IOCOM was launched in Canada on January 28th 2010. It was pioneered by group of dedicated outcome and/or benefit management professionals who hatched the idea in June 2009 to establish a regional network, which is now IOCOM. South Asian regional network will aim to promote the discipline of monitoring and evaluation. However, due to the membership expansion globally, the organization transformed to an international organization.
The inaugural dinner meeting hosted by the founder chair Sandiran Premakanthan was held on June 23rd 2009 at the Mandarin Court restaurant 1374 Baseline Road, Ottawa, Ontario K2C 0A9. The participants on this historic occasion were: Ms. Kunzang Lhamu (Bhutan), Ghulam Mustafa (Pakistan), Ishwar Awasthie (India), Prabin Chitrakar (Nepal), Syed Rashed Hossen (Bangladesh), Abu Hanif (Bangladesh), Somesh Kumar (India), Shruti Joshi (India), and Chanuka Wattegama (Sri Lanka). They were in Ottawa attending the International Program for Development Evaluation Training (IPDT), hosted by the World Bank and Carleton University.
I salute the visionary founder members who volunteered to serve on our first-year provisional management council of the then International Organisation for Outcome Management in South Asia (IOCOMSA), and who subsequently served on the board of directors of IOCOM, a Canadian not-for-profit corporation registered on September 28, 2012. These pioneers deserve a special thank-you. They are:
1. Sandiran (Sandi) Premakanthan Founder Chair/President - Canada
2. Zicky Hammud – Secretary/Treasurer - Canada
3. Dennis Brodie - Canada
4. Ms. Kunzang Lhamu - Bhutan
5. Scott Bayley - Australia
6. Ghulam Mustafa - Pakistan
7. Dr. Ishwar Awasthie - India
8. Prabin Chitrakar - Nepal
9. Velayuthan Sivagnanasothy – Sri Lanka
10. Syed Rashed Hossen - Bangladesh
11. Abu Hanif MD - Bangladesh
12. Abdul Ghani MD- Afghanistan
Dennis Brodie was the architect of drafting IOCOM bylaws and the amendment to establish IOCOM country chapters. Dennis researched and provided the procedures necessary to conduct e-mail meetings to conduct our annual general and board meetings. Thank you, Dennis, for your legal guidance and advice to launch IOCOM as a legally incorporated business entity in Canada.
Scott Bayley Scott was largely responsible for IOCOM’s membership growth in Australia.
As representation expanded, this regional social alliance became an international network encompassing members all like-minded outcome (results chain) and/or benefit management professionals.
During the past years, many members have served on the board and contributed to IOCOM’s progress.