ITU TELECOM WORLD 2018: Bazara Imam Ali Barry, Director, Business Development, NCTR, Sudan

The NCT are mr. Liebreich. Thank you very deep. Being with us today, I was a pleasure to be here max. Thank you. You good to see you again now. I want to talk about smart digital developments, the theme for this year’s ITU telecom world.

What does that mean to you well max? We always need to go to go to the basics when we talk about such high level concepts, and if we go to the basic principles behind Digital development, we can talk about probably three of them, for example, being open, supporting open standards and open source and open Technologies also being collaborative and having smart partnerships and engaging the customer and the user in all your products and services.

Actually, this is what we do at n CTR and that’s why we are spearheading the ICT industry in Sudan and if we take digital development to the next level, which is digital transformation. We believe that n CTR, that simply the transformation is about technology serving people. All people we’re not talking about people who live in big cities, we’re not talking about people who come from a certain social class.

We are talking about all people, and this has always been our mandate. A ten-city are to create products and services with social impact, and that’s why we have been awarded by the ITU several times, including this year in Durban, and a little bit about what you be rewarded for here. We have been awarded as the most innovative exhibitor in Sudan pavilion and also for our partnership and products with social impacts.

This is actually the second time in a row to be awarded this award here, there’s a little bit about the the the the partnerships, the decision impact that you having for example, in 2016, we won the ITU telecom world award for our a 15 product, which actually Was launched in Sudan in 2015 and this year, actually we have been awarded for a range of products. One of them is an Mis for microfinance in particular, which has a large social impact in Sudan, and it has been adopted by many microfinance institutions in Sudan, and it has been so great so far, excellent and in terms of we’re talking about innovation here, what single Innovation, innovative technology, product service strategy or policy do, you think, is going to make the most difference well for me max, I wouldn’t say technology because technology changes every day and I wouldn’t say products or services, because they are a result of technological changes.

But I would go for strategy, not because I’m strategy, but because you know it’s very simple, we need to have. If we want to digitally transform communities and countries, we need to have clear goals and we need to have strategies and tactics to you know achieve these goals and we need to get into action and we need to monitor our movement. And this is what we have to do always on an incremental and iterative basis, and this is what the strategy is all about: one of the biggest challenges for digital transformation in Sudan.

Well, there are many, but let me start by you know: budgets, for example. It’s it’s. It’s always difficult. You know to convince those who make decisions. Budgetary decisions – you know to invest in in ICT and especially when the economy is not doing very good. You know it’s, it’s it’s a challenge, so we always have to come up with. You know. Disruptive and interesting business models you know to convince the customer also.

I can talk about legacy technology and when there is that emotional connection between the customer and the technology he has already invested in it’s very difficult to convince him. You know to change and it’s always a challenge. Also. We get caught into the details of technologies and processes, and we forget about the most important thing, which is the user experience and for us it. It’s always important to engage our users and customers right from the beginning and make them part of the whole journey.

So you switch from analog to digital television, for example. Yes, the technology people have really got used to just exactly able to bring their television images into their homes in one way and then suddenly being it’s. A lot of countries are fighting yeah running a little bit more complicated and good examples in switching switching just from one to one to another and in terms of winning the ITU telecom world award.

How has that impacted your your particular image or your profile, etc? Yeah, you know prior to winning the award, we had a very good position in the local markets incident, but we knew that we needed a breakthrough. You know something to let us know how we are doing in terms of international and regional competition. We needed a testimony. You know for all products and services, and we got that testimony from the highest authority in ICT in the world, which is the ITU, and we are very glad and thankful for that.

It has been great so far and we would love to continue this journey with the ITU. From your perspective, what’s the value of attending events such as ITA telecom world? Well, I think this year, especially 2018, is a very special year, because the ITU is hosted here on African soil for the first time. So we are very happy to be part of this experience and we would love someday to have such an event in Sudan.

You know, and I think it’s it’s it’s a great value for us. You know considering the partnerships we have built here, the people we have met and you know the deals we have the actually finalized and it’s always a pleasure to see you know the whole world. You know in one place and get to know each other, and we would love to be part of this experience. You know for as long as it takes, which is the very best luck in the kitchen.

Thank you for joining us in the studio today. Thank you very much max. Thank you. Thank you.