May 2007 - KICTANet

Week 1 Online Discussion Summaries- CCK Internet Report(Resending)
by John Walubengo 02 May '07

02 May '07

Hi all, I went off-air for a while - actually I travelled upcountry to my parents home in Bungoma -its a remote town from NRB(450Km away) but the 2nd largest town in Western Province and yes, Internet access in those parts of the world is quite a challenge. But that's a story for another day... Today, I thought it would be nice to reflect on last weeks contributions before we move into the this final week's discussion. Tomorrow we start on the theme 'The Statistics on Affordability', but below I have put together what I think was last weeks summary contribution and hope you can go through it and raise final (if any) comments on last weeks themes. These were International Bandwidth, Heirarchy of Providers(ISP/IGO) and the Statistics on Infrastructure. ---Last weeks summary begin----- Week 1 Summary. Day 1:Background Concepts/Overview Mr. J. Walubengo gave an overview of the Internet Study report saying that it aimed to establish the status of Internet Infrastructure, Internet Affordability and Internet Use & Dispersion in Kenya. He reported that the study had various recommendations aimed at improving on the above internet indicators. This included amongst others; getting the government intervention in extending the domestic internet infrastructure, introducing further competition both within the Fixed Line and Mobile subsectors, utilizing the Universal access fund to extend Internet reach, promoting creation and use of local content as well as supporting Consumer Awareness initiatives. Mr. A. Gakuru lauded the study as well as its recommendations but noted that a similar study would be required that focused on the demand-side rather than the Supply-side of the internet market. He was glad that the Regulator was finally making deliberate efforts to support consumer awareness initiatives. He wondered if naming and shaming those ISPs that failed to route traffic through the local internet exchange point (KIXP) would help in enhancing the use of KIXP. Day 2: International & Domestic Bandwidth Usage In his opening remarks, Mr. Walubengo said that the report indicated that the International Internet Traffic was skewed (90%) towards external sources (content). Kenya was a net importer of Internet content and was therefore a consumer rather than a creator of Internet content. Value (economic or otherwise) goes to the creators of Internet Content and Kenya should aim to be a generator rather than just consumers of Internet Content. Mr. M. Michuki observed that most Kenyans visited external sources due to lack of local content. He suggested that ISPs should come up with pricing smodels that encouraged the creation of and access to local content. For example, geo-specific tariffs could be designed that would deliberately make it cheaper to access local (.KE) conent i.e. users could be charged less if and when they accessed or used local services(local websites, emails, etc) as opposed to foreign services. In addition, ISPs could come up with time-based tariffs that took advantage of the traffic models registered on the KIXP i.e. provide even lower rates for local content during evenings and weekends.He however conceded that Online Government Services, eHealth, eBanking, eLearning, etc would have to be in place in order to make such pricing models successful. Mr. J. Ngunjiri added that training or capacity building initiatives must also be supported to further gaurantee the success of the initiative. Day 3: Hierarchy of Internet Service Providers (IGO,ISP) The Internet Study Report recommended that the seperation between Internet Gateway Operators (IGO) and Internet Service Providers be dissolved with expected results being cheaper and higher quality services. In his opening remarks, Mr. Walubengo asked members to react to this recommendation. Lucy Kimani wondered if IGO would be able to cope with the technical and administrative overheads experienced by ISPs such as a larger number of customer accounts, increased need for support services, etc. She added that the cost of services may not come necessarily come down as expected due to the need to cover such overheads. Mr. Walubengo cited the case of TKL (Telkom Kenya) who are currently operating at both the Gateway and the ISP level without significant cost reductions in their Internet Service. Mr. S. Buruchara felt that historically, ISPs have had a rough time in trying to set up their own Internet Gateway Operations - having been forced by regulation to route their traffic through expensive and monopolistic Internet Gateways. He argued that if the upstream providers (IGO) were expensive, it was only natural that these costs would be passed downstream to the consumers. In addition, he noted that even todate the Licensing requirements were still prohibitive (expensive) for ISPs to move into the IGO level and if they did, they may need to recoup their (Licensing & other) investments at the expense of offering cheaper Internet Access rates. Mr. Kai Wulff commented that giving ISPs the IGO facilities may not necessarily reduce prices, citing case of Uganda where internet costs are still high despite many ISPs having IGO facilities. Day 4: Statistics on Infrastructure The report indicated that ISPs (internet services) were only operating in 30% of the districts in Kenya. The leased line services were mainly concentrated in urban centers (NRB & MSA) meaning that Internet Infrastructure was clearly challenged and the Report urges Government to intervene by leading the build-up of Internet/Network infrastructure accross the country. In her reaction, Alice Munyua, said that a comprehensive, multi-pronged approach must be made to avoid having infrastructure that would eventually serve no purpose. Aggressive infrastructure build up without content would be an exercise in futility since the internet pipes would be idle and underutilised most of the time. She added that additional initiatives such as Construction and Supply of Electrical Power, Literacy Initiatives, Local Content and 'Demand-side' Internet Requirements must move side by side with the infrastructure roll-out. Day 5- Statistics on Affordability will be on tomorrow (thrs 3rd May) morning. Today is open for final comments on the Day 1, 2, 3 & 4 Themes. walu. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Week 1 Online Discussion Summaries- CCK Internet Report
by John Walubengo 02 May '07

02 May '07

Hi all, I went off-air for a while - actually I travelled upcountry to my parents home in Bungoma -its a remote town from NRB(450Km away) but the 2nd largest town in Western Province and yes, Internet access in those parts of the world is quite a challenge. But that's a story for another day... Today, I thought it would be nice to reflect on last weeks contributions before we move into the this final week's discussion. Tomorrow we start on the theme 'The Statistics on Affordability', but below I have put together what I think was last weeks summary contribution and hope you can go through it and raise final (if any) comments on last weeks themes. These were International Bandwidth, Heirarchy of Providers(ISP/IGO) and the Statistics on Infrastructure. ---Last weeks summary begin----- Week 1 Summary. Day 1:Background Concepts/Overview Mr. J. Walubengo gave an overview of the Internet Study report saying that it aimed to establish the status of Internet Infrastructure, Internet Affordability and Internet Use & Dispersion in Kenya. He reported that the study had various recommendations aimed at improving on the above internet indicators. This included amongst others; getting the government intervention in extending the domestic internet infrastructure, introducing further competition both within the Fixed Line and Mobile subsectors, utilizing the Universal access fund to extend Internet reach, promoting creation and use of local content as well as supporting Consumer Awareness initiatives. Mr. A. Gakuru lauded the study as well as its recommendations but noted that a similar study would be required that focused on the demand-side rather than the Supply-side of the internet market. He was glad that the Regulator was finally making deliberate efforts to support consumer awareness initiatives. He wondered if naming and shaming those ISPs that failed to route traffic through the local internet exchange point (KIXP) would help in enhancing the use of KIXP. Day 2: International & Domestic Bandwidth Usage In his opening remarks, Mr. Walubengo said that the report indicated that the International Internet Traffic was skewed (90%) towards external sources (content). Kenya was a net importer of Internet content and was therefore a consumer rather than a creator of Internet content. Value (economic or otherwise) goes to the creators of Internet Content and Kenya should aim to be a generator rather than just consumers of Internet Content. Mr. M. Michuki observed that most Kenyans visited external sources due to lack of local content. He suggested that ISPs should come up with pricing smodels that encouraged the creation of and access to local content. For example, geo-specific tariffs could be designed that would deliberately make it cheaper to access local (.KE) conent i.e. users could be charged less if and when they accessed or used local services(local websites, emails, etc) as opposed to foreign services. In addition, ISPs could come up with time-based tariffs that took advantage of the traffic models registered on the KIXP i.e. provide even lower rates for local content during evenings and weekends.He however conceded that Online Government Services, eHealth, eBanking, eLearning, etc would have to be in place in order to make such pricing models successful. Mr. J. Ngunjiri added that training or capacity building initiatives must also be supported to further gaurantee the success of the initiative. Day 3: Hierarchy of Internet Service Providers (IGO,ISP) The Internet Study Report recommended that the seperation between Internet Gateway Operators (IGO) and Internet Service Providers be dissolved with expected results being cheaper and higher quality services. In his opening remarks, Mr. Walubengo asked members to react to this recommendation. Lucy Kimani wondered if IGO would be able to cope with the technical and administrative overheads experienced by ISPs such as a larger number of customer accounts, increased need for support services, etc. She added that the cost of services may not come necessarily come down as expected due to the need to cover such overheads. Mr. Walubengo cited the case of TKL (Telkom Kenya) who are currently operating at both the Gateway and the ISP level without significant cost reductions in their Internet Service. Mr. S. Buruchara felt that historically, ISPs have had a rough time in trying to set up their own Internet Gateway Operations - having been forced by regulation to route their traffic through expensive and monopolistic Internet Gateways. He argued that if the upstream providers (IGO) were expensive, it was only natural that these costs would be passed downstream to the consumers. In addition, he noted that even todate the Licensing requirements were still prohibitive (expensive) for ISPs to move into the IGO level and if they did, they may need to recoup their (Licensing & other) investments at the expense of offering cheaper Internet Access rates. Mr. Kai Wulff commented that giving ISPs the IGO facilities may not necessarily reduce prices, citing case of Uganda where internet costs are still high despite many ISPs having IGO facilities. Day 4: Statistics on Infrastructure The report indicated that ISPs (internet services) were only operating in 30% of the districts in Kenya. The leased line services were mainly concentrated in urban centers (NRB & MSA) meaning that Internet Infrastructure was clearly challenged and the Report urges Government to intervene by leading the build-up of Internet/Network infrastructure accross the country. In her reaction, Alice Munyua, said that a comprehensive, multi-pronged approach must be made to avoid having infrastructure that would eventually serve no purpose. Aggressive infrastructure build up without content would be an exercise in futility since the internet pipes would be idle and underutilised most of the time. She added that additional initiatives such as Construction and Supply of Electrical Power, Literacy Initiatives, Local Content and 'Demand-side' Internet Requirements must move side by side with the infrastructure roll-out. Day 5- Statistics on Affordability will be on tomorrow (thrs 3rd May) morning. Today is open for final comments on the Day 1, 2, 3 & 4 Themes. walu. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Fwd: [Idlelo2] FW: dgCommunities Invited to Attend World Bank Global Dialogue Events & Live Webcasts
by Judy Okite 01 May '07

01 May '07

FYI Kind Regards, ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Fouad Riaz Bajwa <fouadbajwa(a)gmail.com> Date: Tue, 1 May 2007 02:33:20 +0500 Subject: [Idlelo2] FW: dgCommunities Invited to Attend World Bank Global Dialogue Events & Live Webcasts To: idlelo2(a)fossfa.net, openstds(a)ipjustice.org, ugabytes(a)ugabytes.org From: e-government(a)developmentgateway.org [mailto:e-government@developmentgateway.org] Sent: Monday, April 30, 2007 11:47 PM Subject: dgCommunities Invited to Attend World Bank Global Dialogue Events & Live Webcasts Dear Members, For your interest I am writing to alert you to a series of World Bank Global Dialogues on e-government and ICT. The World Bank's e-Development Thematic Group invites all interested dgCommunities members to participate in its upcoming e-government/ICT related Global Dialogues by means of live webcast/online discussion, via videoconference (in several countries which will be connected) or in person (if in Washington DC). The following are details of these sessions: Open Systems for e-Government (May 02, 9:00 - 11.30 am EST) While open source software has achieved growing acceptance in the marketplace, open standards are also increasingly seen as key enablers of the transfer and use of information across organizations, systems, and devices. This seminar focuses on the embrace of open information and communications technology systems by governments and businesses alike in the face of growing demands for the effective, customer-centric delivery of services. What does "open" mean in the context of software, standards, and document formats, and is it relevant to the experience and challenges faced by developing and transition countries? Can open source, open standards, and ODF be leveraged to maximize the impact of ICT investments in public-sector reform and modernization efforts? A panel including experts from the World Bank, IBM, Microsoft, Open Source Institute, and the ODF Alliance will gather to discuss this interesting topic. Please click here for more information: http://go.worldbank.org/OPRW4CL1N0 Prioritizing e-Services - The case of Pakistan (May 09, 9:00 - 11:30 am EST) Many e-Government program initiatives are faced with a myriad of choices for e-Services; hence there is an obvious need to prioritize due to various constraints. There are different methodologies available for identifying and prioritizing these e-services, and all governments implementing such programs have gone through this phase with varying outcomes. The e-Services prioritization process is therefore an essential component of e-Government programs, and selecting and applying the appropriate methodology is fundamental for e-Government program success. The session experts and practitioners will present a general overview of the various methodologies available for prioritization of e-Services and will discuss the experience of Pakistan, one of the latest case studies from the field. More information about this event will be available online shorlty at http://www.worldbank.org/edevelopment. Additional Upcoming Events: e-Government Portals (May 30, 9:00 - 11:30 am EST) Designing e-Government Strategies (June 19, 9:00-11:30 am EST) About the World Bank e-Development Thematic Group The e-Development Thematic Group's mission is to promote the efficient use of ICT in development and World Bank operations by facilitating knowledge sharing on good practices in e-development, and more frequent dialogue among interested parties thus catalyzing specific program and project proposals. The e-Development Thematic Group was created in 2003 in response to the increasing demand from various countries and sectors that are involved in the design and implementation of a variety of e-development and e-government projects, on the basis of the e-Government Thematic Group. The e-Development Thematic Group is open for participation by both World Bank staff and external clients and partners. For more information about the Group and its events, knowledge-base, toolkits and other resources, please visit the website at http://www.worldbank.org/edevelopment. To find out how to participate in these events, join the mailing list or partner with e-TG, please write to edevelopment(a)worldbank.org or contact Oleg Petrov at +1202-473-8861. Best regards, Mike Pereira ___________________________________ Mike Pereira Director, Global Online Communities Development Gateway Foundation 1889 F Street NW Washington DC 20006 202-572-9259 202-572-9290 (fax) http://home.developmentgateway.org/?intcmp=906 http://topics.developmentgateway.org/?intcmp=906 _______________________________________________ Idlelo2 mailing list Idlelo2(a)fossfa.net http://mailman.dst.gov.za/mailman/listinfo/idlelo2 -- Judy Ann Okite, +254-721237507,+254-734252336 P.O. BOX 2228 00100, NAIROBI,KENYA. "Even if you are on the right track, you'll still get run over if you just sit there."

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