A team of IBM Corporate Service Corps
consultants (CSC) from seven different countries around the world will
arrive in Nairobi this week for a one month project aimed at defining
a roll out strategy for the Digital Villages initiative. The Digital
Village initiative was rolled out in 2008 with the purpose of
narrowing the digital divide between rural and urban areas and
accelerating the growth of ICT in Kenya.
The team of 11 employees will start their work in Machakos this Wednesday and will work alongside the Kenya ICT Board and the Ministry of Information and Communication to help accelerate rural development through adoption of appropriate technology. The team’s arrival follows the recent announcement of the latest details of the IBM’s citizenship programme in Africa by the company’s Chairman, President and CEO Samuel J. Palmisano.
“IBM is well known for helping public and private sector organizations and companies around the world to leverage technology to drive innovation and do things smarter. The Kenya initiative is part of a programme of African activity which began in 2008 and during which IBM has so far deployed teams of its employees to Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa,” said Mr. Palmisano.
Country General Manager for IBM East Africa Tony Mwai added: “In bringing the Corporate Service Corps Program to East Africa, we are able to offer our wealth of skills and experience to benefit local communities so that they can grow, prosper and compete in a global economy. IBM also benefits from the experience by growing its next generation of leaders with the skills required to lead in a globally integrated world.” The Corporate Service Corps (CSC) is global IBM initiative designed to provide small businesses, educational institutions and non-profit organizations in growth markets with sophisticated business consulting and skills development to help improve local conditions and foster job
creation.
IBM deploys teams of top employees from around the world representing IT, research, marketing, finance, and business development to growth markets for a period of one month. The employees work pro bono with local organizations and businesses on projects that intersect business, technology and society.
Since it was officially launch in July, 2008 the CSC has deployed 500 IBM employees from 44 countries on
29 teams to 9 countries. Projects vary from assisting networks of entrepreneurs and small businesses trying to grow to the utilization of information technology by communities left behind the “digital divide.”
