by Tariq Mohammed

07 June 2004

Kampala, Uganda: I was greeted with a warm smile from a Ugandan colleague as I walked into the arrival lounge at Entebbe International Airport. We drove an hour to a comfortable hotel located in a quiet, respectable neighborhood of Kampala. After checking into my room I wanted to send an email home to inform my family of my safe arrival. Unfortunately, the hotel’s internet connection was not working so the receptionist directed me to Bukoto Street, the “Silicon Valley” of Kampala.

While searching for the nearest internet café, I approached a stranger to ask for help. When he learned that I was a foreigner, he graciously offered to let me use his personal computer in his office. Such generosity generated confidence, but also offers insight into my year in Uganda and the value of being connected with people.

Building upon a prior research position at Harvard University’s Center for International Development, I had a strong desire to gain a first-hand understanding of how information and communications technologies (ICT) improved lives in countries like Uganda.

As part of the United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS), my role was to help strengthen and expand the Cisco Networking Academy Program at educational institutions across the country. The assignment involved working with the Ugandan Communications Commission (UCC), the independent telecommunications regulator and Makerere University, a public university referred to by some as the “Harvard of Africa.”

In 2001, UCC established a Cisco Regional Academy at the Uganda Institute of Information and Communications Technology (UICT) which then in 2002 led to the establishment of more Cisco Academies at Makerere University’s Institute of Computer Science and the Department of Women and Gender Studies. To ensure the impact of the Academy Program, it was crucial for students and graduates to find jobs. To this end, I worked with the university’s administration to design and implement a Workforce Development Program to stimulate career guidance and job placement – none of which previously existed in a formal capacity.

Drawing upon successful college career services in other countries, we developed a package of partnership opportunities: work site tours, information sessions, internships, job postings and resume referrals. We also approached private firms, government agencies, and non-government organizations to sign Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) to implement this initiative.

It was personally very rewarding to see students benefit by listening to advice from local IT professionals, visiting offices of a major internet service provider and obtaining numerous internships with organizations like Uganda Connect, a local NGO that provides basic ICT training to secondary schools.

An important element for long-term sustainability was the professional development of staff at the academies. Hence, I developed and facilitated a series of short courses (10 weeks) on the fundamentals of management. One of the challenges was to get the academy staff to develop their own ideas rather than relying on my interpretations of leadership.

Eventually by using background articles, short case studies and group activities, the academy staff was able to their raise awareness regarding the pitfalls of poor communication, low productivity and the lack of coordination amongst their teams. Some of the more popular modules we covered were time management, proposal writing and motivation. Overall, the courses improved staff morale and triggered more cooperation between institutions.

Simultaneously, I was involved in expanding the Academy Program to offer students more online courses. Stakeholders were prompted to extend the Academy Program to secondary cities and beyond by the strong government support for ICT growth, good private sector development and strong partnerships among Ugandan institutions, Cisco Systems, USAID and ITU. It was a significant challenge coordinating 12 educational institutions and 4 development partners located in remote districts and across several time zones.

Nonetheless Gertrude Namwanje, a Ugandan UNV, and I helped the development partners identify appropriate universities and technical colleges, organized a national workshop for target institutions and supported potential Academies in writing implementation plans.

Looking back at my volunteer experience, I was able to fine-tune my skills as an ICT4D professional to foster and manage private-public partnerships at the grass roots level. The position demanded significant tact and follow through. Given the diverse set of actors I had to demonstrate neutrality, manage expectations and communicate effectively to align interests.

During and after the expansion from 3 to 17 academies I had to avoid playing favorites, maintain realistic approaches and frequently solicit feedback. This was true even while I facilitated professional development exercises for the academy staff. Also, I could not assume that things – like delivery of equipment - would get done so I needed to be very proactive. Ultimately, I got an insight into the law of technical change that states: “Technology is easy. People are hard.”I learned a lot as a foreigner living in another continent - miles away from my family and friends. It can be a lonely experience, initially. In becoming friends with people in my host country, I learned more about the human bonds that tie us together; this is what truly enriches our lives.