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An Important Economy - IBM

This Day
Efem Nkanga
28 Nov. 2007

As global focus shifts to the emerging market for expansion and growth, the Managing Director, IBM South and Central Africa, Mark Harris and Dr. Robert Mayberry, IBM Vice President for emerging markets, sub-Saharan Africa have described Nigeria as an important economy in the emerging market.

The duo in a statement made available to THISDAY said a huge number of talented and very well educated Nigerians work at executive level across the IBM organisation around the world and can contribute to fast-tracking the country's socio economic development in many ways.

The top executives who disclosed that IBM is set for the release of its 2007 Global Innovation Outlook report in a booklet scheduled for release on December 4, reiterated that IBM as an organisation in Nigeria, has continued to evolve.

They stressed that whereas it was initially in the commodities space it has since moved to a point at which it is creating a robust and value-laden ecosystem of partners across the country. "IBM is no longer just about technological infrastructure but also about business solutions". In particular, they explained that IBM has been a key partner in the success stories of many banks across the world including South Africa.

While IBM greatly assisted Nigerian banks during the recent bank consolidation exercise, the company, they added, is in a position to render even more help especially in the area of shoring up the ris management capability of the banks and the financial industry.

Harris and Mayberry explained that the GIO initiative inaugurated by IBM in 2004 " is rooted in the belief that the very nature of innovation continues to change. It is increasingly open, collaborative, multi-disciplinary and global".

The shift, they explained, implies that truly revolutionary innovations of our time, the innovations that will create new markets, redefine old ones and perhaps even change the world for the better, will require the participation and investment of sundry constituencies.

"The GIO challenges some of the brightest minds on earth, from the world of business to academia to politics and non-profit, to collaboratively address some of the most pressing challenges on earth", they said.

The collaboration begins with a series of structured, open, dynamic and exhaustive discussions known as "deep dives". These free-form conversations, fuelled by a rich and diverse mix of expertise and perspectives are inevitably candid. Collectively, they result in an explosion of ideas that spark new relationships, policy initiatives and market opportunities for all involved.

They added that in 2007, the GIO focussed on two new areas that represent trillions of dollars in economic activity with far-reaching societal impact and are ripe for innovation.

These two areas are the challenges faced by every organisation and individual in the face of the changing nature of content creation, distribution and ownership; and investment strategies and policy implications as the African continent increasingly becomes an integral part of the global economy.

They added that from June, through September, IBM organised deep dives in seven cities around the globe, focussing on Africa.

These cities were Nairobi, Dakar, Paris, Lisbon, Atlanta, Beijing and Cape Town. Emphasis was on uncovering strategies and insights by which to turn the African continent with its immense latent potential into a major global economic player.

In so doing, the deep dives examined such issues as the potential of global collaboration to uncover ideas for policies that could shape the future of this great continent and the potential of innovation to point the way to investment and development strategies for corporations both within and outside Africa.

To enable banks better appreciate the additional value which they can derive from IBM, the executives stated, IBM implements a strategic program whereby it exposes key bank executives to these solutions via such platforms as the global banking conferences and the annual CEO summits, organised by IBM.

Copyright © 2007 This Day

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May we be strengthened with the ability, willingness and capabilities to be good ambassadors of Nigeria contributing to its uplifting, rather than its detriment. - Cxsm