IBM team presents digital village recommendations to PS InfoCom

IBM Corporate Service Corps (CSC) consultants this week presented its recommendations to Kenya's Ministry of Information and Communications, in support of the roll out of the government's Digital Village initiative.

The team of 11 employees from 7 different countries arrived in Machakos in September for the one-month project. During this period, the IBM team has worked on a pro bono basis alongside the Kenya ICT Board, the Ministry of Information and Communication and Digital Opportunity Trust (DOT) with the purpose of narrowing the digital divide between rural and urban areas and accelerating the growth of ICT in Kenya.

The project, which is part of IBM's global Corporate Service Corps Initiative, is the first of its kind in Kenya. It follows the announcement made last month in Nairobi by IBM's Chairman and CEO Samuel Palmisano about the company's deal with Bharti Airtel to transform mobile communications across Africa.

The recommendations made by the IBM team included; ensuring that the Digital Village initiative is based on three core pillars: affordable and reliable Information and Communications Technologies (ICT); locally relevant content; and a thorough communications plan to ensure the awareness and support of local communities; the implemention of basic ICT services; e-Government services; educational services and entrepreneurial services. These services will help to ensure the development of rural ICT literacy and build a foundation for the sustainable expansion and growth of the project.

The IBM team also recommend that ICT entrepreneurs should be empowered to successfully run digital villages by providing them with a continuous support framework on technical and business topics and implementing a standardized technical platform and standardized business processes to ensure the interoperability of different systems.

"The government of Kenya welcomes IBM's Corporate Service Corps program as an important example of corporate citizenship and model for private-public-civil society cooperation," said Dr. Bitange Ndemo, Permanent Secretary, Kenya Ministry of Information and Communications Technology. "Working together with government officials and key stakeholders in rural areas, the IBM team has provided a road map for the Digital Village initiative. As part of Kenya's 2030 vision, the project supports progress and development in Kenya's rural areas."

"IBM is well known for helping public and private sector organizations and companies around the world to leverage technology to drive innovation and do things smarter," said Tony Mwai, Country General Manager for IBM East Africa. "In bringing the Corporate Service Corps Program to East Africa, we are able to offer our wealth of skills and experience to benefit local communities so that they can grow, prosper and compete in a global economy. IBM also benefits from the experience by growing its next generation of leaders with the skills required to lead in a globally integrated world," Mwai concluded.

"The first CSC team in Kenya has been instrumental in developing a strategy for the roll out of the government's Digital Village initiative and has contributed to cross-cultural awareness with IBMers from seven countries working and living side-by-side with the citizens of Kenya," said Jane Jamieson, Vice President, DOT Global. "As a global NGO Partner for the CSC program, DOT has worked closely with IBM East Africa to design and implement the CSC program launch in Kenya."

The Corporate Service Corps is a global IBM initiative designed to provide small businesses, educational institutions and non-profit organizations in growth markets with sophisticated business consulting and skills development to help improve local conditions and foster job creation. IBM deploys teams of top employees from around the world representing IT, research, marketing, finance, and business development to growth markets for a period of one month. The employees work pro bono with local organizations and businesses on projects that intersect business, technology and society.

The Kenya initiative is part of a programme of African activity which began in 2008 and during which IBM has so far deployed 24 teams of its employees to Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and Egypt. By the end of 2010, IBM will have deployed almost 950 of its consultants, serving on 90 teams across 18 different countries around the world. Projects vary from assisting networks of entrepreneurs and small businesses to the utilization of information technology by communities left behind the "digital divide."