Kano ICT Park: An Ideal Outsourcing Destination

1. Kano ICT Park: An Ideal Outsourcing Destination Salisu Abdullahi Senior Special Assistant to the Kano State Governor on ICT September 24, 2010

2. Contents • Why ICT Park for Kano? • History of the ICT Park project. • Objectives of the ICT Park. • Business Opportunities in the Park. • Unique Selling Points of Kano. • The Incentives. • The Management Model. • Current Status and Next Steps. • Contact Information. September 24, 2010

3. The Kano ICT Park September 24, 2010

4. The Building……… Cont. • The building is occupying a land area of 2330m2 it is a 10 storey building with a lot of open space planning concept that can suit to accommodate various function / activities through conversion of available space with the use of demountable partition walls.

5. The Building……… Cont. GROUND FLOOR • The building is a star shaped or Y form having a Right, Left, and rear wing. Some areas of the building have been partitioned with sandcrete block demarcating some specific functions. The areas demarcated for identified activities include the Ground Floor as a shopping arcade where it is proposed to concentrate on the sales of IT related products. The 14 No shops occupies the right and left wing of the building while the rear wing of the floor is dedicated for prospectus banks to run banking services.

6. The Building……… Cont. FIRST FLOOR • First floor occupying 1880m2 is designed as an extension to the ground floor shopping arcade. It comprises of various sizes of space ideal for shop, cash centers, Bereau de change, Bookshops, Pharmacy, Restaurants as well as Clinic. • A large open space is located at rear wing of the two floors with few columns spread at convenient location within the structure. This space is ideal for IT training institutes and for large corporate organizations.

7. The Building……… Cont. SECOND FLOOR • The second floor is the niche of the administration of the park. It is the place where the ICT Management officials are cited and with other key or auxiliary facilities like conference /meeting rooms are located. • The floor occupies an area of 1920m2 which, the left wing of the building houses the following • ICT Management Company, Board Room, Facility Management • The Right wing of the floor consist of lettable spaces for prospectus tenants which will be used as Restaurant /Kitchen Bank Food Courts.

8. The Building……… Cont. • The Rear wing within this floor has a large open space of 600m2 of which it is demarcated into various sizes designed to host large conference of 200 people, 2 medium size seminar/ meeting rooms for 25 – 50 people as well as a small meeting room for 10 – 20 persons at a sitting.

9. The Building……… Cont. • The conference / exhibition area is furnished with complete state of the art facilities like conference table and chairs, package units Air- conditioners, Audio visual equipments to meet the needs of the discerning people.

10. The Building……… Cont. THIRD -TENTH FLOOR • This section of the building has been designed to provide the aesthetic outlook appearance of the building tapering from 3rd – 10th floor with a roof terrace. • As with other previous floors, it has 3 wings, left, right, and wing with corresponding areas of occupation of 960m2 respectively for both left and right wings while the rear wing occupies 600m2 • The floors constituting this section of the building generally has the open planning concept as earlier stated. The advantage of the open planning concept allows for maximum utilization of the available space for any medium or large organization. The spaces can be design and partition with suitable material to cater for the organizational need / requirement of the space. Other advantage is the use of the space as a work station where the head of the organization can be able to view all persons / activity going on at any time. • Generally, the spaces obtained in each level of the floor are ideal for medium and large size organizations as well as IT training institutes.

11. Facilities in the Park At the park is constantly and simultaneously an environment that provides IT training, research centre, market and an economy driven structure, such a place require a number of supporting facilities to enhance the working condition of the place as well as to meet up to the standard of the ICT Parks. The common facilities to be enjoyed by the tenants include:- •  2 No Boreholes to provide constant water supply to the building •  Conference / meeting rooms •  3 No standby generating sets consisting of 2 No – 1000 KVA & 500 KVA Generator. •  4 No Schlinder passenger lifts •  Prayer Place (Mosque) •  Security: The building has a good security wall fence which allows for visual interaction between the inside and outside space of the park. •  Road networks and parking space adequate for vehicular movement and parking of several cars at a time. •  The general Landscape of the area has contributed to the micro and macroclimatic condition of the park. •  Public conveniences: These are provided at various levels of the building for both private as well as public utilization. •  Electrical supply: The building is connected from 33 KVA line with a sub power station to avoid low voltage supply to the building.

12. Facility Management With the beautiful edifice in place, and the supporting facilities provided, the structure and the environment must be protected and preserved to continue to provide the enabling environment need for the continued growth and development of the park. • In this respect the evolving modern concept of maintaining a building called facility management is put in place by the engaging various professionals / disciplines for such task. Various managers from different disciplines / professionalism will soon be engaged to provide the services needed to keep the building in place. They include:-

13. Facility Management….. Cont. • Main Facility Manager: - The role of the main facility manager is for administration of the spaces, general maintenance of the building as well as supervising other sub facility managers.

14. Facility Management….. Cont. • Sanitation Manager: - A sub facility manager in charge of keeping the environment clean and healthy for the occupations.

15. Partitioning System • The Kano ICT Park deemed it necessary to initiate a general condition for any alteration, modification or construction work within the park with a view to set minimum standard for modification work to ensuring quality, safety, harmony and proficiency in the park. The standard specified in this general specification shall constitute the minimum requirement from which other regulation may be derived from time to time.

16. Why ICT Park for Kano? Kano has been an economic nerve centre not only for Nigeria but for the entire West African sub-continent. Recently, Kano has been experiencing a downturn in commercial and industrial activities. The new business opportunities in the ICT sector can be used to restore Kano’s economic prosperity. The Economic Development Roadmap has identified ICT as one of its core areas. The development of ICT parks is the fastest way of promoting ICT as an economic sector. September 24, 2010

17. History of the Kano ICT Park Project August 2003: Establishment of the Office of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education and ICT. July 2005: State Government approves ICT Policy. July 2006: Visit of Kano State Delegation to Malaysia led by His Excellency, the Executive Governor, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, and the signing of a LOI with Mdec. October 2006: Visit of MDec Delegation to Kano State to assist Kano State Government in ICT Park project. June 2007: Kano State Government incorporates ICT Park project in its Economic Development Road Map. July 2007: Visit of Kano State Government to MSC, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahr to study ICT parks in Malaysia. Oct 2007: Government re-engages contractors to complete Ado Bayero Building. January 2009: Establishment of Ministry of Science & Technology. September 24, 2010

18. History of the Kano ICT Park Project… November 2007: Government makes provision in the 2008 budget for both the completion of the outstanding work at the Gidan Ado Bayero, the site of the ICT Park and for the execution of the ICT Project itself. Jan 2008: Adverts appear in newspapers inviting EOIs from companies that want set up ICT businesses and ICT training institutes in the park. Feb 2008: A consortium of firms is contracted to design the IT infrastructure for the Park. May 2008: 2-Day International workshop/Interactive meeting with prospective ICT Park tenants. June 2008: Adverts appear in newspapers inviting EOIs from facility management companies interested in the different aspects of FM of the Park. Aug 2008: 1st Train-the-trainers workshop on Outsourcing. September 24, 2010

19. Objectives of the ICT Park • To promote the use of ICT as an economic development sector in the State. • To create employment opportunities thereby reducing employment. • To create conditions for the adequate supply of IT manpower for the State. • To promote the penetration and use of ICTs in the State. • To provide opportunities for technology transfer and acquisition. • To attract foreign investment. September 24, 2010

20. Business Opportunities in the Kano ICT Park Manpower training and development: the production of various categories of ICT professionals Outsourcing services: data entry, call centers, transcription of medical records, financial and HR services. Software development: the design, development and testing of software packages for industries and general purposes. Content creation and development: the development of local websites, databases, archival services, translation services, etc. ICT system assembly: the manufacturing and assembly of computers and other related equipment. Telecommunications Solutions: Sale of telecommunications equipment, network planning, design and implementation. R and D in ICT: research and development of new applications systems and software. September 24, 2010

21. Unique Selling Points of Kano • Availability of an international airport. • Good road network to many states in the country. • Large enough population for a major local market. • Major centre of commerce in the country. • A robust financial sector. September 24, 2010

22. The Incentives • Attractive tax regime including EPZ status. • World class environment with state-of-the-art facilities. • Subsidies for rent and other services. • Patronage from Government in ICT contracts. • Business development assistance. • Joint marketing of products and services. September 24, 2010

23. Rent Subsidy • As the sole investor in the building for the ICT park Kano State can provide rent subsidy to park tenants as an incentive. • In line with this, it has propose a three types of rent subsidy that tenants may enjoy. • These rent subsidies are applied on the basis of clear and transparent parameters.

24. Rent Subsidy Continue • General subsidy which is application to all tenants. • Special subsidy which is given on the basis of the priority rating of each class of business. the ranking is based on the basis of the potential of a tenant to: • Generate employment opportunities • Income generation • Support to start up companies by indigenes of the State .

25. Rent Subsidy Cont

26. The Management Model • The Park is being modeled on a PPP model where Government’s main role is to provide a conducive and enabling environment. • An ICT Park Board consisting of eminent personalities drawn from the public and private sectors will be in charge of dictating policy and taking major decisions. • The ICT Park management will be small relying on several facility management companies responsible for the different services to be provided with a leading FM company to supervise the others. September 24, 2010

27. What is a Smart Building Smart building concept: • The essence of "smart building" solution is an IP-standards-based platform which actively monitors and communicates with various devices in single homes or multi-dwelling residences, via an internet connection and intra-building network. This "smart building" concept enables customers and service partners to monitor and control various sensors, appliances and devices in the home or business, through an easy-to-use web services portal. • It is operated via an intuitive user interface, from any device that has a web browser and an internet connection. Therefore, you can use and manage your services from wherever you are: at home, at the office, or on the road. • What goes into developing a smart building? iiPartners Limited July, 2010

28. KANO ICT Park Network Infrastructure iPartners Limited, July 2010

29. Kano ICT Park Wireless Network

30. OCS Server Cisco Soft Phone & Phone Control Alternative MOCClient Cisco IP Phone \ PSTNGateway Avoid Dual ForkingUse soft phone or control desk phone OCS configured for IM and Presence Media Media Make Voice CallsBetween soft phones Between desk phonesSoft  desk phones PhonePresence RTPMedia Unified Communications Manager OCS Server PresenceProvided directly toOCS via MOC Cisco IP Phone iPartners Limited, July 2010

31. Kano ICT Park Network Security September 24, 2010

32. ICT Park Tenants Save • ICT Building are Smart saving for clients • Meet Potential in Person without travelling • No Facility management or maintenance • Minimize real estate and Energy Cost • Consolidate communication & IT expensive • Conference room and Trade shows iPartners Limited, July 2010

33. Current Status and Next Steps • Building Complex including external grounds virtually complete. • Implementation of ICT infrastructure on-going. • Marketing of the ICT Park on-going. • Process to allocate space to prospective tenants currently underway. • Process to select FM companies has reached an advanced stage. • ICT Park to be officially commissioned on Dec 15, 2010. • Phase II - ICT Park Extension and 5-star hotel are on drawing board. September 24, 2010

34. Kano ICT Park Extension September 24, 2010

35. Conclusion ICT is one of the most critical factors in the rapidly evolving knowledge economy. Kano has been an economic nerve centre not only for Nigeria but for the entire West African sub-continent but has been experiencing a downturn in commercial and industrial activities. The new business opportunities in the ICT sector can be used to restore Kano’s economic prosperity. The establishment of the Kano ICT Park will go a long way in achieving this vision. September 24, 2010

36. Contact Information Ministry of Science & Technology, Kano State 12 Ahmadu Bello Way, Kano Phone: 0803-458-1997 Email : Salisu@aol.com Website: www.kanoictpark.net September 24, 2010