IAD Summit report and review from the conference chair

1. Innovation Africa Digital (IAD) Summit 2014
The Gambia, 25th-27th March 2014
Extensia’s annual flagship event, The Innovation Africa Digital (IAD) Summit, was supported this year
by the Ministry of Information Communication & Infrastructure (MOICI), The Gambia.
Recognised by many as the most valuable Telecoms and ICT Business summit in Africa, IAD 2014
attracted over 255 international policy makers, regulators, service providers, major end users and
solution providers. Attendees came from 54 countries with 39 of these being across Africa.
Leading experts and practitioners delivered an innovative blend of interactive workshops, keynote
presentations and panel discussions to add even more value to the high level networking and
facilitated business meetings which took place throughout the three days of this intimate gathering
of key decision makers.
The theme of the summit, ‘Towards Service Excellence’, covered all aspects of service quality and
customer experience with discussions ranging from: Finance and Investment; Quality Assurance;
Regulatory Excellence; Network Optimisation and Performance; Knowledge Management; Cyber
Security; Outsourcing; Licensing and much more. The intimate nature of the summit combined with
the breakout ‘Master-Class Workshops’ meant delegates had the opportunity to explore the issues
most relevant to them, in depth and leave with valuable connections and insights to help them
implement improved strategies.
As usual, IAD 2014 supported the sustainable growth of Africa’s Telecom and ICT ecosystem with
delegates making a firm declaration to put Service Excellence at the heart of all development plans,
following a rousing call from the Summit Knowledge Partners, Analysys Mason, to ensure a clear
focus on improving quality for the good of the end user, for the good of the service provider and for
the good of the great Continent of Africa in positioning itself as a viable business partner in the
International Business Community.
The charts below show a breakdown of delegates by region, country, sector activity and job title.
The summit was very informative and the networking was outstanding. The NCC delegates want to
thank Extensia for a job well-done.
Nigerian Communications Commission, Nigeria
MOICI Gambia

2. IAD 2014 Representation by Region and Country
IAD 2014 Attendance by Industry Sector
2% 10%
8%
75%
5%
USA
UK
Europe
Africa
Asia
6%
25%
12%
7%9%
30%
11% Academic
Comms Service Provider
Finance /Consulting
Policymaker
Regulator
Solutons Provider
Other
Zimbabwe
USA
UK
Uganda
UAE
Tunisia
Togo
The Gambia
Tanzania
Swaziland
Sudan
South Africa
Somalia
Sierra Leone
Senegal
Rwanda
Republic of South Sudan
Nigeria
Niger
Netherlands
Morocco
Mauritania
Mali
Malawi
Liberia
Lebanon
Latvia
Kenya
Italy
Israel
Ireland
India
Hungary
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea
Ghana
Germany
Gabon
France
Ethiopia
Equatorial Guinea
Dubai
DRC
Cyprus
CAR
Cameroon
Burundi
Burkina Faso
Botswana
Benin
Belgium
Angola
Algeria
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
No. of Attendees

3. IAD 2014 Attendance by Job Title
IAD 2014 Attendance by Industry Sector
44%
22%
21%
3%
10%
Minister /VP /Director C-Level Head of /Manager Advisor Other
6%
25%
12%
7%9%
30%
11%
Academic Comms Service Provider Finance /Consulting Policymaker
Regulator Solutons Provider Other

4. IAD 2014 Representation by Region and Country
Service Excellence and Evolution: 12th
annual Innovation Africa Digital
Summit Promotes Dialogue and Deals!
by Dr Madan Rao, Conference Chair
The 12th
annual Innovation Africa Digital Summit highlighted as usual a number of relevant priorities
and progressive achievements of ICT stakeholders in the region. The IAD Summit brings together a
unique blend of local, pan-African and global perspectives, and our host country The Gambia
provided its own unique flavour of the ICT agenda.
MOICI Gambia
USA
2% UK
10%
Europe
8%
Africa
75%
Asia
5%
USA UK Europe Africa Asia

5. The Gambia has the teledensity in Africa, and despite its small size, punches above its weight when it
comes to ambitions and targets. As the panellists from The Gambia have indicated, the country plans
to become an ICT hub in the next 3-5 years. The ICT industry welcomes this position and is
committed to helping the government and local stakeholders achieve this vision.
As the cultural events of the past few days have also shown, The Gambia is already a cultural hub
with a unique blend of local and international music! Africa stands proud today, and is confident to
have one foot planted in its own culture and the other foot planted solidly on the global arena and in
the digital future.
Speakers from The Gambia also reminded the audience to have a holistic focus on ICTs – not just on
digital applications in science and technology, but also in the humanities and arts; to explore not just
business benefits but also larger positive social impacts of ICTs. This conversation triggered off two
deal offers from the audience of technology providers, with Uriel and Parnasse offering network
hardware and software solutions to the University of The Gambia – a fine example of the
cooperative spirit and proactive dynamism of the IADS community.
The international speakers at the event also stressed the importance of balancing productivity with
innovation. It is easy to get carried with the latest new gadgets and content, but as important to
focus on optimising use of existing ICTs.
A number of case studies were presented from companies such as SAP, addressing the use of ICTs to
improve quality and productivity in the private sector and government. Other perspectives on
quality were provided by regulators, operators and ICT agencies.
As accessibility of ICTs such as mobile media becomes less of an issue in Africa, efforts to bridge the
digital divide now include citizen education on the benefits of digital dividends, such as access to
government services, mobile payment channels and educational content.
The Summit also showcased a number of African ICT players who are now becoming truly pan-
African in scope and are expanding to other continents as well. ICTs in Africa are not just instruments
and enablers, but a whole industry in their own right. Services and product startups are emerging,
thus reflecting the digital innovation spirit in 21st
century Africa.
MOICI Gambia

6. The Summit this year highlighted quality moves and standards in three kinds of infrastructure: core
infrastructure (eg. satellite, cable, fibre), service infrastructure (eg. Internet governance, Internet
exchanges), and media infrastructure (eg. big data, open data, child safety mechanisms).
Issues of enforcement in quality metrics and standards were addressed by ministry officials, legal
firms, consultancies and research analysts. These discussions were augmented by 12 solution
showcases as well as 12 one-hour workshops on key topics such as knowledge management,
enterprise ICTs, digital dividends, open access networks and cybersecurity.
A wide range of recommendations were made at the Summit to government and industry: ensure
that digital relevance is promoted so that citizens adopt more e-services, keep provisions for
covering rural access, ensure that women and girls get adequate access and career paths in ICTs,
promote content generation at institutional and individual levels, reduce tax levels on ICT products
and services, cut down corruption, and promote digital entrepreneurship among youth.
Looking ahead, it is evident that one of the fastest growing middle class populations in the world is
in Africa, and they are spending a lot on ICTs. Future Summits will focus on issues like behaviours,
needs and aspirations of the digital citizen in Africa, as well as broader ecosystem issues and service
evolution.
The IAD Summits represent not just an annual industry event but a regular community of
stakeholders committed to Africa’s digital future – and this dialogue will carry on in a range of
articles, interactive forums on the Extensia website, and thought-provoking articles and books. Some
of the work of speakers at this conference has already been published in journals like Africa
Geopolitics, thus putting ICT issues firmly on Africa’s development agenda.
In sum, the main achievement of the conference was knowledge sharing between local and
international delegates, and a commitment towards greater excellence in digital infrastructure and
services.
MOICI Gambia