Regional Africa – Strategic Planning

The objective of the assignment is to review the Institute’s current Strategic Plan for the period 2018 to 2022 and assist it in the development of a Five-year Strategic Plan for the next plan period, 2022 to 2027. In undertaking the assignment CDCI Team required to take cognizant of the needs of the Institute which operates in ICT Human Capacity Development Sector. The specific objectives and scope of work included:

• Review the Vision and Mission based on Institute’s Mandate as provided in the 2018 to 2022 strategic plan and establish the extent to which it is aligned to the Institutes mandate of developing human capacity in its member countries and beyond.
• Carry out stakeholder mapping and analysis to establish who the Institute’s key stakeholders are and the role they play in/ the influence they may have in the execution of Institute’s mandate.
• Undertake an assessment of the Institute’s operating environment through SWOT and Risk analysis using an appropriate model like the Balanced Score Card.
• Outline the Institute’s current and emerging operational challenges.
• Through a consultative process and application of an appropriate tool of analysis, identify the key focus areas during the next strategic planning period and develop strategic goals and objectives. Thereafter, break down each strategic goal into multiple strategic objectives and activities that represent key components of the Institute’s approach to achieving its mandate.
• Propose a strategy for achieving the key result areas and strategic objectives. The strategy should represent the Institute’s proposed approach for adapting to emerging issues and changing external conditions to ensure that the Strategic Plan is flexible and adaptable as the ICT sector evolves, while providing clear and measurable targets. The proposed strategy should also provide guidance on how the Institute can sustain Itself during the COVID-19 and Post COVID-19 periods.
• Facilitate the development of a Strategy and Resources Framework for the plan period – The framework will provide a comprehensive resource plan that aligns to the Strategic focus and provides the related resource levels that are needed to achieve the Institute’s mission and establish an essential sequenced foundation for logical execution of strategies that maximize the effective use of the Institute’s resources.
• Facilitate the development of a framework for monitoring and evaluating the level of achieving the set strategic goals and review of the Implementation of the Strategic Plan.

In undertaking this assignment, CDCI Team had to address the question on how can the Institute becomes a “smart Institute” in the era of disruptions and ensure the answers are incorporated in the 2022 – 2027 strategic plan. To do this, we were  guided and driven by the following:

• First is the evolving needs and expectations of the customer – customers now have more knowledge, more data and more choice than before, and therefore we must re-design our operating models and platforms to meet changing customer needs. As the Institute, we must optimize, digitize and modernize our core processes to achieve operational excellence, whilst always putting the customer first;
• Second is the unstoppable force of automation, which is re-shaping the world of human work. It is no longer just repetitive processes that can be automated, cognitive technologies are now automating some elements of human decision making.  So, we as the Institute must identify opportunities for automation and leverage on our augmented workforce;
• Third is alliances and partnerships – 4IR technologies enable more collaboration, and the opportunity for the Institute to optimize on the national and global footprint and networks. The Institute must identify opportunities for partnerships and collaboration, both internally within existing teams and externally, building alliances and partnerships between and across borders to deliver value; and

Fourth – leveraging on 4IR, will be the need to build a new, leaner cost structure that will keep the Institute competitive in hospitality business regarding accommodation, conferencing and catering services so as to support the Institute’s core mandate of ICT training, consultancy and research.  As the Institute, we must re-define this cost structure to enable us to reinvest for growth, re-invest for customer experience, re-invest for transformation, and re-invest for the future.  This way, the Institute’s annual revenue will be enhanced and indeed support its core mandate.