Celebrating
its 50th year of delivering leadership in global IT advisory services, IDC has
launched the inaugural installment of its East Africa CIO Summit at the InterContinental
Hotel Nairobi. The event opened with a keynote speech delivered by the Kenya
ICT Authority and addressing the largest gathering of CIOs, IT thought leaders,
and vendors in East Africa. With delegates drawn from across Kenya, Ethiopia,
Uganda, and Tanzania, the Summit explored the pivotal role of the CIO in the
new business world of technology transformation.
"The
strategic place of CIOs cannot be overemphasized as ICT increasingly emerges as
a driver of business and egovernment services," said Mr. Victor Kyalo,
acting CEO of the Kenya ICT Authority, in his opening address. "The Kenya
ICT Authority recognizes this new reality, and through its ICT Masterplan has
identified the development of high-end ICT skills as a key growth proponent. It
goes without saying that we believe thought-leadership forums such as this one
here today can only add to the development of our collective ICT knowledge as a
country."
The Summit
also saw the formal launch of IDC's Technology Advisory Council for East Africa,
whose fundamental aim is to enable a new wave of IT development across the region.
The Council's members will draw on their rich experience to assist upcoming IT
talent through mentoring sessions, while they will also head key development programs
that recognize breakthrough performances in the field of IT. The founding members
of the IDC Technology Advisory Council include esteemed IT leaders from various
industries such as government, banking and finance, aviation, education, and telecommunications.
Membership is strictly by invitation only and is restricted to senior IT
representatives of the region's foremost end-user organizations.
"As IDC
celebrates its 50th year of providing international markets with groundbreaking
IT analysis, we are profoundly excited to kick start the Technology Advisory
Council for East Africa," says Onesmus Mbogo, country manager for IDC East
Africa. "The Council will provide a far-reaching source of thought
leadership on issues relating to strategic planning, research and development,
and technology innovation."
The day's
proceedings got underway with an in-depth assessment of the ways in which this
new era of transformation is likely to impact the East African IT landscape over
the coming years. This was followed by an eclectic mix of insightful presentations
and informative panel discussions on everything from cutting-edge information
security and telecommunications strategies to CIO best practices and ICT predictions
for East Africa.
"The last
five years have seen the emergence of a new era in computing," says Jyoti Lalchandani,
IDC's group vice president and regional managing director for the Middle East,
Africa, and Turkey. "We call this new era the 3rd Platform. Harnessing the
power of key technology pillars such as Big Data, mobile, cloud, and social media,
this unstoppable force is transforming entire industries and empowering customers
in new ways. It is also driving a fundamental evolution of the CIO's role in
the organization, the tasks and responsibilities of the IT department, and the skill
sets required by CIOs and their IT staff, and events such as today's play a key
role in getting that message across."
The delegates
in attendance represented a variety of industry sectors, including banking and
financial services, government, oil and gas, construction and real estate,
utilities, and healthcare. Senior IDC analysts from across the globe were available
for private one-to-one meetings throughout the course of the Summit, offering
strategic advice on the most pressing business and technology concerns facing
the region's CIOs today. The event came to a close with a lavish dinner and evening
of entertainment hosted for the CIOs and IDC's technology partners.
To make sure
the very latest technology developments were covered at the East Africa CIO
Summit 2014, IDC partnered with some of the world's foremost ICT vendors, including
the Kenya ICT Authority as the Public Sector Partner; EMC as Summit Partner;
FVC and Polycom as Platinum Partners; Oracle, FireEye, and Kaspersky as Gold
Partners; Commvault, Global Knowledge and HCL as Silver Partners; Datagroup and
Entrust as Exhibition Partners; and Business Connexion as Gala Dinner Partner.
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