USA/Ethiopia SbCnet Presenters Profile President and Chief - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

General Assembly Meeting “Information & Communications Technologies”United Nations New York 17-18 June 2002

Presented by: Ms. Sophia Bekele

CBS International, Inc.

USA/Ethiopia

The United Nations Role in supporting efforts to promote digital

• pportunity, in particular in Africa and the LDCs

Infrastructure development, improving connectivity, promoting access to information society

Presenters Profile

 President and Chief Executive Officer

• CBS International
• BS.MBA.CISA
• Career with Multinationals in North America
• International Workshops
• UNECA African Information Society Initiative

(AISI)

• UNICT Taskforce, African Regional Network
• Technical Alliance and Professional

Associations

• Interests: International Technological issues ,

published writer, public affairs commentator

• Vision: Third world technological development

A CBS International Company

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Company Profile

• Founded in 1998, CBS International is an

African owned company in the business Professional Information Technology consulting and Implementation Services. SbCnet

A CBS International Company

 Currently focus on two Service Lines:

• Systems Integration
• Web Site design and Hosting.

CBS International/SbCommunication Network, plc.

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• Large Scale ICT Deployment project that are typified

by LAN, Campus Area Networks and interfaces to WAN, Internet/Intranet

• Large Number of Users both in Continental

Organizations and National Institutions

• Large Investment in IT/Computing Infrastructures:

High-speed optic fiber backbones, enterprise servers, internet/intranet software like electronic mail servers, web servers, databases, other office automation tools for personal and group productivity

Systems Integration Business

Our Web Focus

• Websites
• Knowledge management
• workflow
• Database
• Customer relationship strategies and solutions

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• Hosting is provided through our California

affiliate CBS International, which links us to over 300 Internet Solution Providers

Project Case Studies

 Strategic Integrated Information Network Infrastructure to serve all the users located in the

General Secretariat and provide them with personal ICT capabilities I.e network/internet access/ intranet and collaborative computing/email and communications/automation tools of both personal and enterprise-wide productivity

Organization of African Unity (OAU) General Secretariat:

The Requirement:

 Provide facilities for research and enhanced information dissemination such as

• rganizational website, library and information documentation facilities, electronic

printing networks etc..

 Networking infrastructure allows embassies and other institution to connect and

share via remote access services to access intranet information resources.

 Possibility of scaling the project by linking to Regional offices of OAU, sub-regional

• rganizations and other international organizations.

 Can be regarded as pilot scale project for a continent-wide network  UNDP Sponsored Capacity Building Project that utilizes the information

Systems Support component for the establishment of an early warning system for the OAU Conflict Management Center.

 UNOPS Project Services component  Local Company to provide the required technology supply, systems

integration services, project implementation and overall delivery.

 Our Company won both on financial and technical requirements

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The Solution:

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Project Case Studies

 Implement National Scale Information Technology project to support the

Parliamentary information System at the Federal Legislative body of the Government

• f Ethiopia.

National Parliament of Ethiopia: The Requirement:

 To Integrate systems for Regional Parliaments, Zonal and Local Consultative

Councils

 Serves as a national system for management & monitoring of Ministries & other

Federal bodies l.e. Budget oversight & subsidies to regional states.

 Provides Parliamentarians with ICT tools for drafting Legislation & Committee

based work.

 Enhanced facilities for research and documentation services for Parliamentary

Research teams through the intranet

 Links to Regional Assemblies & Regional State Governments, Universities,

Parliamentary Friendship Associations & International Parliaments

The SOLUTION:

 International capacity Building Project with several donor groups, under

‘good governance’ programme

 Local Company to provide the required technology supply, systems

integration services, project implementation and overall delivery.

 Our Company won both on financial and technical requirements

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A CBS International Company

Project Case Studies

Two Prime Examples

• f large Scale ICT deployment

projects at the scale of an International organization and National Institution

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Committed to African capacity building and forging private sector involvement in the development dialogue

Country Profile - Ethiopia

• Member of the LDC group
• Country, resource rich, but infrastructure poor.
• Per capital income of about 200US/ yr
• Literacy rate just under 33 percent
• Huge gap between the urban middleclass in Addis

Ababa and the rural poor, which constitutes

• verwhelming majority of the population

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After 25 years of Communism characterized by:

• A state controlled economy.
• Country of 60 million people, Ethiopia since 1991 is

undergoing a profound socio-economic transformation: including infrastructure, telecommunications, power and transport

CHALLENGES

The realities on the ground creating the digital divide)

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SbCnet IT Infrastructure, access and connectivity development constrained by

series of factors.

• Low income per capita per person
• Cost of 1 computer, which is about 900 USD, 4 times

the average income of an Ethiopian

• Access to internet cost annually about 400 USD, 2

times the average income of a person

• Telephone access is extremely limited, only appx

200k fixed lines .

• Only 30,000 people have access to mobile, which is

limited to basic services.

CHALLENGES

The realities on the ground creating the digital divide)

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• lack of skilled manpower usually limiting the
• ptions of changing employees as a means
• f restructuring and streamlining business
• pportunities.
• Staff has to be retained on their old roles and

properly harnessed for greater productivity

• The business cultural environment is yet

developing

• The telecom sector is still a monopoly with
• nly one ISP, one mobile service provider

DEMAND FOR IT (the digital opportunities)

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Telemedicine:

• A network of 9-10 hospitals in the country that are connected

via the internet to the medical faculty of the AAU and the Black Lion hospital in a single telemedicine network. Also to extend this network to smaller clinics and the provincial health centers

Private sector:

• Banks

and Insurance reengineering their business processes thru automation

Recent public tenders:

• Ministry of Education, procurement for 3000 computers
• Ministry of Revenue, implementing TIN and VAT systems as

part

• f the government’s tax reform plans
• Ethiopian Civil Aviation , building a new state of the art

airport, including an integrated airline reservations system.

IT Companies and their state of IT Skills

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• The UNECA ‘s CISCO Academy program for women

has 1-2 graduates for us in the country in this area.

• Over 30 companies in Ethiopia engaged in the IT sector
• Sales, training and maintenance of Computer products.
• 3-4 are positioned to implement large-scale projects
• Still a need for partnering with foreign companies with

experience to assist in the implementation process.

• Shortage of skilled labor in IT
• For eg. ONLY 30 MCSE and less than 10 CISCO

certified professionals in the whole country.

Website Business

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SbCnet Best use for advertisement

• f

products and services on the internet, allows for global access Completed Work:

• Ethiopian Tourism Commission
• We are the first to put online a multi-lingual

newspapers in Ethiopia: great service to the Diaspora

• NGOs that are also in need of access to

financial contributions from abroad etc..

Website Business

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SbCnet Winner of ‘Best African Site Award 2001’ under the title best site for technology transfer

Design . Content . Usefulness to public

Africa Services, Norway

www.cbsintl.com

LESSONS LEARNED

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• Additionally, provision for training was not included in the scope of

work that left the beneficiary short of early realization of the bebenit of the system

OAU project:

• Expectations of the beneficiary organization was not met.

There was no Terms of Reference for the project

• UNOPS was in the understanding that the project entailed supply of

computers and installation only, while the OAU expected a larger project that would include a Campus-wide Area Network for all its departments and proper computing infrastructure for General Secretariat

• This two different views based on different conceptual framework left

UNOPS handicapped by their lack of understanding of the intricate OAU project requirements, and CBS our company caught in the middle.

• This experience shows definitely the lack of adequate planning on

execution of projects particularly understanding of the technical and project requirement. Additionally, training is a very critical component

• f capacity building.

LESSONS LEARNED

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• While ‘good governance’ was demonstrated by the Ethiopian

Parliament, the lesson is that the evaluation team did not have the adequate technical capacity to evaluate a complex technical project.

• Another case of lack of technical capacity within the government

institutions.

Ethiopian Parliament project:

• Good Terms of Reference and scope of work
• Rather, issues were on the tender evaluation process. The

project was awarded to another contractor first and REVERSED to our company after our company contested.

• The prior project was then suspended and later on cancelled based
• n irregular tender procedures . The tender evaluation process was

not conducted on the basis of fair play and open competitive terms.

OAU LAN Diagram

192.34.56.11

PDC

Hub 192.34.57.13 192.34.58.13 192.34.58.11 192.34.57.12 192.34.57.11 192.34.58.12 192.34.56.12 192.34.60.12 192.34.60.13 192.34.60.11 192.34.56.13 Hub Hub Hub

BDC

192.34.56.2 192.34.57.2 192.34.58.2 192.34.60.2

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Overall Project Benefit



Integrated platform whereby an information infrastructure could be used and applied for development.



The new globalization is built and enhanced by the integrated Information Technology Infrastructure that spans every corner of the globe society.



Linking the Client network to the regional organizations would lead to increasing consolidation of improved communications in Africa, with direct and indirect benefits to social and economic development and a more knowledgeable society.



An executive impetus at the highest levels and government and inter-continental

• rganizations to support the Information Technology deployment agenda.



Recent conferences such as the ADF’99/ADF 2002 and the AISI under the sponsorship of UNECA, will not only build awareness, but will also further enhance the achievement of the greater goals of ICT’s and Regional Integration

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Notable Quotes

Capacity Building Comprises of the most challenging of projects. We have to build indigenous skills as we enhance institutional capacities Sophia Bekele, President, CBS International

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LESSONS LEARNED

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Web Business Experience:

• Opportunities
• f

building websites for businesses is huge

• Hindered primarily by the lack of awareness
• n the value of website to businesses.
• Not encouraging for a globally competitive

business environment

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR UNITED NATIONS

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UN has done a lot a towards this objective

• In Africa in particular the AISI is one successful example

and there are many other initiatives that the UN supports.

• Unfortunately the UN provides avenues for discussions

ONLY and does not the political mandate in any country to effect implementation.

• The will to implement should come from the member states.

The one UN agency that is charged with implementation or supervision for implementation projects funded by UNDP is UNOPS.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR UNITED NATIONS

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Lack of awareness of benefit of IT

• Advocacy role for the Private sector (in particular SMEs), which

are the driving force for the development and use and implementation of ICT.

• Information disseminator of this best practices, and successful

models of Private sector business activities Access to finance

• Should increase assistance especially on IT related projects in the

public sectors, e-governance, e-procurement, telemedicine etc..

• Encourage

FDI investments in infrastructure and telecommunication sectors by bringing together Public/private partnerships (PPP).

• Fund directly private sector initiated projects.
• Finally, ensure that these pledged funds are released quickly to

shorten the implementation process

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR UNITED NATIONS

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Regulatory framework that provides for private sector development:

• Democratization

and privatization for the benefit

• f

the community

• Liberalizing the telecommunications environment
• Policies that encourage Public Private Partnerships.

Major challenge here is to bring the smaller market to the surface.

• MTN, ECONET Africa-Online and Dimension Data are

some of the private sector ICT success stories. UN Support for Regional Infrastructure projects

• Regional investment has regional impacts, which we need in Africa.
• Cross sharing of experiences and information in companies and

regional cooperation is critical to economic development.

• Build a win–win situation for both public and private sector to build

modern infrastructure, connectivity and access for regional cooperation

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR UNITED NATIONS

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Private sector targeted programs by the UN

• Global Compaq for indigenous private sector
• UN must strongly commit to the indigenous private sector
• UN funded project should include the active involvement of

private sector in the development process. Good examples are the internet initiatives by UNDP, mandatory use of local technology partner in implementation of IT projects

• Promoting rural access can be accomplished through PPP
• programs. .

Serious reflections are needed on technologies that meet African reality:

• Use of Wireless technologies instead of land line eg. Wireless

fidelity

• Use of VSAT for remote access

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• Business is conducted under HARSH political & economic

circumstances in Africa

• ICT private sector is a critical stakeholder in the development

process of Africa. Local entrepreneurs are engines of growth.

• Given the proper environment, private sector will definitely aid

the development agendas.

• The formation of the AU and the NEPAD initiatives have given

endorsement to the Private sector participation and

• involvement. The continent should consolidate on its gains and

win a new space in the global arena.

• However, what drives development in the continent will always

be governments setting the policy frameworks for an open market to create market

• pportunities

the private sector

• rganizations that could make use of to the maximum.

Conclusion

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Ladies & Gentlemen Our Policy Makers Our Ambassadors Our Development Partners The African Civil Society Private Sector Let us all call for a

‘Marshall Plan’

For Socio–Economic Transformation of Africa and its digital inclusion in the world

Conclusion

Continental Integrated Information Network (CIIN)

A NEW Private sector- led initiative based on

• n the principles of

Regional Cooperation

Project Initiative

CIIN is a strategic networking initiative that is central to the achievement of an African Information Society (AIS), on the basis

• f Regional Cooperation and Integration

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Project Initiative

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• Focuses on the development of Information and Knowledge

Networks and Resources for critical sectors I.e. agriculture /natural resources transport & communication, Public health, education, business & commerce

• Requires large scale deployment /implementation of ICT

infrastructures

• Needs governmental policy & Strategy formulation, and regulatory

frameworks

• Requires Significant financial Investment, economic de-regulation &
• pen competitive business environments to ensure full Private Sector

participation.

• In line with the NEPAD, and could serve a a basis for African

Integration and Objectives of the African Economic Community /African Union

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Objective

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To strengthen the knowledge sharing of the Regional Economic Communities via increased indigenous:

• knowledge networking
• Content development
• Capacity building
• Connectivity to the Internet

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Complementary Initiatives

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One of important project initiative since the launching

• f the African Information Society Initiative (AISI) by

UNECA Bridge the shortcoming with existing Knowledge Networks in Africa and globally, and also complement and supplement other initiatives to be implemented under AISI. Supports the objectives of NEPAD and African Union on Regional Integration

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Important initiatives in the paper drafted for the Common Position for Africa’s Digital inclusion by UNECA UN ‘s Global Compaq for Africa Recovery

Data/Infor ta/Informat mation ion Flow w fo for the e RECs

UMA IGAD CIIN UNECA COMESA SADC ECCA ECOWAS

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PROJECT STAKEHOLDERS

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Regional Economic Communities (RECs) Policy Makers Institutes of Higher learning Civil Society Private Sector OAU/ECA/ADB

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Critical Success Factor

• Selection of Tested Technologies/Applications
• Participation of leading Content Developer Group
• Strong Local Presence/Expertise
• Superior Project Management Methodology
• Training (Capacity Building)
• Support - Post Implementation
• Early Commitment of Stakeholders
• Team Work among stakeholders
• Funding and Resource Management
• Assessment of Indigenous Knowledge

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Current Status

 Presented to:

• UNECA High Level Group;
• Directors of DISD, ISS, Communications Team, SRDC, RDIC
• Directors of 4 REC Regions
• President Wade of Senegal, Chairman of ICT activities on

NEPAD

• OAU Cabinet

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Responses: Welcome Initiative!

Conclusion

CBS International and its affiliates are Committed to development of African Infrastructure and Capacity building and have the experience of spearheading and delivering such initiatives

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Conclusion We look forward to being your partner in development!

CBS International

USA/Ethiopia

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Email: cbs@cbsintl.com