Command central

With the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup just over 50 days away, key stakeholders are gearing up to make sure South African business is prepared for any eventuality. For the first time, the corporate risk planning for an event of this magnitude is being co-ordinated via an online hub.

The hub, Continuity2010, serves as a link for members of a business continuity steering committee, which collaborates on risk mitigation and continuity for corporate SA with regard to the World Cup. The steering committee, comprising members of the public and private sector, as well as FIFA representation, now meets fortnightly too, as the big event draws nearer.

BRAIN TRUST

The Continuity2010 project was first launched in February last year, aiming to allow stakeholders to work together to ensure business continuity despite any potential disruptions around the World Cup. The online hub was launched and a steering committee was established in November.

The committee originally intended to meet monthly, but Louise Theunissen, GM of consulting services at ContinuitySA, says: "We only got commitment from the bulk of business earlier in the year, and we realised that to only meet five times before the World Cup is not enough." The committee now meets fortnightly.

The meetings began as strategy sessions, to determine what information needs to be addressed, and to prioritise information. Now, she says, the meetings involve raising queries from users about the World Cup, and having a relevant speaker brought in, such as a representative from Eskom, or the Department of Justice. A specific Continuity2010 e-mail address was set up for this reason, and Theunissen says the committee has been getting much feedback via this avenue. The meetings also have an open discussion segment, allowing for conversation.

The information discussed in the meetings is made available to portal subscribers. "We`ve had people from government, Telkom, FIFA. We have them come and provide information to corporate SA and also answer any specific questions they may have."

On the 15-strong steering committee are representatives from many industries, such as telecoms, manufacturing and distribution, medical, financial services, retail and government.

Theunissen would like to see involvement from more companies as well as utilities providers involved with the project, such as Eskom. "It works very well, and the corporates that have been involved, from portal subscribers to the steering committee, have given us tremendous feedback."

One of the key objectives of the steering committee, says Theunissen, is for companies in similar industries to get together and discuss their specific risk and what they`ve done in preparation to the World Cup, as well as formulating strategies together.

GOVERNMENT GOAL

Colin Deiner, chief director of disaster management and fire services at the Gauteng provincial government, says the department`s role is to keep the steering committee informed of developments. "We are providing information to the portal so they can inform subscribers, should any situation occur or threaten to occur, which will disrupt business."

He says the portal is important to help companies look ahead at things like traffic disruptions, in case they need to make other arrangement for employees or for logistical reasons. However, he believes corporate businesses in SA shouldn`t be too heavily affected, and there is enough strategy in place to prevent a major disaster.

The committee had their "kick-off" meeting in January, at Soccer City.

The portal is a repository for information about the upcoming FIFA World Cup, and explains the possible risks associated with the event. It can be found on the ContinuitySA Web site, and is subscription-based.

KNOWLEDGE HUB

Theunissen says ContinuitySA decided to spearhead development of the site after the company tried researching information on the World Cup, and how the event would affect the company`s clients.

"And when we started researching, we realised how little there was available for business."

After committing to gathering all this information, the company thought it pointless to keep information to itself, and decided to make it available to other businesses. "The best way we could think to distribute and make the information available to our clients in a user-friendly format, was to do it on a Web-based portal."

The portal is not just available to ContinuitySA clients. "We`ve made the portal and steering committee available to any company that wants to participate. Because at the end of the day, the whole focus was to make information available to corporate SA." The fees are, Theunissen asserts, just to cover the cost. The portal is not a profit-making tool.

Theunissen says as far as she is aware, no similar project has been undertaken for other major sporting events such as this.

Theunissen is visiting London in the near future, to show the portal to the Business Continuity Institute there. "It`s something that would be fantastic for UK companies over the London Olympics. We`ve already learned our lessons with regard to what works and what doesn`t work and we want to share that with other institutes or countries."

RISKY BUSINESS

The portal puts business risks into five categories (or pillars) - data and information, which includes mobile services and bandwidth; staff, with sub-sections such as strikes and absenteeism; premises/operations, with information on crime; supplies, such as electricity or emergency services; and logistics, which includes transport by road, air, sea or rail.

For each sub-section, the portal lists the possible risks, the impact it could have on business and some mitigating measures to prevent problems. Karen Jacobs, consultant for ContinuitySA, says the advice is generic to business, and not industry-specific.

The nine host cities are listed, and the possible risks in each. Each has its trigger zones during the World Cup, such as areas near the training camps, team base camps, commercial exclusion zones and red zones, and these have been mapped out on Google Earth, with links provided.

The possible increase in the number of people in those areas, and resulting traffic disruptions, could impact companies. For example, Jacobs says, with two base camps in the Sandton area, the corporate nucleus could suffer disruptions.

Getting information on road closures, however, is still a challenge, says Jacobs. Accurate information can only be given once the stadium project is complete. Cape Town, Durban and Nelspruit are the closest to completion, says Jacobs, and so far Durban is the only stadium to have released such information.

The portal also features a downloadable self-assessment questionnaire, for companies to see what they have achieved, and to remind them of areas they may have neglected.

There is a section on FIFA legislation and regulation, as well as relevant South African legislation such as health and safety, FIFA licensing information and by-laws for individual cities. The portal also has articles regarding risk and the World Cup, for further reading.

Jacobs says companies should treat the 2010 risk factors the same as ordinary risk, using the same method and framework.

PORTAL CONTINUITY

"We will continue running the portal throughout the World Cup," says Theunissen, and the steering committee has expressed a desire to meet on a fortnightly basis during the World Cup in case there are important occurrences.

"We hope that with increasing communication between business and various relevant entities and creating awareness of the areas that could impact business and the related measure that need to be put in place, we can ensure continuous operation of corporate SA during any incidences or unforeseen events that may occur during the 2010 World Cup."

The value of the portal before the World Cup is to help people plan, Theunissen explains. And while it is happening, it`s a platform to get advice on things experienced during the World Cup. Afterwards, "we`ll be doing a little research on what were the lessons learned, what did businesses do right, what did they do wrong... we will continue this until the end of 2010".

Will the portal continue when the year is over? "There have been discussions regarding the portal not stopping, being a continuous platform for information for corporates."

She says the platform has now been established for the portal to cater to major events. "It started off for the World Cup, but if we do take the portal going forward, it can be any event that impacts corporates over that period," she says.

"We are considering it, but no final decisions have been made."