Many thanks Paul. I hope a version of this including the value proposition is widely communicated - so that it starts to appear in media articles, govt speeches, govt Planning docs, Vision 2030 Communications. So the preparedness of the country, in this regard, becomes as widely known as plans for tourism and highways. Also, I assume, ICT board has goals to measure gains from this Bellagio strategising. Report these achievements, when you can, so that we know if any business was created as a result. regards, Wamuyu -- Soko ID Co. Ltd http://www.soko-id.co.ke/ Soko ID is an innovative company that supports public organisations and promotes the Kenyan heritage on the internet. Quoting Paul Kukubo <pkukubo@ict.go.ke>:
Listers
As my team finalizes the report from the 1st Kenya ICT Board Summit in Bellagio, Italy. We had invited a team of 20 odd people from all over the world to revalidation of our value proposition. The team comprised BPO analysts and marketers, silicon valley venture capitalists, Europe based Venture capitalist invested here, representative from World Bank, country strategist from Malaysia, International blue chip firm executives representatives. from Kenya we had 3 firms (Seven Seas technologies, and Kencall) and a members of academia. The Permanent Secretary Dr Bitange Ndemo was in attendance.
I would like to highlight some of the key conclusions. We are already planning for Bellagio 2, next year same time.
1. The statement of our value proposition now reads as follows: *Kenya is a globally competitive ICT partner gifted with entrepreneurial spirit and able to translate emerging market needs and connect them with demanding multinationals. *Through much debate, the panel concluded that we need to balance our emphasis on export based BPO, and call centre with support for Kenyan based entrepreunerially based ICT growth. Both are seen as complimentary in terms of job creation. Our value proposition is thus not just focussed on outsourcing but on overall ICT sector competitiveness. 2. ICT is both a sector (firms that provide ICT) and an enabler of all sectors. We need to look at both in our strategy. Malaysia has done this quite nicely even quantifying the size and impact of both. 3. Kenya has an opportunity to be perceived as a world leader in emerging market innovations: Safaricom MPESA and Mobile Money, USHAHIDI, Livestock Insurance (ILRI), Mastercard-Airtel Mobile Wallet product, to name a few. 4. There are companies in Kenya that are now attracting international venture capital financing. Both BPO and call centre companies and non BPO tech firms. Once capital starts trickling into a sector, this is most promising. 5. The global BPO sector is quite big and cannot be ignored. many countries are chasing the sector. Kenya's English language talent and skilled professionals provide us with strong credentials that must be leveraged. The Indian IT outsourcing sector and the Philippines call centre sector took years to grow and was led by the private sector. Government support came in much later. Kenya can learn and fastrack, and government support is important. 6. Government services can catalyse the sector. Government and public sector spending on ICT is substantial across infrastructure, applications and services, project management and capacity. Indeed many Kenyan and international firms have benefited and grown from this. what is needed is an improved framework for technology and capacity transfer for the very large projects which have international contractors. rule of thumb is 1/3 consultancy, 1/3 project management, 1/3 technical delivery. As our software and systems firms develop, they will find that the technical bits are only part of a total package, that includes project management, business analysis marketing etc. Indeed some have made the leap quite nicely. 7. Kenya ICT Board needs to continue to implement on the basis of supporting both export based services and exciting and growing the local entrepreneurs.
More from us once the final report is concluded.
Paul Kukubo Chief Executive Officer, Kenya ICT Board PO Box 27150 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya
12th Floor, Teleposta Towers Koinange Street
Tel +254 20 2089061, +254 20 2211960 Fax: +254 20 2211962 website: www.ict.go.ke local content project: www.tandaa.co.ke, www.facebook.com/tandaakenya twitter:@tandaaKENYA BPO Project: www. doitinkenya.co.ke Digital Villages Project: www.pasha.co.ke
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____________________ Vision: Kenya becomes a top ten global ICT hub
Mission: To champion and actively enable Kenya to adopt and exploit ICT, through promotion of partnerships, investments and infrastructure growth for socio economic enrichment