Columbus Nii-Kwanchie Bruce
C.K Bruce is the Chief Executive Officer for Innovare and an MIS consultant at the Office of the President, Republic of Ghana. He has over 12 years experience in Information Security Management and Implementation, over 6 years experience in public sector technology delivery, over 6 years experience in IT project management and has been an ISO 17799/270001 auditor for the last 4 years. CK was a member of the Government Interoperability Framework Development and Ghana eGovernment Policy Framework. He is also Consultant-Member of the CODC (Country Orientation and Decision Committee) of the French Government's Scientific and Technical Information System Project. CK is the current President of the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) Accra Chapter-In-Formation. He is Certified Information Systems manager (CISM) and Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) qualified. He is a product of Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK
Opening Ceremony Chair: Mr. Akwasi Pianim Osei, MD, FITConsult
Mr. Akwasi Pianim is currently the Chief Technical Advisor to the National Identification Authority and also the MD of FITCONSULT. He has worked extensively with Government Agencies such as Ghana Health Service, the Registrar General’s Department and the Bank of Ghana. In his highly successful career, he has worked with SGSSB, HFC and ADB. He was the Executive Director of Infoconsult, MD of Digitronix Systems and also a lecturer at KNUST. Akwasi was also an ICT Consultant to the National Health Insurance Authority. He has an MBA from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business (N.Y, USA) and a B.SE (Electrical Engineering) from Princeton University, (U.S.A). Akwasi is a member of the Ghana Institute of Engineers and a founding member of the Ghana Association of Consultants. He recently won the Top ICT Personality of the Year 2007 award. He is married with 2 children and 2 grandchildren.
Special Guest of Honour: Mr. Andy Ojei, MD, Zenith Bank (Ghana)
Mr Andrew Chukwudi Ojei has over 15 years of experience in the banking industry. He obtained his BSc (Hons) in Accounting at the University of Lagos. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) He joined Zenith Bank in 1992 and rose through the ranks to become branch manager in different states. He was reassigned to the Head Office, Lagos in 1999, where he headed the Corporate Banking Department and also managed relationships of major multinational customers of the bank. He has held several positions in the bank including, Head of Internal Control & Audit (IC & A), Property, Admin Departments and Zenith Securities. He received in recognition of his hard work and efforts, the CEO’s Awards as an ‘Outstanding Role Model’ in 2003. He has been involved in a lot of motivational work for the youth and is an avid golfer. He is currently Managing Director/CEO, Zenith Bank (Ghana) Limited.
SPEAKER PROFILES AND ABSTRACTS
Solomon King Adiyiah, CTO, Innovare
Solomon King Adiyiah has over 23 years experience in Strategic IT Planning, Business Transformation, Enterprise Architecture and IT Service Management. He has consulted at both executive and operational levels helping organizations achieve real business value with IT. Solomon has extensive consulting and technical experience, having worked for major global IT companies such as EDS, CSC and Unisys as a Solutions Director.
He has initiated and directed numerous large strategic technology delivery and management programmes for a number of blue chip clients such as Allianz, Royal Mail Group, BP, Vodafone, Credit Suisse, ABN AMRO and the UK Government. He brings demonstrated international expertise in applying best practice advice and techniques for Business and IT transformation and total quality management to improve business operations. Solomon is currently leading the World Bank sponsored Ghana Government Enterprise Architecture and e-Government Interoperability Framework projects as a Chief Architect.
Aligning IT To Corporate Objectives For Enterprise Growth and Profitability
Investment in Information Technology (IT) has lately been considered to be a strategic and tactical imperative for most organisations. Experience has unfortunately proved that there is an inability to realise business value from this investment. Considerable research has shown that a lack of alignment between IT and business strategies is frequently the cause for this poor performance. The situation is usually as a result of the role of IT not having changed sufficiently in organisations to reflect new business realities and demands. A necessary condition for achieving strategic alignment is to obtain coherence between the respective business and IT elements, which is achieved through an Enterprise Architecture with a robust governance model to ensure IT spend is aligned to strategic business objectives. Enterprise Architecture is considered to be a key driver for business and IT alignment, enabling organisations to define their strategic goals and develop the appropriate implementation plans to migrate from the current state in terms of business processes, technology and information to the desired future state
AmarDeep S Hari, CEO, IPMC
Mr. Amar Deep S. Hari is the founder of IPMC, West Africa's leading IT Company. In the past 16 years, his company has been active in the implementation of IT projects across various verticals of the industry. In the financial segment they have participated in the automation of SG-SSB, GCB, ADB, Bank of Ghana and some other banks. On Telecom side they have worked closely in developing the IT infrastructure of GT, Tigo, Kasapa & Westel. GCNET system of Ghana customs was also done through them. While working with multinationals such as Unilever, Shell, British American Tobacco, Standard Chartered, Mr. Hari has witnessed closely how large enterprises can be managed through effective use of IT. 25 years of industry experience with a diverse range of businesses & projects, has given him the insight of what it takes to design, procure, implement & maintain a strong and useful IT infrastructure.
Mr. Tony Bediako, CTO, Ghana Telecom
Mr. Bediako has over fourteen (14) years of Information & Communication Technology experience with a proven track record in designing corporate IT Architecture in solving complex business problems, focusing on IT cost optimization and efficiency. He has tremendous experience in IT Strategy formulation, ICT Infrastructure design and the application of Information Technology to achieve corporate strategic goals. He has held Technical Management positions with Ghana Telecom, GIMPA and MCI/WorldCom Telecommunications. As an ICT Lecturer, he has conducted several seminars and workshops on ICT for development. Tony has an MSc. in Management of Information Systems from George Washington University, Washington, DC and a BSc. in Computer Science from KNUST, Ghana.
Business Value of Information Technology
In today's fast moving competitive business environment, companies increasingly demand that IT investments demonstrate business value through measurable results. The impact of information technology (IT) on improving the productivity of information Work has been mixed. While some firms have realized gains, many others have found the benefits to be elusive. Information Technology, in particular, often loses its significance as a major contributing success factor in an organization’s strategic objectives because it is predominantly considered a function within an organization that is not integral to achieving business objectives. Consequently, budgets are squeezed year after year as IT organizations inevitability drift towards the “cost center” perception, and not toward being the competitive differentiator that IT has the potential to be. It is critical for IT organizations to alter their thinking and identify not only the cost, but the value that IT brings to the enterprise. How can this be done? Measure the bottom-line impact of information technology to reveal its true value and enable allocation of resources in the most essential areas.
Theo Quarcoo, CEO BITPM Solutions, UK
Theo Quarcoo is a UK based Consultant Business Analyst with over 10 years experience in IT. His professional background and industry expertise cuts across various organizations including the BMW Group (BMW MINI and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd), London South Bank University and the UK Police Force. He has extensive experience in numerous disciplines. Theo has been involved in numerous IT and Business Process Re-engineering projects, the most recent being Information Sharing and a National Database for Police in the UK (a UK Home Office Programme). He is Chief Executive of BITPM Solutions Ltd (UK & Ghana) and a Business Analyst Consultant at Innovare.
I T Service Delivery: An Essential Component for Competitive Advantage
Growth, Adaptability, Innovation, and Cost Control are leading concerns of businesses, especially with respect to use of Information Technology (IT). Standards such as the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) offer the potential for cost efficiency through the use of formal processes and best practices. IT Service Delivery involves structured processes or activities that include negotiating work items and schedules, seeking and providing information and expertise, and, using and sharing custom tools and practices. As such, it is imperative that adequate training be given to all stakeholders of IT Service Delivery to ensure application of best practice.
Kojo Anyane Yeboah, MSc., MBA, MBCS
Kojo is an Associate Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and a member of the British Computer Society. He is also a Chief Innovation Officer and an eGovernment expert. He was a Director at the Ghana Information and Communications Technology Directorate (GICTeD). He is also a trained practitioner in Programme and Project Management, Programme and Project Monitoring and Evaluation, IT Risk Management, IT Management, Information Systems Effectiveness Review, Analysis and Redesign of Business Processes, Business Strategy, and Change Management. Kojo was also an MIS Consultant for Ghana’s National Identification Authority. He has made presentations at various summits in and outside the country. Kojo holds an MBA (Finance and Banking) degree from Rushmore University; an MSc. Computer Science degree from Birkbeck College of the University of London, UK; and a BSc. (Hons) degree from University of Ghana, Legon.
Process and Performance Management: Delivering Efficient and Effective IT Services
The term 'IT Performance' encompasses the three key factors of IT: Economy, Efficiency and Effectiveness. Optimising these three factors will increase the value for money and performance of IT in an organisation. These three factors tend to pull in opposite directions and can be very challenging for an enterprise to balance or optimise. To scope solely on Economy, or cost reduction (for example, reducing the number of help desk staff), will tend to have an adverse affect on the quality and level of service (that is, effectiveness) To scope solely on Efficiency (for example, improving developer productivity with high level languages that produce computer resource hungry code) will tend to have an adverse affect on service costs (that is, economy). To scope solely on Effectiveness, or quality improvement (for example, rigorously committing to the use of a systems' development methodology) will tend to have an adverse affect on developer productivity (that is, efficiency). Ideally enterprises should strive for an optimal balance of the three factors.
Seyram Akotey, CIO, Ghana Telecom
He has over 15 years experience in delivering Information System solutions to organizations of various industries around the world. With a background in Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence, he has helped many organizations to obtain bespoke decision support systems that have helped middle to executive level business managers to base decisions on business facts rather than intuition and speculation, and in the process, made transformational impact on their business. In the last four years, in his role as Head of IT services for Ghana Telecom Ltd, Seyram has successfully led a team to develop a robust IT infrastructure that reliably supports the company’s operations. In alignment with GT’s current business imperatives, he is focusing on developing technologies that would endow the companies with distinguishing capabilities to glean significant competitive advantages in the Ghanaian Telecommunications market.
The CIO as a Business Change Operative
Uptake of Information Technology solutions as part of a repertoire of modern business tools has been on a steady rise in Ghana for years now. Gone are the days when a CIO’s role only mainly involved management of System Implementation and Operations. Today’s CIO, if he is worth his salt, must be a catalyst of a sort. He must be one that eloquently interacts with his C level counterparts to bring about technological solutions that would underpin and facilitate cost effective achievement of business objectives. He must be able to innovate the business into increased revenue generation as well as better cost management. He must be one that employs technology to leverage information for nimble decision making that would lead to business efficiency and productivity increases across the organization. In short, he must be a positive change agent.
Loren Bosch, MD, Iburst Ghana
Loren is currently the CEO of iBurst Africa in Ghana. He brings with him a wealth of experience in the Technical, Sales, Consulting and Management fields and has built his career in the ISP and VoIP industries over the last 10 years. He holds a B.A.Hons Degree in Psychology from the University of Pretoria. Loren has cut his teeth in the competitive South African IT market place and has shared in the successes of companies like iBurst South Africa, Storm Voice & Data, Duxbury Networking and Telkom. He has also consulted to the management of small and medium sized businesses on change management, business process re-engineering and growth
Emmanuel Owusu Oware, Director,UG ICT Directorate Emmanuel has about 20 years of experience in Design, Development and Management of ICT Services Delivery to enhance organizational effectiveness and efficiency. He holds an MBA(MIS) and B.Sc Electrical & Electronic Engineering (Telecommunications) with expertise in ICT Management & Services Delivery, Policies & Strategy Formulation and Implementation, Systems Audit, Projects Management, Services Management, ICT Architecture Design and Implementation, Information Systems and Technology Security, Business Applications Development – Business Process Re-engineering and Software Applications Development . He has worked with Ernst n Young as a Senior Manager in IT Consultancy and as a Project Manager in Charge of ATM expansion at Standard Chartered Bank. He has also provided IT Consultancy services to Ghacem and has worked extensively in various capacities with VRA. He is currently the Director of ICT at the University Of Ghana.
Evaluating and Procuring Technology Solutions and Services
These days, hardly a day goes by without some news about a latest and cool technology product or service that makes life easier and better. Technology applications are continually making things smaller but powerful, easier and faster. Exciting as these technology developments are, they make purchasing decisions complicated. Technology experts help to decipher the growing technology maze for the purpose of evaluating or making a purchasing decision. But there are some basic things that businesses can do to ensure that they get what they want. The purpose of this presentation is to provide a methodology and some guidelines in helping decision makers to make wise technology procurement decisions.
Peter Tobbin, Director, CITD, GIMPA
Peter is the Director of CITD at GIMPA. He has over 13 years in Technical Project Management, IT infrastructure Design and Implementation and Information Security Management having worked on various large IT projects in the UK and across Europe. Peter’s expertise include the development of technical architectures to support data centre infrastructures and the deployment of large scale Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications. He also provides industry best practice consultancy of the implementation of network systems, firewalls, intrusion detection systems, authentication protocols and identity management.
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Columbus Nii-Kwanchie Bruce
Opening Ceremony Chair: Mr. Akwasi Pianim Osei, MD, FITConsult
Special Guest of Honour: Mr. Andy Ojei, MD, Zenith Bank (Ghana)
Kojo is an Associate Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and a member of the British Computer Society. He is also a Chief Innovation Officer and an eGovernment expert. He was a Director at the Ghana Information and Communications Technology Directorate (GICTeD). He is also a trained practitioner in Programme and Project Management, Programme and Project Monitoring and Evaluation, IT Risk Management, IT Management, Information Systems Effectiveness Review, Analysis and Redesign of Business Processes, Business Strategy, and Change Management. Kojo was also an MIS Consultant for Ghana’s National Identification Authority. He has made presentations at various summits in and outside the country. Kojo holds an MBA (Finance and Banking) degree from Rushmore University; an MSc. Computer Science degree from Birkbeck College of the University of London, UK; and a BSc. (Hons) degree from University of Ghana, Legon.
Loren Bosch, MD, Iburst Ghana 
Emmanuel has about 20 years of experience in Design, Development and Management of ICT Services Delivery to enhance organizational effectiveness and efficiency. He holds an MBA(MIS) and B.Sc Electrical & Electronic Engineering (Telecommunications) with expertise in ICT Management & Services Delivery, Policies & Strategy Formulation and Implementation, Systems Audit, Projects Management, Services Management, ICT Architecture Design and Implementation, Information Systems and Technology Security, Business Applications Development – Business Process Re-engineering and Software Applications Development . He has worked with Ernst n Young as a Senior Manager in IT Consultancy and as a Project Manager in Charge of ATM expansion at Standard Chartered Bank. He has also provided IT Consultancy services to Ghacem and has worked extensively in various capacities with VRA. He is currently the Director of ICT at the University Of Ghana.