SCC Abuja - Project Kickoff

The project kickoff was the first item on our agenda for Monday, Day 1 of Week 1. Behind the scenes leading up to the kickoff, unbeknownst to us, a frenzy of planning and coordination activity had been going on. The IBM team on the ground in Abuja and our able logistics support providers, Pyxera, coordinated all of the minutiae involved with their counterparts from the FCTA administration. For the team itself, the day before the kickoff was dedicated to preparing our brief introduction speeches and explaining our teams’ objectives to the dignitaries who would be in the audience. 

Monday morning, we head to the FCTA Minister’s personal conference room. The room is packed with senior officials from the FCTA administration and the heads of the various departments that we would be working with. From the IBM side, in addition to our team, the delegation included Dipo, the Country General Manager for Nigeria, Remi from Corporate Citizenship and Judy from Government Relations. 

The Permanent Secretary, FCT Abuja welcomed the IBM team. His warm welcome, encouragement and evident dedication to the cause of improving revenue generation and collection was both motivational as well as a preview of how the department heads and their teams would engage with us. 

From IBM’s side, Dipo, the country GM, introduced our activities in Nigeria. I learned that IBM Nigeria was running an internship program aimed at providing employment opportunities for technology students and graduates. Remi, our Corporate Citizenship Manager for West Africa, then introduced the Smarter Cities Challenge and our objectives in Abuja. Then it was our turn to introduce ourselves –I’m impressed at both the diversity of life and professional experiences we brought and the team’s commitment to bettering the world in whatever small way we could. 

For the second half of the kickoff session, we had the Directors of each of the ten departments we would be working with talk about their agencies, covering the current revenue generation and collection situation, key challenges and their thoughts on how to improve revenue collection. Each of them also answered our questions about their department's workings.

We left the kickoff session far more educated on what we were up against. Rarely in my professional life have I been “caught up to speed“ so rapidly on a project – all thanks to Remi’s meticulous preparation. She had provided clear instructions and templates to help the departments understand what the team would be looking for and helped them prepare accordingly.

The kickoff finished at 4 PM – and then it was time for refreshments and group pictures. We go off happy with Day 1, for a well-earned "lunch" at 5 PM (late or missed lunches were going to be a recurring theme over the coming week).

IBM Smarter Cities Challenge Abuja 2017 – What are we doing here?

The Smarter Cities Challenge (SCC) is a major pro bono effort by IBM to help cities around the world address their governance and livability challenges – such as citizen services, transportation, waste management and revenue collection - by bringing together expertise in the form of global IBM teams. Cities apply for the grant, and the selected ones get a team of 5-6 senior IBMers to work on location for three weeks, understand the situation and craft pragmatic recommendations to improve the current situation. Over the past six years, IBM has invested $66 mn in this effort and worked with over 130 cities. 

The Smarter Cities Challenge

Smarter Cities Challenge Blog (experiences of previous teams)

Before I describe our Challenge, a word about Abuja. The Federal Capital Territory of Abuja (FCTA) has been the capital of Nigeria since 1991. It was designated as the capital in the 70s and developed in the 80s. In many ways, Abuja is not unlike Washington, DC or Brasilia. Distinct from the 36 states of the country, which have their own Governors, the FCTA is directly under the control of the Federal Government and is administered by a Federal Minister.

 Map of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja

The FCTA, through its departments and agencies, provides a wide range of services to the citizenry, including land allocation, education and healthcare - and is also responsible for revenue collection under a number of categories, such as ground rent, water charges, waste disposal charges and building permits. Presently, the revenue collected from the citizenry and the business and governmental entities within the FCTA is only a fraction of the potential revenues that could be collected. So our job, over the three-week Challenge, is to understand the reasons for the lackadaisical revenue collection performance across a selected subset of FCTA departments and help the FCTA administration improve their revenues.

 The charter of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board  

Our 5-member team in Abuja brings over 100 years of cumulative experience, and represents IBM’s diverse geographic footprint and business interests. As our understanding of the issues and potential solutions get clearer with time, I will update this blog with my thoughts and ideas on how we plan to tackle this challenge. 

 Our cracking team - looking good, y'all

Abuja - my first impressions

As I write this, late on Sunday evening, I have been on the ground in Abuja for 2 days. Our Smarter Cities Challenge kicks off tomorrow morning - but a lot has transpired since my last (and only) blog entry, and I didn’t want the weekend to pass without writing down my first impressions and experiences here. 

Before I left home, I didn't have any time to mentally prepare for my Abuja trip, as I was neck-deep in other work till the day before my departure. I got home with <16 hours to pack for my 3-week trip and say my byes to the family.

My flight to Abuja via Frankfurt was uneventful - till we were about to touch down in Abuja. Thunderstorms over the airfield necessitated the airline captain to divert to Port Harcourt and we eventually reached Abuja 4 hours behind schedule. I used that extra time to catch up on movies (Hidden Figures - Thumbs Up, Rock On 2 - Thumbs Down).

En route to Abuja - Panama hat - check, neon-inflected running shoes - check, reading material – check

Sunset at the Port Harcourt airport

Nigeria – Abuja’s in the center, Lagos is SW & Port Harcourt is SE

Its 9 PM by the time I finally exit the Abuja airport. Traffic to my hotel is sparse. Initial impressions of the highways – pretty good! The thunderstorms that delayed my arrival cooled the city down a bit – but it was a fair sight warmer than the mild spring weather I’d left behind in Fairfax, Virginia.

 Warm, getting to hot, with thunderstorms in the forecast

I check into my home for the next 3 weeks – The Nordic Hotel. It is a pleasant, low slung building and I find my room more than adequate. In 30 minutes, I am all unpacked and ready to hit the sack.

Saturday morning, I am up early and raring to check out my immediate surroundings. I take a stroll around the hotel building before breakfast.

My home for the next 3 weeks

The pool at the club building adjoining the hotel – note the ‘artfully” disguised palm tree / cell phone tower

The work area in my room

Next stop – the gym. It is a surprisingly well-equipped one, with everything I could ask for. A quick workout later, I’m headed back for a shower and change. Since I hadn’t made contact with any of my teammates yet, I decide to call their rooms to get everyone together for lunch. After three pre-work calls over the past month or so, we finally meet and start the serious business of getting to know each other. 

The IBM Smarter Cities Challenge Abuja team - clockwise from top left – Marvin from Atlanta, Sam from Cairo via Dubai, yours truly (Indian American from Washington, DC), Divine from Manila and Maria from San Diego / North Carolina

Lunch was my introduction to Nigerian food. My current pescatarian existence proved to be not much of a constraining factor – I get grilled fish (spicy and good). Post-lunch, Marvin and I set out on an expedition to the nearby cash-and-carry. We wanted to get some supplies, but more importantly, we wanted to get acquainted with our neighborhood. The cash-and-carry was huge, and seemed to have everything under the sun. For no particular reason, I found myself buying a bottle of Guinness African special, brewed with spices and herbs (watch this space for my post-consumption review).

 Brewed with African herbs and spices 

 

We trudge back to the hotel laden with goodies - and it’s already time to head out with the team for dinner. We are joined by Remi, the valiant IBM Corporate Citizenship Manager for Nigeria and Judy, from the Government Relations team. Judy takes us to an army barracks, where there is a bunch of “joints” - ultra-casual outdoor eating and drinking places, with loud music and the TVs showing soccer matches. The menu is simple – grilled whole fish – catfish and croaker. While the fish are grilling, we get busy imbibing. When it comes, the fish is spectacular – spicy, tender and eaten sans utensils. 

Judy (in red) with our WIP dinner

Sunday morning, we get to work. We have a team room set up at the hotel, and we spend several hours preparing for our kickoff meeting the next day. Post-lunch, we get a quick driving tour of the city.

The team at work

The highlight of the day is dinner. We are joined by Dipo, the GM of IBM Nigeria, and Ann, the Nigeria head of Pyxera, who’s doing a lot of the coordination and logistics for our project. The restaurant has Nigerian and South Indian (!) menus – here’s a look at the South Indian portion. 

The South Indian portion of the dinner menu

I’m torn – and decide to sample from both menus – which makes for a rather unconventional but delicious meal. I know where to come if I start getting food-homesick

Kathakali painting in an Abuja restaurant

As of this writing, anticipation is high for the kickoff session tomorrow, and the upcoming three weeks of intense work (and not-work)