Africa, there are > 40% more females than males below 25 years working in > the BPO sector. > However, there are 7% more males than females above 25 > years old. There is no gender or age based > discrimination in the work place. There exists > no law or policy > that prefers youth from other groups of people in > employment.In > Mauritius, there is no 24 hour work > culture. In addition, the Labor Act prohibits > employment of female > employees in industrial undertakings between 10 > p.m. and 5 a.m; > while youth are not allowed to work between between 6 > p.m. and 6 a.m. Interestingly, > there is > clause that no person shall, except with the > Permanent Secretary's > written consent, transport a female worker or cause a > female worker to be > transported in a goods vehicle; any other vehicle, > unless the vehicle is > provided with an easy means of entering and alighting > which does not > involve climbing. > > 4. > In Kenya we have the Employment Act > which many of you know. > > > This leads > us to > the following discussion questions: > > Discussion Q9: Are the Kenyan laws adequate to > protect the youth and women from > exploitation by BPO&O employers? > > Discussion Q. 10: The BPO sector > is not seen as a long term source of > employment for most employees. Most believe it is a > stepping stone to other > lucrative opportunities. What needs to be done to ensure > the youth and women > view the industry as attractive, especially in terms of > quality of employment > and career progression? > > Discussion Q11: Attrition and > poaching are prevalent in most countries studied. What > mechanisms should > employers adopt to attract and retain their staff? > > Let the games (oops! Discussion) > begin! > > Thanks > > Nyaki > > To be Encl: > Synthesis > 4 – Youth and Gender Issues > > > > >

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UN-HABITAT's Opportunities Fund: New deadline 15. June 2009
by Constance Georgina Khaendi Walyaro 10 Jun '09

10 Jun '09

If you're having trouble viewing this email, you may see it online. UN-HABITAT's Opportunities Fund: New deadline 15. June 2009 The deadline for applications for the UN-HABITAT Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-led Development has been extended to 15 June 2009. If your organization is working on an innovative and sustainable project that will improve the lives of young people and make a positive impact on your community, you could be eligible to receive a grant. Please find application documents in English, French and Spanish at www.unhabitat.org/opfund. The Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-led Development has been set up to support urban based Youth-led organizations in developing countries who are working to improve the living conditions of their communities. The Fund will give grants between $5,000 and $25,000 to organizations led by young people, aged 15-32 years. The Fund is committed to support innovative youth-led projects in areas such as employment, education, environment, health and safety. Applications from organizations partnering with government agencies and the private sector are encouraged. Projects promoting gender equality are particularly welcome. PLEASE DISTRIBUTE TO YOUR NETWORKS!! (French and Spanish translation below - please forward on to your friends!!) --- Fonds d'Opportunités de ONU־HABITAT : Nouveau délai : 15 Juin 2009 La date limite du dépôt des candidatures concernant les fonds d'opportunités pour un développement urbain mené par la jeunesse a été étendu au 15 Juin 2009. Si votre organisation travaille sur un projet durable et innovateur qui contribuera à améliorer la vie des jeunes et d'avoir un impact positif sur votre communauté, vous pourrez être éligible. Les documents pour le dépôt des candidatures sont disponibles sur le site Web : www.unhabitat.org/opfund en Anglais, Français et Espagnole. Les Fonds d'Opportunités pour le développement urbain mené par la jeunesse ont été établit pour soutenir les organisations dirigées par les jeunes qui travaillent dans l'optique d'améliorer les conditions de vie de leur communauté dans les pays en voie de développement. Les Fonds mettrons à la disposition des organisations dirigées par les jeunes âgés de 15-32 ans, les subventions d'une valeur comprise entre 5.000 USD et 25.000 USD. Les Fonds sont destinés à soutenir les projets innovateurs dirigés par la jeunesse, dans les domaines tels que l'emploi, l'éducation, l'environnement, la santé et la sécurité. Le dépôt des candidatures des organisations travaillant en partenariat avec les agences gouvernementales et le secteur privé est encouragé. Les projets promouvant l'égalité du genre sont en particulier sollicités. --- Fondo de Oportunidades UN-HABITAT: Nuevo plazo, 15 de junio de 2009. El plazo para aplicaciones para el Fondo de Oportunidades para el Desarrollo Impulsado por la Juventud Urbana fue extendido para el 15 de junio de 2009. Si su organización está trabajando en un proyecto innovador y sustentable que mejorará la vida de los jóvenes y impactará positivamente en su comunidad, usted puede ser seleccionado para recibir la subvención. Por favor encuentren los documentos en inglés, francés y español en la página www.unhabitat.org/opfund. E Fondo de Oportunidades para el Desarrollo Impulsado por la Juventud Urbana fue creado para apoyar organizaciones dirigidas por jóvenes urbanos en países en vías de desarrollo que estén trabajando para mejorar las condiciones de vida de los jóvenes, entre 15-32 años. El Fondo está comprometido en apoyar proyectos liderados por jóvenes en áreas como empleo, ecuación, medioambiente, salud, y seguridad. Aplicaciones de organizaciones socias de agencias gubernamentales y del sector privado son incentivadas. Proyectos que promuevan equidad de género son particularmente bienvenidos. --- Are you on Facebook? Twitter? If so then follow what is happening at the fund on facebook at: http://tinyurl.com/opfund and join us on twitter at: http://twitter.com/youthfund Looking forward to chatting with you!! --- Youth Led Resource list Please find below a list of resources on urban youth development. Please send us anything more you may have!! Urban Youth Development Articles (click on title) Community Mapping: An Annotated Bibliography (University of Colorado) Creating Livable Cities for All Ages: Intergenerational Strategies and Initiatives (WUF IV) Dialogue Paper Youth in Urban Development: Bringing Ideas into Action (WUF III) Eight Lessons on Peacebuilding from Joaquim Chissano, Former President of Mozambique, UN HABITAT Youth Ambassador (WUF IV) Growing up with expectations. Better understanding the expectations of community partners in participatory action research projects (Community Alliance) Space for Change (please contact author: clarissawilkinson(a)gmail.com) The Youth Friendly City: World Urban Forum III Youth Led Development in Sustainable Cities From Idea, to Policy to Practice (Sustainable Cities) Youth Led Development (PeaceChild) Websites Children, Youth and Environments Journal Environmental Youth Alliance Peacechild International Sustainable Cities TakingITglobal UMAP (University of Colorado) UN HABITAT "Twits" to follow (on twitter!!) who write about youth development Doug Ragan (Community Alliance): twitter.com/ddragan Jennifer Corriero (TakingITGlobal: twitter.com/jenergy Joao Scarpelini (UN HABITAT Youth Advisory Board): twitter.com/jfscarpelini Leaders of Tomorrow: twitter.com/leadersot --- Innovative mobile network links youth globally Mobile Movement is a network that connects people from all over the world with a social mandate using mobile technologies. Their goal is to help bridge the gap between rich and poor with micro-financing, business partnerships and information exchanges. Their first project is in Nairobi, Kenya, where they are working with 15 youth groups from the slums and low-income neighborhoods of Nairobi who are working with UN-HABITAT's "Urban Entrepreneurship Program" which trains young people and encourages the development of socially responsible small businesses. The project gave these youth groups mobile phones so they can shoot video of their projects, and put them on the mobilemovement.tv site for you to see. You can chat with these groups on the Mobile Movement website, share experiences, and, if you like, support their project financially. The Environmental Youth Alliance will manage and administer funds raised by Mobile Movement on behalf of youth participating in the "Urban Entrepreneurship Program". 90% of proceeds go directly to the youth. 10% will be reserved to administer the fund and maintain the website. If you have any questions, please contact the Mobile Movement team at team(a)mobilemovement.tv Click here and join them on Youtube or Facebook. --- Youth Led Survey!! Get Involved and You Might Win a New IPOD!! UN-HABITAT is committed to supporting youth in cities. To do so they need to know more about youth organizations - so, they are asking youth organizations to help by participating in a research program they are undertaking on youth-led organizations by filling out a survey at http://tinyurl.com/youthled. If you complete the survey, you will automatically be entered into a draw to WIN A NEW IPOD! Deadline to complete the survey is June 15th, 2009. Winners will be notified by phone or e-mail. Environmental Youth Alliance Suite 305 - 119 West Pender, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6B 1S5 www.eya.ca Sustainable Cities 415 - 1788 West 5th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6J 1P2 www.icsc.ca This email was sent to constancegeorgina(a)yahoo.co.uk. To ensure that you continue receiving our emails, please add us to your address book or safe list. manage your preferences | opt out using TrueRemove®. Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails. powered by --- On Tue, 9/6/09, Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth Led Development <youthfund(a)ca.inter.net>

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Entrepreneurs needed for an August Event.
by Jose' 10 Jun '09

10 Jun '09

Hey Folks, We run Kimathi Centre as an urban Digital Village here in Eastlands Nairobi.Every August for two years now we have been partnering with University Of British Columbia and Starthmore university to train young adults on business writing concepts for 18 days then thereafter they graduate with a certificate. During Tuesday and Thursday sessions,we have guest entrepreneurs who come and speak on selected enterprise topics that last for 30-45 minutes.This year we have four sites being- I.C.C church Mombasa road,K.A.G-Bahati in east lands,Friends church-Next to Prestige plaza and Mathare.I am looking for up to 16 practicing entrepreneurs who will psyche up the participants.contact me off list and I will give you more details.Thanking you in advance. Check out this link on the successful entertainers who participated in last years class. http://www.africa.sauder.ubc.ca/testimonials-SuccessStories.html regards, Jose' Best Regards, Jose' Njuki-Imwe Ngunjiri | Readiness | Availability | Uptake | Impact |

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New Mobile Phenomenon
by mwende njiraini 10 Jun '09

10 Jun '09

Dear all, Given that most people including children have access to mobiles, there is now a growing problem being referred to as 'sexting'. (View CBS news clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xOZ81dXzdA&feature=channel_page) Are there the parental control services available in Kenya? Kind regards Mwende *Disclaimer: Views expressed here (except those quoted or referenced) are the author’s own*

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Re: [kictanet] Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues
by Esther 09 Jun '09

09 Jun '09

Apologies for joining this discussion late! My contribution to Qtn 7 is that the BPO sector has other processes that are not necessarily ICT, e.g. financial management, payroll, transcription etc. Should we have another database of skills in these fields? In answer to Qtn. 8, the KBPO Society has taken the lead by developing a BPO Training Competency Framework that highlights all skills and competencies required to work in this industry not just by graduates, but by those in tertiary institutions as well. The Framework was developed after an extensive research of international curriculums in India, Mauritius, S. Africa, UK, and US, and is an excellent resource for training institutions, BPO operators, and students. And I agree with the suggestion that it needs to be customized to suit the Kenyan environment very true! While I fully support the idea of entrenching a BPO curriculum in the university program, I am afraid the approval process can sometimes be too long. For training institutions that want to start offering BPO training, they can adopt the BPO Framework and immediately start training and this will ensuring a continuous supply of trained manpower. Esther > > > ----- Forwarded message from Peres Were <pwere(a)cascadegl.com> ----- > Date: Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:01:55 +0300 > From: Peres Were <pwere(a)cascadegl.com> > Reply-To: Peres Were <pwere(a)cascadegl.com> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues > To: godera(a)skyweb.co.ke > > There is too much emphasis on equipping graduates at the expense of > neglecting those in tertiary institutions, as mentioned by Lily below. > If Kenya is aiming at a niche in Call Centre/Data Processing (which > seems to be the case) then we should look at equipping students even > in tertiary level institutions. > > > > > > > Quoting lily marusoi <lmarusoi(a)yahoo.com>: > >> >> My take on Q 7&8 >> >> We need to come up with a standardized national curriculum for the >> BPO sector a "finishing school" for those aspiring to work in the >> BPO sector. Having looked at the KBPO society training framework I >> feel there is a need to customise it to fit our Kenyan situation as >> some skills set were assumed to be obvious. >> >> When we talk of equiping the graduates, lets not also forget that we >> have so many other youths graduating from tertiary institutions >> with certificates and diplomas. >> >> Some major industry players have hinted that they prefer non >> graduates so long as they have the right attitudes, it is easier to >> train skills but not attitudes which is a major factor in the BPO >> sector. >> >> Regards >> Lily >> >> >> --- On Mon, 6/8/09, Judy Okite <judyokite(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> >> >> From: Judy Okite <judyokite(a)gmail.com> >> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues >> To: lmarusoi(a)yahoo.com >> Cc: kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >> Date: Monday, June 8, 2009, 11:50 AM >> >> >> to answer both Q 7&8 >> >> my suggestion on this.....all graduates,should be equipped to work >> in a BPO,at the time of their graduation. BPO specifics,should be >> entrenched,within the curriculum.....with this there will be no >> descrimination and I believe it will bring in quality to this >> market e.g in USIU,I know you have to do a foreign language....at >> some point in your 2years of your time with them...it doesnt really >> matter what course your taking and level. >> >> Kind Regards, >> >> >> On Mon, Jun 8, 2009 at 8:06 AM, Walubengo J <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> wrote: >> >> -Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, Human Capacity Issues >> >> Morning all, >> >> I trust you had a refreshing weekend. Today I want to introduce the >> theme on Human Resource Development for the BPO industry. The >> Researchers found that India, S.Africa and Mauritius had a >> comprehensive inventory of their skill-base that was also available >> for Validation by prospective employers and investors. Another >> observation was ofcourse the sheer numbers of Indian graduates >> (millions) that made it the largest base of highly skilled pool of >> graduates with strong mathematical/scientific orientation. Whereas, >> Mauritius was producing only 10,000 (university) graduates per year >> compared to Kenya's 30,000 per year, Mauritius had the advantage of >> properly documenting their national graduates database and >> marketing it appropriately to potential clients in Europe/America. >> In addition, the Researchers noted that Mauritius had a government >> funded but Private-Sector oriented ICT Academy that produced >> graduates specificially for the ICT industry. >> >> In Kenya, the Researchers observed that apart from the lack of a >> national database on the available skills/graduates, some of the BPO >> operators were engaged in vicious poaching cycles where Agents >> trained in-house by one Operater are immediately hired by the >> Competing Operators. It was noted, that an attempt has been made by >> the .KE Government to create an Industry-specific University >> (Multimedia University College of Kenya) to address the HR gap but >> its success or otherwise will remain to be seen in a few years time. >> The Researchers also noted that Kenya's English-speaking labor >> force had an edge over the Indian one given that the average Kenyan >> had a "neutral" accent unlike the Indian graduate who tended to have >> an "ethnic" accent that often distracted the Euro-American >> markets/clients. >> >> But this advantage is yet to be exploited - even as the Indians move >> up the BPO value chain and concentrate on non-accent related >> processes such as Software Engineering, Research (Financial, >> Medicine, etc), Product (e.g. Civil and Architectural) Design >> amongst others. Which leads us to todays questions. >> >> Qtn 7: How do we develop a national database on the wide-range of >> available ICT skill in Kenya - specifically which institution should >> be mandated to realise this, ensuring that such a database is kept >> upto date over the years? >> >> Qtn 8: What strategies should the country adopt to ensure a >> continuous supply of relevant and timely BPO-Specific skills? >> >> Please, lets have your comments flowing,dig yahjwalu starting now... >> >> walu. >> >> Encl: Synthesis 3 - HR Issues >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> kictanet mailing list >> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet >> >> This message was sent to: judyokite(a)gmail.com >> Unsubscribe or change your options at >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/judyokite%40gmail.com >> >> >> >> >> -- >> "Each of us is great insofar as we perceive and act on the infinite >> possibilities which lie undiscovered and unrecognized about us." >> James Harvey Robinson >> >> -----Inline Attachment Follows----- >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> kictanet mailing list >> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet >> >> This message was sent to: lmarusoi(a)yahoo.com >> Unsubscribe or change your options at >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/lmarusoi%40yahoo.com >> >> >> >> > > > > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: godera(a)skyweb.co.ke > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/godera%40skyweb.co.ke > > ----- End forwarded message ----- > > > > > ------------------------------------------------- > This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/ > -- ANDEST BITES LIMITED Caxton House - 2nd Floor Suite 10 Kenyatta Avenue P.O. Box 849, 00600 Nairobi, Kenya Tel: +254-724-164346; 733-720619 URL: www.andestbites.com

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Day 6 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues (Continued)
by Walubengo J 09 Jun '09

09 Jun '09

Hey, Amazing contributions. The value of a network is indeed a function of what their membership puts on the table and I have to agree I have never seen so much value put forth in such a long time... Luckily, on our schedule, which I copy below for the benefit of the late-joiners, we have another day (today) to exhaust the HR issues. ===schedule===== 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, Nyaki moderating) 5.Strengths and challenges for Kenya as a BPO destination (2days, Nyaki moderating) ====ends=== So lets have more contributions on HR and ofcourse belated contributions on previous themes (just post against the corresponding theme/subject line) walu. --- On Tue, 6/9/09, n_macharia(a)yahoo.co.uk <n_macharia(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > From: n_macharia(a)yahoo.co.uk <n_macharia(a)yahoo.co.uk> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] [Fwd: Re: Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues] > To: jwalu(a)yahoo.com > Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Date: Tuesday, June 9, 2009, 1:52 AM > Marilyn, > I agree with you entirely on the fact the graduates have > the necessary business, computing and relevant techinical > skills to take up jobs in BPO. Obviously no academic > ttaining must be followed by job training. > The present universities curriculum are under constant and > regular reviews to make absolutely relevant and demand > driven. CHE (Commision for Higher Education) demands > that reviews and revions be done after every Five years. > Such curriculum developments and revisions must provide > evidence of all stakeholders participation ( professionals, > industry, government, alumni etc) in curriculum development. > In addition, IUCEA is also giving new guidelines for > curriculum development esp for accreditation purposes. The > formation of other bodies would look to mw like duplication. > The principal focus is to create a suitable environment to > manage and operate domestic BPOs which will be building > capacity while > we manage and repair our tarnished image > abroad. Such investiments would not only create the > much needed job opportunities but would also provide avenues > for skills development and transfer. > > Nancy > Sent from my BlackBerry® > > -----Original Message----- > From: "Marilyn M. Kamuru" <mkamuru(a)emanageafrica.com> > > Date: Mon, 8 Jun 2009 18:00:16 > To: <n_macharia(a)yahoo.co.uk> > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Subject: [kictanet] [Fwd: Re: Day 5 of 10- BPO > Discussions, HR Issues] > > > > Excellent point! I think we are making a huge mistake > especially in light > of the post election violence focusing so heavily on the > foreign investors > and the international BPO market. > > I have been following this discussion and as a local BPO > operator focused > on the domestic market I can tell you we have a difficult > time convincing > local companies to outsource and while all this talk is > good frankly I > think we are missing the point. If the point is > development, then why > aren't we focusing on how to develop this industry as > quickly and > effectively as possible? In my view the low hanging > fruit are the > domestic opportunities but we need a lot more work in the > form of > government incentives to operators AND businesses to > promote and support > the nascent outsourcing industry. Yes, I read the > post on the judiciary > plans to outsource the transcription but I think there is > plenty more work > that can be outsourced and if the government wasn't so > focused on the > foreign investor and looked at the government as a consumer > of outsourced > services and the local private sector we may make more > progress. My hope > is that we can focus on creating the environment that makes > it conducive > to manage and operate domestic BPOs which will be building > capacity while > we manage and frankly repair our much tarnished image > abroad. Just like a > company needs to look at reinvesting retained earnings > before it seeks > outside financing, we need to look at what we can do > locally before we > start tapping the international market, especially given > the heightened > risk factors that Kenya faces since 2007/8. > > This means: > 1. Government departments, agencies outsourcing work > to local companies > and looking at outsourcing not as a way to shed jobs but as > a means to > better manage scare resources. > 2. Tax breaks for local BPO operators and private > companies contracting > outsourcing services locally to incentivize operator > investment and > company adaption of services in this industry. Tax > breaks should be > immediate and not dependant on the entry or attraction of > foreign > investors. Those of us currently in operation are > betting on Kenya. > Instead of waiting we are putting our money to work > believing in the > future of this country...I don't think we are asking for > too much when we > ask the government to support our development. > 3. Less focus on what we do not have and a greater focus on > what we have. > Skills, entrepreneurs and an optimistic view of our country > as well as a > domestic market and potential to tap into the larger > regional market (EAC > & COMESA). > > Finally, I am of the contrarian view: we have the skill > set, but because > we are not willing to start where we are we are asking > students and > graduates to pay more money to get additional certification > before we can > get foreign investors interested in our country...Frankly I > think we place > too much stock in certificates and paper > qualifications. If we ask these > graduates to take another training class with the promise > of better > opportunity they will...instead I suggest we recognize the > current > intellectual capital that we have and those of us in the > industry focus on > the job training and going back to the role that government > can play, > obtain tax credits for this on the job training. Lets > us make sure these > graduates have work and build on that instead of creating > additional > hurdles to employment. > > > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 5 of 10- BPO > Discussions, HR Issues > From: "S.Murigi Muraya" <murigi.muraya(a)gmail.com> > Date: Mon, June 8, 2009 5:17 pm > To: mkamuru(a)emanageafrica.com > Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" > <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Priority: Normal > > > > Let us also factor in on the job training to improve > our skill sets. > > Software engineers become masters of their craft by > doing projects and > > by exchanging (code and concepts) with their peers. A > classroom setting > > possibly contributes to less than 10% of all their > success. > > > > There have been a number of comments in these (BPO) > discussions > > comparing us with India, South Africa and Mauritius. > > > > We cannot rely on the whims of those with negative > (but often valid) > > perceptions towards us. We need to give ourselves a > chance that is of > > our own creation. > > > > @ 40 Million (our 2010 population) growing at 2.5% > > (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ke.html > > and others estimate our population growth @ almost > 2.7% per annum) we > > will add 1 Million Kenyans to our population next > year. 2030 is sure to > > see us with a population of at least 60 Million. > > > > With that in mind and given the fact political > instability is the > > current (and unfortunately valid) excuse to avoid > Kenya, we would be > > most ignorant NOT to focus most of our BPO efforts > internally. This will > > build up LOCAL companies and on a REGIONAL basis. This > will build up > > local talent who may otherwise be demoralized for not > being Western > > enough to Foreign BPO companies. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > bitange(a)jambo.co.ke > wrote: > >> Walubengo, > >> With respect to capacity building, the Government > has done the following > >> Established Multimedia University to focus on IT > Skills Development; > >> Contracted the Central Bureau of Statistics > through CCK to conduct ICT > >> Skills inventory in Kenya and Set up a task force > to look into Skills > >> development as recommended by MaKinsey in the just > concluded Value > >> Proposition. We are in the process of > appointing other stakeholders > >> into > >> the committee. > >> > >> Although we do not have a sector strategy on > Capacity building, the > >> Governemnt takes issues of skills development very > seriously. This is a > >> matter that NESC emphasizes as key to our > competitiveness. In this > >> regard > >> we look forward to a quick finalization of the > skills inventory and the > >> task force recommendation. > >> > >> Regards > >> > >> > >> Ndemo. > >> > >> > >> > >> > >>> -Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, Human Capacity > Issues > >>> > >>> Morning all, > >>> > >>> I trust you had a refreshing weekend. > Today I want to introduce the > >>> theme > >>> on Human Resource Development for the BPO > industry. The Researchers > >>> found > >>> that India, S.Africa and Mauritius had a > comprehensive inventory of > >>> their > >>> skill-base that was also available for > Validation by prospective > >>> employers > >>> and investors. Another observation was > ofcourse the sheer numbers of > >>> Indian graduates (millions) that made it the > largest base of highly > >>> skilled pool of graduates with strong > mathematical/scientific > >>> orientation. > >>> Whereas, Mauritius was producing only > 10,000 (university) graduates > >>> per > >>> year compared to Kenya's 30,000 per year, > Mauritius had the advantage > >>> of > >>> properly documenting their national graduates > database and marketing it > >>> appropriately to potential clients in > Europe/America. In addition, the > >>> Researchers noted that Mauritius had a > government funded but > >>> Private-Sector oriented ICT Academy that > produced graduates > >>> specificially > >>> for the ICT industry. > >>> > >>> In Kenya, the Researchers observed that apart > from the lack of a > >>> national > >>> database on the available skills/graduates, > some of the BPO operators > >>> were > >>> engaged in vicious poaching cycles where > Agents trained in-house by one > >>> Operater are immediately hired by the > Competing Operators. It was > >>> noted, > >>> that an attempt has been made by the .KE > Government to create an > >>> Industry-specific University (Multimedia > University College of Kenya) > >>> to > >>> address the HR gap but its success or > otherwise will remain to be seen > >>> in > >>> a few years time. The Researchers also > noted that Kenya's > >>> English-speaking labor force had an edge over > the Indian one given that > >>> the average Kenyan had a "neutral" accent > unlike the Indian graduate > >>> who > >>> tended to have an "ethnic" accent that often > distracted the > >>> Euro-American > >>> > >> %3 > >> > >> > >> ---------------------------------------------- > >> This message has been scanned for viruses and > >> dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is > >> believed to be clean. > >> --------------------------------------------- > >> "easy access to the world" > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> kictanet mailing list > >> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > >> > >> This message was sent to: murigi.muraya(a)gmail.com > >> Unsubscribe or change your options at > >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/murigi.muraya%40gmail.… > >> > >> > > > > _______________________________________________ > > kictanet mailing list > > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > > > This message was sent to: mkamuru(a)emanageafrica.com > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mkamuru%40emanageafric… > > > > > -- > Many thanks and best regards, > > > Marilyn Muthoni Kamuru > eManage Africa Limited > P.O.Box 18136 00500 > Nairobi, Kenya > Tel: (254) 20 828 383; 2034 550 > Personal Cell: (254) 0725 527 972, 0736 225 384 > www.emanageafrica.com > > > -- > Many thanks and best regards, > > > Marilyn Muthoni Kamuru > eManage Africa Limited > P.O.Box 18136 00500 > Nairobi, Kenya > Tel: (254) 20 828 383; 2034 550 > Personal Cell: (254) 0725 527 972, 0736 225 384 > www.emanageafrica.com > > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: n_macharia(a)yahoo.co.uk > Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/n_macharia%40yahoo.co.… > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: jwalu(a)yahoo.com > Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jwalu%40yahoo.com >

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Re: [kictanet] [Fwd: Re: Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues]
by Jotham Kilimo Mwale 09 Jun '09

09 Jun '09

That is a good move by the PS and I hope some fruits will come out of it soon. I have this feeling (and I stand to be corrected) that the BPO sector is somewhat relying too much on the government for them to do business. I say so because I keep hearing of incentives, tax breaks, and others. As the PS has rightly pointed, this may cause other sectors (agriculture, tourism, manufacturing, financial services, etc) to demand similar treatment, a situation I think is not sustainable. One way of building the sector without much reliance on the incentives and tax breaks is to have a vibrant domestic BPO sector to build capacity and confidence in readiness for the external business (when it comes after putting our image in order). As we wait for the PS to convince his colleagues on the need to outsource some jobs locally, I suggest that the sector operators mount an aggressive campaign to do the same (to complement the PSs efforts) and also venture into private sector. Someone has suggested that KNBS could make use of local BPOs during the coming census, and I add that KRA could also do the same as they process end of year tax returns. Is the sector ready for these jobs if they were to be given today? This takes me to the issue of training. In the absence of a national BPO skills competency programme, the options are numerous and the result is varying skills training programmes in the market (many in-house) without a benchmark for what is relevant or not. This gives rise to various competing programmes, mostly foreign, and different operators having their own preferences. How can we build a national database of BPO skills in such a situation? Put another way, given the varying skills needs of the sector, is there need for a national qualification? Regards, Jotham --- On Mon, 6/8/09, bitange(a)jambo.co.ke <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> wrote: From: bitange(a)jambo.co.ke <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> Subject: Re: [kictanet] [Fwd: Re: Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues] To: jokilimo(a)yahoo.com Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Monday, June 8, 2009, 9:58 AM Listers, I have consulted with my colleagues in those departments that are looking at outsourcing and they are willing to discuss with stakeholders to gain better understanding of the trade. I will therefore arrange for this meeting towards the end of the month. One thing that may be difficult for us is the Tax Break request for local BPO organizations. If that is granted, Treasury will be hard put to explain why all other organizations should not get the tax break. I understand tax break for export of service but locally sourced jobs, we may be asking for too much. Ndemo. > > Excellent point! I think we are making a huge mistake especially in light > of the post election violence focusing so heavily on the foreign investors > and the international BPO market. > > I have been following this discussion and as a local BPO operator focused > on the domestic market I can tell you we have a difficult time convincing > local companies to outsource and while all this talk is good frankly I > think we are missing the point. If the point is development, then why > aren't we focusing on how to develop this industry as quickly and > effectively as possible? In my view the low hanging fruit are the > domestic opportunities but we need a lot more work in the form of > government incentives to operators AND businesses to promote and support > the nascent outsourcing industry. Yes, I read the post on the judiciary > plans to outsource the transcription but I think there is plenty more work > that can be outsourced and if the government wasn't so focused on the > foreign investor and looked at the government as a consumer of outsourced > services and the local private sector we may make more progress. My hope > is that we can focus on creating the environment that makes it conducive > to manage and operate domestic BPOs which will be building capacity while > we manage and frankly repair our much tarnished image abroad. Just like a > company needs to look at reinvesting retained earnings before it seeks > outside financing, we need to look at what we can do locally before we > start tapping the international market, especially given the heightened > risk factors that Kenya faces since 2007/8. > > This means: > 1. Government departments, agencies outsourcing work to local companies > and looking at outsourcing not as a way to shed jobs but as a means to > better manage scare resources. > 2. Tax breaks for local BPO operators and private companies contracting > outsourcing services locally to incentivize operator investment and > company adaption of services in this industry. Tax breaks should be > immediate and not dependant on the entry or attraction of foreign > investors. Those of us currently in operation are betting on Kenya. > Instead of waiting we are putting our money to work believing in the > future of this country...I don't think we are asking for too much when we > ask the government to support our development. > 3. Less focus on what we do not have and a greater focus on what we have. > Skills, entrepreneurs and an optimistic view of our country as well as a > domestic market and potential to tap into the larger regional market (EAC > & COMESA). > > Finally, I am of the contrarian view: we have the skill set, but because > we are not willing to start where we are we are asking students and > graduates to pay more money to get additional certification before we can > get foreign investors interested in our country...Frankly I think we place > too much stock in certificates and paper qualifications. If we ask these > graduates to take another training class with the promise of better > opportunity they will...instead I suggest we recognize the current > intellectual capital that we have and those of us in the industry focus on > the job training and going back to the role that government can play, > obtain tax credits for this on the job training. Lets us make sure these > graduates have work and build on that instead of creating additional > hurdles to employment. > > > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues > From: "S.Murigi Muraya" <murigi.muraya(a)gmail.com> > Date: Mon, June 8, 2009 5:17 pm > To: mkamuru(a)emanageafrica.com > Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Priority: Normal > > >> Let us also factor in on the job training to improve our skill sets. >> Software engineers become masters of their craft by doing projects and >> by exchanging (code and concepts) with their peers. A classroom setting >> possibly contributes to less than 10% of all their success. >> >> There have been a number of comments in these (BPO) discussions >> comparing us with India, South Africa and Mauritius. >> >> We cannot rely on the whims of those with negative (but often valid) >> perceptions towards us. We need to give ourselves a chance that is of >> our own creation. >> >> @ 40 Million (our 2010 population) growing at 2.5% >> (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ke.html >> and others estimate our population growth @ almost 2.7% per annum) we >> will add 1 Million Kenyans to our population next year. 2030 is sure to >> see us with a population of at least 60 Million. >> >> With that in mind and given the fact political instability is the >> current (and unfortunately valid) excuse to avoid Kenya, we would be >> most ignorant NOT to focus most of our BPO efforts internally. This will >> build up LOCAL companies and on a REGIONAL basis. This will build up >> local talent who may otherwise be demoralized for not being Western >> enough to Foreign BPO companies. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> bitange(a)jambo.co.ke wrote: >>> Walubengo, >>> With respect to capacity building, the Government has done the >>> following >>> Established Multimedia University to focus on IT Skills Development; >>> Contracted the Central Bureau of Statistics through CCK to conduct ICT >>> Skills inventory in Kenya and Set up a task force to look into Skills >>> development as recommended by MaKinsey in the just concluded Value >>> Proposition. We are in the process of appointing other stakeholders >>> into >>> the committee. >>> >>> Although we do not have a sector strategy on Capacity building, the >>> Governemnt takes issues of skills development very seriously. This is a >>> matter that NESC emphasizes as key to our competitiveness. In this >>> regard >>> we look forward to a quick finalization of the skills inventory and the >>> task force recommendation. >>> >>> Regards >>> >>> >>> Ndemo. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>>> -Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, Human Capacity Issues >>>> >>>> Morning all, >>>> >>>> I trust you had a refreshing weekend. Today I want to introduce the >>>> theme >>>> on Human Resource Development for the BPO industry. The Researchers >>>> found >>>> that India, S.Africa and Mauritius had a comprehensive inventory of >>>> their >>>> skill-base that was also available for Validation by prospective >>>> employers >>>> and investors. Another observation was ofcourse the sheer numbers of >>>> Indian graduates (millions) that made it the largest base of highly >>>> skilled pool of graduates with strong mathematical/scientific >>>> orientation. >>>> Whereas, Mauritius was producing only 10,000 (university) graduates >>>> per >>>> year compared to Kenya's 30,000 per year, Mauritius had the advantage >>>> of >>>> properly documenting their national graduates database and marketing >>>> it >>>> appropriately to potential clients in Europe/America. In addition, >>>> the >>>> Researchers noted that Mauritius had a government funded but >>>> Private-Sector oriented ICT Academy that produced graduates >>>> specificially >>>> for the ICT industry. >>>> >>>> In Kenya, the Researchers observed that apart from the lack of a >>>> national >>>> database on the available skills/graduates, some of the BPO operators >>>> were >>>> engaged in vicious poaching cycles where Agents trained in-house by >>>> one >>>> Operater are immediately hired by the Competing Operators. It was >>>> noted, >>>> that an attempt has been made by the .KE Government to create an >>>> Industry-specific University (Multimedia University College of Kenya) >>>> to >>>> address the HR gap but its success or otherwise will remain to be seen >>>> in >>>> a few years time. The Researchers also noted that Kenya's >>>> English-speaking labor force had an edge over the Indian one given >>>> that >>>> the average Kenyan had a "neutral" accent unlike the Indian graduate >>>> who >>>> tended to have an "ethnic" accent that often distracted the >>>> Euro-American >>>> >>> %3 >>> >>> >>> ---------------------------------------------- >>> This message has been scanned for viruses and >>> dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is >>> believed to be clean. >>> --------------------------------------------- >>> "easy access to the world" >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> kictanet mailing list >>> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >>> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet >>> >>> This message was sent to: murigi.muraya(a)gmail.com >>> Unsubscribe or change your options at >>> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/murigi.muraya%40gmail.… >>> >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> kictanet mailing list >> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet >> >> This message was sent to: mkamuru(a)emanageafrica.com >> Unsubscribe or change your options at >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mkamuru%40emanageafric… >> > > > -- > Many thanks and best regards, > > > Marilyn Muthoni Kamuru > eManage Africa Limited > P.O.Box 18136 00500 > Nairobi, Kenya > Tel: (254) 20 828 383; 2034 550 > Personal Cell: (254) 0725 527 972, 0736 225 384 > www.emanageafrica.com > > > -- > Many thanks and best regards, > > > Marilyn Muthoni Kamuru > eManage Africa Limited > P.O.Box 18136 00500 > Nairobi, Kenya > Tel: (254) 20 828 383; 2034 550 > Personal Cell: (254) 0725 527 972, 0736 225 384 > www.emanageafrica.com > > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: bitange(a)jambo.co.ke > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/bitange%40jambo.co.ke > > ---------------------------------------------- > This message has been scanned for viruses and > dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is > believed to be clean. > --------------------------------------------- > "easy access to the world" > > ---------------------------------------------- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. --------------------------------------------- "easy access to the world" _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: jokilimo(a)yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jokilimo%40yahoo.com

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Re: [kictanet] [Skunkworks] e-Gorvenment: What have been the achievements and challenges?
by John K. Njoroge 09 Jun '09

09 Jun '09

Muskiv (MKC): Certainly, there has been great progress towards the achievements of e-Government in Kenya, via alot of Public-Private-People Partnerships (PPPP). The Directorate of e-Government (DeG) continously works together with all Government Agencies in this Government Agenda. Below is a small description of the various developments. So far: *Government-to-Citizen (G2C) * - e-Services for Citizens include: - Public Service Jobs Online - Tracking status of ID & Passport Applications (Online and Via SMS) - Checking Exam Results & Candidate Selection (Online and Via SMS) - Government Information Portal (www.information.go.ke) - Submitting Tax Returns Online - Reporting Corruption Online - Kenya Judiciary (e-law Reports) - HELB Loan Repayment Status Online - Other, in progress include – Land registration, Health Information, civil registration, etc - All govt. ministries have information websites showing among others, their services (and service charter), functions and day-to-day activities, organization structure, news and events, etc. *Government-to-Business (G2B) * - e-Services for Businesses in Kenya include: - Submitting Tax Returns Online - Customs Services Online - Reporting Corruption Online - Kenya Judiciary (e-law Reports) - Other, in progress include – Companies registry. - All govt. ministries have information websites showing among others, their services (and service charter), functions and day-to-day activities, organization structure, news and events, etc. - Specifically: - E-procurement – Website for Public Procurement Oversight Authority (PPOA). Efforts through PPOA (conjunction with Min. of Finance) are ongoing to develop a government-wide procurement portal to harmonize government procurement. - Central Bank Of Kenya Website gives financial indicators – Interest rate, inflation, Com bank rates, exchange rates, monthly economic reviews - Ministry of Trade website gives trade regulations and laws and related links e.g. to KAM ** *Government-to-Government (G2G) *This Government-to-Employee (G2E) component you mentioned exists under G2G. - e-Services for Government include: - Public Service Jobs Online - Reporting Corruption Online - The Government Common Core Network (GCCN) – This is a private network for Government of Kenya. It entails networking of Government Buildings including KICC. A Network Operation Centre (NOC) managed by a network management team already in place. - Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) at Min. of Finance. IFMIS is used government-wide by all government agencies. - Integrated Personnel and Payroll Data (IPPD) at Min. of State for Public Service. IPPD is used government-wide by all central government agencies. - Enterprise Messaging And Collaboration System (EMACS) – EMACS, a Government email system for all civil servants, is intended to improve cross-ministry communication and to be used government-wide by all government agencies. Its adoption has been rather slow (but picking-up now). Note, public sector organizations (at all levels) continue to face challenges with inter- and intra-agency communications – from emergency preparedness and management to budgeting and basic health and human services. The email system, therefore, provides improved collaborative work processes and streamlined sharing of information across public sector entities. - The website for Public Procurement Oversight Authority (PPOA) provides necessary information for all Government Procurement Officers (to use in their day-to-day activities). These efforts through PPOA (conjunction with Min. of Finance) are ongoing to develop a government-wide procurement portal to harmonize government procurement. - Standardization of IT hardware and systems – Technical Specifications are similar across-board as developed by the Directorate of e-Government. Government websites are primarily Content Management Systems and database-driven. - Monthly ICT Forums held for the sole purpose of exchanging experiences across government. - Ongoing recruitment of ICT Officers even during Civil Service recruitment embargo. - Regular technical training and capacity-building in ICT, taking up to 15% of the e-Government budget annually. - Annual review of technical specifications for ICT equipment. - Partnerships with development partners (local and international) on various e-Government areas, e.g. ICT equipment and capacity-building. The future is bright for the Government of Kenya and indeed Kenya as a country, in terms of e-Government and the use of ICTs and the Internet. We are all working together and your support and encouragement is duly welcome. Visit www.e-government.go.ke or contact us at DeG for detailed information. On Mon, Jun 8, 2009 at 4:06 PM, muskiv <kulebak(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Skunkers, > The achievement of e-Government in Kenya has been one of the main > priorities of the Government of Kenya towards the realization of national > development goals and objectives for Wealth and Employment Creation, as > stipulated in the Kenya Vision 2030. The Government of Kenya established the > e-Government Programme in June 2004. Subsequently, the Directorate of > e-Government (DeG) was established in June 2004 as a Government commitment > to make e-Government a reality and to ensure that it provides better > services to Kenyans. > > We have all seen effort across different Govt arms towards adoption of some > form of e-government and if my memory doesn't fail me, i know there have > been lost of exchanges in this forum directly and indirectly in this > respect. (e.g. KRA onlines services...and whether they work, the e-gov > portal launched by KICTB etc) > > I read Mworia's article on making of a revolution (posted Frid last week... > I think 5/0/08) and what captured my attention are the misconceptions that > many of us could be harboring. > > Now...(To the Point) to those knowledgeable than some of us are, could some > one highlight to me what the broad achievements and REAL impediments have > been within the last 5 years regarding the provision of following > e-government services: > 1. Government-to-Citizen (G2C) > 2. Government-to-Business (G2B), > 3. government-to-Employee (G2E), and > 4. Government-to-Government (G2G) > > Much said. > > Many thanks. > > MKC > > > > _______________________________________________ > Skunkworks mailing list > Skunkworks(a)lists.my.co.ke > http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks > Other services @ http://my.co.ke > Other lists > ------------- > Skunkworks announce: > http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce > Science - http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science > kazi - http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general > > -- John K. Njoroge Directorate of e-Government (KENYA) Tel: 020-2227411 (Ext 22098) Other Email: kabogojn(a)kenya.go.ke; john.njoroge(a)e-government.go.ke; kabogojn(a)hotmail.com

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Re: [kictanet] [Fwd: Re: Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues]
by Walubengo J 09 Jun '09

09 Jun '09

Ikua, Very true. Security procedures for many organisations is often considered an extra cost burden to be avoided. It actually requires compelling legislation to have it practiced and instituted - not just in BPO setups but accross other sectors as well. I long for the day when organisations file their (financial) audited accounts TOGETHER with their Information Systems (IS) Audits. walu. --- On Tue, 6/9/09, Evans Ikua <ikua(a)lpakenya.org> wrote: > From: Evans Ikua <ikua(a)lpakenya.org> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] [Fwd: Re: Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues] > To: jwalu(a)yahoo.com > Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Date: Tuesday, June 9, 2009, 11:23 AM > Listers, > One area I see as a major challenge for our industry will > be Security (Data Protection). For any oversees company to > outsource their data processing to us, they will need to see > data protection legislation in place. This will assure them > that their data and information will not be vulnerable. I > suggest that the PS should fast track the Data Protection > Bill and also involve the industry in the process. > > KEBS is in the process of adopting certain ISO standards on > IT security but there is an urgent need for legislation in > this area. > > > --Evans Ikua > Linux Professional Association of Kenya > Tel: +254-20-2250381, Cell: +254-722 955 831 > Eagle House, 2nd Floor > Kimathi Street, Opp. Corner House > www.lpakenya.org > > > Quoting godera(a)skyweb.co.ke: > > > > > Dr.Ndemo, > > > > This is very encouraging. We at the Kenya BPO and > Contact Centre Society had > > initiated a similar sensitisation program with the > late Dr.Juma Okech who had so > > graciously agreed to facilitate the sensitisation > engagements with various > > government departments but as fate would have it,we > lost our dear friend. > > I can see the predicament on the argument on why other > organisations would also > > not ask for tax breaks thus creating a major headache > for government but I > > believe there are other incentives for local BPOs that > we can possibly work > > out,especially in the area of skills development. > > > > Gilda Odera > > Quoting bitange(a)jambo.co.ke: > > > >> Listers, > >> I have consulted with my colleagues in those > departments that are looking > >> at outsourcing and they are willing to discuss > with stakeholders to gain > >> better understanding of the trade. I will > therefore arrange for this > >> meeting towards the end of the month. > >> > >> One thing that may be difficult for us is the Tax > Break request for local > >> BPO organizations. If that is granted, > Treasury will be hard put to > >> explain why all other organizations should not get > the tax break. I > >> understand tax break for export of service but > locally sourced jobs, we > >> may be asking for too much. > >> > >> Ndemo. > >> > >> > >> > > >> > Excellent point! I think we are making > a huge mistake especially in light > >> > of the post election violence focusing so > heavily on the foreign investors > >> > and the international BPO market. > >> > > >> > I have been following this discussion and as > a local BPO operator focused > >> > on the domestic market I can tell you we have > a difficult time convincing > >> > local companies to outsource and while all > this talk is good frankly I > >> > think we are missing the point. If the > point is development, then why > >> > aren't we focusing on how to develop this > industry as quickly and > >> > effectively as possible? In my view the > low hanging fruit are the > >> > domestic opportunities but we need a lot more > work in the form of > >> > government incentives to operators AND > businesses to promote and support > >> > the nascent outsourcing industry. Yes, > I read the post on the judiciary > >> > plans to outsource the transcription but I > think there is plenty more work > >> > that can be outsourced and if the government > wasn't so focused on the > >> > foreign investor and looked at the government > as a consumer of outsourced > >> > services and the local private sector we may > make more progress. My hope > >> > is that we can focus on creating the > environment that makes it conducive > >> > to manage and operate domestic BPOs which > will be building capacity while > >> > we manage and frankly repair our much > tarnished image abroad. Just like a > >> > company needs to look at reinvesting retained > earnings before it seeks > >> > outside financing, we need to look at what we > can do locally before we > >> > start tapping the international market, > especially given the heightened > >> > risk factors that Kenya faces since 2007/8. > >> > > >> > This means: > >> > 1. Government departments, agencies > outsourcing work to local companies > >> > and looking at outsourcing not as a way to > shed jobs but as a means to > >> > better manage scare resources. > >> > 2. Tax breaks for local BPO operators > and private companies contracting > >> > outsourcing services locally to incentivize > operator investment and > >> > company adaption of services in this > industry. Tax breaks should be > >> > immediate and not dependant on the entry or > attraction of foreign > >> > investors. Those of us currently in > operation are betting on Kenya. > >> > Instead of waiting we are putting our money > to work believing in the > >> > future of this country...I don't think we are > asking for too much when we > >> > ask the government to support our > development. > >> > 3. Less focus on what we do not have and a > greater focus on what we have. > >> > Skills, entrepreneurs and an optimistic view > of our country as well as a > >> > domestic market and potential to tap into the > larger regional market (EAC > >> > & COMESA). > >> > > >> > Finally, I am of the contrarian view: we have > the skill set, but because > >> > we are not willing to start where we are we > are asking students and > >> > graduates to pay more money to get additional > certification before we can > >> > get foreign investors interested in our > country...Frankly I think we place > >> > too much stock in certificates and paper > qualifications. If we ask these > >> > graduates to take another training class with > the promise of better > >> > opportunity they will...instead I suggest we > recognize the current > >> > intellectual capital that we have and those > of us in the industry focus on > >> > the job training and going back to the role > that government can play, > >> > obtain tax credits for this on the job > training. Lets us make sure these > >> > graduates have work and build on that instead > of creating additional > >> > hurdles to employment. > >> > > >> > > >> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day > 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues > >> > From: "S.Murigi Muraya" > <murigi.muraya(a)gmail.com> > >> > Date: Mon, June 8, 2009 5:17 > pm > >> > To: mkamuru(a)emanageafrica.com > >> > Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy > Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > >> > Priority: Normal > >> > > >> > > >> >> Let us also factor in on the job training > to improve our skill sets. > >> >> Software engineers become masters of > their craft by doing projects and > >> >> by exchanging (code and concepts) with > their peers. A classroom setting > >> >> possibly contributes to less than 10% of > all their success. > >> >> > >> >> There have been a number of comments in > these (BPO) discussions > >> >> comparing us with India, South Africa and > Mauritius. > >> >> > >> >> We cannot rely on the whims of those with > negative (but often valid) > >> >> perceptions towards us. We need to give > ourselves a chance that is of > >> >> our own creation. > >> >> > >> >> @ 40 Million (our 2010 population) > growing at 2.5% > >> >> (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ke.html > >> >> and others estimate our population growth > @ almost 2.7% per annum) we > >> >> will add 1 Million Kenyans to our > population next year. 2030 is sure to > >> >> see us with a population of at least 60 > Million. > >> >> > >> >> With that in mind and given the fact > political instability is the > >> >> current (and unfortunately valid) excuse > to avoid Kenya, we would be > >> >> most ignorant NOT to focus most of our > BPO efforts internally. This will > >> >> build up LOCAL companies and on a > REGIONAL basis. This will build up > >> >> local talent who may otherwise be > demoralized for not being Western > >> >> enough to Foreign BPO companies. > >> >> > >> >> > >> >> > >> >> > >> >> > >> >> > >> >> bitange(a)jambo.co.ke > wrote: > >> >>> Walubengo, > >> >>> With respect to capacity building, > the Government has done the > >> >>> following > >> >>> Established Multimedia University to > focus on IT Skills Development; > >> >>> Contracted the Central Bureau of > Statistics through CCK to conduct ICT > >> >>> Skills inventory in Kenya and Set up > a task force to look into Skills > >> >>> development as recommended by > MaKinsey in the just concluded Value > >> >>> Proposition. We are in the > process of appointing other stakeholders > >> >>> into > >> >>> the committee. > >> >>> > >> >>> Although we do not have a sector > strategy on Capacity building, the > >> >>> Governemnt takes issues of skills > development very seriously. This is a > >> >>> matter that NESC emphasizes as key to > our competitiveness. In this > >> >>> regard > >> >>> we look forward to a quick > finalization of the skills inventory and the > >> >>> task force recommendation. > >> >>> > >> >>> Regards > >> >>> > >> >>> > >> >>> Ndemo. > >> >>> > >> >>> > >> >>> > >> >>> > >> >>>> -Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, > Human Capacity Issues > >> >>>> > >> >>>> Morning all, > >> >>>> > >> >>>> I trust you had a refreshing > weekend. Today I want to introduce the > >> >>>> theme > >> >>>> on Human Resource Development for > the BPO industry. The Researchers > >> >>>> found > >> >>>> that India, S.Africa and > Mauritius had a comprehensive inventory of > >> >>>> their > >> >>>> skill-base that was also > available for Validation by prospective > >> >>>> employers > >> >>>> and investors. Another > observation was ofcourse the sheer numbers of > >> >>>> Indian graduates (millions) that > made it the largest base of highly > >> >>>> skilled pool of graduates with > strong mathematical/scientific > >> >>>> orientation. > >> >>>> Whereas, Mauritius was > producing only 10,000 (university) graduates > >> >>>> per > >> >>>> year compared to Kenya's 30,000 > per year, Mauritius had the advantage > >> >>>> of > >> >>>> properly documenting their > national graduates database and marketing > >> >>>> it > >> >>>> appropriately to potential > clients in Europe/America. In addition, > >> >>>> the > >> >>>> Researchers noted that Mauritius > had a government funded but > >> >>>> Private-Sector oriented ICT > Academy that produced graduates > >> >>>> specificially > >> >>>> for the ICT industry. > >> >>>> > >> >>>> In Kenya, the Researchers > observed that apart from the lack of a > >> >>>> national > >> >>>> database on the available > skills/graduates, some of the BPO operators > >> >>>> were > >> >>>> engaged in vicious poaching > cycles where Agents trained in-house by > >> >>>> one > >> >>>> Operater are immediately hired by > the Competing Operators. It was > >> >>>> noted, > >> >>>> that an attempt has been made by > the .KE Government to create an > >> >>>> Industry-specific University > (Multimedia University College of Kenya) > >> >>>> to > >> >>>> address the HR gap but its > success or otherwise will remain to be seen > >> >>>> in > >> >>>> a few years time. The > Researchers also noted that Kenya's > >> >>>> English-speaking labor force had > an edge over the Indian one given > >> >>>> that > >> >>>> the average Kenyan had a > "neutral" accent unlike the Indian graduate > >> >>>> who > >> >>>> tended to have an "ethnic" accent > that often distracted the > >> >>>> Euro-American > >> >>>> > >> >>> %3 > >> >>> > >> >>> > >> >>> > ---------------------------------------------- > >> >>> This message has been scanned for > viruses and > >> >>> dangerous content by Jambo > MailScanner, and is > >> >>> believed to be clean. > >> >>> > --------------------------------------------- > >> >>> "easy access to the world" > >> >>> > >> >>> > >> >>> > _______________________________________________ > >> >>> kictanet mailing list > >> >>> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > >> >>> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > >> >>> > >> >>> This message was sent to: murigi.muraya(a)gmail.com > >> >>> Unsubscribe or change your options > at > >> >>> > >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/murigi.muraya%40gmail.… > >> >>> > >> >>> > >> >> > >> >> > _______________________________________________ > >> >> kictanet mailing list > >> >> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > >> >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > >> >> > >> >> This message was sent to: mkamuru(a)emanageafrica.com > >> >> Unsubscribe or change your options at > >> >> > >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mkamuru%40emanageafric… > >> >> > >> > > >> > > >> > -- > >> > Many thanks and best regards, > >> > > >> > > >> > Marilyn Muthoni Kamuru > >> > eManage Africa Limited > >> > P.O.Box 18136 00500 > >> > Nairobi, Kenya > >> > Tel: (254) 20 828 383; 2034 550 > >> > Personal Cell: (254) 0725 527 972, 0736 > 225 384 > >> > www.emanageafrica.com > >> > > >> > > >> > -- > >> > Many thanks and best regards, > >> > > >> > > >> > Marilyn Muthoni Kamuru > >> > eManage Africa Limited > >> > P.O.Box 18136 00500 > >> > Nairobi, Kenya > >> > Tel: (254) 20 828 383; 2034 550 > >> > Personal Cell: (254) 0725 527 972, 0736 > 225 384 > >> > www.emanageafrica.com > >> > > >> > > >> > > _______________________________________________ > >> > kictanet mailing list > >> > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > >> > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > >> > > >> > This message was sent to: bitange(a)jambo.co.ke > >> > Unsubscribe or change your options at > >> > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/bitange%40jambo.co.ke > >> > > >> > > ---------------------------------------------- > >> > This message has been scanned for viruses > and > >> > dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and > is > >> > believed to be clean. > >> > > --------------------------------------------- > >> > "easy access to the world" > >> > > >> > > >> > >> > >> > >> ---------------------------------------------- > >> This message has been scanned for viruses and > >> dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is > >> believed to be clean. > >> --------------------------------------------- > >> "easy access to the world" > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> kictanet mailing list > >> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > >> > >> This message was sent to: godera(a)skyweb.co.ke > >> Unsubscribe or change your options at > >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/godera%40skyweb.co.ke > >> > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------- > > This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/ > > > > _______________________________________________ > > kictanet mailing list > > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > > > This message was sent to: ikua(a)lpakenya.org > > Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/ikua%40lpakenya.org > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: jwalu(a)yahoo.com > Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jwalu%40yahoo.com >

1 0

[Fwd: Re: Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues]
by Marilyn M. Kamuru 09 Jun '09

09 Jun '09

Excellent point! I think we are making a huge mistake especially in light of the post election violence focusing so heavily on the foreign investors and the international BPO market. I have been following this discussion and as a local BPO operator focused on the domestic market I can tell you we have a difficult time convincing local companies to outsource and while all this talk is good frankly I think we are missing the point. If the point is development, then why aren't we focusing on how to develop this industry as quickly and effectively as possible? In my view the low hanging fruit are the domestic opportunities but we need a lot more work in the form of government incentives to operators AND businesses to promote and support the nascent outsourcing industry. Yes, I read the post on the judiciary plans to outsource the transcription but I think there is plenty more work that can be outsourced and if the government wasn't so focused on the foreign investor and looked at the government as a consumer of outsourced services and the local private sector we may make more progress. My hope is that we can focus on creating the environment that makes it conducive to manage and operate domestic BPOs which will be building capacity while we manage and frankly repair our much tarnished image abroad. Just like a company needs to look at reinvesting retained earnings before it seeks outside financing, we need to look at what we can do locally before we start tapping the international market, especially given the heightened risk factors that Kenya faces since 2007/8. This means: 1. Government departments, agencies outsourcing work to local companies and looking at outsourcing not as a way to shed jobs but as a means to better manage scare resources. 2. Tax breaks for local BPO operators and private companies contracting outsourcing services locally to incentivize operator investment and company adaption of services in this industry. Tax breaks should be immediate and not dependant on the entry or attraction of foreign investors. Those of us currently in operation are betting on Kenya. Instead of waiting we are putting our money to work believing in the future of this country...I don't think we are asking for too much when we ask the government to support our development. 3. Less focus on what we do not have and a greater focus on what we have. Skills, entrepreneurs and an optimistic view of our country as well as a domestic market and potential to tap into the larger regional market (EAC & COMESA). Finally, I am of the contrarian view: we have the skill set, but because we are not willing to start where we are we are asking students and graduates to pay more money to get additional certification before we can get foreign investors interested in our country...Frankly I think we place too much stock in certificates and paper qualifications. If we ask these graduates to take another training class with the promise of better opportunity they will...instead I suggest we recognize the current intellectual capital that we have and those of us in the industry focus on the job training and going back to the role that government can play, obtain tax credits for this on the job training. Lets us make sure these graduates have work and build on that instead of creating additional hurdles to employment. Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues From: "S.Murigi Muraya" <murigi.muraya(a)gmail.com> Date: Mon, June 8, 2009 5:17 pm To: mkamuru(a)emanageafrica.com Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Priority: Normal > Let us also factor in on the job training to improve our skill sets. > Software engineers become masters of their craft by doing projects and > by exchanging (code and concepts) with their peers. A classroom setting > possibly contributes to less than 10% of all their success. > > There have been a number of comments in these (BPO) discussions > comparing us with India, South Africa and Mauritius. > > We cannot rely on the whims of those with negative (but often valid) > perceptions towards us. We need to give ourselves a chance that is of > our own creation. > > @ 40 Million (our 2010 population) growing at 2.5% > (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ke.html > and others estimate our population growth @ almost 2.7% per annum) we > will add 1 Million Kenyans to our population next year. 2030 is sure to > see us with a population of at least 60 Million. > > With that in mind and given the fact political instability is the > current (and unfortunately valid) excuse to avoid Kenya, we would be > most ignorant NOT to focus most of our BPO efforts internally. This will > build up LOCAL companies and on a REGIONAL basis. This will build up > local talent who may otherwise be demoralized for not being Western > enough to Foreign BPO companies. > > > > > > > bitange(a)jambo.co.ke wrote: >> Walubengo, >> With respect to capacity building, the Government has done the following >> Established Multimedia University to focus on IT Skills Development; >> Contracted the Central Bureau of Statistics through CCK to conduct ICT >> Skills inventory in Kenya and Set up a task force to look into Skills >> development as recommended by MaKinsey in the just concluded Value >> Proposition. We are in the process of appointing other stakeholders >> into >> the committee. >> >> Although we do not have a sector strategy on Capacity building, the >> Governemnt takes issues of skills development very seriously. This is a >> matter that NESC emphasizes as key to our competitiveness. In this >> regard >> we look forward to a quick finalization of the skills inventory and the >> task force recommendation. >> >> Regards >> >> >> Ndemo. >> >> >> >> >>> -Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, Human Capacity Issues >>> >>> Morning all, >>> >>> I trust you had a refreshing weekend. Today I want to introduce the >>> theme >>> on Human Resource Development for the BPO industry. The Researchers >>> found >>> that India, S.Africa and Mauritius had a comprehensive inventory of >>> their >>> skill-base that was also available for Validation by prospective >>> employers >>> and investors. Another observation was ofcourse the sheer numbers of >>> Indian graduates (millions) that made it the largest base of highly >>> skilled pool of graduates with strong mathematical/scientific >>> orientation. >>> Whereas, Mauritius was producing only 10,000 (university) graduates >>> per >>> year compared to Kenya's 30,000 per year, Mauritius had the advantage >>> of >>> properly documenting their national graduates database and marketing it >>> appropriately to potential clients in Europe/America. In addition, the >>> Researchers noted that Mauritius had a government funded but >>> Private-Sector oriented ICT Academy that produced graduates >>> specificially >>> for the ICT industry. >>> >>> In Kenya, the Researchers observed that apart from the lack of a >>> national >>> database on the available skills/graduates, some of the BPO operators >>> were >>> engaged in vicious poaching cycles where Agents trained in-house by one >>> Operater are immediately hired by the Competing Operators. It was >>> noted, >>> that an attempt has been made by the .KE Government to create an >>> Industry-specific University (Multimedia University College of Kenya) >>> to >>> address the HR gap but its success or otherwise will remain to be seen >>> in >>> a few years time. The Researchers also noted that Kenya's >>> English-speaking labor force had an edge over the Indian one given that >>> the average Kenyan had a "neutral" accent unlike the Indian graduate >>> who >>> tended to have an "ethnic" accent that often distracted the >>> Euro-American >>> >> %3 >> >> >> ---------------------------------------------- >> This message has been scanned for viruses and >> dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is >> believed to be clean. >> --------------------------------------------- >> "easy access to the world" >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> kictanet mailing list >> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet >> >> This message was sent to: murigi.muraya(a)gmail.com >> Unsubscribe or change your options at >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/murigi.muraya%40gmail.… >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: mkamuru(a)emanageafrica.com > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mkamuru%40emanageafric… > -- Many thanks and best regards, Marilyn Muthoni Kamuru eManage Africa Limited P.O.Box 18136 00500 Nairobi, Kenya Tel: (254) 20 828 383; 2034 550 Personal Cell: (254) 0725 527 972, 0736 225 384 www.emanageafrica.com -- Many thanks and best regards, Marilyn Muthoni Kamuru eManage Africa Limited P.O.Box 18136 00500 Nairobi, Kenya Tel: (254) 20 828 383; 2034 550 Personal Cell: (254) 0725 527 972, 0736 225 384 www.emanageafrica.com

5 4

Re: [kictanet] Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues
by lily marusoi 09 Jun '09

09 Jun '09

My take on Q 7&8 We need to come up with a standardized national curriculum for the BPO sector a "finishing school" for those aspiring to work in the BPO sector. Having looked at the KBPO society training framework I feel there is a need to customise it to fit our Kenyan situation as some skills set were assumed to be obvious. When we talk of equiping the graduates, lets not also forget that we have so many other youths graduating from tertiary institutions with certificates and diplomas. Some major industry players have hinted that they prefer non graduates so long as they have the right attitudes, it is easier to train skills but not attitudes which is a major factor in the BPO sector. Regards Lily --- On Mon, 6/8/09, Judy Okite <judyokite(a)gmail.com> wrote: From: Judy Okite <judyokite(a)gmail.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues To: lmarusoi(a)yahoo.com Cc: kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke Date: Monday, June 8, 2009, 11:50 AM to answer both Q 7&8 my suggestion on this.....all graduates,should be equipped to work in a BPO,at the time of their graduation. BPO specifics,should be entrenched,within the curriculum.....with this there will be no descrimination and I believe it will bring in quality to this market e.g in USIU,I know you have to do a foreign language....at some point in your 2years of your time with them...it doesnt really matter what course your taking and level. Kind Regards, On Mon, Jun 8, 2009 at 8:06 AM, Walubengo J <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> wrote: -Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, Human Capacity Issues Morning all, I trust you had a refreshing weekend. Today I want to introduce the theme on Human Resource Development for the BPO industry. The Researchers found that India, S.Africa and Mauritius had a comprehensive inventory of their skill-base that was also available for Validation by prospective employers and investors. Another observation was ofcourse the sheer numbers of Indian graduates (millions) that made it the largest base of highly skilled pool of graduates with strong mathematical/scientific orientation. Whereas, Mauritius was producing only 10,000 (university) graduates per year compared to Kenya's 30,000 per year, Mauritius had the advantage of properly documenting their national graduates database and marketing it appropriately to potential clients in Europe/America. In addition, the Researchers noted that Mauritius had a government funded but Private-Sector oriented ICT Academy that produced graduates specificially for the ICT industry. In Kenya, the Researchers observed that apart from the lack of a national database on the available skills/graduates, some of the BPO operators were engaged in vicious poaching cycles where Agents trained in-house by one Operater are immediately hired by the Competing Operators. It was noted, that an attempt has been made by the .KE Government to create an Industry-specific University (Multimedia University College of Kenya) to address the HR gap but its success or otherwise will remain to be seen in a few years time. The Researchers also noted that Kenya's English-speaking labor force had an edge over the Indian one given that the average Kenyan had a "neutral" accent unlike the Indian graduate who tended to have an "ethnic" accent that often distracted the Euro-American markets/clients. But this advantage is yet to be exploited - even as the Indians move up the BPO value chain and concentrate on non-accent related processes such as Software Engineering, Research (Financial, Medicine, etc), Product (e.g. Civil and Architectural) Design amongst others. Which leads us to todays questions. Qtn 7: How do we develop a national database on the wide-range of available ICT skill in Kenya - specifically which institution should be mandated to realise this, ensuring that such a database is kept upto date over the years? Qtn 8: What strategies should the country adopt to ensure a continuous supply of relevant and timely BPO-Specific skills? Please, lets have your comments flowing,dig yahjwalu starting now... walu. Encl: Synthesis 3 - HR Issues _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: judyokite(a)gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/judyokite%40gmail.com -- "Each of us is great insofar as we perceive and act on the infinite possibilities which lie undiscovered and unrecognized about us." James Harvey Robinson -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: lmarusoi(a)yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/lmarusoi%40yahoo.com

6 5

Re: [kictanet] Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues
by waudo siganga 08 Jun '09

08 Jun '09

Dear Catherine - That report (which dealt with the overall ICT workforce rather than just BPO) was handed over to the sponsor, USAID in Dec. 2006. I do not know what they did with it but I have attached a copy for those who may want to browse it. It contained some policy recomendations maybe some are still relevant. Kind Regards, Waudo On Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:12 -0700, "Catherine Adeya" <elizaslider(a)yahoo.com> wrote: Apology I meant CSK (Computer Society of Kenya) conducted a study some years back and not CFSK (Computers for Schools Kenya). N ____________________________________________________________ From: Catherine Adeya <elizaslider(a)yahoo.com> To: elizaslider(a)yahoo.com Cc: kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke Sent: Monday, June 8, 2009 3:13:47 PM Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues Tim et. al, If I am not wrong there have been attempts to find a way to develop a skills inventory in Kenya especially of IT or IT-related graduates. I do believe CFSK conducted a study a few years back, am not sure what became of the study. There were also attempts by others to develop such a database but some were curtailed due to lack of funding or good-will....if some of you are out here in cyberspace kindly do share so we build on what you have done and do not reinvent the wheel. Walu, you may remember some of the round-tables we were involved in some years ago. What we realized immediately is that the universities did not even know where their graduates were, they did not have an active alumni network to help them identify the sectors that were absorbing their graduates and where the gaps were as this could inform curriculum review. I know it is a long shot to expect the universities to do this but I think it would help if specific departments tried to collate this information. If the potential graduates knew it would be beneficial for them to share that information once they graduate then it may ease the process. Beneficial in two ways, to help with curriculum review and place share their names and details with those looking for the relevant skills....ok am waffling I know. I think the team was on to something there but we kind of dwelt too much on the successful South African model where they did an excellent study titled the SAITIS study as far back as 1998 and I think updated the study and implementation around 2004 or so, I can't remember off the top of my head. I know that relevant institutions came together to share their expertise in the study so that it was representative and collaborative. The studies basically covered a number of issues including the national IT Education and Training intiatives in SA (including schools, tertiary institutions, government and private sector iniatives. It attempted to categorize jobs and skills in the IT industry and looked at it in the context of global trends. There are similar studies elsewhere but I thought I may highlight on this one as I read about it years ago. Best, Nyaki ____________________________________________________________ From: Mwololo Tim <timwololo(a)gmail.com> To: elizaslider(a)yahoo.com Cc: kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke Sent: Monday, June 8, 2009 1:47:11 PM Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues Bwana Ndemo, These are good initiatives. However, I believe we need to look at the total secondary and tertiary education system to make sure it produces the skill sets we require for the BPO&O sector, depending on the strategy we take as a country. One university college, which is new and still struggling to "stand up", so to speak, will not do. Of course we need the skills inventory you talk about to know where we are so that we can take an appropriate strategy for skills development. I know KNBS is currently very busy focusing on the census and I am not sure they have adequate capacity to push several large projects simultaneously, which may mean delays here. We might therefore need to find ways of expediting this exercise. tim On Mon, Jun 8, 2009 at 1:31 PM, <[1]bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> wrote: Walubengo, With respect to capacity building, the Government has done the following Established Multimedia University to focus on IT Skills Development; Contracted the Central Bureau of Statistics through CCK to conduct ICT Skills inventory in Kenya and Set up a task force to look into Skills development as recommended by MaKinsey in the just concluded Value Proposition. We are in the process of appointing other stakeholders into the committee. Although we do not have a sector strategy on Capacity building, the Governemnt takes issues of skills development very seriously. This is a matter that NESC emphasizes as key to our competitiveness. In this regard we look forward to a quick finalization of the skills inventory and the task force recommendation. Regards Ndemo. > -Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, Human Capacity Issues > > Morning all, > > I trust you had a refreshing weekend. Today I want to introduce the theme > on Human Resource Development for the BPO industry. The Researchers found > that India, S.Africa and Mauritius had a comprehensive inventory of their > skill-base that was also available for Validation by prospective employers > and investors. Another observation was ofcourse the sheer numbers of > Indian graduates (millions) that made it the largest base of highly > skilled pool of graduates with strong mathematical/scientific orientation. > Whereas, Mauritius was producing only 10,000 (university) graduates per > year compared to Kenya's 30,000 per year, Mauritius had the advantage of > properly documenting their national graduates database and marketing it > appropriately to potential clients in Europe/America. In addition, the > Researchers noted that Mauritius had a government funded but > Private-Sector oriented ICT Academy that produced graduates specificially > for the ICT industry. > > In Kenya, the Researchers observed that apart from the lack of a national > database on the available skills/graduates, some of the BPO operators were > engaged in vicious poaching cycles where Agents trained in-house by one > Operater are immediately hired by the Competing Operators. It was noted, > that an attempt has been made by the .KE Government to create an > Industry-specific University (Multimedia University College of Kenya) to > address the HR gap but its success or otherwise will remain to be seen in > a few years time. The Researchers also noted that Kenya's > English-speaking labor force had an edge over the Indian one given that > the average Kenyan had a "neutral" accent unlike the Indian graduate who > tended to have an "ethnic" accent that often distracted the Euro-American %3 ---------------------------------------------- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. --------------------------------------------- "easy access to the world" _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list [2]kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke [3]http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: [4]timwololo(a)gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at [5]http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/timwol olo%40gmail.com References 1. mailto:[email protected] 2. mailto:[email protected] 3. http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet 4. mailto:[email protected] 5. http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/timwololo%40gmail.com

2 1

FW: Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues
by Walubengo J 08 Jun '09

08 Jun '09

from MM --- On Mon, 6/8/09, muriuki mureithi <mureithi(a)summitstrategies.co.ke> wrote: Please send this to the list - my mail was rejected by the system that it is spam ------- Hi listers >From the researcher's brief, it is very clear that Kenya cannot compete with India if the sheer volume of skilled resource is the determinant for market penetration. There is another way however, it is time we evaluate our strength and focus on a niche market. This way we can put our human resource base development efforts to considerable advantage. What is our niche or what could be our niche? Do we know? On the specific question of a database, I suspect one institution may not adequately manage the database largely due to the limited mandate. A way forward to categorise the human resource skills into a) academic skills 2) industrial skills 3) in-house specialised skills. Under a) the ministries of education or one of its institutions has or should have a mandate to keep track of what goes through its institutions of tertiary or higher learning. Under b) ministry of labour and hopefully Department of Industrial Training should have a database because they have oversight on industrial training. This would also strengthen the capacity of those institutions to do what they should do and mandated to do sustainably Cheers muriuki Mureithi

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Fwd: [AfrISPA.Discuss] US cuts off 'criminal' ISP
by Brian Munyao Longwe 08 Jun '09

08 Jun '09

FYI ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Charles Amega-Selorm <cas(a)internetresearch.com.gh> Date: Sat, Jun 6, 2009 at 8:42 PM Subject: [AfrISPA.Discuss] US cuts off 'criminal' ISP To: members(a)gispa.org.gh, discuss(a)afrispa.org US cuts off 'criminal' net firm An American ISP allegedly involved in distributing spam and images of child abuse has been thrown off the net. The US Federal Trade Commission asked for Pricewert LLC's net links to be severed after it had gathered evidence of the firm's 'criminal' connections. The FTC alleges that Pricewert had created one of the "leading US-based havens for illegal, malicious, and harmful content". Pricewert denied the allegations and said it would fight them in court. Legal fight In an official complaint filed in a San Jose Federal court, the FTC described Pricewert as a "rogue" or "black hat" ISP that acted as a hosting centre for many hi-tech criminals. The FTC alleges that Pricewert was paid to host "child pornography, botnet command and control servers, spyware, viruses, trojans, phishing-related sites, illegal online pharmacies, investment and other web-based scams". The evidence against Pricewert was gathered with the help of Nasa's computer crime division, Symantec, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, as well as groups such as Spamhaus and the Shadowserver Foundation. In its statement accompanying its filing, the FTC said its complaint was "not a finding or ruling that the defendant has actually violated the law". That, it said, would be decided by a court. A preliminary hearing will be heard on 15 June. So far, the FTC has not been able to identify who was behind Pricewert. Although its servers are based in the US, it is registered as a business in Belize and many of its employees are thought to be located in Eastern Europe. Talking to technology news site Network World, a spokesman for Pricewert said the action was "unfair" and it would take legal action to defend itself. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8084726.stm -- Charles Amega-Selorm Research Associate Internet Research Tel: +233-28-7297327 Fax: +233-21-258811 PMB 208, Accra-North http://www.internetresearch.com.gh To unsubscribe send a mail to: imailsrv(a)afrispa.org. Type the following in the body of your mail (not header): "Unsubscribe discuss" (without quotes). This List is operated by ZAnet Internet Services: www.zanet.co.za on behalf of www.afrispa.org. For any List Admin queries send mail to William(a)zanet.co.za -- Brian Munyao Longwe e-mail: blongwe(a)gmail.com cell: + 254 722 518 744 blog : http://zinjlog.blogspot.com meta-blog: http://mashilingi.blogspot.com

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Re: [kictanet] Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues
by lily marusoi 08 Jun '09

08 Jun '09

Hi Walu, Indeed we had a very refreshing weekend. To suggest on what strategies the country should adopt to ensure a continous supply of relevant and timely BPO specific skills: 1. --- On Mon, 6/8/09, Walubengo J <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> wrote: From: Walubengo J <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> Subject: [kictanet] Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues To: lmarusoi(a)yahoo.com Cc: kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke Date: Monday, June 8, 2009, 9:06 AM -Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, Human Capacity Issues Morning all, I trust you had a refreshing weekend. Today I want to introduce the theme on Human Resource Development for the BPO industry. The Researchers found that India, S.Africa and Mauritius had a comprehensive inventory of their skill-base that was also available for Validation by prospective employers and investors. Another observation was ofcourse the sheer numbers of Indian graduates (millions) that made it the largest base of highly skilled pool of graduates with strong mathematical/scientific orientation. Whereas, Mauritius was producing only 10,000 (university) graduates per year compared to Kenya's 30,000 per year, Mauritius had the advantage of properly documenting their national graduates database and marketing it appropriately to potential clients in Europe/America. In addition, the Researchers noted that Mauritius had a government funded but Private-Sector oriented ICT Academy that produced graduates specificially for the ICT industry. In Kenya, the Researchers observed that apart from the lack of a national database on the available skills/graduates, some of the BPO operators were engaged in vicious poaching cycles where Agents trained in-house by one Operater are immediately hired by the Competing Operators. It was noted, that an attempt has been made by the .KE Government to create an Industry-specific University (Multimedia University College of Kenya) to address the HR gap but its success or otherwise will remain to be seen in a few years time. The Researchers also noted that Kenya's English-speaking labor force had an edge over the Indian one given that the average Kenyan had a "neutral" accent unlike the Indian graduate who tended to have an "ethnic" accent that often distracted the Euro-American markets/clients. But this advantage is yet to be exploited - even as the Indians move up the BPO value chain and concentrate on non-accent related processes such as Software Engineering, Research (Financial, Medicine, etc), Product (e.g. Civil and Architectural) Design amongst others. Which leads us to todays questions. Qtn 7: How do we develop a national database on the wide-range of available ICT skill in Kenya - specifically which institution should be mandated to realise this, ensuring that such a database is kept upto date over the years? Qtn 8: What strategies should the country adopt to ensure a continuous supply of relevant and timely BPO-Specific skills? Please, lets have your comments flowing,dig yahjwalu starting now... walu. Encl: Synthesis 3 - HR Issues -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: lmarusoi(a)yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/lmarusoi%40yahoo.com

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Day 4 of 10- BPO Discussions, Govt Subsidies
by Sam Aguyo 06 Jun '09

06 Jun '09

Members I would note that surprisingly there is little participation of the practitioners. This could be strategic or otherwise. Their effective participation would give practical problems affecting the industry on the ground. Sometimes it is good to avoid generalization, for example a good comparison is between same environments – a goat with a goat, a sheep with a sheep and not a goat with an Elephant, the latter even though animals but totally different characteristics. We may want to compare with our Indian brothers; however the environments could be different. In this respect facts and figures would reveal more. I mean, the government provided this sort of incentive/subsidy targeting this for this period and the output was this. Based on this, it would be critical to narrow down to specifics that require intervention or subsidy, grants. As an example, the government should improve the environment within the EPZ by availing affordable and reliable bandwidth commensurate with the requirements of the players then invite the players to station there. In return, such incentive would attract a certain percentage of players of different configurations able to employ a certain number of people and such configurations can source jobs from such kinds of markets. This would add up! We should not loose focus, what would be the return on investment for such subsidy/incentive. These words i.e. subsidy/incentive have the propensity to read handouts. Sam Aguyo ________________________________ From: Walubengo J <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> To: sam aguyo <saguyo(a)yahoo.com> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2009 9:48:07 PM Subject: [kictanet] Day 4 of 10- BPO Discussions, Govt Subsidies -Dear Listers, I must thank all for your insights over the last few days. I like the challenge that asked whether we are "over-regulating" an emerging market as the "answer" to the question on if we have legal and regulatory gaps. Listers are encouraged to challenge and not just answer the questions. Other arising issues included where we want to play within the BPO Value Chain, the Impact of the Political (in-)stability, the need to map our Data Protection laws to those in the target markets are just but some of the highlights I picked - and by all means this is NOT exhaustive as am still reading through the contributions. But today we need to open the theme on Government subsidies. The Researchers found the S.Africa and India had elaborate subsidy provisions for the sector that included Tax Holidays and Exemptions, Investment Grants to BPO operators, Training Subsidies, One-stop shop for Corporate Company Registrations that could be 100% foreign owned, etc. The Researchers noted the unique Mauritius case which had similar incentives but eventually abolished most of them arguing that they were more beneficial to the Operators than to the Nation. On the Kenyan front - other than the not so succesfull Govt Bandwidth subsidies for Operators, very little in terms of incentives was available to BPO Operators. It was noted that the BPO operators had to be within the EPZ in order to enjoy the subsidies other EPZ corporates operates - the problem being that most BPO operaters exist outside the EPZ area. Whats more, BPO operators had to pay additional charges to be registered by the CCK (Regulator) and should be at least 20% locally owned. Qtn6: What incentives / subsidies should the government provide to BPO operators? What of the clause requiring 20% Local shareholding in foreign companies - is it prohibitive or helpful? Floor is open comments. walu. Encl: Synthesis 2:- Subsidies and Incentives

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Fw: [ISOC] ISOC launches IGF 2009 Ambassador Program
by alice munyua 06 Jun '09

06 Jun '09

For those who follow global internet governance policy processes, this could be a chance to attend the 4th IGF which will be held in Egypt in November. Best Alice ------Original Message------ From: Constance Bommelaer Sender: isoc-members-announce-bounces(a)elists.isoc.org To: isoc-members-announce(a)elists.isoc.org Subject: [ISOC] ISOC launches IGF 2009 Ambassador Program Sent: Jun 4, 2009 4:35 PM Dear all, Following the successful ISOC Ambassador program to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in 2005, to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Rio in 2007 and in Hyderabad in 2008, we are pleased to announce a call for expressions of interest to participate in the ISOC Ambassador program to the Internet Governance Forum meeting in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, in November 2009. As part of the ISOC Internet Leaders program, the Ambassador program is designed to involve members in ISOC's global engagement activities while providing valuable expertise and know-how to the IGF meeting in Sharm El Sheikh. This year, ISOC is supporting not only the participation of first time Ambassadors, but also of returning Ambassadors to the Internet Governance Forum. The IGF 2009 meeting will take place Sunday 15 through Wednesday 18 November 2009. Interested individuals should be available to arrive no later than Saturday 14 November. Further details on ISOC's IGF 2009 Ambassador program can be found here: http://www.isoc.org/pubpolpillar/igfambassadors/ Read also about: ISOC Internet Leaders program: http://www.isoc.org/leaders/ Internet Governance Forum: http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/ Best regards, Constance Bommelaer Senior Manager Strategic Global Engagement Internet Society (ISOC) +41 22 807 14 48 +33 6 62 17 31 86 http://www.isoc.org _______________________________________________ Isoc-members-announce mailing list Isoc-members-announce(a)elists.isoc.org http://elists.isoc.org/mailman/listinfo/isoc-members-announce

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Re: [kictanet] Day 2 of 10:-BPO discussions, Legal and Regulatory Frameworks
by Jotham Kilimo Mwale 05 Jun '09

05 Jun '09

Gilda, You are right when you say we must develop both domestic and international markets in tandem. But I think there is something to lose when the focus is too much on international market. We lose the opportunity to develop the domestic market, which, in my view, is one of the basic building block for the BPO sector in terms of capacity building/ experience which in turn will give confidence to the international market. When we talk of bad publicity for this country hampering the growth/attractiveness of the international BPO market, I believe a vibrant domestic BPO market will counter that (bad image) in a more convincing manner than asking the media to tone down on divisive politics, and will make the work easier for our international marketers. Also, I think that the move taken by some local companies to have their own in-house call/contact centres rather than outsource is a statement of 'no confidence' on the BPO operators. It has just made marketing Kenya as a BPO destination a little more difficult. Regards, Jotham --- On Thu, 6/4/09, godera(a)skyweb.co.ke <godera(a)skyweb.co.ke> wrote: From: godera(a)skyweb.co.ke <godera(a)skyweb.co.ke> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 2 of 10:-BPO discussions, Legal and Regulatory Frameworks To: jokilimo(a)yahoo.com Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, June 4, 2009, 4:59 AM Peres, I fully agree with your sentiments. I especially am of the very strong opinion (and I stand stoned by some) that we must develop both domestic and international markets in tandem. Much as there has been a school of thought that we focus on domestic first, I beg to differ. We need to do so in tandem with the international market. What have we to lose? Gilda > > > External perception is absolutely critical in the race to obtain > international BPO contracts. No one wants to outsource to a country > which they 'percieve' as unstable, or which they percieve as > underdeveloped. The truth is that most executives in our source > markets for BPO work, in particular USA, percieve Africa as one > country with a myriad of ills: > > Somalia -Pirates > Congo - Wars > Darfur- kicking out the Aid organizations, starvation > Kenya ? Post Elections Violence > Nigeria ? 419 Scams > Zimbabwe ? Cholera and Inflation > Etc., etc. > > The best way to counter these perceptions is to have in-coming trade > delegations from our source markets, so they can see for themselves > what Kenya has to offer. > > W need to work on changing these negative perceptions of Kenya/Africa, > BUT at the same time build up our internal capacity. We cannot do one > without the other. Local outsourcing market needs to be developed in > tandem with the international. > > Peres > > Quoting Barrack Otieno <otieno.barrack(a)gmail.com>: > > > Colleagues your comments are right, however we seemed to be more inclined > at > > external perceptions as opposed to building up internal capacity, must it > > take foreigners to show us our potential? > > > > On Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 9:01 AM, munyiva ngea <munyivangea(a)gmail.com> > wrote: > > > >> Good morning, > >> > >> I agree with Peter about perception take Mauritius for example the > >> Board of Investment and the BPO Vendors strive to change the > >> perception of the country as a mere tourist attraction to an ICT Hub. > >> They invite prospective investors or clients to the country take them > >> to their lavish well equipped offices, which are probably located in > >> Ebene Cyber City the landing point of the Submarine cable so the > >> clients are assured of available internet infrastructure.After the > >> site visit the clients are then whisked away to have a fantastic > >> weekend on the beaches or on a boat. Simply put they show clients they > >> can do much more than provide BPO services they can offer quality of > >> life. > >> > >> To answer Question 3 i think without the government and local vendors > >> taking decisive steps to attract and retain investors and clients to > >> the country. Basically we need to give officials who are marketing the > >> country the funds to be able to invite the prospective investors and > >> clients to the country to show them we sufficient infrastructure and > >> Human resources. > >> > >> In order to build confidence in the country's capabilities we have to > >> have to EVIDENCE of these capabilities take India for example with its > >> National Skills Registry which is an industry initiative to ensure > >> that individuals employed by organizations have their background and > >> antecedents verified > >> (http://news.indiamart.com/news-analysis/national-skills-regi-13182.html) > >> prospective clients need only to browse through the site to be assured > >> that the country has the Human resource capacity needed. What about > >> Kenya apart from various websites which allow individuals to upload > >> their CVs where can a prospective client get information on the > >> available agents, software developers and so on?? this information is > >> not available on various institutional websites (universities, > >> colleges) so how do we expect a client to actually believe that we are > >> capable if we are unable to show it (Perception again!!) > >> > >> > >> > >> -- > >> Best regards > >> Munyiva Ngea > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> kictanet mailing list > >> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > >> > >> This message was sent to: otieno.barrack(a)gmail.com > >> Unsubscribe or change your options at > >> > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/otieno.barrack%40gmail… > >> > > > > > > > > -- > > Barrack O. Otieno > > ISSEN CONSULTING > > Tel: > > +254721325277 > > +254733206359 > > http://projectdiscovery.or.ke > > To give up the task of reforming society is to give up ones responsibility > > as a free man. > > Alan Paton, South Africa > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: godera(a)skyweb.co.ke > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/godera%40skyweb.co.ke > ------------------------------------------------- This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/ _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: jokilimo(a)yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jokilimo%40yahoo.com

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Day 2 of 10:-BPO discussions, Legal and Regulatory Frameworks
by Walubengo J 05 Jun '09

05 Jun '09

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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Re: [kictanet] Day 2 of 10:-BPO discussions, Legal and Regulatory Frameworks
by munyiva ngea 05 Jun '09

05 Jun '09

Good morning, I agree with Peter about perception take Mauritius for example the Board of Investment and the BPO Vendors strive to change the perception of the country as a mere tourist attraction to an ICT Hub. They invite prospective investors or clients to the country take them to their lavish well equipped offices, which are probably located in Ebene Cyber City the landing point of the Submarine cable so the clients are assured of available internet infrastructure.After the site visit the clients are then whisked away to have a fantastic weekend on the beaches or on a boat. Simply put they show clients they can do much more than provide BPO services they can offer quality of life. To answer Question 3 i think without the government and local vendors taking decisive steps to attract and retain investors and clients to the country. Basically we need to give officials who are marketing the country the funds to be able to invite the prospective investors and clients to the country to show them we sufficient infrastructure and Human resources. In order to build confidence in the country's capabilities we have to have to EVIDENCE of these capabilities take India for example with its National Skills Registry which is an industry initiative to ensure that individuals employed by organizations have their background and antecedents verified (http://news.indiamart.com/news-analysis/national-skills-regi-13182.html) prospective clients need only to browse through the site to be assured that the country has the Human resource capacity needed. What about Kenya apart from various websites which allow individuals to upload their CVs where can a prospective client get information on the available agents, software developers and so on?? this information is not available on various institutional websites (universities, colleges) so how do we expect a client to actually believe that we are capable if we are unable to show it (Perception again!!) -- Best regards Munyiva Ngea

9 9

Re: [kictanet] Day 3 of 10- BPO Discussions, Institutional Frameworks
by Walubengo J 05 Jun '09

05 Jun '09

Eric, I like your query on what level should we as a country play within the BPO value chain. At the moment, I believe we are at the entry (low value) chain i.e. Call Center/Telemarketing which some Analyst have claimed are just electronic "hawkers" with minimal income at both individual and national level. We definately need to scale up to high-end BPO work such as software engineering, accounting, hr, etc. But I think we cannot avoid starting from the bottom. And that is where we are. As for Incentive issues, we shall cover them in tmrws theme. regards. walu. --- On Thu, 6/4/09, Eric Aligula <jairah(a)KIPPRA.OR.KE> wrote: > From: Eric Aligula <jairah(a)KIPPRA.OR.KE> > Subject: RE: [kictanet] Day 3 of 10- BPO Discussions, Institutional Frameworks > To: "Walubengo J" <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> > Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Date: Thursday, June 4, 2009, 10:22 AM > Dear All: > > Good morning! > > If I missed it, I apologize. I have two questions: > > 1. Are we agreed on which portion of the > BPO value Chain we want to enter? > 2. If we are in agreement, what should > the appropriate Incentive Regime be? > > The question regarding the speed with which speed with > which we identify and articulate our policy and other > incentive frameworks is something that must be addressed as > a matter of priority. In the fluid environment that > the global arena is, our slow processes will remain a major > headache. > > Kind regards > > Eric Aligula Magolo, PhD > Senior Analyst > Infrastructure and Economic Services Division > Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis > (KIPPRA) > P.O. Box 56445, 00200 Nairobi, Kenya > Telephone: +254-20-2719933/4 > Fax: +254-20-2719951 > E-mail: jairah(a)kippra.or.ke > URL: www.kippra.org > > > Proudly Kenyan > "In the long history of the world, only a few generations > have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour > of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this > responsibility..........I welcome it." > John F. Kennedy > "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men > to do nothing." > Edmund Burke > "Far better to dare mighty things, to win glorious > triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take > rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor > suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that > knows not victory, nor defeat." > Theodore Roosevelt > "Ex Africa semper aliquid novi" > > Repfor-----Original Message----- > RepforFrom: kictanet-bounces+jairah=kippra.or.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > Repfor[mailto:[email protected]] > RepforOn Behalf Of Walubengo J > RepforSent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 8:14 AM > RepforTo: Eric Aligula > RepforCc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions > RepforSubject: [kictanet] Day 3 of 10- BPO Discussions, > Institutional > RepforFrameworks > Repfor > Repfor > Repfor > RepforDear Listers, > Repfor > RepforI am encouraged by the flood of ideas that kicked in > after Bill and > RepforDr. Ndemo's interventions. Ofcourse Kenduiywo, > Bakuli and Peres > Repforyour discourse is as insightful as that of MM and > Barrack. Lets > Repforkeep the ideas flowing on previous themes even as we > move onto > Repfortoday's theme - just ensure you pick against the > corresponding > Repforsubject line and post. > Repfor > RepforI wish to open today's theme on Institutional > Frameworks. The > RepforResearchers found that in S.Africa, Mauritius, and > India, the > RepforPrivate Sector BPO lobby groups, Data Security Groups > and > RepforGovernment Agencies were working harmoniously with > clear, non- > Repforoverlapping mandates to support the BPO sector. In > Kenya it was > Repforfound that several bodies were involved in the BPO > Sector. These > Repforwere largely Government agencies such as the Min of > Education > Repfor(Technology Parks), Kenya ICT Board, KenInvest, > Export Promotion > RepforCouncil, CCK amongst others. The biggest challenge in > Kenya was > Repforthat there seemed to be no overall, cordinating body > overseeing > Repforthese functions - leading to alot of duplicated and > un-cordinated > Repforeffort from the various Players. And so our next Qtn > is: > Repfor > RepforQtn 5: What needs to be done to improve/strengthen > the > Repforinstitutional framework in order for the BPO and > outsourcing sector > Repforto play its planned role in the Kenyan economy? > Repfor > RepforWe have today on this since tmrw we shall move into > the Government > RepforSubsidiy/Incentive Issues for the BPO Sector. > Repfor > Repforwalu. > Repfor > Repfor > Repfor > Repfor > Repfor > Repfor_______________________________________________ > Repforkictanet mailing list > Repforkictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > Repforhttp://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > Repfor > RepforThis message was sent to: jairah(a)kippra.or.ke > RepforUnsubscribe or change your options at > Repforhttp://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jairah%40kippr > Repfora.or.ke >

4 4

Day 3 of 10- BPO Discussions, Institutional Frameworks
by Walubengo J 05 Jun '09

05 Jun '09

Dear Listers, I am encouraged by the flood of ideas that kicked in after Bill and Dr. Ndemo's interventions. Ofcourse Kenduiywo, Bakuli and Peres your discourse is as insightful as that of MM and Barrack. Lets keep the ideas flowing on previous themes even as we move onto today's theme - just ensure you pick against the corresponding subject line and post. I wish to open today's theme on Institutional Frameworks. The Researchers found that in S.Africa, Mauritius, and India, the Private Sector BPO lobby groups, Data Security Groups and Government Agencies were working harmoniously with clear, non-overlapping mandates to support the BPO sector. In Kenya it was found that several bodies were involved in the BPO Sector. These were largely Government agencies such as the Min of Education (Technology Parks), Kenya ICT Board, KenInvest, Export Promotion Council, CCK amongst others. The biggest challenge in Kenya was that there seemed to be no overall, cordinating body overseeing these functions - leading to alot of duplicated and un-cordinated effort from the various Players. And so our next Qtn is: Qtn 5: What needs to be done to improve/strengthen the institutional framework in order for the BPO and outsourcing sector to play its planned role in the Kenyan economy? We have today on this since tmrw we shall move into the Government Subsidiy/Incentive Issues for the BPO Sector. walu.

11 17

[Fwd: [ISOC] ISOC launches IGF 2009 Ambassador Program]
by Michuki Mwangi 04 Jun '09

04 Jun '09

FYI -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [ISOC] ISOC launches IGF 2009 Ambassador Program Date: Thu, 4 Jun 2009 15:35:43 +0200 From: Constance Bommelaer <bommelaer(a)isoc.org> To: <isoc-members-announce(a)elists.isoc.org> Dear all, Following the successful ISOC Ambassador program to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in 2005, to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Rio in 2007 and in Hyderabad in 2008, we are pleased to announce a call for expressions of interest to participate in the ISOC Ambassador program to the Internet Governance Forum meeting in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, in November 2009. As part of the ISOC Internet Leaders program, the Ambassador program is designed to involve members in ISOC's global engagement activities while providing valuable expertise and know-how to the IGF meeting in Sharm El Sheikh. This year, ISOC is supporting not only the participation of first time Ambassadors, but also of returning Ambassadors to the Internet Governance Forum. The IGF 2009 meeting will take place Sunday 15 through Wednesday 18 November 2009. Interested individuals should be available to arrive no later than Saturday 14 November. Further details on ISOC's IGF 2009 Ambassador program can be found here: http://www.isoc.org/pubpolpillar/igfambassadors/ Read also about: ISOC Internet Leaders program: http://www.isoc.org/leaders/ Internet Governance Forum: http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/ Best regards, Constance Bommelaer Senior Manager Strategic Global Engagement Internet Society (ISOC) +41 22 807 14 48 +33 6 62 17 31 86 http://www.isoc.org <http://www.isoc.org/> _______________________________________________ Isoc-members-announce mailing list Isoc-members-announce(a)elists.isoc.org http://elists.isoc.org/mailman/listinfo/isoc-members-announce

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Re: [kictanet] kictanet Digest, Vol 25, Issue 28
by Matunda Nyanchama 04 Jun '09

04 Jun '09

Dear all, I am glad to join this list and see the vibrant discussions here and exchange of ideas! It is refreshing. Question: given the volume of mail from the list (my inbox is nearly full for the last short while), is there a way to read messages and contribute to the list on the web? Regards ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matunda Nyanchama, mnyanchama(a)aganoconsulting.com Agano Consulting Inc.; www.aganoconsulting.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “If you have less than 1 year to invest, plant rice. If you have 10 to 25 yearsto invest, build a house. If you have more than 25 years to invest, invest in your children" - Anonymous. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Notice:-BPO eDiscussion, June 2nd-15th, 2009
by Walubengo J 04 Jun '09

04 Jun '09

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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