Background

NESAP-ICT currently targets eight Sub-Saharan African countries: Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, and Tanzania which satisfy the following criteria: (a) presence of an ongoing or pipeline World Bank operation addressing ICTs issues; (b) strong government commitment at the leadership and operational level to NESAP-ICT’s three-strand agenda; and (c) strong interest by the task team leaders of the operations. NESAP-ICT seeks to pilot a new way of collaboration within the Bank across different departments in order to help mainstream ICTs in Bank operations. It brings global expertise to inform engagement with government at the technical and policy levels.

The two-week South-South Learning Visit (SSLV) to India from February 8 -21, 2009 was part of NESAP-ICT program. The learning visit was hosted by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM)—the apex body of Indian IT companies. The SSLV covered Indian IT hubs of Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bangalore.

Purpose

The South-South Study Visit to India on skills development for sustained growth in Africa sought to expose African participants to the Indian IT-ITES industry, with the purpose of distilling policy and practice lessons for possible application in their own countries.

Program

The SSLV program consisted of: (a) presentations from Indian and international experts, (b) networking and learning at the NASSCOM annual Leadership Forum http://indialeadershipforum.nasscom.in (c) site visits to IT firms and skills development institutions, and (d) preparation of draft country action plans. The NESAP-ICT team assembled the learning resources using a collaborative Wikipedia located at: http://nesap-ict.pbwiki.com/

The IT/ITES industry is relevant to Africa because the global market potential is substantial and can be a source of new jobs, faster economic growth, and increased productivity. According to a recent study, the global IT/ITES has a market potential of US$ 475 billion, but currently only 15% of it has been exploited.

India was selected for the learning visit because it is a global leader in IT engineering (54% of the market) and IT-enabled services (37% of the market). In 2007-8, the industry contributed an estimated 5.5 percent of India’s GDP, compared with 3.6 percent in 2003-4 and 1.2 percent in 1997-8. Its rapid growth and India’s leading position on the global stage today has attracted justified attention. That the industry took off in a setting of still widespread poverty and illiteracy offered inspiration and hope to the SSLV participants. On the visit to Hyderabad in Andrah Pradesh, they learnt that absence of a “blueprint” or a master-plan did not impede the IT industry’s rapid development. Instead a potent combination of entrepreneurial savvy and strategic by the state government accelerated the growth of the industry.

Outcomes

The outcomes of the SSLV are:

• Exposure of participants to innovative ICT skills development strategies, programs and practical tools, particularly with regard to the development of IT, ITES and BPO and the role of government in facilitating it.
  
• A network for knowledge and information sharing and knowledge building between India and the participating African countries, as well as amongst Sub-Saharan countries.
  
• A common understanding of the priorities for ICT skills development linked to growth and competitiveness among participants from selected countries and the Bank NESAP-ICT team.
  
• Draft Country Action Plans. Country teams will use the India experience to improve their action plans. A follow up workshop will be organized in Africa after the visit to provide an opportunity for countries to learn from each other’s action plans.
  

Program Agenda: Download

2/8 | 2/9 | 2/10 | 2/11-13 | 2/14 | 2/16 | 2/17 | 2/18 | 2/19 | 2/20 

2/8

Opening Ceremony
Overview of the New Economy Skills for Africa - Information and Communication Technology Program.

• Presentation: New Economy Skills for Africa Program Information and Communication Technology
  Jee-Peng Tan, World Bank (Africa Education)

2/9

Overall Perspective
Perspective on the growth of the IT/BPO offshoring outsourcing industry

• Presentation: Achieving Sustainable and Inclusive Growth Through Global Sourcing of Services
  Barnik Chitran Maitra, McKinsey

Country Presentations
Presentation by each country on a) the current status of IT/ITES industry,b) success stories, challenges and issues;c) suggested strategy and actions going forward Ghana

• Presentation: Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania 

NASSCOM
Presentation NASSCOM agenda on skills, which includes National curriculum design, Faculty development program, Employment Skills assessment, and higher level education

• Presentation: NASSCOM Education & Skill Development Initiative
  Rajiv Vaishnav, NASSCOM

Overview of Skills 
The impact of skills in the global market; examples from India and opportunities for Africa

• Presentation: Skills - The global currency
  Uma Ganesh, Global Talent Track

Role of Certification
Rolling out successful and relevant employability initiatives; How to build an Industry recognized Certification (NAC & Nac-Tech); Model for developing talent pool that can be replicated in Africa

• Presentation: IT/ITeS Certification
  Madan Padaki, MeritTrac

2/10

International Experience - Philippines 
Overview of the BPO industry in the Philippines; Outlining the challenges and success as well as the role of BPAP

• Presentation: Driving Private-Public Sector Alliances to Achieve Breakthrough Growth in the IT-BPO Industry
  Jonathan Defensor de Luzuriaga, Business Process Association -Philippines

International Experience - Korea 
Overview of POSTECH and outline of possible partnership between Africa and Korea

• Presentation: POSTECH Experience & Information Technology in Korea
  Chan-Mo Park, POSTECH

International Experience - Mexico 
Outline of a project in Mexico which has an objective to foster the creation of jobs in Mexican IT Companies

• Presentation: Mexico IT Industry Development Project
  Randeep Sundan, World Bank (GICT)

Introduction to Business Process Outsourcing 
Introduction to Aegis; Start-up and Sustainability of a BPO; Insight into various BPO skill sets

• Presentation: Aegis Presentation
  Anil Modi, Aegis

2/11-13

NASSCOM Conference 

• NASSCOM India Leadership Forum 2009
  http://indialeadershipforum.nasscom.in/nilf2009/

2/14

Reliance Telecom (Site Visit) 
Overview of Reliance BPO - includes services offered; recruitment and training process as well as infrastructure and security.

• Presentation: Reliance BPO
  Punit Garg, Reliance Globalcom

2/16

International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT-H) (Site Visit) 
Introduction to IIIT as a research focused institute, research programs, PPP in Higher education, Leveraging Higher education-Industry linkages (eg incubation centers)

• Presentation: International Institute of Information Technology - Hyderabad
  Rajeev Sangal, IIIT-Hyderabad

Indian School of Business-Hyderabad
Introduction to ISB, Placements, Industry Linkages, Recognition of the Master's degree, Industry-oriented courses, Live ICT projects

• Presentations: ISB - Prodigious Start. Promising Future, ISB - Centre for IT & Networked Economy
  DNV Kumara Guru, Indian School of Business-Hyderabad

L&T Infocity - Building an IT Park 
Introduction to a leading infrastructure developer, PPP projects for IT Tech parks/SEZ's, Examples of IT parks developed by L&T

• Presentation: HITEC City - (Hyderabad Information Technology Engineering Consultancy City)
  L&T Infocity

2/17

The role of government in attracting IT business in Hyderabad 
The role the Andhra Pradesh govt. played in attracting IT business to Hyderabad: includes incentives created; talent pool; connectivity; infrastructure (IT parks, airports, etc.)

• Presentation: Government of Andhra Pradesh
  Ajay Mishra and Partha Saradhi Gopi Krishna, Govt of AP

WinZest - BPO training Institute 
Example of a training institute that provides industry focused training for recent graduates.

• Presentation: Training in India
  Vijay Pasupulati, Winzest

2/18

DGE&T - Ministry of Labour & Employment, Govt. of India 
Overview of the upgrades made to the Indian Vocation Training System - emphasis is on industry led, modular employable skills and assessments.

• Presentation: Indian Vocational Training System & Modular Employable Skills (MES) Skills for Global Economy
  S.J. Amalan, DGE&T

Hero MindMine 
An integrated learning solutions provider that offers clients end-to-end solutions in Training & Development services

• Presentation: Hero Mindmine Institute
  Narpat Singh, Hero MindMine

2/19

Infosys 
Examples of Training on-the-job, Includes Infosys' Campus Connect Program (training students at college level to make them job-ready) and continuous on the job training

• Presentation not available
  Srikantan Moorthy, Infosys

Microsoft 
Examples of research projects conducted by Microsoft.

• Presentation: Microsoft Presentations
  • Digital Green: Video and Mediated Instruction for Agricultural Extension
    Rikin Gandhi, Microsoft Research India
  • KELSA+: Persistent IT Access for Low-Income Workers
    Microsoft Research India
  • PCs for Classrooms in the Developing World
    Saurabh Panjwani and David Hutchful, Microsoft Research India
  • Technology for Rural Healthcare
    Bill Thies, Microsoft Research India
  • User Interfaces for Non-Literate and Semi-Literate Users
    Indrani Medhi and Kentaro Toyama, Microsoft Research India

Indian Institute of Science 
Overview of IISc and the Society for Innovation Development program which is a program that focuses on Research and development in collaboration with industries

• Presentation: Industry Oriented Interdisciplinary Research at Indian
  C. E. Veni Madhavan, Indian Institute of Science

2/20

Final Country Presentations 
Draft action plans developed by participants on completion of session;

• Presentation: Ghana, Kenya, Kenya Action Plan, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria,
  Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania 

Competency Assessment Presentation 
Draft action plan for a competency assessment plan

• Presentation: Competency Assessment Plan
  Randeep Sudan, World Bank (GICT)

Background Papers and Links

• India ICT Profile - http://www.apdip.net/projects/dig-rev/info/in/
• The ICT Landscape in India - http://www1.american.edu/initeb/sm1238a/ictpolicies.shtml
• Enabling ICT for Rural India (download the reports) http://fsi.stanford.edu/publications/enabling_ict_for_rural_india_2005/
• Ministry of Communication and Technology – India - http://www.dot.gov.in/ 

Additional Readings

• Development Strategy: Designing Markets & Growth (PDF, 0.4MB)
  Lawrence Wong
• Education in Singapore (PDF, 0.7MB)
  Ministry of Education Singapore
• Good Governance for Effective e-Government (PDF, 0.1MB)
  Keynote Speech by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong at the iGov Global Exchange Forum
• Keeping the Government Clean (PDF, 3.6MB)

Links to websites of companies that participated in SSLV

• AEGIS IT Solutions India Pvt. Ltd. - http://www.aegisindia.com/ 
• Business Processing Association of the Philippines - http://www.bpap.org/bpap/index.asp
• Directorate General of Employment & Training (DGET) - http://dget.nic.in/ 
• Global Talent Track - http://www.gttconnect.com/index.ht
• Information and Communication Technology Department , Gov of Andrhra Pradesh. Hyderabad, India - http://apit.ap.gov.in/
• Hero Mindmine Institute (HMIL) - http://www.heromindmine.com
• International Institute of Information Technology, IIIT- Hyderabad - http://www.iiit.ac.in/ 
• The Indian School of Business - http://www.isb.edu/isb/index.shtml
• India Institute of Science - http://www.iisc.ernet.in/
• Infosys Technologies Ltd - : http://www.infosys.com/
• Infocity - http://www.ltinfocity.com
• McKinsey & Company - http://www.mckinsey.com
• MeritTrac - http://www.merittrac.com
• Microsoft R&D, Bangalore - http://research.microsoft.com
• NASSCOM - http://www.nasscom.in/
• POSTECH – Pohang University of Science and Technology - http://www.postech.ac.kr/e/ 
• Reliance Communications Limited - http://www.rcom.co.in
• Winzest Edutech P Limited - http://winzest.com

Links to Previous Education Study Visits to Singapore

The Africa Human Development Department has developed a series of study visits to Asia to create a platform for African policy makers to engage in dialogue on the topic of Skills, with their Asian counterparts. The study visits thus far have included the following: Singapore and Vietnam in 2006; Singapore in 2008; and India (Mumbai, Hyderabad and Banglore) in Feb 2009. The results from these visits can be found in the web addresses indicated below.

• Asia Education Study Tour for African Policy Makers 
  Singapore and Vietnam, June 2006
• Leaders in Education and Training for Sustained Growth in Africa (LETSGA)
  Singapore, January/February 2008
• Third South-South Study Visit to Singapore on Skills Development for Sustained Growth in Africa 
  June 21-27, 2009
  

Several lessons emerged from the learning visit - among them are the following five:

1. IT-BPO can rapidly transform a country’s economy and improve the lives of its citizens. In 2007-8, India’s IT-BPO industry employed 2 million people directly and 4 times as many indirectly. Its contribution to GDP now exceeds that of the construction industry and it is almost three times the size of the mining and utilities industries. The industry has not only changed business practices in retail, housing, banking, infrastructure and other sectors, it has also enabled the government to offer the “common man” faster and better services (e.g., in Andrah Pradesh the e-sewa system has been deployed as an efficient one-stop shop for the payment of utility bills and taxes, for the renewal of various permits, etc.). IT applications are also expanding farmers’ access to valuable business information (e.g., agricultural prices through village internet kiosks), students’ options for continuing education; and health seekers’ choices through telemedicine, etc.
   
   
2. Skills and employability are key drivers of the industry’s growth. SSLV participants were impressed by the great attention paid by IT companies to skills assessment and training as a vital part of their business strategy. Companies accept that a gap will always exist between what the education system produces and what the industry needs and wants. Accordingly, leading companies such as Ifosys (which SSLV participants visited in Bangalore, in Karnataka state) create sophisticated assessment and training arrangements to bring graduates up to industry benchmarks (the finishing school concept) and to keep their skills at the cutting edge (the life-long learning concept). Indeed, competency assessment and training have now become a big industry in their own right.
   
   
3.  The Indian Diaspora has played an important role in fostering the country’s IT-BPO industry. The contribution of the Indian Diaspora was especially evident during the NASSCOM Leadership Forum that SSLV participants attended in Mumbai. Not only was this population a good source of top talent—to fill faculty positions in institutions offering IT courses or executive jobs in leading IT firms—it also provided the contacts and networks that facilitated access to senior executives of major foreign companies who might otherwise not have considered investing in India as an IT-BPO destination in the early years.
   
   
4. Public-private partnerships (PPP) are common and vital in the IT-BPO business. The partnerships are a routine feature in how the state works with firms in the industry to address resources constraints. In the area of skill development, for example, NASSCOM—the industry association representing more than 1,200 IT companies which presents a common voice when dealing with the government—has created standards for competency assessment that are now also being used by state training institutions. Some of the leading institutions of learning—such as the Indian Institute of Information Technology (which will soon spawn 20 more similar institutes) and Indian School of Business located in Hyderabad are examples of various PPP models, often involving land donated by the government. PPPs have also been used to mobilize funds for investments in IT parks and related infrastructure (e.g., airports).
   
   
5.  Growing the IT-BPO industry requires a favorable business ecosystem. While a good talent pool is critical, other elements of the ecosystem include: (a) IT-friendly infrastructure; (b) a favorable policy and regulatory environment and tax regime that are attractive to foreign investors; (c) business processes that are fast and easy to complete; (d) an appropriate organizational structure that facilitates coordination in policy and implementation; and (e) effective promotion to attract investors. Hyderabad’s success as an IT/BPO destination, starting from nothing in the early 1980s illustrate the importance of these elements.

A few months after the India visit, high-level delegation of policy makers from the same NSAPT-ICT eight countries visited Singapore on another study visit to learn more about that country’s economic success. The visit reinforces lessons from the India visit, exposed participants to the economy-wide impact of the IT revolution, and reiterated the central role of industry-relevant skills development.

For more information, please visit the NESAP-ICT website at http://www.worldbank.org/nesap-ict or write to nesap-ict@worldbank.org.