CIO East Africa February Edition 2017

VOL 9 | ISSUE 2 | www.cio.co.ke

LEADERSHIP TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS

February 2017

E

A

S

T

A

F

R

I

C

A

Kenya 14 Eclectics on innovative

technology to change Africa’s financial sector

Africa on 29 Westcon transforming technology supply chains

More 34 Wanted: women CIOs (but do they want the job)?

HUDUMA KENYA on digital transformation in Government Service Delivery

Kshs. 300 Ushs. 9,000 Tshs. 6,000 RWF. 2,200 Rest of the World US $ 9 An publication

Editor’s note E

A

S

T

A

F

Kenya

R

I

C

A

Uganda

Tanzania

Rwanda

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Harry Hare EDITOR Rob Hough TECHNICAL STAFF WRITERS Lillian Mutegi Baraka Jefwa Jeanette Oloo COLUMNISTS Bobby Yawe Sam Mwangi HEAD OF SALES & MARKETING Andrew Karanja BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Njambi Waruhiu ACCOUNT MANAGERS Amuyunzu Oscar Vanessa Obura SUBSCRIPTION & EVENTS Ellen Magembe Mellisa Dorsila DESIGN Nebojsa Dolovacki Published By

Printed By:

Offset Printing Ltd. Contacts

eDevelopment House : 604 Limuru Road Old Muthaiga : P O Box 49475 00100 Nairobi : Kenya +254 725 855 249, Email: info@cio.co.ke

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED The content of CIO East Africa is protected by copyright law, full details of which are available from the publisher. While great care has been taken in the receipt and handling of material, production and accuracy of content in this magazine, the publisher will not accept any responsility for any errors, loss or ommisions which may occur.

4

Rob Hough

NEW BEGINNINGS I’M NEW HERE IN THE COMPANY, CITY, COUNTRY AND CONTINENT, IN THE WAKE OF WORKING FROM SILICON VALLEY TO SAUDI ARABIA.

I

n talking to a colleague about places we’ve both visited in San Francisco, California, I remembered being in one of those places at the right time and seeing the iPhone on the day it was introduced. We all looked at it like we were looking at space aliens with three heads.

I saw the little world-changer on its debut day because I was down the street getting a new passport, couldn’t pass up a chance to see it. Voices throughout the world can overuse words like “revolutionary,” but the iPhone surely qualified.

And because U.S. passports are valid for 10 years, I was back on that street last month, getting a new passport as the world’s media noted the iPhone’s 10th anniversary. Some reports looked at the decade that had passed since Steve Jobs strode across the stage.

Enormous tech strides aside, decades bring changes. Some people see their children become adults. People go from being single to married and having children. People come into our lives and some leave forever. In 2007, on the SF street of passports and the iPhone, I said a first hello to someone who left the world seven years later. The world and my life changed on that street.

We’ll always see changes in our lives and in IT, but early 2007 to present might have been the most impactful decade in tech. Think about state-of-theart equipment and software 10 years ago; the amount of internet access, much less broadband; the costs of access, hardware and software; what we could and couldn’t do online. iPhone debuted with 128 MB of RAM, a 3.5-inch screen with 320x480 resolution at 163 ppi and 4 or 8 GB of storage, for US $499 and $599, respectively – with a two-year service contract. In the presentation, Jobs, who died less than five

years after that big day, said the phone’s battery provided a best-in-class total of 5 hours of talk, video and browsing.

My Nokia Lumia 520, far more powerful than the first iPhone, cost US $80 in 2013, with no contract. It has just 512 MB of RAM and 16 GB of storage, but it gets the job done. Do new phones tempt me? Oh yes they do.

My sentiment, though, is similar to one shared in this issue by Martin Mirero, head of ICT at Huduma Kenya, the government services program with a considerable range of online services.

In an substantive, insightful interview, Mr. Mirero suggested to CIOs and high-level IT professionals that they should “stop selling specs and features, and start selling value.”

If that’s what IT executives should focus on, the 10th anniversary of the iPhone’s introduction – where I just got my passport and remembered my first meeting with someone who’s gone – brought to mind some thoughts about value.

IT is our work. It powers so much of our lives, helps people, creates human connections and keeps them together. Maybe it’s more invaluable than valuable.

In my first week here, I used my aging. inexpensive Nokia to take and share pictures of Nairobi with people in five countries. Let us not not lose sight of how far IT has come or discount its value – while we remember that perhaps the things with the greatest value aren’t things.

TO CONTACT ME:

CIO EAST AFRICA | FEBRUARY 2017 | www.cio.co.ke

QUOTED VERBATIM

Martin Mirero, Director of ICT at Huduma Kenya.

CIOs have been conditioned to think in terms of features and capabilities and not much on how that translates to business value. Businesses are not all about technology but it’s all about the value.

Technology enables but it’s the impact that consumersappreciate.

FROM OUR ONLINE LOCATIONS Five most popular stories on www.cio.co.ke Report: Global container fleet market records increase in adoption of fleet management systems AccuWeather debuts Amazon Fire TV App at CES 2017 CES 2017 Opens with Next-Generation Innovation New survey: Enterprises prefer Microsoft Azure while SMBs favor Google Cloud platform

Bob Collymore, CEO Safaricom.

While businesses can’t stop famine or alter the course of climate shifts already in motion, they can adjust their own behavior to help mitigate these crises.

Mahindra Comviva forays into M-learning with PalmLeaf

Five top facebook.com/ cioeastafrica posts with highest reach IFMIS, iTax and Central Bank of Kenya systems now integrated East Africa to benefit from new Kshs. 15 billion cable system

Bob Yawe Columnist CIO East Africa

The relevance of the CIO in an organisation no longer has anything to do with the heat spewing devices but in leveraging the existing technology wherever it might be sitting to enable the organisation deliver on its promises to its clients.

East Africa’s eHealth scene gets boost amidst doctor’s strike in Kenya Trump names net neutrality foe Ajit Pai to lead the FCC Microsoft, Ecobank sign MoU to drive Africa’s digital transformation

Five top tweets with the highest reaction

Paul Mbugua Eclectics Kenya Managing Director.

Automation is already here but then Innovation never dies and banks need to focus on the data they have. Big Data is a big buzz word, but banks need to use this data to analyze and make predictive decisions to address the issues in the market.

Manual Voting vs Electronic Voting in Kenya - CIO East Africa Nakumatt re-launch motorised shopping carts to provide a pleasant shopping experience for persons living with physical disabilities.

Now this: BaaS!!!

89 students graduated from the Presidential Digital Talent Programme Report: Global container fleet market records increase in adoption of fleet management systems

www.cio.co.ke | FEBRUARY 2017 | CIO EAST AFRICA

5

GUEST EDITORIAL

BY BOB COLLYMORE

WHAT THE JACARANDA IS TELLING BUSINESS FOR THE LAST TEN YEARS AS I WORKED IN AFRICA, I HAVE BEEN PRIVILEGED TO WITNESS FIRST-HAND ONE OF THE GREATEST NATURAL WONDERS IN THE WORLD.

T

o much of Africa, the annual blooming of the Jacaranda tree (Jacaranda mimosifolia) is as iconic as the Cherry Blossoms in Japan, the Fall Foliage in Northeast America, or the Sunflower Fields of Tuscany, Italy.

More recently it’s become known as #JacarandaPropaganda – and Twitter is full of remarkable pictures from this year’s stunning blooms.

The spectacular purple eruption usually occurs in October and November, has become an annual treat for many visitors to the continent.

This year in Nairobi, the Jacaranda bloom was especially noticeable as it came earlier and lasted longer than in previous years.

It was also the first flowering of the trees since the 2015 season.

It seems the trees have a new story to tell.

Alongside a number of other indicators, the Jacaranda tree has been earmarked by climate experts as one of the natural gauges of climate change. Environmentalists expect that the plants will start shooting and flowering earlier in the year as a result of climate change warming the Earth.

These small yet subtle changes reveal that climate change is continuing to affect increasingly diverse ecosystems across Africa.

Today, East Africa is currently facing the worst drought of its history.

According to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, food security in the region is expected to deteriorate over the coming months with improvements not expected until June in pastoral ar6

eas and July in agropastoral areas, at the earliest.

Our environment has a new story to tell business.

Unfortunately, Climate Change is not a conversation that many African businesses are prepared to have, despite the fact that Africa stands to become the fastest growing and pivotal markets in the world over the next 20 years.

But in order to achieve that growth sustainably, we will need to act now.

We need to ensure this growth does not rely on the high carbon inputs that have traditionally fuelled that progress in other markets.

While businesses can’t stop famine or alter the course of climate shifts already in motion, they can adjust their own behavior to help mitigate these crises.

New research from the Business and Sustainable Development Commission finds that putting a price on environmental externalities can incentivize them to do so.

The Better Business, Better World report highlights the initiatives that leaders from business, finance, civil society, labour, and international organisations can take to pursue the Global Goals.

Too few leaders know that the Global Goals offer companies a tremendous new growth strategy that could also help rebuild their trust with society and expand access to new market opportunities in ways that extend prosperity to all.

They can help create sustainable markets, drive greater stability, and protect society and environment alike.

The Report also finds that should businesses start applying a ‘Global Goals lens’ to every aspect of their strategies, there are tangible financial benefits they can expect to receive.

When it comes to Climate Change, the Report finds that market growth can only take place if all players identify the true costs of the way they do business – by truly internalising the externalities of their business.

For a business like Safaricom, that would mean analyzing how to continue to ensure our carbon intensity decreases as our network and traffic increases.

The Better Business, Better World Report also advises what business leaders can do to work with regulators, peers and civil society to shape policies that make markets work better and more fairly.

This will naturally lead to a logical progression towards re-focusing their attention on their critical resources, property use and pollution metrics.

In short, it will enable us to better understand what the Jacaranda trees are telling us.

Today, East Africa is currently facing the worst drought of its history.

CIO EAST AFRICA | FEBRUARY 2017 | www.cio.co.ke

CONTENTS

FEBRUARY 2017 6 Technology Tantrums 8 InBrief 9 Appointments 10 Regional RoundUP TREND LINES

HOW TO

13

East African CIOs should lead digital innovation at their organisations

33

14

Eclectics Kenya on changing the face of financial sector in Africa through innovative technologies

36

PICTORIAL

17

2016 The Year That Was!

TREND LINES

19 26

20

Cover story:

24

on digital transformation in Government Service Delivery

29

Westcon Africa on transforming the technology supply chain

Mastercard on driving Digital Transformation in the Agriculture sector

32

Manage IT: A startup from the mind of a former top Tech executive

Hands on: Apple’s AirPods are indeed ‘magical’

OPINION

38 39

Identity Powered Security

40 41

The New Way of Shopping

What is the biggest barrier to digital transformation?

START UP CORNER

www.cio.co.ke | FEBRUARY 2017 | CIO EAST AFRICA

PRODUCT REVIEW

FEATURE

Huduma Kenya IT AND LEADERSHIP

CMOs much more likely than CIOs to lead digital transformation

5 things you should know about the blockchain

The Traditional Banking Model Under Threat

Convergence of Marketing and Finance: Using New Models And Big Data To Better Understand Financial Risk

Hard TALK

42

A Profession Disrupted – Episode 2

WOMEN & TECH

34

Wanted: More women CIOs (but do they want the job?)

7

IN BRIEF AROUND

AROUND the

WORLD

STANDARD BANK INTRODUCES SHYFT, A FOREIGN EXCHANGE APP

FACEBOOK SET TO BUILD EIGTH DATACENTRE IN ODENSE, DENMARK

STANDARD BANK HAS INTRODUCED SHYFT, A PLATFORM THAT ENABLES CUSTOMERS’ PERSONAL FOREIGN EXCHANGE TRANSACTIONS FROM THEIR MOBILE DEVICES. THE GLOBAL WALLET IS NOW AVAILABLE FROM ANDROID AND APPLE STORES.

FACEBOOK HAS ANNOUNCED PLANS TO START BUILDING ITS EIGHTH DATA CENTER AND THIRD IN EUROPE IN ODENSE, DENMARK.

C

ustomers are able to buy and store 4 currencies at a time suitable to them and paperwork is eliminated. The app also allows use the currencies to make online purchases using their virtual cards, send or pay an international beneficiary or use the Shyft physical card to swipe or withdraw from an ATM when travelling overseas.

ECONET WIRELESS TO REIMBURSE CUSTOMERS ECONET WIRELESS, ZIMBABWE’S LEADING TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY HAS DECIDED TO REIMBURSE CUSTOMERS WHO WERE AFFECTED BY RECENT TARIFF HIKES, WHICH WERE SUBSEQUENTLY REVERSED, ACCORDING TO A REPORT FROM NEWS DAY.

E

conet raised its prices on data and voice calls on the 11th of January 2017 and the decision was met by public outrage according to eNCA.

In a message to its subscribers, Econet announced its position, “Dear valued customer: Following the tariff reversal, we have refunded you 43 megabytes (MB), from your purchase of data bundles between 11 and 12. We regret any inconvenience. Thank you.”

TELKOM | BUSINESS CONNEXION WINS 2016 FORTINET GROWTH PARTNER OF THE YEAR AWARD TELKOM | BUSINESS CONNEXION ANNOUNCED THAT IT WAS NAMED FORTINET’S 2016 EMEA GROWTH PARTNER OF THE YEAR.

T

elkom | Business Connexion was honoured during Fortinet’s Accelerate 2017 global partner conference, an annual gathering of more than 1,300 top partners from around the globe. Fortinet’s 2016 Partner of the Year awards recognise outstanding cybersecurity sales, customer experience, collaboration, and marketing achievements from the company’s distributors and resellers around the world.

The Datacenter will be powered by 100% renewable energy and support thousands of jobs in the community over the next few years.

“Data centers are the physical infrastructure to support our community. They’re basically giant machines that control power, temperature, connectivity and maintenance for tens of thousands of little machines inside them,” said Mark Zuckerberg Founder and CEO Facebook.

With more people going live and sharing video, the data center will help make sure Facebook keeps running smoothly for all of you.

TRUMP TO TECH CEOS: WE’RE THERE FOR YOU PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP KICKED OFF A MEETING WITH U.S. TECH LEADERS BY PROMISING HIS ADMINISTRATION WAS THERE TO HELP THEM DO BUSINESS AND MAKE MONEY.

A

mong the issues the tech CEOs might discuss with Trump is his proposed curbs to immigration. Silicon Valley relies on bringing in large numbers of immigrants every year or keeping them in the U.S. after college. Making immigration more difficult or restricting the number of H-1B high-skill visas available could cause tech companies problems.

In attendance were Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Eric Schmidt, Alphabet’s Larry Page, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, IBM’s Ginni Rommety, Tesla’s Elon Musk, Oracle’s Safra Catz, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Intel’s Brian Krzanich, Cisco’s Chuck Robbins, and Palantir’s Alex Karp.

On notable absence: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Trump is a keen Twitter user, especially known for a series of controversial late night tweets, but Dorsey wasn’t in attendance.

The Fortinet Growth Partner of the Year award rewards the leading strategic partner that has exhibited consistent, sustainable and profitable growth that contributed to the business success of Fortinet.

8

CIO EAST AFRICA | FEBRUARY 2017 | www.cio.co.ke

APPOINTMENTS INTERSWITCH EAST AFRICA APPOINTS PAUL MWAURA NDICHU NEW CEO Interswitch East Africa has appointed Paul Mwaura Ndichu as the firm’s new CEO. Prior to Interswitch, Mr. Mwaura was the managing director of Jumia Group, where he was responsible for leading the team behind the taxi-hailing mobile application known as Easy Taxi.

Between May 2016 to November 2016, he was the lead consultant at Little Cab, a Safaricom-backed taxi-hailing app.

Mr. Mwaura holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Curtin University in Perth, Australia and is completing an MBA in Technology and Innovation at London School of Business. He also holds certificates from Harvard University and Stanford University in Leadership, Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

IBM APPOINTS ELIZABETH (LIZZ) NTONJIRA NEW EXTERNAL RELATIONS LEADER, E. AFRICA Elizabeth (Lizz) Ntonjira has been appointed as the External Relations Leader for IBM East Africa.

Prior to joining IBM, Ms Ntonjira was the Communications, Campaigns & Outreach Manager for Tax Justice Network-Africa. She was also Policy Facilitation and Learning Specialist, East & Southern Africa, for Winrock International.

Ms Ntonjira also worked as the Manager, Public Relations, Communications and External Affairs for Competition Authority of Kenya and was also a Business Anchor and Reporter at NTV, Nation Media Group.

Elizabeth, hold a Law Degree (LLB Law) from The Catholic University of Eastern Africa and she is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Public Policy ManagementStrathmore Business School.

KENYA POWER BOARD OF DIRECTORS APPOINT DR. KEN TARUS AS ACTING MD AND CEO The Kenya Power Board of Directors has appointed Dr. Ken Tarus as the Acting Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Company with effect from January 4th 2017.

This follows the departure of now-former MD and CEO Dr. Ben Chumo, at the end of his contract period, on 6th January, 2017.

Dr. Tarus, 46, brings with him over 20 years’ corporate leadership and management experience, five of which are in the energy sector. Prior to his appointment, he was the Company’s General Manager in charge of Finance and a member of the executive management team for a period of two years.

Previously, Dr Tarus worked at the Rural Electrification Authority as head of Finance between 2012 and 2014 prior to which he was the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Finance, Planning and Administration at KCA University.

He has held various leadership roles in the local banking sector as Head of Finance, IT and Administration at Bank of Africa, Financial Controller at Standard Chartered Bank and diverse positions at Kenya Commercial Bank.

He holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Business Administration (Finance) from Kabarak University, an MBA from the University of Nairobi and a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the same institution. Dr. Tarus is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the Kenya Institute of Management. www.cio.co.ke | FEBRUARY 2017 | CIO EAST AFRICA

9

REGIONAL ROUND-UP

COMPILED BY JEANETTE OLOO

CIO EAST AFRICA TO HOST ANNUAL YEAR AHEAD EVENT IN NAIROBI CIO EAST AFRICA WILL HOST ITS ANNUAL YEAR AHEAD EVENT IN NAIROBI ON 16TH FEBRUARY 2017.

T

he event seeks to set pace for the East African technology industry for the next 12 months by pin pointing and covering the effective use of information and communication technology.

The event will also bring together users, analysts, vendors, business and professional associations, academics, government officials, and the press.

Some of the topics to be covered include: IT Security/ Cyber Defence, Big Data & Analytics, Enterprise Mobility, Cloud Computing, Internet of things and Storage.

The Year Ahead Event is part CIO East Africa events that focus on how technology helps enterprises and individuals succeed in East Africa and outlines how modern businesses, latest trends and key issues, the changing economic, social, and regulatory environments affect both the sale and use of ICT.

ECONNECT DEVISES ELECTRONIC SYSTEM TO FACILITATE TANZANIA’S PARENT-SCHOOL COMMUNICATION ELIMU CONNECT (ECONNECT), A WEB PORTAL IN TANZANIA THAT CONNECTS SCHOOLS TO AUTHORS BY ALLOWING STUDENTS TO VIEW AND DOWNLOADS BOOKS ONLINE FOR THEIR REFERENCES AND UPDATES FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD, DEVISED AN ELECTRONIC SYSTEM THAT WOULD EASILY FACILITATE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN PARENTS AND SCHOOL’S ADMINISTRATORS.

T

he system’s main objective is to solve the challenges of access to accurate and timely statistics that involve a number of schools, students and teachers.

According to Econnect’s Executive Director, Mr Hashimu Magesa, ”The system will help the government in development planning for education sector and helps various education stakeholders to easily know location of schools, theme, communication and short history of the schools they need.”

The electronic system is available free to schools that would require it while teachers would also be given free training to use the system. Parents will be required to contribute 300/- a month to get a text message via mobile phone to access or receive student reports.

10

CIO EAST AFRICA | FEBRUARY 2017 | www.cio.co.ke

REGIONAL ROUND-UP

UGANDA STRENGTHENS BORDER SECURITY WITH DIGITAL SECURITY COMPANY UGANDA HAS BEEN AIMING TO IMPROVE ITS TRAVEL INDUSTRY HENCE IS USING TECHNOLOGY TO SPEED VISA ISSUANCE AND STRENGTHEN BORDER SECURITY.

T

he country is on the right track with its recent partnership with digital security company, Gemalto. The partnership will see Gemalto supply Uganda’s Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control (DCIC) with its Coesys Visa Management that combines swift issuance of all visas and permits with biometric enrollment upon arrival.

Gemalto will also support the new solution with integration, deployment, maintenance and training for Ugandan immigration officers. The new scheme allows the authorities to manage the entire visa life cycle from application to issuance.

This turnkey solution incorporates an online portal to apply for visas and permits at any time prior to travel. Legitimate visitors receive their Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) by email. Upon arrival in Uganda, visitors get their visas after ETA check, verification of passports and the collection of their biometric data (fingerprints) to uniquely match travelers to the documents they are presenting.

The solution has an alert system that detects and manages undesirable applicants.

It also creates a centralized traveler database secured by an Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) to share, search and match electronic fingerprints accessible by authorities all over the country.

RWANDAN PARLIAMENT PASSES LAW TO GROW ITS ECONOMY WITH MODERN TECHNOLOGIES RWANDAN PARLIAMENT APPROVED A LAW EARLIER THIS YEAR IN A BID TO GROW THE COUNTRY’S ECONOMY WITH MODERN TECHNOLOGIES KNOWLEDGE.

T

he law establishes an ICT centre - Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA) which enables the implementation of Smart Rwanda Master Plan, a new ICT policy adopted by Cabinet in November 2015. The plan outlines a five-year ICT implementation framework for the country which in turn will develop Rwanda into knowledge based economy.

According to media reports, the Minister for Youth and ICT (MYICT), Jean-Philbert Nsengimana, said ICT has a promising vision, citing the fourth revolution era that humanity is entering, where financial transformations will be led by information and communication technology.

The chairperson of the parliamentary Standing Committee on ICT and Education, Agnes Mukazibera, said the centre will help accelerate development through effective sharing and transfer of information, communication and technology.

In addition, Rwanda Development Board’s ICT chamber staff will be redeployed to the center. www.cio.co.ke | FEBRUARY 2017 | CIO EAST AFRICA

11

Managing Succesful Projects with PRINCE2

JOIN OUR NEXT PRINCE2 FOUNDATION + PRACTITIONER CERTIFICATION TRAINING BY A GLOBALLY ACCLAIMED TRAINER PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) is the most successful Project Management framework in the world - it has become the de-facto standard in both the private and public sectors.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

SPECIAL OFFER US$1,100

Project Managers, Project Sponsors, General Managers, Project Team Members, Consultants, Business Owners

For both Prince2 Foundation and Practitioner certification training including course material, meals and 2 Exams.

FREE “Managing Successful Projects” Book Valued US$ 160 Registration on a first-come-first served basis. Book Now!

Contact Us: +254-725-855-249, or email: lnfo@afrlcanedevelopment.org Venue: eDevelopment House, Llmuru Rd , Old Muthalp, Nairobi, Kenya

TREND LINES

EAST AFRICAN CIOS SHOULD LEAD DIGITAL INNOVATION AT THEIR ORGANISATIONS CIOS IN EAST AFRICA MUST WORK CLOSELY WITH THEIR BOARDS TO INVEST IN TECHNOLOGY THAT ENABLES THEIR ORGANISATIONS TO THRIVE IN A TIME OF MORE DEMANDING CUSTOMERS, DIGITAL DISRUPTION AND FIERCER GLOBAL COMPETITION. ROBUST CORE BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND THE CLOUD ARE ESSENTIAL.

T

hat’s according to Billy Owino, Regional Director for Sage East Africa. He says that the pace of change in the business world is accelerating because of trends such as mobile-first customers and employees, big data, and intelligent, connected sensors and devices in the workplace.

“CIOs must lead innovation in their organisations by accelerating the move away from monolithic, legacy software to more agile solutions ready for this new world,” he adds. “Businesses need core business management solutions that are leaner, more focused, more modular and more agile to remain competitive in a changing market. These solutions help organisations be more competitive, efficient and responsive.”

Cloud is an important enabler for mobility, the Internet of Things, big data, and other disruptive trends in business software, he adds. It gives organisations flexibility and choice in how they purchase business systems, provides the processing muscle to cope with massive data sets, and provides easy access to applications and data wherever people are.

THE FUTURE IS MOBILE AND CONNECTED

because they have access to inventory, customer and service level data wherever they are.

THE INTERNET OF THINGS IS HERE Another trend organisations must be ready for is the Internet of Things, where devices in the home, office and factory are increasingly equipped with Internet-connected sensors. This allows them to monitor themselves as well as gather contextual information (temperature or GPS location, for example), and share it with other devices and services.

The result? Connected devices can take automated actions without a human being in the middle to make decisions. Says Owino: “Sensors in a shop could trigger a request for stock when a shelf is becoming bare or a factory could monitor the uptime and condition of its robots and machines, alerting a technician when preventative maintenance is necessary.”

DATA, DATA EVERYWHERE “Mobile access, the Internet of Things, and growth in unstructured data in the business mean that companies need business management solutions that can feed their strategies for big data an-

alytics,” says Owino. “Cloud-based solutions are a good match for businesses that still rely on legacy systems or manual processes – they can be deployed rapidly, offer high levels of scalability and security, and allow East African businesses to modernise their applications without large investments in data centre infrastructure.”

In addition, the cloud empowers East African companies to streamline their IT environments and eliminate many of the traditional risks that lead to data loss, security breaches and systems.

“Using the cloud for accounting and other applications means keeping the information stored in a secure data centre where the professionals look after it,” says Owino. “It takes the burden of data backups and patching applications from the CIO and the IT department, allowing them to focus on business innovation rather than IT administration.”

“For CIOs, trends such as the cloud, mobility and big data are a massive opportunity to help their organisations improve their competitive advantage and grow their businesses,” Owino says.

“The CIO’s role is more important than ever as companies try to make sense of the latest disruptive technologies.”

Owino says mobile is the future of “everything” and solution providers like Sage are giving enterprises the power to control their businesses from the palm of their hand. Organisations must give their customers, employees and business partners access to business applications and data wherever they are.

Today’s business software is designed to make collaboration easy and draws inspiration from consumer mobile apps and social networking tools for its look and feel.

This gives the workforce the ability to respond to problems and opportunities in real-time. Executives can sign off processes from their tablets or check KPIs, while field sales and service team members can better serve customers www.cio.co.ke | FEBRUARY 2017 | CIO EAST AFRICA

13

TREND LINES

BY LILIAN MUTEGI

ECLECTICS KENYA ON INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY

TO CHANGE AFRICA’S FINANCIAL SECTOR The changing era in the banking system; mobile banking, banking Apps and internet banking has offered a wide range of delivering channels in banking.

B

anks have seen it prudent to exploit the opportunities that arise from these developments and changes to remain more competitive since the most successful financial institutions in the future will be those that are able to leverage most from the information and communications technology revolution.

For instance, Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), One of East Africa’s largest banks, earlier in the year commenced the use of a new Electronic Customer Relationship Management System aimed at improving customer experience and turn-around time.

Through the System, the Bank will be able to use the system to manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle, with the goal of improving business relationships with customers, assisting in customer retention and driving sales growth.

With the launch of ECRM-a system, information will be more accessible within KCB Kenya and other KCB subsidiaries on all customer interactions and requests which will be available through a Unified Desktop with a 360-degree view of customers.

14

The new system provides KCB with the unique opportunity and ability to track the details of every interaction so as to provide the right service at the right time irrespective of the channel of interaction chosen by our customers.

This goes along way to show how the banking industry was increasingly taking to mobile platforms to increase access and cut costs associated with the brick-and-mortar model.

But then who exactly is behind the deployment of this particular product for for KCB as well as M-CO-OP Cash by Co-operative Bank?

Well, little known about organization, Eclectics International started seven years ago with a vision to provide affordable technology addressing financial needs for the financial sector that is for banks, microfinance and SACCOs. “We clearly understood the tech providers were focusing mainly on core-banking solutions while everything was moving into digital banking. We are an technology savvy company whose business is to innovate, design, develop, deploy and support state of the art tailor-made software, for the Banking and Financial sector,” said Paul Mbugua Eclectics CIO EAST AFRICA | FEBRUARY 2017 | www.cio.co.ke

TREND LINES er dies and banks need to focus on the data they have. Big Data is a big buzz word, but banks need to use this data to analyze and make predictive decisions to address the issues in the market,” he said,

Kenya Managing Director in an interview with CIO East Africa.

The Company goes a long way to conduct complex systems audits and evaluations for purposes of recommending their effectiveness and deployment and addressing major pain points for financial institutions.

So far Mr. Mbugua pointed out that Eclectics Kenya had implemented ICT systems in over 20 countries and with ongoing projects in Botswana, Zambia, Ethiopia, Southern Sudan, Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Malawi, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.

“We believe that we are not only your technology and software provider but your Information and Communication Technology Partner. We utilize technology from renowned software engineering powerhouses to develop next generation products that are compatible with the emerging trends and ISO standards,” he added.

Eclectics has in-house expertise in diverse Core Banking Systems (CBS) acquired over the years due to our involvement in CBS implementations and CBS integration projects developing software components and applications for Windows, Solaris, Macintosh, Unix and Linux platforms among others.

With a wide range of services for banks some notable solutions include: Automatic Reconciliation System, Eworkflow: a software that helps to define, administer and coordinate different business processes. Cheque Truncation and Imagining System: a cheque clearing system undertaken by clearing house of Central Banks for faster clearing of cheques.

Other services include Internet & Mobile Banking, Mobile Wallet and Agency Banking, Enterprise Service Bus (Econnect ESB): is a multi-channel online interface that can be enabled according to your priority areas of automation and Fast Account opening: A unique, affordable, and easy bank account that is easily manage.

“With our services we are able to give customers access to bank services on a 24 hour basis. We also drive cost efficiency for banks at the back office.

We also implement products and solutions that meet regulatory frameworks as well as drive customer experience through multi-channel solutions,” added Mr. Mbugua.

On why the company choose to focus on software development for a sector that is termed as quite complex and how they are able to stay ahead of the pack, Mr. Mbugua said that to them this was more like a leap of faith,” In Financial development there is no room for errors. Security becomes one critical area to comply with. As Eclectis we are PCIDSI Cerified and that means we have certification on data security giving us a competitive edge with the likes of Oracle and IBM.

He added that the other thing would be customer experience, “Proper understanding of a customer will easily give you a better understanding of their need there a higher need of retention.

The future is also around Internet of Things, which is simply connecting everything to the cloud.”

“Banks are going to data, channels, customer experience, and workflow automation process in the back office.

We are addressing this four area we address. Two years ago we started the customer experience journey. We zeroed in to Microsoft Dynamics and customized it to banks requirements for customers. In 2013, when KCB Bank opened the tender on CRM implementation we applied and won the tender amongst the tech giants and we were able to address the issues and challenges the company faced through the ECRM System. Through this we were able to win the Microsoft WECA Award.” Added Mr. Mbugua.

In 2015 Eclectis Kenya through its innovations in the banking sector also moved a notch higher and received the Microsoft WECA Dynamics Industry award. This is basically an award for being the best company in the West, East, Central Africa (WECA) region in the past year in the Dynamics partner space.

“For us we also believe that solutions have to be innovative and not a replacement of manual systems. We have to invest heavily on our R&D Department that will look at existing processes in a bank and come up with engineered and simplified processes that can achieve revenue leakage, efficiency, reporting and accountability,” he added.

On the future for Banking, ”Automation is already here but then Innovation nev-

www.cio.co.ke | FEBRUARY 2017 | CIO EAST AFRICA

15

BY ARTHUR KINTU

PICTORIAL

2016 THE YEAR THAT WAS! 2016 WAS AN AMAZING YEAR FOR CIO EAST AFRICA. FIRST, WE HELD THE FIRST AFRICAN SUMMIT ON SECURITY IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ORACLE, THEN IN NOVEMBER WE HELD THE CIO 100 EVENT IN ENASHIPAI RESORT AND SPA, NAIVASHA. WE ALSO HAD A NUMBER OF BREAKFAST SERIES ACROSS EAST AFRICAN REGION. HERE IS A RECAP OF THE YEAR THAT WAS!

An ongoing panel discussion on Cybersecurity at CIO Executive Breakfast held in Nairobi Kenya.

CIO East Africa Executive Breakfast held in Dar-es-Salaam Tanzania. The breakfast meeting was sponsored by SAP.

Equity Bank launch of Eazzy Pay Platform www.cio.co.ke | FEBRUARY 2017 | CIO EAST AFRICA

Attendees of CIO East Africa Executive Breakfast held in Kamapala, Uganda.

One of the Golfers at the CIO Golf 2016 that was held in Limuru.CIO Golf marks CIO East Africa anniversary.

And there was also DEMO Africa held in Johannesburg South Africa in August 2016.

Dr. James Mwangi, the CEO Equity Bank with CIO East Africa staff during the 6th CIO 100 Event in Naivasha.

17

PICTORIAL

And it was a full house ar The 6th CIO 100 Event held in Naivasha

CIO East Africa Director Mr. Andrew Karanja (L), CIO East Africa CEO, Mr. Harry Hare (C) congratulate the 4th CIO of the Year, Mr. Kenneth Ogwang, Head of IT at EABL (R).

Attendees of the 6th CIO 100 Event held in Naivasha

CIO East Africa Directors engage with some of the attendees of the 6th CIO 100 Event

Mbugua Njihia, Events Director at DEMO Africa (L), Djiba Diallo Start-up Engagement Lead at Microsoft4Afrika (C) and Harry Hare, Executive Producer DEMO Africa (R) during a DEMO Africa press briefing

CIO East Africa Team during after the 6th CIO 100 event held in Naivasha.

Peter Gitau, CIO Standard Chartered Bank (East Africa) who graced the October CIO Issue with his ICT Team at the Standard Chartered Nairobi Offices.

Some of the attendees at CIO East Africa Executive Breakfast held in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania in partnership with SAP

The EABL ICT Team. EABL took the winners accolade at the cio 100 2016 because of its brilliantly implemented Distributor management System (DMS),

18

CIO EAST AFRICA | FEBRUARY 2017 | www.cio.co.ke

BY MATT KAPKO

TREND LINES

CMOS MUCH MORE LIKELY THAN CIOS TO LEAD DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION CMOS ARE NEARLY TWICE AS LIKELY AS CIOS TO LEAD DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION EFFORTS WITHIN THEIR ORGANIZATIONS, ACCORDING TO NEW RESEARCH FROM ALTIMETER GROUP.

T

he top three transformative initiatives — accelerating innovation, modernizing IT infrastructure and improving operational agility — typically fall under the responsibility of IT, but a disconnect exists between the trends driving change and the individuals who lead the efforts, according to Brian Solis, principal analyst at the research and advisory firm.

CIOs are more likely sit on the sidelines, because their agendas are already full, he says. When CIOs join an organization there’s usually a backlog of demanding projects they need to take over, according to Solis. “There’s an aspect of being in IT that is always looking in the past, or at least working in the past,” he says.

Conversely, CMOs “live and die by how successful they are in reaching new customers, driving sales and conversions.”

Altimeter says its research is based on interviews and survey data from 528 digital transformation leaders and strategists. CMOs lead digital transformation initiatives at 34 percent of the companies surveyed, followed by CEOs (27 percent), CIOs or CTOs (19 percent), and chief digital officers (15 percent), according to the report. CIOs may be behind others in the C-suite when it comes to transformation, but plenty of opportunity exists for IT leaders to take ownership, Solis says.

Data rich and knowledge poor “The more research I do, the more I’m surprised at how little companies are advancing,” Solis says. Many organizations are still beset by cultural challenges, rigid mindsets and a short supply of empathy, according to Solis. “The CIO doesn’t work the way their employees work, and the CMO doesn’t live the brand the way their customers live the brand.”

IT and marketing also have vastly different views of the future, he says. IT leaders need to keep their workforces productive and operations running smoothly, whereas marketers perpet-

ually struggle to keep up. “The entire [marketing] ecosystem is really about never keeping up, never having enough, and never being fast enough to keep up with all the customer changes and trends they’re seeing on the horizon,” Solis says.

“If there’s one thing that CIOs could get better at it’s becoming more human,” he says. “Technology is a function of how people operate, but the whole regime of the CIO was built upon command and control.” The more empathetic CIOs become, the more they can learn and understand that people aren’t going to conform, according to Solis.

“Now we have access to data, machine learning, artificial intelligence and all of these things that can help the company actually make better decisions,” he says. “But we’re still dealing with the way things were, and how we’re supposed to operate within the boxes that we’re in, when in fact there doesn’t even have to be a box.” #ENDShe top three transformative initiatives — accelerating innovation, modernizing IT infrastructure and improving operational agility — typically fall under the responsibility of IT, but a disconnect exists between the trends driving change and the individuals who lead the efforts, according to Brian Solis, principal analyst at the research and advisory firm.

CIOs are more likely sit on the sidelines, because their agendas are already full, he says. When CIOs join an organization there’s usually a backlog of demanding projects they need to take over, according to Solis. “There’s an aspect of being in IT that is always looking in the past, or at least working in the past,” he says.

Conversely, CMOs “live and die by how successful they are in reaching new customers, driving sales and conversions.”

Altimeter says its research is based on interviews and survey data from 528 digital transformation leaders and strategists. CMOs lead digital transfor-

www.cio.co.ke | FEBRUARY 2017 | CIO EAST AFRICA

mation initiatives at 34 percent of the companies surveyed, followed by CEOs (27 percent), CIOs or CTOs (19 percent), and chief digital officers (15 percent), according to the report. CIOs may be behind others in the C-suite when it comes to transformation, but plenty of opportunity exists for IT leaders to take ownership, Solis says.

Data rich and knowledge poor “The more research I do, the more I’m surprised at how little companies are advancing,” Solis says. Many organizations are still beset by cultural challenges, rigid mindsets and a short supply of empathy, according to Solis. “The CIO doesn’t work the way their employees work, and the CMO doesn’t live the brand the way their customers live the brand.”

IT and marketing also have vastly different views of the future, he says. IT leaders need to keep their workforces productive and operations running smoothly, whereas marketers perpetually struggle to keep up. “The entire [marketing] ecosystem is really about never keeping up, never having enough, and never being fast enough to keep up with all the customer changes and trends they’re seeing on the horizon,” Solis says.

“If there’s one thing that CIOs could get better at it’s becoming more human,” he says. “Technology is a function of how people operate, but the whole regime of the CIO was built upon command and control.” The more empathetic CIOs become, the more they can learn and understand that people aren’t going to conform, according to Solis.

“Now we have access to data, machine learning, artificial intelligence and all of these things that can help the company actually make better decisions,” he says. “But we’re still dealing with the way things were, and how we’re supposed to operate within the boxes that we’re in, when in fact there doesn’t even have to be a box.”

19

TREND LINES

BY HAFIZAH OSMAN

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST BARRIER TO DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION? Security is often seen as a barrier to digital transformation, being brought into the process too late to make a meaningful impact, according to a new study by Dell.

I

n its global Digital Transformation Security Survey, it found that more than three in four (76 per cent) of respondents said security is brought in too late to drive digital transformation initiatives, with 85 per cent saying security teams can better enable digital transformation initiatives if they are included early in the project.

More than 90 per cent said the security team can better enable the business if given more resources.

The study, fielded by Dimensional Research, polled 631 respondents globally, of which 100 were from Australia.

Dell said security teams often have been perceived as barriers to the business’s seamless adoption of new technologies because keeping the business secure trumps the benefits of technologies that foster employee productivity.

It added that today’s sophisticated, constantly morphing threat landscape makes it critical for organisations to evaluate their approach to security and ensure it spans not just the business, but also the devices accessing it and the practices used to enable that access.

But the study found that security is a key component for digital transformation in Australia and Germany.

Twenty per cent of Australian respondents acknowledged security teams have been brought across all digital technology projects. This is compared to 23 per cent in Germany, 18 per cent in the US, and 16 per cent in the UK. The survey also found that 97 per cent of respondents are currently investing in digital technologies to transform their business.

Those technologies include mobile, Cloud applications, Cloud infrastructures and IoT. But when looking to implement digital technology, Australian business care more about competitive pressure – 47 per cent of Australian respondents said this is a key driver behind their company’s digital transformation.

This compares to 37 per cent as a global average.

Other findings include:

51% 27% 75% -Of the four key digital technologies companies are investing in, Australian companies stand out with 51 per cent looking to leverage the IoT. This is below the global average of 55 per cent.

20

-27 per cent of Australian businesses are looking to leverage Cloud platforms or Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), well above the global average of 20 per cent.

-75 per cent of global businesses say the need to increase employee productivity is the driving force behind digital transformation initiatives, while 67 per cent cite business growth.

CIO EAST AFRICA | FEBRUARY 2017 | www.cio.co.ke

DELIVERING CONNECTIVITY ACROSS AFRICA’S MINING REGION Fast and reliable connectivity is transforming mining operations across Africa. Find out how Liquid Telecom is working alongside mining customers to provision networks that can support future high-bandwidth applications.

T

he mining industry must dig deep during a challenging 2017 in which falling commodity prices are expected to continue to impact profitability and sustainability. At the same time, many existing mines are maturing, forcing mining companies to look further afield in their pursuit of valuable minerals.

According to McKinsey & Company, global mining operations are 28% less productive than a decade ago, as mining companies have slim-lined expansion plans and refocused on doing more with less.

Despite the rich mining potential across sub-Saharan Africa, the forecast for the region’s mining sector growth also remains slow as companies face operational challenges and regulatory uncertainty. Much hope and expectation for the sector’s future therefore lies with technology and innovation, which are key to enhancing productivity, reducing risk and unlocking new efficiencies throughout mining operations.

The vision of a connected mine is slowly becoming a reality as some of the world’s largest mining companies look towards emerging technologies such as cloud and Big Data to revolutionise the performance of their mining operations.

As more mining companies pursue automation across their operations, greater focus is falling on connectivity.

As a result, mining companies across Africa are on the lookout for higher quality network services – even to mines located in some of the remotest corners of the continent.

Fibre to the mine To understand how enhanced connectivity is transforming mining operations across Africa, let’s look at the example of Metorex; an established

mid-tier mining company with two mines in the DRC and one in Zambia. Its African HQ is in Johannesburg and its corporate HQ is in Hong Kong.

In 2013, Metorex completely reorganised its ICT infrastructure and functions to create a central management platform for employees to work more productively. However, following the introduction of the new platform – to a very positive reaction internally – it soon became clear that Metorex needed to review its connectivity.

Fast and reliable links were essential between its three mines, South Africa and Hong Kong HQ. Following detailed research into its options and after recommendations from industry Mill feed at Chibuluma mine

experts, Metorex chose Liquid Telecom to provide a single solution for all its connectivity requirements.

Metorex and Liquid Telecom restructured the network topology and calculated the most cost-effective way of connecting each site using an MPLS EP-LAN solution. MPLS is of particular importance to mining companies as it provides the required flexibility for legacy systems. In Zambia, new fibre was laid to the Chibuluma mine from Liquid Telecom’s existing fibre network, and the mine was connected within just one week of Liquid Telecom being appointed.

Four months later, the Ruashi mine in the DRC was connected using a 5.8GHz point-to-point wireless link to cover the 4km from the existing Liquid Telecom POP at Lubumbashi airport - which connects to Liquid Telecom’s panAfrican fibre network. The Kinsenda mine in the DRC was the next to be connected, with a 5.8GHz link covering the 20km from Liquid Telecom’s existing POP at Kasumbalesa.

The Metorex HQ in Rosebank Johannesburg was also connected by Liquid Telecom’s fibre. Meanwhile Hong Kong was connected using the Liquid Telecom network via Fujairah in the UAE, which provides very aggressive latencies from Africa to the Far East.

Supporting the mining technologies of tomorrow Liquid Telecom has provided Metorex with a fully integrated network with no third party dependencies. All five connections now receive 10Mbps, enabling Big Data transfer. The network has almost 100% availability, so Metorex no longer needs a backup V-SAT service; while a multitude of new services have been made possible, including the creation of a new VLAN and global video conferencing over private IP and the internet.

Metorex has been able to standardise and develop its ERP system to improve the user experience, drive costs down and introduce standard reports and financial processes.

Metorex now has a network which can support future high-bandwidth applications which are being developed for the mining industry.

Liquid Telecom will be at Mining Indaba on 6-9 February 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa. Visit us at stand 205.

www.liquidtelecom.com

AFRICAN. We can protect mines from downtime that can cost millions in lost earnings.

We believe in the strength of African Mining. It’s why we’ve built Africa’s largest fibre infrastructure and provide an award-winning satellite network, capable of keeping any mining concern as connected, protected and productive as possible. Because we are not just a telecoms company.

We are your technology partner.

Building Africa’s digital future

FEATURE

BY LILIAN MUTEGI

MASTERCARD ON DRIVING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN THE AGRICULTURE SECTOR ALTHOUGH ITS SIGNIFICANCE VARIES BY SOME MEASURE, AGRICULTURE REMAINS A VITAL SECTOR FOR MOST AFRICAN COUNTRIES.

A

ccording to the World Economic Forum, Agriculture contributes from 2.4 percent of GDP in Equatorial Guinea to 70 percent of GDP in Liberia, providing an average of around 15 percent of GDP for the continent.

Despite its importance, agricultural productivity remains dismal, undermining Africa’s overall productivity and food security. The sector’s productivity in Africa considerably lags other developing regions and, unlike other regions, Africa has not benefited from the green revolution.

The level of value addition and crop processing of agricultural commodities is low and post-harvest losses in sub-Saharan Africa average 30 percent of total production, meaning that the region loses over US$4 billion each year.

To try salvage the situation in the Agriculture sector across East Africa, different organization have come up with digital platforms that help will help farmers coordinate sales, payments, and distribution of crops and contribute more effectively to the Africa’s Economy’s GDP. With this in mind Mastercard was the recent to launch 2KUZE platform for Small-plot farmers in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. The 2KUZE will help farming communities receive the right level of investment and to encourage more

efficient ways of doing business with smallholder farmers.

The agricultural technology app was announced this week. 2KUZE, which means “let’s grow together” in Swahili, was developed at Mastercard’s Nairobi Labs for Financial Inclusion with the support of the Gates Foundation.

Following prevailing trends on the continent, more of Africa’s farmers have mobile phones; this creates possibilities for agri-tech innovation. GSMA tracks Africa’s current unique mobile subscriber penetration at 46 percent, and expects users to reach 725 million people by 2020.

In the initial trial phase, 2kuze is being used by 2000 farmers in Kenya’s Nandi Hills, and will soon be available in Uganda and Tanzania. The app works on feature phones, smartphones, and PCs. 2KUZE’s primary value proposition is connecting farmers, agents, and buyers on a digital platform toward greater pricing transparency and more effective distribution.

“Farming in Africa is pretty decentralized,” said Daniel Monehin, division president for Sub-Saharan Africa and head of financial inclusion for International Markets at Mastercard. “Eighty percent of farmers in Africa are classified as smallholder farmers having less

than 1-2 acres of farming land, making it extremely difficult to drive growth and prosperity within this community,” “We believe that by using mobile, a technology that is so ubiquitous among farmers in Africa, we can improve financial access, bring in operational efficiency and facilitate faster payments.

The collaboration between the Lab team and farmers in the market helped to deliver a solution that can be implemented and make an impact without any major changes to the day-to-day,” he continued.

He also added, “This also creates a digital business history, which Mastercard believes farmers can use to gain first time access to small business financing from banks. While agriculture in Africa employs 65 percent of its labor force (nearly 50 percent women), 80 percent are smallholder farmers―largely single families on small plots of land, according to World Bank and UN Food and Agriculture Organization statistics,” Conveniently for Mastercard, the 2KUZE pilot is launching in Kenya. Kenya has the highest mobile money penetration rate on the continent which stands at 58 percent. It has also gained recognition for mobile innovation in the ridehail market like Uber and Little and for agtech apps and agtech apps, such as iCow, as well as Illuminium Green.

In the initial pilot, 2KUZE is being launched in partnership with Cafédirect Producers Foundation. Currently, 2,000 small-scale farmers in Nandi Hills, Kenya are using the solution to sell their produce and working with farmer-friendly agents to ensure they reach the right buyers for the best price.

As for 2KUZE’s revenue model, there are no charges for users in the pilot phase.

However, Mastercard Africa is exploring models for buyer and financial institution transaction and referral fees toward a commercial product generating a profit.

Mastercard is also looking to extend the 2KUZE on the continent and beyond. “Once its fully commercial and full blown tested, then it is something we will extend not just in Africa, but to emerging markets with similar dynamics,” said Monehin.

Infographic by TechCrunch

24

2KUZE is one of several broad-based collaborations on which the Mastercard Lab for Financial Inclusion is working on.

CIO EAST AFRICA | DECEMBER 2016/JANUARY 2017 | www.cio.co.ke

The Next Generation Procurement Platform

B

ravoAdvantage is the strategic procurement platform that enables organizations to generate more value, influence innovation and reduce risk.

Powered by a unique supplier-centered approach that integrates supplier lifetime value throughout the entire procurement process, BravoAdvantage provides the visibility, insight and transparency required to power and improve your procurement initiatives and decisions.

SOURCING / SOURCINGPLUS

SPEND ANALYSIS

CONTRACT LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT

SAVINGS MANAGEMENT

SUPPLIER VALUE MANAGEMENT INVOICING

• Global Reputation • Propel your business growth

PROCUREMENT

• Innovation in Strategic Procurement and Supply Management • Maximize your Competitive Advantage

Global Users

Transforming African Business Through Technology +254 20 234 3857, +254 773 570 801 64960 - 00620, Nairobi Kenya.

Parklands Plaza 7th Floor, 06 Chiromo Lane

www.qedsolutions.co.ke

info@qedsolutions.co.ke

COVER STORY

BY LILIAN MUTEGI

Huduma Kenya

on digital transformation in Government Service Delivery FOR A LONG TIME KENYANS WERE SUBJECTED TO MOVING FROM PLACE TO PLACE IN SEARCH OF GOVERNMENT SERVICES. IN THEIR QUESTS TO GET THESE SERVICES, MOST KENYANS BECAME ACCUSTOMED TO BEING FRUSTRATED TIME AND TIME AGAIN.

F

rom endless, unmoving queues to wasting countless hours, public service became the epitome of inefficiency leading to corruption and initiating a cycle of vice which led to loss of billions.

tion and bureaucracy, known as Huduma centres, the centers were set to be rolled out across the 47counties. Huduma, which means “service” in Swahili, is part of a government plan to fully digitize its services.

But on 7th November 2013, H.E Uhuru Kenyatta, President of the Republic of Kenya, launched, a “one-stop shop”, to access and pay for government services electronically in order to cut corrup-

Three years later, the centers’ offer over 65 Government services and serve up to 30, 000 Kenyans daily. To date, the revenue collected has exceeded KES 12 Billion, which is collected on behalf of

26

participating Ministries, Departments and Agencies through the Posta-Pay System.

In this issue CIO East Africa carried out an interview with the man driving digital strategy at Huduma Kenya, Director of ICT, Martin Mirero. He started off by telling us that Huduma Kenya is a programme by the Government of Kenya that aims to transform Public Service Delivery by providing citizens’ access CIO EAST AFRICA | FEBRUARY 2017 | www.cio.co.ke

COVER STORY Having started his journey in the ICT Space over 15 years ago in East and West Africa, Martin Mirero is the Director of ICT at Huduma Kenya. He has held the position for the last six months.

As the Head of ICT Mr. Mirero provides vision and leadership for the research, design and implementation of Information Systems and ICT Infrastructure for the Huduma Kenya Program.

to various Public Services and information from One Stop Shop citizen service centres called Huduma Centres and through integrated technology platforms.

“The program has a ‘one stop shop’ approach in reforming service delivery in Kenya and involves merging related services within one building, possibly on the same floor, effectively making it possible for service seekers to access it conveniently. This means that you will be able to get services such as issuance of national identity cards, issuance of birth certificates, registration of business names, and applications of business licences, drivers’ licences, police abstracts… and many other services in one place,” he added.

Among the changes that were introduced in the public service include introduction of one stop Huduma Service Centres to provide customer services to citizens from a single location, online e-Huduma web and mobile portal to provide integrated services offered by various government ministries, departments and agencies and a unified and integrated channel Huduma payment gateway to facilitate ease of payment for government services.

Huduma Kenya Programme falls under a Kenya Vision 2030 flagship project captured under the Mid Term plan for 2013 – 2017.

“The aim of the Huduma Kenya program is to enhance the access and delivery of Government Services to all Kenyans, Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs is coordinating implementation of the Programme,” said Mr. Mirero.

Huduma DNA According to Mr. Mirero, the Huduma Kenya program is driven on guiding principles that are defined as The Huduma DNA. The guiding principles which include innovation, transparency, courtesy and efficiency have steered the success of the programme.

Apart from the DNA, the transformative service delivery at Huduma centers’ is done through five major channels which include: HUDUMA CENTRES: One stop shop citizen service centers to provide National Government Services from one single location e.g. IDs, Passports, NHIF, NSSF, Birth Certificates, Business Name Registration.

WEB PORTAL: Online portal to provide integrated services offered by various national government ministries, departments and agencies.

HUDUMA MOBILE PLATFORMS: Mobile phone platform to offer m-government services to citizens from convenience of their mobile phones.

HUDUMA CALL CENTER: Call Center to provide customer service using a single dialing prefix that citizens can use to enquire about services offered by different government agencies.

HUDUMA PAYMENT GATEWAY AND HUDUMA PAYMENT CARD: Unified and integrated multi-channel payment gateway to facilitate ease of payment for government services through debit cards, m-pesa, paypal etc.

Mr. Mirero though, pointed out that some of the channels were still in the

www.cio.co.ke | FEBRUARY 2017 | CIO EAST AFRICA

He is also involved in the Development and Implementation of Huduma Kenya Programme ICT Strategy, establishment of Information Systems policies, standards, practices and security measures to ensure effective and consistent information processing operations and to safeguard ICT resources.

Prior, to Huduma Kenya, Mr. Mirero was part of Saana Corp in Abuja, Nigeria. He was responsible for all aspects of the company’s projects.

He also served as a co-founder in Purple VC, a startup developing products in the mobile-money space; and Maarrifah, an early-stage startup building data science products in the traditional retail and e-commerce space.

During his stint at Purple VC he worked with MTN Swaziland to craft a pilot run ahead of the proposed launch of a Mobile Money-linked Debit Card. The proposed project had a planned use case in the social grants disbursing space, with a program jointly run by the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office and the World Bank set to use an MTN-backed Debit card. He also worked for Oracle EMEA for over a year.

When not in meetings, Martin is into reading. Among his key reads are The Second Machine Age - Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies (by Erik Brynjolfsson, Andrew McAfee), Building the Internet of Things (by Maciej Kranz) and Blockchain Revolution (by Don and Alex Tapscott).

Away from ICT Martin also cares about children, economic empowerment, and education, Science and Technology and Social Services. He is also an alumni of the University of Essex.

27

COVER STORY piloting stage and would be launched in a couple of months.

Innovations to drive digital transformation in service delivery However, one of the exciting and revolutionary products from Huduma Kenya will be the Huduma Card.

“The Huduma card is the first government owned multipurpose service and payment card that allows customers to make or receive payments. The card has a smart chip built into it whereby the cardholder’s personal data can be securely stored and can host multiple applications on the embedded chip,” said Mirero excitedly.

He further added that the card meets the aspiration of Kenya’s Vision 2030 that calls for reforms in public service to enhance accountability, transparency and efficient service delivery.

The card which is also part of the 5 channels of service delivery under Huduma Payment Gateway, provides a unified and integrated multi-channel payment gateway to facilitate ease of payment for Government services.

“Huduma Card was designed to revolutionize how we pay for services and access money from some government institutions. Huduma cardholders will be able to pay for a wide range of government services, including KRA, drivers’ license, NHIF and NSSF,” said Mirero.

He also added, “Furthermore Kenyans who receive government payments, such as social welfare grants, disaster relief disbursements or organizations such as UWEZO Fund will also be able to access their funds using the Huduma Card. It is safer and more convenient than carrying cash or checks. Using the chip & PIN enabled card it is safer for customers making larger purchases than carrying lots of cash.”

Huduma Kenya has partnered with Mastercard on this particular project. MasterCard provides the prepaid payment technology making Huduma Card acceptable everywhere since MasterCard is accepted worldwide. So far the Government has also partnered with local banks Kenya Commercial Bank, Com28

mercial Bank of Africa, Equity Bank and Diamond Trust Bank.

“Prepaid cards do not require cardholders to have an existing bank account as it is not linked to a “traditional” bank account (though a holder obtains access to a bank-managed holding account, with all the privileges of a standard account) . The card solely relies on the customer funding it, an easy and instant process with various options available.

This will have an immediate, significant and positive impact on the lives of millions of Kenyans, many of whom have not previously had access to a formal bank product,” he added.

Huduma Card will also offer value-added services such as paying for goods and services and bill payments both locally and online. Huduma Cards can be used to make cash withdrawals anywhere, anytime at ATMs that accepts MasterCard worldwide.

Cardholders enjoy many features similar to typical bank accounts without many of the fees associated with most checking accounts and also as it has no hidden charges. Kenyan citizens will also gain financial empowerment through easy access to mainstream financial services. Citizens may use their Huduma Card to make payments.

“When a citizen registers for a Huduma Card at their local bank, they can at their discretion, conveniently and automatically be registered as members of NSSF, NHIF and acquire a KRA PIN number this will be stored in one Central database,” he added.

Still on its piloting stage though, the card will be formally launched in 2017 and has so far been issued to over

100,000 Kenyans. Some of the pilots currently under way include Disbursements to NYS Service Men and Cohorts, Public Transport Payments with the Huduma Card on the Cashlite Express Bus and General Purpose Usage (Retail, Fuel, etc.) for Huduma Kenya Staff

Huduma Accolades The Huduma Kenya Programme has been a success, both in efficiency and in dealing with bureaucracy, recently even winning awards such as the African Association for Public Administration and Management Gold Award Trophy for innovative management in Public Administration and Management in Africa.

Other accolades include: First Place Winner of the Kenya Customer Excellence Award by the Institute of Customer Service, First Place Winner of the Best Use of ICT in the Public Service by the ICT Association of Kenya, Winner of the Most social corporate award in Soma Awards 2015, First Place Winner of The 2015 Huduma Ombudsman Award-Institution category, Winner of Customer Service Excellence in Public Sector 2015 Award from the Institute of Customer Service Kenya and Winner of Customer Service Excellence 2016 Award from the Institute of Customer Service Kenya.

Advice to CIOs “Stop selling specs and features and start selling value. CIOs have been conditioned to think in terms of features and capabilities and not much on how that translates to business value. Businesses are not all about technology but it’s all about the value. Technology enables but it’s the impact that consumers appreciate and that is how it is with the Government,” he concluded.

CIO EAST AFRICA | FEBRUARY 2017 | www.cio.co.ke

BY LILIAN MUTEGI

IT AND LEADERSHIP

WESTCON AFRICA ON TRANSFORMING THE TECHNOLOGY SUPPLY CHAIN Technology solution providers are capitalizing on the rapidly expanding cyber security needs of today’s leading enterprises. Surges in demand for mobile and cloud security solutions are driving enhanced practices.

www.cio.co.ke | FEBRUARY 2017 | CIO EAST AFRICA

29

IT AND LEADERSHIP

Responding to these trends, Westcon-Comstor in 2015, developed innovative partner programs and cultivated best practices that help position partners as trusted security experts and in March 2016, Westcon-Comstor announced that Westcon Security Practice surpassed $1 billion and its five-year growth exceeded 400%.

L

eading vendors including Imperva, ForeScout, Juniper Networks and FireMon, among others, have been added to the practice, giving solution providers access to rapidly emerging technologies that typically deliver higher profit potential and services opportunities.

By 2020, the cyber security market is forecasted to reach US$170 billion with a 9.8% CAGR, according to a report from Markets and Markets. The study also projects the cloud security market to be US$8.7 billion by 2019.

With such a tremendous growth in security, we got a chance to talk Westcon Africa Managing Director, Eric Odipo to get a glimpse of what Westcon Africa was doing in the African Market around its four key platforms which are Security, Collaboration, Networking and Data Center.

To start us off he explained that, Westcon Africa was part of Westcon-Comstor which is a value-added technology distributor of category-leading solutions in the four platforms.

The company strives to transform the technology supply chain through global capabilities in Cloud, Global Deployment and Services. Through a unique physical and digital distribution network, Westcon extends partners’ global reach while providing the local

expertise needed to successfully navigate worldwide opportunities.

“As General Manager Africa I lead Sales, Marketing and Services across East, Central, West Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands that is close 30+ countries. I ensure that we maintain a top position as a value-added technology distributor. I ensure that my team delivers on the four key platforms Security, Collaboration, Networking and Data Center,” said Mr. Odipo General Manager at Westcon Africa.

With a key focus on four crucial platforms in today’s tech scene, Mr. Odipo took time to break it down to us on how Westcon is involved with each platform. On datacenters, he explained that every company today either has a server room they use internally or have a shared platform. With more organizations viewing datacenters more like a platform for shared services.

“Information is everywhere and we seek to help customers for our channel partners manage it. That’s why we have Westcon-Comstor Data Center Practice. Through our unique distribution network, we enable partners offer compelling end-to-end data center solutions for established and emerging markets. We offer a portfolio of traditional and cloud data center solutions, including server, network and storage consolidation,

The Westcon Africa Security Practice provides you with the portfolio, tools and support you need to safeguard your clients’ information and reputations

30

CIO EAST AFRICA | FEBRUARY 2017 | www.cio.co.ke

IT AND LEADERSHIP desktop virtualization and virtualized unified communications solutions that enable them advance information management,” he said.

He further stated, “Shared services are something that will continue to grow when we talk of datacenters because big companies see that it might make more sense to have one shared service that have different infrastructure.”

On Security, and as mentioned earlier, Westcon helps organizations secure their IT environments against various threats e.g cyber threats. This is where Westcon now brings in customers like Juniper Networks where, Westcon helps distribute security solutions for them.

“Security will continue to grow mostly because of the threats that will continue to grow. If I was an investor, security is a key area I would choose to invest in. It will keep on growing as long as threats are there,” he added.

He further stated that when information falls into the wrong hands it’s more than just a data risk, it’s a customers’ reputations that are at stake. “We know security will always be a key technology since it encompasses and protects all of the industry. The Westcon Africa Security Practice provides you with the portfolio, tools and support you need to safeguard your clients’ information and reputations,” said Mr. Odipo.

Collaboration on the other hand is how organisations connect without necessarily having a face to face meeting. “Everyone expects seamless interactions anytime, anywhere. That is what the Westcon-Comstor Unified Communications and Collaboration Practice helps organisations and the channel partners deliver every time, everywhere. Our portfolio incorporates UCC products for both traditional and cloud environments,” he added.

On networking Westcon helps channel partners through offering vendor-authorized training programs, business-extending life cycle and professional services, and future-forward enablement tools that complement clients current capabilities and help them successfully navigate global opportunities. www.cio.co.ke | FEBRUARY 2017 | CIO EAST AFRICA

31

STARTUP CORNER

BY BARAKA JEFWA

MANAGE IT: A STARTUP FROM THE MIND

OF A FORMER TOP TECH EXECUTIVE Most of us are of the notion that startups come from the minds of young entrepreneurs looking to make an impact in the society, but the truth is startups can come from any one, Manage IT is one such example as it is an idea from the mind of a former tech executive with 23 years of experience in IT and business management; having worked in various companies in different leadership positions from Technical to Management portfolios.

“Manage IT has always been my dream in terms of opening an IT company; which is for SMEs, SMEs are businesses but they are not at a level where you identify them as corporate yet, so they have been struggling with efficient service delivery. We have many players in the market who are offering what Manage IT offers, but when it comes to service delivery we have specific standards that we have set in just three months,” said Munjal Shah, Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer, ManageIT, during an interview with CIO East Africa.

“Manage IT is an IT solutions company, and, it’s an IT solutions, services and consulting kind of company. The entire business is divided into five different segments; starting from IT service management to systems and peripherals the third and very important segment we fall into is offering enterprise solutions,” added Munjal.

He clarifies that their offering of Enterprise solutions does not mean they are targeting big companies, but instead through Manage IT the definition of an enterprise could mean a company with a hundred or over a hundred computers, he adds that Manage IT gets their work done through establishing good industry partnerships.

Munjal further states that: “Enterprise solutions fall in that category where we provide solutions on various platforms like SAP. We

Manage IT is an IT solutions company, and, it’s an IT solutions, services and consulting kind of company.

32

would like to appear as a SAP application and maintenance provider, not necessarily SAP software sales. We have SAP support technicians and other support teams, for which we are partnered with Silver Touch Technologies, a company based in India who are SAP partners, and through them we have a team of 80 to 90 individuals who are specialized in SAP,” He explains that SAP application support and maintenance is a major channel that the company is covering, because it already has a few clients on board. The company though, on the Enterprise solutions side, is not only looking at SAP as they also have a Human Resource Management System, which is built and maintained in house, set to be launched this year. The company also has its hands in cloud computing solutions and mobile application development.

“The fourth segment is emerging technology solutions, where we are mainly into virtualization side of the business, so that you do not need to spend money on capital investment if you want to expand your business. On that we are also providing various services on IP Telephony,” Munjal added.

“The last segment, which is close to my heart, is IT consulting; in this segment what we do is we provide technical review and enhanced consulting for companies, who are struggling with their current technology lifestyle,” he concluded.

WHO IS MUNJAL SHAH? I hava a background as a technology expert, I moved to Kenya in 1997, with my background in technology I started with infrastructure and network development areas, and moved to other areas in various companies. I am the founder of Techno Brain BPO, opened in 2008, that’s when my career started progressing in terms of remarkable milestones that were achieved.

After that I moved from that role to a more responsible role, in Techno Brain Global, where I started handling marketing for 25 countries, so I was a global marketing director for Techno Brain for almost four years that was from 2012 to July 2016. So I decided to move on when I left Techno Brain, so from first of August (2016) I started this company which is Manage IT. CIO EAST AFRICA | FEBRUARY 2017 | www.cio.co.ke

BY PETER SAYER

HOW TO

5 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE BLOCKCHAIN Talk of blockchain technology is everywhere, it seems – but what is it, and what does it do?

1. Don’t call it “the” blockchain The first thing to know about the blockchain is, there isn’t one: there are many. Blockchains are distributed, tamper-proof public ledgers of transactions. The most well-known is the record of bitcoin transactions, but in addition to tracking cryptocurrencies, blockchains are being used to record loans, stock transfers, contracts, healthcare data and even votes.

2. Security, transparency: the network’s run by us There’s no central authority in a blockchain system: Participating computers exchange transactions for inclusion in the ledger they share over a peer-to-peer network. Each node in the chain keeps a copy of the ledger, and can trust others’ copies of it because of the way they are signed. Periodically, they wrap up the latest transactions in a new block of data to be added to the chain. Alongside the transaction data, each block contains a computational “hash” of itself and of the previous block in the chain.

Hashes, or digests, are short digital representations of larger chunks of data.

Modifying or faking a transaction in an earlier block would change its hash, requiring that the hashes embedded in it and all sub-

sequent blocks be recalculated to hide the change. That would be extremely difficult to do before all the honest actors added new, legitimate transactions -- which reference the previous hashes -- to the end of the chain.

3. Big business is taking an interest in blockchain technology Blockchain technology was originally something talked about by antiestablishment figures seeking independence from central control, but it’s fast becoming part of the establishment: Companies such as IBM and Microsoft are selling it, and major banks and stock exchanges are buying.

4. No third party in between Because the computers making up a blockchain system contribute to the content of the ledger and guarantee its integrity, there is no need for a middleman or trusted third-party agency to maintain the database. That’s one of the things attracting banks and trading exchanges to the technology -- but it’s also proving a stumbling block for bitcoin as traffic scales. The total computing power devoted to processing bitcoin is said to exceed that of the world’s fastest 500 supercomputers combined, but last month, the volume of bitcoin transactions was so great that the network was taking up to 30 minutes to confirm that some of them had been included in the ledger. On the other hand, it typically only takes a few seconds to confirm credit card transactions, which do rely on a central authority between payer and payee.

5. Programmable money One of the more interesting uses for blockchains is for storing a record not of what happened in the past, but of what should happen in the future. Organizations including the Ethereum Foundation are using blockchain technology to store and process “smart contracts,” executed by the network of computers participating in the blockchain on a pay-as-you-go basis. They can respond to transactions by gathering, storing or transmitting information or transferring whatever digital currency the blockchain deals in. The immutability of the contracts is guaranteed by the blockchain in which they are stored. www.cio.co.ke | FEBRUARY 2017 | CIO EAST AFRICA

33

WOMEN IN TECH

BY CLINT BOULTON

WANTED: MORE WOMEN CIOS (BUT DO THEY WANT THE JOB?) MEN HOLD THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF POSITIONS IN IT LEADERSHIP, WHERE WOMEN FILL LESS THAN 20 PERCENT OF CIO ROLES AT TOP-PERFORMING COMPANIES. THE LACK OF DIVERSITY REMAINS A THORNY ISSUE HEADING INTO 2017 AND THE NUMBERS ARE UNLIKELY TO IMPROVE MARKEDLY, A PAINFUL FAILING FOR CORPORATE BOARDS STARVING FOR DIVERSE C-SUITES. BUT THERE IS A SILVER LINING, IF YOU CAN CALL IT THAT: EXPERTS SAY SOME WOMEN WORKING FOR INCREASINGLY DIGITALLY FOCUSED COMPANIES ARE CHOOSING LEADERSHIP ROLES OUTSIDE OF IT.

I

n an effort to bolster gender diversity in the C-suite, corporate boards are asking executive recruiters to “scour the universe” for female candidates, says Gerry McNamara, global managing director of the information officers practice at Korn/Ferry International.

“Most managers understand that ethnically and gender-diverse talent means diversity of thought and they want to make sure that they have a team that is thinking broadly,” McNamara says.

However, McNamara also says the effort is challenging because the number of male CIOs candidates is significantly higher than female candidates.

The spotlight on the diversity challenge have never been brighter. In recent years, statistics released by Apple, Google, Facebook and other tech companies detailing poor workplace diversity have become a sore spot. Gender diversity issues are particularly acute in the C-suite. A Korn/ Ferry analysis of top 1,000 performing companies by revenue found that women currently fill only 24 percent of prominent C-Suite titles, such as CEO, CFO, CIO and CMO. The poll also revealed that only 19 percent of CIOs are female.

Diversity in tech headed the wrong way Focus that lens on the Fortune 500 and the female CIO count is even smaller. Last year, 87 of the Fortune 500 had female CIOs, or 17.4 percent, according to Sharon Gillenwater, 34

founder and editor in chief of C-suite marketing consultancy Boardroom Insiders. As of November 1, the number dropped to 75, or just 15 percent. And while 20 percent of Fortune 100 companies have women CIOs in 2016, the number is down from 24 percent in 2015, Gillenwater says.

The numbers are as overwhelming as they are unsurprising. Korn/Ferry’s Mc-

Namara says gender diversity in the C-suite, particularly for technology managers, is a systemic issue he’s seen since he began his executive recruiting career at Heidrick & Struggles in 1995.

One of the reasons is that IT still suffers from the perception problem: Most people still view the CIO as some guy with a computer science background who manages servers. The male-dominated culture, portrayed in television shows such as the AMC series “Halt and Catch Fire,” can be unappealing to women.

A look at women in the C-Suite by title and industry.

It needn’t be this way, says McNamara, who notes that the CIO role has evolved beyond the data center to become more focused on driving business transformations and customer-facing initiatives. The digital era is characterized by on-demand services and the democratization of mobile and cloud computing. Two decades ago most corporate computers were sealed in air-conditioned rooms. Today consumers walk around with smartphones in their pockets and order products and services from the likes of Amazon.com and Uber.

McNamara says that while a technical background helps, many successful CIOs today are smart, high-performing leaders who can manage complex, large-budget projects and deliver them on time. “The path for CIOs used to be development, infrastrucCIO EAST AFRICA | FEBRUARY 2017 | www.cio.co.ke

WOMEN IN TECH

ture, architecture and over time you’d become a candidate for a CIO role,” McNamara says. “But you don’t need to [follow] that path anymore. There are a number of CIOs who aren’t technical but are great leaders.”

Women’s leadership choices extending beyond IT But here’s another truth: There are also a number of women for whom the CIO role is simply not as attractive as other emerging functions. The proliferation of digital transformations has given rise to several prominent, high-level positions for strong female leaders. Witness GE’s Beth Comstock, who after introducing lean startup principles at the industrial manufacturer while serving as CMO,

was promoted to vice chair of business innovations, where she focuses on business model transformation. And some top-performing women CIOs, including GE’s Jamie Miller, Deutsche Bank’s Kim Hammonds and Intel’s Kim Stevenson, have been promoted to other roles within their organizations.

“Maybe the CIO role is not the ultimate choice for women who can pick and choose where they go,” says Gillenwater, of Boardroom Insiders.

Gartner analyst Tina Nunno says more women are moving into chief digital officer or similar roles. “It’s a highly strategic, customer-facing role, and quite a few women are gravitating to that particular role,” Nunno says. Earlier this week, Rent-A-Center CIO Angela

The path for CIOs used to be development, infrastructure, architecture and over time you’d become a candidate for a CIO role. But you don’t need to [follow] that path anymore.

There are a number of CIOs who aren’t technical but are great leaders.

Yochem hired Wal-Mart executive Lety Nettles as vice president of digital integration, a newly created position at the furniture company.

Whether women who assume leadership roles outside of IT return to become CIOs in the future remains a question. But corporate boards are keenly interested in instituting more diversity in their C-suites because of empirical evidence that diversity tends to engender greater profitability. In February, the Peterson Institute for International Economics and EY found that companies with at least 30 percent women in leadership roles may boost their net profit margins by 15 percent compared to those with no female leaders.

There is no easy path to solving the gender diversity problem, though Nunno says the greater awareness Silicon Valley companies have brought to diversity can help. For instance, she says that recent controversies about unequal pay have forced Silicon Valley companies to review and compare salaries of women and men. “This could force companies to look more objectively at how people are performing and have a much broader discussion on who they’re looking at as potential leaders,” Nunno says.

(This article was first published on cio.com)

www.cio.co.ke | FEBRUARY 2017 | CIO EAST AFRICA

35

PRODUCT REVIEW

BY MICHAEL DeAGONIA

T

he $159 wireless headphones were announced back in September, but didn’t start shipping until last month and were quickly backordered. Only recently have customers actually started receiving them and they’re still a rare find at Apple Stores.

(Buying directly from Apple’s online store means a six week wait before the order ships.) Apple Store employees have told me that they receive daily shipments, and sell out quickly.

Your best bet if you want a pair sooner rather than later is to track availability at your local Apple Store via iStockNow.com. That’s what I did just before Christmas. I was able to use the Apple Store iPhone app to purchase my pair on Dec. 21 from the Providence Place Apple Store in Rhode Island as soon as iStockNow’s availability indicator lit up green. Within a minute, that store was out of stock.

Open box, easy setup In the box is the pair of AirPods, the small white carrying case that doubles as a charger, a Lightning-to-USB cable similar (if not identical) to the one that ships with iPhones and basic documentation -- a small foldout pamphlet with simple instructions for pairing and using the AirPods.

AirPods are compatible with iOS devices capable of running iOS 10, any Mac capable of running macOS Sierra, and any Apple Watch running watchOS 3. To work seamlessly between devices, all must share the same iCloud account.

Using the same iCloud account is part of what allows Apple to boast they’re “magical;” it makes setup a breeze.

HANDS ON: APPLE'S AIRPODS ARE INDEED 'MAGICAL' THERE’S A LOT TO LIKE ABOUT APPLE’S NEW WIRELESS AIRPODS. FROM THE EASE OF THE INITIAL SETUP TO THE SMALL CARRYING CASE THAT DOUBLES AS A CHARGER TO THE SOUND QUALITY OF THE SPEAKERS AND DIRECTIONAL MICS, THE AIRPODS DO A LOT OF THINGS RIGHT -- ELEGANTLY, EVEN -- YET THEY ARE NOT ENTIRELY WITHOUT FLAWS. Once the AirPods are paired up with one of your Apple devices, they’re paired up with all your devices sharing the same iCloud account.

AirPod setup is as follows: unlock your iPhone, open the lid of the AirPod carrying case within a couple of inches of the iPhone, and tap Connect on the iPhone’s screen. That’s it. Your iPhone -- and now, every Apple device you own -- can use your AirPods.

This is possible because they use Apple’s custom W1 chipset. It piggy-backs on the existing Bluetooth protocol and means AirPods are compatible with anything that can stream through Bluetooth, including Android phones. The W1 chipset doesn’t just help with pairing, though; it is designed to help maintain a stable connection to each individual AirPod while maintaining about five hours of continuous battery life.

The AirPods represent Apple’s follow-up to the elimination of the analog audio jack in the iPhone 7. In addition to providing a dongle if you need to connect an older pair of headphones,

36

Apple rolled out new technology that improves on current wireless implementations.

Notice that I said improved, not perfected. But we’ll get to that in a bit.

Fit, feel and sound The AirPods are in-ear, but they aren’t the type that squeezes into your ear canal. This means wearing them doesn’t block ambient noise. Initially, I used the AirPods one at a time while doing chores or fixing computers at work. But I’ve found that even with both AirPods in, hearing your surroundings isn’t a challenge if the volume is kept low.

The speakers have a good range of volume and a pretty good balance of highs, lows, and mids. Bass is, well, bass is bass on a tinny speaker; existing technology hasn’t changed that. But to my non-audiophile ears, the sound is more than acceptable and into “very good” territory. (My previous go-to earphones were the SmartOmi Boots mini wireless earbuds, which are in-ear and thus provide better bass.)

Despite the ease with which the AirPods slip on, it takes a lot of effort to knock CIO EAST AFRICA | FEBRUARY 2017 | www.cio.co.ke

PRODUCT REVIEW

them out. In my use -- which has involved running, weight-lifting, a couple of bouts of Insanity classes, and, just to see if I could knock them out, sustained head-banging -- the only time they fell out of my ears was when they were physically knocked out. (Other people have reported less luck keeping them in place, though; your mileage may vary.)

Using them There are a couple of ways to interact with the AirPods, but because they lack buttons, actions are limited. Inserting one or both AirPods will sound a chime, alerting you that they’re connected and ready. While audio is playing, removing one will pause the audio -- perfect if someone walks up to chat. Placing the AirPod back in your ear automatically resumes whatever you were listening to beforehand. If you remove both AirPods and then put them back in your ear, you have to manually trigger the audio to re-start.

Double-tapping either AirPods brings up Siri or Play/Pause your audio source, depending on your setting. (Settings can be changed in the Bluetooth category in iPhone Settings.) And...that’s it.

To do anything else, you use Siri, which responds to commands for adjusting volume, skipping tracks, starting playlists, and other Siri-related functions like getting the weather, placing phone calls and dictating messages.

The built-in microphones pick up audio really well (using what Apple calls a voice accelerometer in concert with the beamforming mics). At work -- in a quiet cube farm environment -- I invoked Siri but didn’t want to disturb coworkers with audible commands. To my surprise, the AirPods were able to pick up commands I whispered.

Using your voice to control basic functions works well enough; but Siri still needs enhanced capabilities to make the experience better. For instance, using Siri means that there needs to be an active internet connection, even for on-device functions like skipping tracks or volume adjustment. And Siri often displays the answer to a question on the iPhone screen instead of reading it out loud.

So in that sense, Siri is a letdown.

Support for local functions without an internet connection would be a good improvement. So would adding configurable multiple-tap options per AirPod. (In addition to the two taps that initiate Siri, there could be options for three taps on the right AirPod to skip, and three taps on the left to go back a track, etc. Thankfully, that’s an option that could be added later via software update if Apple so chooses. Let’s hope they do.)

Keeping them charged The quality and build seem solid. When they’re slid into the charging case, the AirPods snap into place via hidden magnets. The case also closes with a satisfying snap, and is held shut by magnets.

That means there’s no latch to catch on something or break, or button to depress to open the lid. And because it uses a decent magnet, you can be confident the case won’t just open and cause you to accidentally lose an AirPod. (It costs $69 each to replace them if you do.)

The AirPods carrying case doubles as a charger Just putting the pods in the case for storage means they’re getting charged.

Fifteen minutes of charging buys three hours of audio; on full charge, the AirPods should last for five hours.

If you want to check the battery status of the AirPods and the carrying case, you can do so in the Control Center on your iPhone under the AirPods option, or when you flip open the carrying case near the unlocked iPhone. (The AirPods need to be in the case though.)

Final thoughts Some people think the AirPods look goofy in use. I don’t.

The AirPods aren’t without issues. I have had several dropped connections, and each time it was embarrassing. In a couple of weeks of daily testing, there were a few times the connection completely dropped and my iPhone speaker broadcast to my coworkers that I was listening to sports radio (Go Patriots!). It’s annoying having to scramble for the audio pause button, so I’m hoping Apple will improve the connection behavior in the future. I’ve also noticed audio cutouts at times, when the sound drops out for a second or so. Interestingly, I’ve seen more hiccups with macOS than iOS 10.

And I should note that a few people have told me they look goofy, in case that matters. But I don’t care.

Ultimately, the AirPods do much more right than wrong. If you’re already in the Apple ecosystem, these AirPods (or even the newest Beats headphones with the W1 chipset) will work very well across all of your devices; if you’re not in the Apple ecosystem, these little earphones are still worth checking out.

Apple hasn’t completely ended wireless audio issues with AirPods, but it’s done a damned good job in a few specific areas (like initial setup and audio quality) to make the AirPods worthy of consideration if you’re in the market for wireless headphones.

The case, which is charged with the included Lightning cable, has about 24 hours of battery capacity. In my experience, I’ve had to charge the case about once a week, while using the AirPods during the work day and for gym sessions.

www.cio.co.ke | FEBRUARY 2017 | CIO EAST AFRICA

37

OPINION

IDENTITY POWERED SECURITY

BY KARIEN BORNHEIM

HELPING ORGANISATIONS ADDRESS RISK AND COMPLEXITY WITH AN INTEGRATED SET OF SOLUTIONS FOR MANAGING THE IDENTITY AND ACCESS LIFECYCLE, AUTHENTICATION, ACCESS MANAGEMENT, PRIVILEGED USERS AND SECURITY MONITORING.

S

iegmund Freud said, “Anatomy is destiny”, implying that who and what we are (our physical selves) defines what we do. In the modern world, identity has taken over the role of the physical being and defines who we are and what we do. While the physical self is relatively static and well defined, identity is malleable. This notion of a changing, consumerised, complex identity provides an ever present security risk.

Today there exists a gap between the existing data inside the business and the necessary knowledge of how to actively use this data to effectively secure the company.

Identity-Powered Security allows the business to understand the context of who the users are, what they are doing, from where, on which device and whether their actions are appropriate to their roles and aligned to the relevant business processes by using Identity and Access, Security and Event Management Solutions. These solutions work hand-in-hand to provide a full range of organisational knowledge on the identity of resources, what activity is normal to them, and what other resources they need access to.

Traditionally, identity and access management has focused on getting business users the right access to resources required to do their jobs with disregard to the complexity of web/mobile applications and services. Most security teams focus on defending the organisation from external (UTM’s, NGF’s and DMZ’s), and internal breaches (Endpoint Management Tools). The objective is to protect sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands by employing identity based policies that are transparent and convenient for users across the board, despite the platform/environment.

38

Emerging IT delivery models, such as Cloud, Mobile and Social Media are driving immense complexity for security teams. At the same time, they are faced with increasing diversity in the types of threats faced daily. A quick scan of the headlines reveals that insider attacks remain unchecked, accidental disclosures continue to occur at a worrying rate, and perhaps most disturbingly, malicious external actors continue to breach defenses at will. Indeed, a recent survey revealed that over 60% of organisations had at least one breach in the past 12 months.

until they have found a target of real value. Once inside, they are able to move around at will, covering their tracks and inflicting great damage to sensitive systems and information.

Knowing what we now know about targeted attacks, especially APTs, it is easy to see how they might be very difficult to detect and address in organisations that rely on traditional security approaches. Typically, these programs are characterized by silos of different security management tools and monitoring solutions that deliver large quantities of seemingly unrelated event data without any real insight or correlation of the data. Therefore, specific indicators of an attack are most likely to be missed. Not only that, they are likely to be missed for an extended period of time, further exposing the business critical systems.

Besides the need to provide secure and convenient access to users, regulations mandate that companies demonstrate that they are appropriately managing user access to critical systems and data. Access management programs have evolved into tedious, misunderstood compliance projects to appease auditors. The result of this is rampant rubber-stamped approvals of user privileges while vulnerabilities remain and recur. According to the most recent Ponemon Institute Research Center Cost of Cyber Crime Study (://www.ponemon. org /blog /2015-cost-of-cyber-crimeunited-states), half of all organisations surveyed have invested in access management as the top security enabling technology they have deployed.

Most organisations lack the insight required to address the threat of targeted attacks. The CyberEdge Group that provides military grade cyber security, found that only 27% of IT professionals surveyed, believed they had the security intelligence needed to investigate security breaches. This is significant, because with security spending remaining steady or even increasing, it is an indicator that throwing more tools or people at the problem is not a solution.

Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) are a particularly dangerous type of targeted attack. Despite having a wide variety of actors and underlying motives, APTs share several common attributes that make them extremely difficult to pinpoint and eradicate. They exhibit proper planning, funding and well thought out execution. The malicious actors behind APTs are patient and persistent.

In no rush for a quick “pay-day”, they will quietly seek footholds within the organisation, day after day, year after year

Total Solutions Ltd (in association with Footprint Africa Business Solutions (FABS) and Micro Focus) provides Identity and Access Management (IAM) as well as Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Solutions (Sentinel) and a host of other Software Services and Solutions including Security Assessments, Endpoint (laptop and mobile) Management Systems (ZenWorks) and Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity (DR/BC) using Platespin Forge, Migrate and Protect to name but a few.

CIO EAST AFRICA | FEBRUARY 2017 | www.cio.co.ke

OPINION

THE TRADITIONAL BANKING MODEL UNDER THREAT

BY JAMES MURITU

THAT BANKS ARE NOT KEEN TO LEND TO INDIVIDUALS AND SMALL BUSINESSES IS NO LONGER NEWS IN KENYA AND AROUND THE WORLD. IN THE US, THE BIGGEST BANKS ARE MAKING FAR FEWER LOANS TO SMALL BUSINESSES THAN THEY DID A DECADE AGO, CEDING MARKET SHARE TO ALTERNATIVE LENDERS.

A

ccording to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), there was a sharp rise in the number of loan applications since August 2016, when the law capping interest rates came to effect, but over the same period, the lenders granted fewer loans, a pointer to the fact that the banks are unwilling to take the risk of providing credit at the prevailing interest rates. In the same year, the same Central Bank, released a statement warning Kenyans on the use of virtual currencies like bitcoin with a claim that usage of such currencies is illegal.

The real news here is an emerging disruption in the financial services industry, partly being driven by a banking ecosystem that is held hostage to a rigid and conservative traditional banking model. Take for instance the following: In a 2013 study conducted in Kenya and funded by the UK’s Department for In-

Truth be told though, the bubble has burst and the traditional banking model as we know it, is at a higher risk of extinction unless banks are able to re-invent themselves.

ternational Development (DFID), the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), and the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, it was found that loans from investment groups, popularly known as chamas, had grown by more than two-thirds to hit 7.8 per cent of the population compared to 4.6 per cent in 2013. The study also established that one in every three Kenyans or 30 per cent of adults rely on informal sources of credit, including salary advances from employer, chama loan, buying goods on credit and informal money lenders. What does this tell us?

That the continued growth of informal lenders as a source of credit for the majority of households speaks volumes of a society looking for alternative banking models and further underlines the continued role being played by informal lenders.

Taking it a level higher; in the last two years, Kenya has witnessed the entry of several international peer to peer lenders including Getbucks (South Africa), Mybucks (Germany), Tala(USA) and Branch(USA). Besides the big players, there are hundreds of similar ventures with different forms and shapes that are currently operating in Kenya. Weighed by the never ending and tough regulatory requirements and the pressure to maximize on shareholder value, it’s evident that banks are struggling to re-invent themselves; for the few innovative ones, they’ve seen the light and are now viewing themselves as Fintech companies holding banking licenses. Equity and KCB are definitely getting it, though more needs to be done! Truth be told though, the bubble has burst and the

www.cio.co.ke | FEBRUARY 2017 | CIO EAST AFRICA

The old model of banking, where everything is packaged together around a savings or current account with a cheque book and a banking card will in future become dinosaurnic. traditional banking model as we know it, is at a higher risk of extinction unless banks are able to re-invent themselves.

The old model of banking, where everything is packaged together around a savings or current account with a cheque book and a banking card will in future become dinosaurnic. Besides the high cost of banking hall spaces, a huge work force and expensive banking platforms, the costs required to sustain this model are not sustainable in the long run. It’s time banks go back to the drawing board and map out new strategies that will win customers hearts and build loyalty. It’s time banks rise and smell an aroma of demanding and tech savvy customers who prize customer experience, simplicity and convenience above everything else. Lastly it’s time banks stopped over strategizing around a paralysis analysis sphere that puts more emphasis on strategizing than implementing.

39

OPINION

THE NEW WAY OF SHOPPING SAM MWANGI

WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE LAST TIME YOU WENT SHOPPING? LONG QUEUES AT THE CHECKOUT COUNTERS AND MANY OF THE COUNTERS NOT STAFFED? THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM IN MOST RETAIL SUPERMARKETS. GLOBALLY, VARIOUS TECHNOLOGY FIRMS HAVE BEEN ATTEMPTING TO SOLVE IT AND SOME SEEM TO HAVE CRACKED IT.

A

mazon has created a futuristic store in New York that allows a customer to walk in by scanning an application at the entrance, shop and walk out. It’s that simple. The cost of the shopping is charged on the Amazon account and a receipt sent to the applications. The store, known as Amazon Go, utilizes cameras and sensors to monitor shopping items on the shelves and detect when they are removed by a shopper. According to CNBC, Amazon are not the only ones. Another example is the Skip app that was developed on the Microsoft’s Azure platform. The application allows shoppers to scan their groceries as they proceed through the store, and check out on their mobile device. The only difference is that shoppers are audited as the exit the store, auditing is expected to decline as shoppers use the application in an error-free manner.

An Irish technology firm, Everseen, has developed a product that allows scanning of shopping items at the counter and is taking a similar approach to Amazon by using video cameras and sensors. Microsoft’s Powershelf, is another attempt at solving the problems faced in the retail shops. The aim of the application is to aid in inventory management. The application utilizes sensors to inform retailers of items exhausted on the shelves as well as analytics on items that are consistently picked up and put back. In the past, IBM attempted to use radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags for a checkout-free store though the technology proved expensive due to the requirement to tag all items in the store. RFID tags were also 40

An ideal scenario would have one application usable in all stores and drawing one account.

If this challenge can be overcome by collaboration of retail supermarkets, checkout-free technology may easily disrupt the industry. not suitable for grocery items. The cost of RFIDs has reduced over the years, the technology might be reintroduced for non-grocery stores.

Kenyan retail chains ought to take keen interest in checkout free technology.

The retail chains continued to grow robustly on the bedrock of economic growth, urbanization and high disposal income. A New York based research firm, Nielsen, ranked Kenya as the second biggest market for retail investors in Africa. According to the report, 40 percent of Kenyan shop in supermarkets with wealthy Kenyans preferring malls. The recent years have seen the established of Garden City, Two Rivers, Karen Hub, Thika Road amongst other malls in major cities that have drawn the attention of international brands such as Carrefour, Game and soon more

are planned to join in. Competition thrives amongst local players in Kenya’s supermarket segment, with Nakumatt, Tuskys, Naivas and Uchumi as the major brands. Other smaller brands such as Mulleys & Sons, GreenMart, QuickMart, Maathai Supermarket, EastMatt and CleanShelf are striving to growth their market share.

A key differentiator of a supermarket in this competitive environment would be checkout-free technology. Apart from being convenient to customers, it would improve efficiency by reducing on stock out incidences and managing inventories. The technology can also provide vital business intelligence that can be used for improved customer service and anticipation of consumer behavior.

By understanding the customer trends, the retail supermarkets can carry out targeted promotions to achieve better traction on advertising. Another benefit of technology is that it allows retailers to analyze the layout of the shelves and rearrange based on moving items.

It also facilitates better creation of rich management reports for the senior executives and the board. At the moment, the main challenge of the technology is interoperability. Each retail supermarket may be convinced to develop an individual application addressing their customer, meaning that customers would end up with several applications for them to shop in different stores. An ideal scenario would have one application usable in all stores and drawing one account. If this challenge can be overcome by collaboration of retail supermarkets, checkout-free technology may easily disrupt the industry.

CIO EAST AFRICA | FEBRUARY 2017 | www.cio.co.ke

OPINION

CONVERGENCE OF MARKETING AND FINANCE: USING NEW MODELS AND BIG DATA TO BETTER UNDERSTAND FINANCIAL RISK

BY TIMOTHY ORIEDO

THIS ARTICLE LOOKS AT HOW MARKETERS CAN HELP FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS TO LEVERAGE ON DATA WHEN DEVELOPING CREDIT REFERENCING.

R

esearch indicates that individuals are intricately linked with their spatio-temporal traits, meaning that the frequency and location of a person’s spending has strong predictive value about their propensity to overspend or miss payments. Lenders should look for data that can be used as reliable proxies for identity (for example, to reduce fraud), ability to repay (for instance, income or current debt load), and willingness to repay (for example, past credit experience).

PHONE METADATA Mobile-phone accounts provides a particularly rich potential source of data.

Virtually every detail about each call, text, and request for information a customer makes is captured and stored by mobile operators. Prepaid-minute purchase patterns can indicate a steady or uneven cash flow, and the timing and frequency of calls and text messages can indicate whether someone is working a steady job (for example, fewer calls between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. may indicate that someone is working during those hours). Another example: the proliferation of data from mobile payments can provide credit underwriters with rich transactional information for generating credit insights.

Social Media platforms that ride on the mobile phones penetration also provide a rich repertoire of information that can be harvested to make meaningful inferences to financial predictions.

SOURCES OF DATA TO IMPROVE Auxilliary sources that can be used to enrich the predictions include sources

Mobile-phone accounts provides a particularly rich potential source of data.

mine which data are meaningful, what level of detail is optimal, and what combinations of data are most effective.

There are chances that the organization might not have that skill.

from utilities, wholesale suppliers, retailers, government, and financial institutions own previously overlooked data.

That poses difficulties for risk modelers. While some new technologies are throwing off reams of data, others are allowing us to collect, aggregate, and analyze them in ways never before possible. There are new data standards and protocols, and new tools to bring together disparate data sets, matching and comparing them to generate insights. Many practitioners are not yet skilled in these and are unfamiliar with aggregating diverse and oblique data to derive meaningful insights.

Other technologies are also generating considerable raw data. Basic customer life-cycle management (CLM) applications are becoming increasingly commonplace throughout emerging markets, enabling businesses to collect information about the frequency and character of their interactions with customers. Point-of-service (POS) devices are used with increasing frequency by retailers of all kinds to gather transaction data. Retailer loyalty cards can provide important insights into consumers’ income and even family structure (for example, buying diapers or school supplies is a good indication of children at home). And governments are developing improved identification and tracking systems for their citizens, to improve delivery of government services, among other things.

Leverage on this, click and conversion data based on various levels of engagements helps Identify opportunities to identify customers based on how frequently and recently they interact with your brands.

Gaining access to data can be difficult as well. In many cases, the data sets that lenders want will be owned by entities (telecommunications companies, utilities, or retailers, for instance) that may not want—or are not allowed—to share them. They may be disinclined to take the risk of offending their customers by sharing the information, and they may not have an immediate incentive to find ways to share it, even with their customers’ consent. Regulatory requirements and privacy laws may prohibit lenders from gaining access to certain types of information. Governments are likely to be particularly cautious about sharing identity and other information that they collect about citizens.

There is the risk of validating the metadata from the phones using robust tools and skills. For example, an organization that wants to use data gathered from mobile operators, grocery stores, and utilities will probably need to have expertise in each of these sectors to deter-

(By Timothy Oriedo Certified Big Data Scientist (MIT), Certified Business Coach (ICF) Lead, Group Digital and Partnerships Royal Media Services.

CIM Instructor Digital Marketing and Adjunct Business Coach Strathmore Business School. )

www.cio.co.ke | FEBRUARY 2017 | CIO EAST AFRICA

41

HARD TALK

BY ROBERT YAWE

A PROFESSION DISRUPTED – EPISODE 2

I have found it necessary to complete the issues raised

by Dr. James Mwangi in his keynote speech during the recently concluded CIO Symposium as otherwise I shall not be doing it justice.

B

efore I get down to it, it is important I reiterate that what Dr. James Mwangi provided in his speech was the perception of the CIO from the view of a CEO. It is also important to note that the organisation he runs is home-grown yet his sentiments echo those of CEOs across the world which means the issues are global and thus more pertinent to the future of the CIO.

What the CIO said was gospel truth For many years what a doctor said went, if he said you needed your tonsils extracted they were gone but that was then, today your visit to the doctor is finally a consultation, at least in my case.

This has happened as it has been realised that you spend more time with you body than the doctor ever making you the authority, theirs is to find the cause of the suffering its remedy.

This is the situation that the CIO finds themselves in today as the consumer is now familiar with most of the technology in use and their interactions with it is more frequent than that of either the CIOs or their teams therefore their input becomes more important.

What makes this even more complex is that the consumer today is not only the internal one but also the external one also referred to as the customer. Both have access to a reporting system, the former uses a closed system, the latter social media.

The Role of the CIO has been demystified With the elimination of the gospel truth status of the CIO gone too is the mystery behind what they do, it has become commoditised.

The days of walking around the organisation

When the business says it needs a turnaround time of 24 hours to resolve a customer issue your response should be about how long it will take to make this happen.

42

like an MPC + further Maths student in high school, with the famous Abbot under your arm, ended a while back.

The data centre has moved to the least expensive floor space and the department placed in a common open sitting environment with the rest of the mortals, at least for the forward-looking organisations.

If you still sit behind a door with the sign “Authorised Personnel Only� chances are you will walk out one of this days and find that the organisation relocated and forget to tell you as everything you hold close and dear was moved into the cloud.

With demystification came collocation, virtualisation, cloud and is fast moving towards the days of transaction-based charges that IBM remember all too well.

Do not confuse an ornament for a timepiece As part of his speech, Dr. Mwangi gave the analogy of the classic Swiss watchmakers who confused a watch for a device to tell time instead of an ornament.

The entire computing issue has been reduced to a service, what matters to the end users is the service delivery not how or on what it as served. What this means is that as the CIO you cannot afford to make reference to hardware or software when discussing issues with the business.

When the business says it needs a turnaround time of 24 hours to resolve a customer issue your response should be about how long it will take to make this happen. A quick 3 minute response is all they want as they are least concerned about what it requires to happen which are details best referred to as domestics.

The relevance of the CIO in an organisation no longer has anything to do with the heat spewing devices but in leveraging the existing technology wherever it might be sitting to enable the organisation deliver on its promises to its clients.

CIO EAST AFRICA | FEBRUARY 2017 | www.cio.co.ke

EVENTS NOT TO BE MISSED... MARK YOUR DIARIES! Join us as a speaker, exhibitor, sponsor or partner

Africa Cloud Summit 15-16 March, Nairobi

Africa Security Summit 14-15 June, Kigali

CIO Golf Day 27th May 2017, Saturday, Limuru Golf Club

Africa IoT Summit 13-14 September, Dar es Salaam

CIO100 Symposium & Awards 9-10 November, Naivasha

Africa Big Data Summit 13-14 December, Nairobi

FOR MORE DETAILS: Email us: events@cio.co.ke • Call us on : 0717535307; 0731814939 Follow us on Twitter: @CIOEastAfrica • Like us on Facebook: CIO East Africa