Digital Transformation - Interview by Insights

1. 12
here was no plan to write a book”
Jacobs tells Insights, “but profes-
sional activities and explaining
what I’m trying to do to transform business
with digital systems at OFID, unconscious-
ly led me to it.”
Copies of his book entitled “Digital
Transformation: Evolving a Digitally En-
abled Nigerian Public Service” are inside
stacked boxes cornered in his office. Jacobs
rummages to pull a hard copy out for In-
sights and proudly tells us:
“A couple of years ago, sometime after
I’d finished my second Master’s degree,
someone asked me for a proposal on the
subject of digital transformation for Nige-
rian Public Services.”
Jacobs thought that his work at OFID, his
studies and his experience could all be
brought together and was planning to
write the proposal, but close friends en-
couraged him to write a book instead.
“That way, my work would be documented
for prosperity and secured with copyright,”
he says.
So how did he manage to balance
work, family and writing a book? “My
friends were hugely supportive, and my
family were amazing. I couldn’t have done
this without them. Towards the end there
were a lot of late nights, and they were
very understanding. That’s why the book
is dedicated to them.”
Notably, the book dedication also extends
to OFID’s Deyaa Alkhateeb. Asked why,
Jacobs responds sincerely: “Let me tell you,
change can be hard to embrace. It needs
imagination.”
Invited to elaborate, he says: “Deyaa
Alkhateeb is a unique leader. He had the
vision. He knew what he wanted to achieve
for the IT department and OFID. He be-
lieved in my abilities and gave me the
freedom to expand and build this body of
work. His wonderful leadership led to all
of this.”
A steep learning curve
Once the manuscript was completed,
Jacobs was faced with the challenge of
publishing his work. After all, this had
been the aim from the beginning, in order
to secure his intellectual property. “When
I was reading about it online it sounded
so easy, but in reality it’s
very tough” he says.
“At first I wanted a
publishing house to do it,
so I met with one. They
wanted me to invest thirty
to forty thousand euros,
and had a whole heap of
conditions,” remembers
Jacobs. “So, I researched
online, and there was Am-
azon Digital Services doing
it for free—I went with
Amazon.”
Amazon’s self-publishing services are free,
but you have to do everything yourself
including all the cover page and layout
design. “Let me tell you, the learning curve
was steep,” says Jacobs. (No need to tell
Insights—we have a team of two people
(see credits) in addition to our editor who
are specially trained in production.) “This
all requires enormous skill, which I don’t
have,” agrees Jacobs.
“Actually, at this point I became stuck,”
he admits. “In the end I had to hire people
to do the layout and design. I used an
online site, which sets you up with design-
ers you commission. Then I used print on
demand services to produce the hard and
soft cover books.”
Digital Transformation
explained
The book is in three parts.
“The first part looks at the
history, what currently
exists, the challenges, and
the background of the
digital landscape in Ni-
geria. The second part is
what needs to be done
and what technologies
Nigerian public services
need to be looking at to
improvesystems,”explains
Jacobs.
Digital transformation and personal achievement
OFID’s SAP guru, Jacobs Edo,
has successfully published
his first book. Here, he speaks
to Justine Würtz about the
inspiration for this achieve-
ment as well as the trials and
tribulations of publishing.
T“

2. 13
would like to share with you a story
I read on a recent flight:
Before the brutal winter arrives, you
open all the doors and all the windows
to let the fresh fall breeze into your home.
You feel the air rush in and revitalize
your home.
But fresh air isn’t the only thing
rushing into your home; you hear the
buzz of an insect. Out of the corner of
your eye, you see a bee flying around
your home. The bee seems so helpless
that you decide to help.
You want to show the bee the way
to freedom. The bee keeps slamming into
and bouncing off the large pane window
in your living room. You open up the front
screen door and try to direct the bee to
safety with your hands. The more you
try, the more irritated the bee gets.
You’re puzzled at the bee’s anger. You
think to yourself: “I’m only trying to save
the bee’s life.” You finally try to direct
the bee from the window to the open
door by using your whole body. The bee
gets angry and stings you on the arm.
And in the act of stinging, the bee dies.
The moral of this story is that we
must learn to put aside stubbornness,
pride and arrogance so that we can
benefit from the wisdom and experience
of others. For, in the end, we are the ones
who lose the most. By refusing to listen
to the advice of our mentors and leaders,
we end up hurting ourselves more than
they are hurt by our rejection.
CAPTAIN’S LOG
by Suleiman J Al-Herbish
D o n ’t b e come the
be e that stings
“When you talk, you are only
repeating what you already
know. But if you listen, you
may learn something new.”
Dalai Lama
“Common sense is not a gift,
it’s a punishment. Because you
have to deal with everyone
who doesn’t have it.”
Anonymous
I
Q uotes of the month
He continues: “Part three brings every-
thing together. It makes suggestions
for actions, including implementation
strategies; legal and policy reform;
and financing and professional manage-
ment.”
Jacobs explains that the book is
basically a template for digital transfor-
mation—one he hopes will spur govern-
ments and civil societies into action.
The book details true case studies.
These examples include industries, or-
ganizations and governments, which
have integrated digitalized systems to
great effect. Among them, OFID gets a
special mention, with two pages devoted
to the organization’s SAP, ERP and EDMS
integration.
“When I first came to OFID, I was
very worried about the quantity of paper
being used. I used to see a stack of paper
on my colleague’s desk this high.” Jacobs
hand rises up as his eyes open wide.
“This was just three forms!” he exclaims:
“leave requests, travel requests and
purchase orders. There were times you
could be filling out three or four of these
forms a day.”
But for Jacobs, the worst were the
pay-slips. “Admin would print them
multiple times, then make corrections
and print them again. After that they’d
put them in envelopes and send them
out to each member of staff. When you
added in the transactional side, including
memos, action sheets, financial transac-
tion documents and all the rest of it, we
had a veritable graveyard of trees in this
building.”
Jacobs was adamant that such prac-
tices had to stop. “If we are going to
promote sustainable development, we
need to start here,” he reproaches. Now,
his work introducing SAP and EDMS
integrated systems has revolutionized
staff applications at OFID and reduced
paper consumption by at least 50 percent,
he reckons.
Moving on
“The response has been amazing” says
Jacobs. The book is currently rated with
a full five stars by readers on Amazon.
“But numbers of readers are more import-
ant than stars,” he humbly hastens to add.
These numbers are steadily growing
and already he has a list of VIP readers.
“I’m really a very lucky chap,” he exudes,
revealing that he was able to give a signed
copy to the Nigerian Minister of Science
and Technology when he came for meet-
ings at the UN in Vienna. The chargé
d’affaires from the Nigerian Embassy was
there too, so he also got one. “And now
I’ve been asked to send a copy to the wife
of the President (of Nigeria). Well, if I’m
sending her one, I’ll put in an extra copy
for her hubby,” he jokes.
“Actually, the Minister has asked me
to make an executive summary,” he tells
Insights, returning to a more serious tone.
“He wants to present it to his team in the
ministry. So that’s what I’m doing now. I
hope it will help.”
Jacobs will host a book launch and
presentation at the Intercontinental Hotel
(Salon Four Seasons) on November 12.
Please contact him directly for further
information or a signed copy of his book.
Jacobs dedicates the book to his
“amazing” family.