September 6, 2007 – South Africa: The South African State Information Technology Agency (SITA) held its annual GovTech conference in August 2007 focusing on the application of technology in transforming the country’s ability to deliver services to its citizens.

What makes the GovTech conference different from other “talk shops” is that the organizers publish key outcomes from each conference and track their implementation. A report is presented at the next conference to highlight what has been achieved and what still needs to be done. GovTech is not a conference one attends without being assigned some homework.

Noedine Isaacs-Mpulo, Chief of Business Operations at SITA, noted that this year’s theme was Transformation Through Technology Together. GovTech 2007, she said, underscored by the recognition that government “needs to forge strong strategic partnerships with industry to drive government’s transformation and public service delivery objectives.”

The conference starts with an Executive Leadership Forum (ELF), a closed round table discussion group made up of public and private sector leaders. The ELF topic at this year’s conference was How ICT Can Make South Africa More Globally Competitive.

The thinking behind the topic was derived from figures that show South Africa is slipping down the ranks of global competitiveness, a worrying trend for both government and business. More than merely slipping in the ranks when compared to current global giants, the debate that ensued showed all parties were keenly aware that the world we now compete in is also undergoing substantial changes.

By 2014, for example, the largest economy in the world will be China, followed by the USA, with India in third position. What’s more, in the same timeframe, the combined GDPs of China, India, Mexico, Brazil and Russia will be more than seven times the GDP of the current G7 nations. South Africa is not on the current or the projected future list of global leaders.

Forum Chairperson and Chief Economist of South Africa’s Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), Lumkile Mondi, therefore tasked the delegates to offer insights into how South Africa would be able to compete in this changing world.

Partnerships are key

No matter which side of the public/private fence delegates were from, everyone made it clear that if South Africa is to succeed, Government needs to facilitate effective partnerships between itself and the business community. Some of the current partnerships in place work, many do not. Without the full commitment of both sides to act in the national interest, the country has no hope of competing against the emerging giants.

Of course, business should not be expected to forgo making a profit. Entrepreneurs will not commit to the country if they can not see a return. The forum was also quick to identify the need to create and maintain a viable and affordable ICT infrastructure upon which entrepreneurs could build. The creation of opportunities is paramount to long-term success.

The ability of Government to create such an environment, catering to business while taking care of South Africa’s pressing socio-economic issues needs attention. And the needs of the people must be paramount. There is no point in being globally competitive if the country’s second economy gains nothing from it, as was clearly pointed out by Nnenna Nwakanma, FOSSFA (Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa) council chair.

Vision, strategy, execution

Broad consensus confirmed that the first step in improving South Africa’s global competitiveness is to copy countries like Mauritius, Israel, Ireland and Canada by creating an integrated national ICT vision. This should naturally not be a simple copy of a successful model, but expand on it, taking local conditions and requirements into account.

More importantly, the national ICT vision Government created in partnership with the private sector must have a strategy attached. Sulieman Patel, Chief Operations Officer, Matrixview MEA, noted that knowing where we want to go is only a starting point that must be complimented by the “how.” How we are going to get there will be a series of concise steps to achieving stepping-stone goals en route to the overall vision.

The strategy itself will be a far-reaching, complex process that includes all the national bugbears of late. These include skills development, attracting skills back to the country and improving education on a broad basis. Improving the resources spent on R&D, again in a public/private cooperative venture is also key to this endeavor.

These issues are often raised in media reports and used as excuses as to why more foreign investment is not aimed at South Africa and why entrepreneurs are inclined to leave. It was noted, however, that these are not excuses but realities: we have no international friends, only competitors who are more than happy to steal our skills for their own advancement. South Africa needs to make the effort and create the environment that will attract skills back and keep them here.

Just do it

Execution is critical. The best-laid plans are worthless without the political will and drive to make it happen and this can only come from the top. Without a driver at the top we may end up in the position of having many paths and many drivers aiming for different, isolated goals that do not support the national vision.

Isaacs-Mpulo supported the common voice calling for execution on strategic plans. She adopted the slogan “Just Do IT”, in neatly summing up the discussions in the forum.

Isaacs-Mpulo further noted that everyone in the forum was in a position where they could influence change and push the country forward. Therefore, she encouraged everyone to start doing something, no matter how small, to effect change in their environment and contribute to the overall changes needed in South Africa.

Mondi ended the meeting with two “takeouts” attendees could take back to their departments and companies: Partnership and Execution. Making South Africa more globally competitive is no easy task, but with the right partnerships dedicated to achieving mutually beneficial results married to a drive from the top for executing on strategy, the country can and will attain its rightful place among the global leaders.