For a Smart Rwanda
Two weeks ago, we had our final IBM CSC Rwanda 1 presentations. Sub team 2 had their presentation with Rwanda National Police (RNP) on the Thursday of our last week. They proposed an Enterprise Architecture to modernize RNP. Sub team 3 had theirs on that Thursday too. They proposed ways to use information and communications technology (ICT) for women’s economic empowerment in Rwanda. They had worked closely with the Imbuto Foundation and with cooperatives in Kigali and around the country. Due to logistics and security, we weren’t able to sit in on their presentations. This gave us the day to tie loose ends on our deliverables for the next day. On Friday, August 21st, sub team 1 had our final presentation with various representatives from the Ministry of Youth and Information & Communication Technology (MYICT) and stakeholders from different ministries and agencies, as well as RNP and Imbuto Foundation. Nathan, IBM Research, and John, University Relations Country Leader, came from IBM East Africa, based in Nairobi, Kenya, for the occasion. We were lucky to also count the friendly faces of our colleagues from the other sub teams among our audience. There were over 40 people in the room. Like our kick-off presentation, our sub team's final presentation was in the parliamentary-like setting of the Telecom House.
An office at the Telecom House had been sub team 1’s workplace for most of the 4 weeks that we were in Kigali. The building is one of the most ICT-advanced buildings in the country. Besides housing the ICT department of the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), it is home to the National Data Center, the Cybersecurity division, Carnegie Mellon University Rwanda (temporarily while its permanent campus is being built), the ICT Chamber (which oversees ICT in the private sector), and kLab (a knowledge hub for entrepreneurs that is sponsored by the ICT Chamber to promote ICT for entrepreneurship).
Sub team 1’s objective was to address the need of the Government of Rwanda through RDB and MYICT to gain complete visibility of the 7 pillars of the Smart Rwanda program and different ICT projects and activities by developing a framework that empowers all stakeholders to monitor the status of these projects & activities through a Smart dashboard. For this, we worked with different folks at MYICT and RDB, as well as the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), various ministries, and agencies. We had around 45 participants in all, through the Design Thinking workshop, contextual inquiry, and interviews.
I did not get to blog during the last two weeks of our assignment in Kigali because those weeks were pretty intensive. While we had completed most of the interviews, data gathering, and other research in the first two weeks and had started work on the as-is workflows, architecture, and UI design, the bulk of our work happened during weeks 3 and 4. Kiran refined the Enterprise Architecture and technical recommendations, which included an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB). He ensured that our overall technical recommendation and that of sub team 2’s were along the same lines so that the systems could integrate when implemented. Bhuvana drafted different sections of the report and put all the pieces from everyone together for the final report. Rodrigo implemented a proof-of-concept (POC) and live demo that showed the ESB in action and how it would be used to update the dashboard UI. While any implementation was not part of our original plan, the POC and live demo were a nice bonus that was very well received. Alain, our intern from CMU, provided us with any information that we needed (for example, ICT reports and KPIs), and especially insights and contacts that he had gathered during his prior 2 months interning at MYICT. He learned from his technical mentor, Rodrigo, who taught him everything about the POC so that he could run it and take it further after we left. I created the personas, scenarios, UI wireframes and put the final presentation deck together. During that time, we additionally had regular reviews with the Honorable Minister of MYICT, with the Director of ICT at MYICT, and with Francine, our main stakeholder at RDB. Our sub team was a bunch of perfectionists and overachievers and also a nice complementary mix of skills that were ideal for the Smart Rwanda Dashboard.
At the final presentation, Didier, the Director General of ICT at MYICT, was the main representative from the ministry. The Minister was unfortunately out of town, though he let us know through Didier that he wished he were there. The project being very dear to him, he had asked for a copy of our presentation and report the night before so that he could review them. Our work was very well received, by our beneficiaries as well as by our colleagues from the other sub teams.
"It’s an appreciation. Among the three teams, we met more with this team because we’re trying to solve some pressing challenges. It cuts across sectors… We had a lot of expectations. What we’ve been able to see here is exceeding our expectations… It’s really something that will be useful for us. We really hope that beyond this project, we can move to the next step to have a working tool that will be managed and owned by the sector… Just in 4 weeks, very impressive!”
- Director General of ICT at MYICT
“I can see that it’s going to translate into something substantial. From an end-user perspective, I’m very eager to use the result.”
- Deputy General of Imbuto Foundation
In closing the IBM CSC Rwanda 1 program, Didier emphasized that it was the end of the on-site engagement, but not the end of the engagement with IBM. It was only the start, and they wish for the engagement to continue to flourish. “What we witnessed here is the result of a deep-dive engagement to the pain points and challenges, to a great level of detail… Thank you for all the work that you’ve been able to achieve here.” He also thanked the various partners that contributed to this effort: IBM, DOT, Imbuto Foundation, RDB, Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROF), CMU (which "wholeheartedly embraced this” and was "very responsive” and provided 2 of CMU’s best interns). The CSC Rwanda 1 program "demonstrated that the government, the private sector, and academia can work together." He again stressed that he "personally would really like the dashboard to become a real dashboard and supporting the sector” and that they would like IBM back in Kigali at the Transform Africa Summit on October 19-21, 2015.
Afterward, having successfully completed the project, we each filled in part of the second eye on our Daruma, which we offered to Didier. Sub teams 2 and 3 had also gifted their Darumas to their respective beneficiaries at the end of their final presentations.
We were somewhat nervous at the beginning of the project, fully aware of the responsibility and challenge that we had been presented, yet uncertain how it would all end. Looking back, I can say that we had all the skills, support, and especially resolve that we needed to be successful. Additionally, we built friendships that will transcend geographical borders and time. The IBM Corporate Service Corps program is an amazing opportunity and a unique experience that I would recommend to anyone who is able to participate. If you have any doubts, I recommend you go for it. Talk with your family first, of course. A strong support system is essential.
#ibmcsc rwanda 1