Technologies and Management Tools for Digital Villages

IBM Corporate Service Corps : Kenya Team 1

© 2010 IBM Corporation

Digital Villages Initiative

Technologies and Management Tools for Digital Villages

Final Report

October 15, 2010



Table of contents

Introduction to the project

Current situation in digital villages and pilots Pasha centres

Vision for empowering the entrepreneurs to successfully run their centre

Recommendations on tools and templates

Enablement, knowledge management, and continuous support strategy



Sub team 3: scope of work

Review and propose tools to support the digital villages initiative

Focus on local level entrepreneurship

Evaluate software, programs, tools, and training programs for digital village entrepreneurs

Take into account the low level of literacy in the rural areas



Kenya team 1, sub team 3

Technical Enablement SpecialistTivoli Technical EnablementSoftware Group

L3 Support Manager, Java TechnologiesSWGISL

PBS Canada GTS Team LeadServices Customer FullfilmentIntegrated Supply Chain

Managing ConsultantSAP PracticeIBM Global Business Services



Table of contents








Current situation in digital villages and pilot Pasha centres

This assessment is based on interviews realised in September 2010 during– Visit of the pilot Pasha centre in Meru

– Visit of the pilot Pasha centre in Kangundo

– Visit of the pilot Pasha centre in Mukuru Slum

– Visit of the KDN Digital Village in Excel Girls High School

– Discussions with KICTB, Intelecon, DOT, Summit Strategies Ltd.

– Review of materials from KICTB, Intelecon



Centre and support assessment

Existing infrastructure

– Second hand hardware received mostly through donations

– Diversity of software used

• Windows or Linux OS

• Internet Explorer or Firefox web browser

• MSN messenger, Yahoo messenger, Skype or other messaging software

• Microsoft Office or Open Office suites

• Free antivirus such as Avast, Antivir or none

– Internet connection through ADSL or radio integrated in a LAN, no Wifi or Wimax

Training and support received

– Initial KICTB training received in Meru and Mukura Pasha centres sufficient to start up

– Ongoing support through weekly calls between pilots Pasha centres and KICTB



Business processes assessment

Central support and enablement required to support growth to Advanced Pasha centre

Skill demonstrated, internal staff manage hardware and software maintenance

Many different software used

Technology

Tools or template required to support growth to Advanced Pasha centre

Accounting done in Excel in Meru and Kangundo

Accounting and Finance

Tools or template would help to support growth to Advanced Pasha centre

Missing guidelines on hiring and defining salaries

Human Resources

Tools or templates required to support the services provided

Enablement to be provided on eGovernementservices

Paper registry used for tracking time and billing customers in Meru and Kangundo

Missing information on eGovernement services available to market in Meru

Operations andcustomer service

AssessmentFindings and feedback received

Marketing and Sales

Business planning

Consistent branding should be defined

Value proposition of Pasha centre should be reinforced (differentiation by quality)

Skill demonstrated in Meru and Kangundo: differentiation through branding (Pasha logo) and quality (ADSL) at a price aligned with competitors

Existing training to be enhanced

To be reassessed after first round of business plan review with banks

KICTB / Intelecon template exists

Evaluation of existing training indicates areas with deficiencies



Table of contents








Empowering the entrepreneurs to successfully run their centre

For the Pasha centres to overcome the challenges identified in the assessment, they must differentiate themselves via quality and services offered through the Pasha brand

Central support and enablement on technical and business topics is required to support growth to Advanced Pasha centre providing complex services

Entrepreneurial Empowerment

Standardisationof Business Processes

Enablement BeyondInitial Training

Definition of a Continuous

Support Framework

Standardisationof Technical Platform



Standardisation of technical platform and business processes

Guidelines should be defined to standardise the workstation software between Pasha centres in order to

– Provide a consistent customer experience

– Simplify technical support

– Support the expansion of bouquet of service to Advanced Pasha centres

New or recent quality hardware should be acquired with KICTB support and revolving fund

– Improve customer experience

– Reduce maintenance cost

– Reduce power consumption

Business processes should be standardised through training supported by a common toolset made of software and templates in order to

– Support the growth of business to Advanced Pasha centres

– Allow the creation of a community of Pasha Managers with similar practices



Enablement and continuous support

An enablement roadmap could be defined for entrepreneurship and technical skills development

– Existing ICT Entrepreneurship training should be expanded and converted to online self-paced modules

– Additional optional technical and business enablement should be provided

– ICT Entrepreneurship trainers should participate in a longer mentoring program to ensure quality of instructors

Continuous support is required for enablement beyond training

– A central support should be available for technical issues

– A Pasha managers community should be encouraged to provide support and best practices on business topics such as marketing, finance or HR

– A mentoring program could be set up between entrepreneurs



Table of contents








Recommendations on tools and templatesSoftware selection matrix

– Evaluated for Power users or BeginnersEase of use

– Evaluated as High / Medium / LowBreadth and Depth of Functionality

– Availability of detailed documentation for usage and training

– Evaluated as High / Medium / Low

Training and documentation

– Editor based, with assessment of level of support provided

– Community based, with assessment of size of community and level of activity

– Evaluated as High / Medium / Low

Support

– Swahili and English

– English only

Language

– Free or open source software preferred

– Commercial software with moderate license price

License

– Windows / Linux standalone, full workstation toolset should be available for both

– Web based, preferred solution for quick roll out in centres with low IT skills

– Client / server on premise, with heavyweight or web client

Architecture




Proposed Tools and Templates Categories

Pasha Manager Central SupportPasha Customer

• Office suite

• Web browser

• Instant messaging,VoIP and Video

• Publishing

• Imaging

• Audio and Video

• Video Recording

• CD Burning

• Cyber Cafe Management

• Wireless Hotspot Management

• Collaboration

• Web site development

• Community content

• eCommerce

• Survey software

• Internet Radio and TV

• Antivirus

• Business Planning

• Marketing and Sales

• Accounting and Finance

• Human Resources

• Community content

• Collaboration

• eLearning

• Video conf.

• Remote access

• IT asset mgt

• Network mgt

• Issue mgt



Recommendations on tools and templatesPasha Customers

Final Burner Free for Windows

K3B for Linux

CD Burning

Windows Movie Maker for Windows, free

Kino for Linux, open source

Video Recording

VLC player, open source versatile media playerAudio and Video Player

GIMP for pictures editing, open source equivalent to Photoshop

Inkscape for vector image and banners, open source equivalent to Adobe Illustrator

Imaging

Scribus, open source equivalent to Adobe PagemakerPublishing

Google Chat, free, plugin available for voice and videoInstant messaging Voice over IP and Video

Mozilla Firefox with Swahili localeWeb browser

Open Office with Swahili locale and dictionaryOffice suite



Recommendations on tools and templatesPasha Managers (1/3)

Google Apps / Sites / Groups, already used by KICTBWeb site for collaboration

Youtube, web based

Icecast, server based alternative allowing local broadcasting through Wifi or Wimax without internet connexion

Internet Radio and TV

Surveymonkey, web based solution with free limited version

Limesurvey, open source Linux solution

Survey software

Avast for WindowsAntivirus

Shop Factory eTrader, web based design tool and hosting providerWeb site for eCommerce

Joomla, open source content management system, already used by KICTB Web site for community content

easyPHP, complete open source web development suite including Apache, PHP, MySQL and support for plugin such as Joomla

Web site development

Hot Spot System, revenue sharing, web based solution

Zeroshell, open source solution requiring a Linux server

Wireless Hotspot Management

Cyber Cafe Pro for Windows, free with ads, include point of sale and employee timesheeting management

Mkahama for Linux, solution for both Windows and Linux workstations

Cyber Cafe Management




For online communications and advertisement, a simple and efficient method is to use the popular social networks in Kenya:

– Facebook

– Twitter

For paper communications and advertisement, generic template should be created with Pasha logo for

– Marketing poster and billboards

– Office stationary (letter, fax)

Marketing and Sales

The already existing business plan template provided by KICTB can be completed by tools and templates from SME toolkit

– Sample business plans

– Business Plan Checklist

– Starting a new Business Checklist

Business Planning




Due to the small number of employees in Pasha Centers, dedicated tool will not be required.

Templates from SME toolkit are suggested for the following use

– Employee payroll

– Employee attendance and working hours (also covered by Cyber Café Management Tool)

– Hiring tool

Human Resources

An accounting software is required to keep track of revenues and expense in a more organised way than with the current paper register and Excel spreadsheet

– Turbocash v3: Windows, open source, already used in Kenya and with commercial support provided from South Africa

– GNU cash: Linux, open source

Accounting and Finance



Recommendations on tools and templatesCentral Support and Pasha Managers

Webex, web based solution already used by KICTB

LotusLive, alternative solution

Videoconferencing

Joomla, open source content management system, already used by KICTBWeb site for community content

Google Apps / Sites / Groups, already used by KICTBWeb site for collaboration

TightVNC, open source server based solutionRemote access and Desktop sharing

Moodle, open source training management system already used by KICTBeLearning

Spiceworks, free with ads web based solutionIssue Management (ticketing)

Spiceworks, free with ads web based solutionNetwork Management

Spiceworks, free with ads web based solution

SME toolkit template, to be used pending Spiceworks roll out

IT asset Management



Recommendations on tools and templatesPasha centre start-up kit

The list of recommended tools and templates could be consolidated in a “Pasha Centre Start-up” kit allowing new Pasha Manager to find in a single place everything they need to start their business.

It could be added to the Pasha Portal in wiki pages and periodically on a CD / DVD that could be given to entrepreneurs receiving the grant.

Proposed organization for Pasha centre start-up kit– Software for Pasha Customer workstations

• For Microsoft Windows• For Linux

– IT Software for Pasha Manager• For Microsoft Windows• For Linux

– Management tools and templates for Pasha Manager• Business planning• Marketing and Sales• Operations and Customer service• Accounting and Finance• Human Resources



Table of contents








Recommendations on enablement

Proposed Enablement Enhancement

ICT Training Program AdditionalTechnical Training

AdditionalBusiness Training

Pasha Entrepreneur Enablement Roadmap

• Skills assessments as validation points

• Visual diagram providing flow of training recommendations and study material

• ICT Entrepreneurship module enhancements

• Preparation of modules for future conversion to for online delivery

•Trainer mentoring program

• Publishing of material to Pasha Portal with wiki for commenting or updating content

• Hardware, software and network including a buying guide

• Workstation administration

• Network and wireless networking (LAN, firewall, internet, wifi, wimax…)

• Graphics design

• Web design

• IT enabled services

• eGovernementservices

• eBanking services



Recommendations on knowledge management strategy

The Pasha Portal must be the single point of entry for information on Pasha centres– Information on the Pasha initiative

– Training and enablement material, for customers and entrepreneurs

– Technical and business support

The content need to be segregated for each user group– Public pages opened to everyone for information on the Pasha initiatives, location of the existing Pasha

centres and schedules of next training sessions

– Registered Pasha trainee to access the initial training material and additional training and enablement material

– Pasha customers using generic accounts for each centre to access the eLearning courses

– Pasha managers to access the training and continuous support pages as well as dedicated eGovernmentservices (for example official data gathering in survey pages)

It should provide mass communication feature for KICTB, for example to advertise trainee of opening of new training dates or to advertise entrepreneurs of eGovernment services available on the portal



Recommendations on continuous support strategy

Technical support– The technical support component of the Pasha is to be outsourced but the tools and processes around it should

be independent of the selected provided and whenever possible running on the Pasha Portal to avoid vendor lock in

– Voice over IP, video conferencing, remote PC access software as well as infrastructure and issue management system are covered on the technology tools recommendation.

– Recurring issues and frequently asked questions should be documented in wiki pages

– Software included in the Pasha start up kit should be described in wiki pages to allow Pasha managers to comment on it and share their experience

Business support– Non technical support on business issues such as Accounting, Marketing or HR could be provided in the forum

of the Pasha Portal, by the community of KICTB trainer and Pasha Managers

– Sharing best practices and enablement materials should be encouraged in wiki pages

– A mentoring scheme could be set up between senior entrepreneurs and recent less experienced ones

– Rewards for participation could be provided by announcement of most active contributors and eventually gift software or free month of technical support subscription



Questions?



Asante Sana!



Backup Slides



Pasha Centre Enablement Roadmap Template



Pasha Centre Entrepreneur Enablement Overview

EntryPoint

Yes

NoDo you meet the

Pasha Centre Entrepreneurship Pre-requisites?

Assess ICT Entrepreneurship

Development

Assess Fundamental Technical Skill

development

Assess Advanced Technical Skill

development

Assess IT Enabled Services Skill

development

Work on developing Pasha centre entrepreneurship

pre-requisites

Capable of running a Pasha centre with significant IT assistance offering IT Enabled Services

Capable of running a Pasha centre with minimal IT assistance offering IT Enabled Services



EntryPoint

ICT Entrepreneurship Development

Capable of submitting a Pasha centre business plan

How did you score on the fundamental

technical skills assessment?

How did you score on the ICT

Entrepreneur skills assessment?

Test score below 70%

Test score of 70% or higher



CompleteFundamental Technical Skill

development

Assess Advanced Technical Skill

development

Complete ICT Entrepreneurship Training

Modules

Complete Additional ICT Entrepreneurship

Development Resources



Fundamental Technical Skills Development

EntryPoint

Training to be defined

Self Paced Varies

Additional material to be defined

Self Paced Varies

Capable of running a Pasha centre with external assistance

Web resource to be defined

Self Paced Varies ACQUIRED

Assess Advanced Technical Skills Development



Assess Advanced Technical Skill development

Assess IT Enabled Services Skill development

How did you score on the fundamental

technical skills assessment?



Advanced Technical Skills Development

EntryPoint

Capable of running a Pasha centre with minimal external assistance

ACQUIRED



How did you score on the advanced technical skills assessment?


Self Paced Varies


Self Paced Varies


Self Paced Varies



IT Enabled Services Development

EntryPoint

Do you have fundamental IT

Enabled Servicesskills?

YES

NO

Capable of offering IT Enabled Services in a Pasha centre

ACQUIRED


Self Paced Varies


Self Paced Varies


Self Paced Varies

Technologies and Management Tools for Digital Villages

Documents