EAO Summit: event highlights and review

The inaugural East Africa Outsourcing Summit is said to have been an industry success. The event took place at the Crowne Plaza Nairobi Hotel from 5-6 June 2012. The outsourcing industry event was produced by international business-to-business conferencing company, Kinetic Events in association with the Kenya ICT Board and Kenya IT and Outsourcing Society.

Day 1

The first day of the summit kicked off with an opening address by Dr. Bitange Ndemo, permanent secretary at the ministry of information and communication of Kenya. The agenda featured a schedule including expert-led panel discussions presented by industry leaders including Tejpal Bedi, chairman of Kenya IT and Outsourcing Society (KITOS); Carol Karugu, manager of investor relations at Nairobi Securities Exchange and Julie Mandu, customer relations manager of Kenya Airways.

The event proved to be an insightful, informative and comprehensive industry event. Attendees were impressed with the agenda and provided positive feedback.

Highlights of the event included innovative workshops presented by summit partners including Spanco BPO, Zensar Technologies, Cisco and Dimension Data.

Day 2

The second day of the summit was opened with an exclusive panel discussion, presented by Edward Kinyanjui, chief financial officer of Plexus Group; Sam Kariuki, business growth strategist, trainer and consultant at Growth Partners; Meshack Miyogo, business development manager at CIC Insurance and Eva Kiplagat, managing director at Customer Service Consulting Company. The discussion successfully addressed obtaining maximum added value from outsourcing budgets in a recessive economic climate.

Kenya Revenue Authority's contact centre head, Fiona Mshai provided insight into the knowledge services industry, with a strategic focus on opportunities for captive centres in the public sector.

Paul Kukubo, chief executive for the Kenya ICT Board, presented the topical keynote session focusing on building IT businesses in Kenya, providing further insight into the Kenya Vision 2030.

The successes of the summit were widely shared with positive feedback and satisfaction from all attendees, summit partners and sponsors. Summit producers, Kinetic Events; in proud association with the Kenya ICT Board and KITOS, have achieved a global industry initiative success this year; proving that next year's event will be even more impactful.

For more, go to www.eaosummit.com.