Dolly Bhasin about 4400 words D-251, Ashok Vihar, Phase I Delhi, 110052 91-011- 47591321 [email protected]Knowledge Transfer: Putting Knowledge in Practice to improve Business Performance through Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) in South Africa Abstract: In this paper, I would discuss the knowledge transfer mechanisms using ICT to improve the innovation, competitiveness, collaboration and effectiveness of strategic initiatives to forge ties between South Africa and India. In today’s global world, creating knowledge for turning them into new products and services is crucial to maintain and enhance the competitiveness. While enough research has been done on Knowledge transfer in the Manufacturing sector, knowledge transfer in services sector has not been well explored. Collaboration between researchers and industry amongst India and South Africa will be explored through case studies in Elearning, Telemedicine and Book Publishing. The paper would try to highlight how we can create ‘single continuum for knowledge’ by developing platforms where the South African community and Indian Businesses can work and innovate together to create information exchange in a systematic way to improve the business performance, especially in the service delivery. Keywords: Knowledge transfer, skills, competence, learning, ICT, Information, knowledge, value add, collaboration, dissemination, competitiveness, strategy, business, Africa, India, services Author: Dolly Bhasin is the Managing Director of a knowledge enterprise, SPH Consultancy & eServices Pvt. Ltd. She is a Gold medalist Electronics and Communications Engineer with specializations in Sales and Marketing and Business Administration (Singapore). She also holds a Masters in Travel and Tourism from Univ. of Nottingham. As an innovator, she has developed many award winning Knowledge platforms for e-education and SMEs. A USABF awardee, her work is well acknowledged in the global SME network.
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Knowledge Transfer: Putting Knowledge in Practice to improve Business Performance through Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) in South Africa
In this paper, I would discuss the knowledge transfer mechanisms using ICT to improve the innovation, competitiveness, collaboration and effectiveness of strategic initiatives to forge ties between South Africa and India. In today’s global world, creating knowledge for turning them into new products and services is crucial to maintain and enhance the competitiveness. While enough research has been done on Knowledge transfer in the Manufacturing sector, knowledge transfer in services sector has not been well explored.
Collaboration between researchers and industry amongst India and South Africa will be explored through case studies in Elearning, Telemedicine and Book Publishing. The paper would try to highlight how we can create ‘single continuum for knowledge’ by developing platforms where the South African community and Indian Businesses can work and innovate together to create information exchange in a systematic way to improve the business performance, especially in the service delivery.
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Dolly Bhasin about 4400 words D-251, Ashok Vihar, Phase I Delhi, 110052 91-011- 47591321 [email protected]
Knowledge Transfer: Putting Knowledge in Practice to improve Business Performance through Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) in South Africa
Abstract:
In this paper, I would discuss the knowledge transfer mechanisms using ICT to improve the
innovation, competitiveness, collaboration and effectiveness of strategic initiatives to forge ties
between South Africa and India.
In today’s global world, creating knowledge for turning them into new products and services is crucial to
maintain and enhance the competitiveness. While enough research has been done on Knowledge
transfer in the Manufacturing sector, knowledge transfer in services sector has not been well explored.
Collaboration between researchers and industry amongst India and South Africa will be explored
through case studies in Elearning, Telemedicine and Book Publishing. The paper would try to highlight
how we can create ‘single continuum for knowledge’ by developing platforms where the South African
community and Indian Businesses can work and innovate together to create information exchange in a
systematic way to improve the business performance, especially in the service delivery.
dissemination, competitiveness, strategy, business, Africa, India, services
Author: Dolly Bhasin is the Managing Director of a knowledge enterprise, SPH Consultancy & eServices Pvt. Ltd. She is a Gold medalist Electronics and Communications Engineer with specializations in Sales and Marketing and Business Administration (Singapore). She also holds a Masters in Travel and Tourism from Univ. of Nottingham. As an innovator, she has developed many award winning Knowledge platforms for e-education and SMEs. A USABF awardee, her work is well acknowledged in the global SME network.
Bhasin / Knowledge Transfer / 2
Introduction
In today’s global world, creating knowledge for turning them into new products and services is crucial to
maintain and enhance the competitiveness. While enough research has been done on knowledge
transfer approaches and impact in the Manufacturing sector, knowledge transfer in services sector has
not been well explored. In the developing and the underdeveloped countries, services constitute a
major constituent to the economy, in Ghana it accounted for 49.3 per cent of GDP in 20121 and in South
Africa it is as high as 69%2.
India's services sector contributes to about 60 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP),
35 per cent of employment, a quarter of the total trade, and over half of the foreign investment
inflows3.
In this paper I would delve upon how to use Knowledge intensive services to aid the knowledge transfer
and facilitate service delivery seamlessly across continents between India and Africa using ICT.
Collaboration between researchers and industry amongst India and South Africa will be explored
through case studies in Elearning, Telemedicine, Telecom and Book Publishing. The paper tries to
highlight how we can create ‘single continuum for knowledge’ by developing platforms where the South
African community and Indian Businesses can work and innovate together to create information
exchange in a systematic way to improve the business performance, especially in the service delivery.
By ensuring that a local university acts as a hub for the PAN Africa eNetwork, not only the acceptability
and usability of the network was ensured, but also a proper knowledge transfer was made from India to
the African counterpart. The local university now delivers and manages the sophisticated servers and
equipment and delivers the requisite services to the entire 53 countries of Africa, as a knowledge
services backend.
Still in its infancy but mighty in its reach, the Pan Africa e-Network Project has promises to keep and a
long way to go. To really achieve the goals of South-South collaboration, it is required to research
further into the impact of the new paradigm of learning across Africa.
From geographically dispersed individual-centric learning, it is now time to move towards collective
learning across Africa, and the African countries start taking ownership of project after internalizing the
knowledge gained.
As Dr. Kalam puts it -
“The challenge of the next phase of the project is to build bridges between all African
tele-centres to forge a synergy of learning experience, as knowledge shared is knowledge
multiplied “ 11.
11
Abdul Kalam, "Two Billion Dreams: Celebrating India Africa Friendship". PAN-African e-Network, IANS India Pvt. Ltd., http://2billiondreams.in/index.php?param=about_the_book, accessed January 10, 2014
Bhasin / Knowledge Transfer / 16
CASE 3
Book Exports to Africa by Repro India
Repro India Limited
Repro was established in 1984 as a provider of integrated print solutions to publishers and corporations
the world over. Today, Repro offers significant backward and forward integration which involves
managing customer’s content, printing and delivering in different formats. In the financial year 2010-11
REPRO clocked over INR 2.5 billion in revenue, with over 50% coming from overseas markets.
Repro is a provider of content, print and fulfillment solutions to publishers, corporates, education
institutions and governments. Repro bring efficiencies to our customer’s value chain by providing them a
one stop solution to their needs, right from managing and repurposing content, to printing and binding to
delivery anywhere across the globe.
Today, Repro serves customers across four continents. They produce multiple product formats such as
books, e-books and other interactive content. Repro’s core activities are supported by a state of the art
infrastructure which includes the most contemporary Information Technology and two modern book
printing plants on India’s west coast. They have strategic partnerships with global logistics providers.
Repro is certified for ISO 9001-2008, ISO 14000 – 2004, FSC, PEFC and SEDEX for quality, environment
& social compliance practices. Repro has been awarded the CAPEXIL Export Award for being India’s
leading books exporter consequently for 5 years now.
Source: Repro India Website http://www.reproindialtd.com/
Repro focusses on two markets- India, which has 1.2 billion people and where education is growing fast
and other is Africa, with a population of 1.1 billion people. Almost 60% of the population in both these
countries is in the education segment from the age of 3-22. Assuming 60% of this 1.2 billion people, you
have close to 4 billion books requirements in each country in that specific segment. Even at a dollar a
book, they address the $4 billion market for the primary and school education in both countries.
Africa constitutes of 60% of all exports of Repro India. It supplies pupil books to 14 African countries,
with export countries very well spread around the entire African continent-
Bhasin / Knowledge Transfer / 17
West Africa - Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon;
East Africa - Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, South Africa
South African Development Region (SADC) - Mozambique, Botswana, Swaziland and so on.
Knowledge Intensive Services
Repro India has acquired the printing setup of Macmillan Publishers for 4 countries in Africa and aim to
acquire many more of their printing setups or have strategic partners to have deeper penetration into the
African market. Repro also aims to work with strategic partners who work in local African markets to
further consolidate its position in Africa.
From providing just export of books and printing services, Repro is now establishing local setups in Africa
to offer value added services in the educational segments, including elearning and interactive educational
content. It has recently launched two interactive products for education:
Rapples is Repro’s tablet based learning solution. This solution provides every student with a pre-loaded
educational tablet, with text books as per the choice of the school.
Rapples has been designed to bring into its fold the four key stakeholders in education – the teacher, the
student, the school management and the publisher.
Repro CloudStore, Repro’s digital storefront, has a collection of thousands of books across genres –
educational and otherwise. It gives students direct access to books, while facilitating the reach of
publisher’s content to multiple access points across the globe. A strategic tie-up with a global e-book
store has given users of CloudStore a vast sea of books to choose from.
Bhasin / Knowledge Transfer / 18
Conclusion
Through the three case studies, we can see how Knowledge transfer has been undertaken to successful
implementation of Knowledge intensive services in Healthcare, Education and Book Business.
But to build more effective knowledge transfer between India and Africa, we need to create more
platforms to enable information exchange at strategic levels. Some suggestions are –
1. An Elearning platform on the cloud, which uses the MOOC approach targeted at the Higher
education and professional learning. The courses can have Rich media (Video and Audio)
and ebooks based learning material. Mobile technology for end user interaction. Students
could collaborate and learn across India and Africa.
2. An interactive platform to engage with Indian Diaspora in Africa for knowledge exchange in
Literature, Culture and Education. This platform could stimulate trade publishers to export
books direct to Indian Diaspora in Africa and vice versa.
3. Online STEM Publications and Research Journals for Indian-African Researchers
4. Joint Projects on developing Ebooks for Children and Education
5. Policy level interaction between India and African countries to have a standardized
educational content and syllabus drawn, so that Indian Publishers can develop targeted
content for Educational system.
6. Facilitation of Medical Tourism to India from African countries through the Telemedicine
network for pre-screening the patients by the participating hospitals in India in the PAN
African eNetwork.
I hope that we can see a ‘single continuum for knowledge’ by developing such platforms, where South
African community and Indian Businesses work and innovate together to create information exchange in
a systematic way to improve the business performance in the service delivery across continents but
bonded through knowledge networks.
“If we can dream it, we can build it!”
Knowledge Transfer through knowledge intensive services is truly putting Knowledge in action to
improve the business performance of not just the African but also the Indian businesses.