March 2008 - KICTANet

Private investors sign up for stake in cable project
by Bill Kagai 27 Mar '08

27 Mar '08

* Private investors sign up for stake in cable project* http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6661&Item… * March 27, 2008:* The construction of the undersea fibre optic cable that is to connect Kenya to the world of high speed Internet has received a big boost with the signing of an agreement that paves the way for the private sector to contribute to its financing. The agreement which makes the signatories co-owners of the East African Marine System project with the Government, was signed last week even as the new shareholders forced out two prospective buyers. The new shareholder agreement leaves Safaricom and the Government of Kenya as the anchor shareholders with a 20 per cent stake each in the project and Wananchi Telecom with 10 per cent. Kenya Data Network and Celtel jointly acquired a 10 per cent stake in the company while France Telecom and Econet Kenya have a 10 per cent share each. Jamii Telkom got four per cent although it had initially expressed interest in buying 3.75 per cent. Two firms, Gilat Satcom and Internet Research, a Ghanaian company, were knocked out of the ownership agreement for failing to meet the 20 per cent local representation requirement. Each had expressed an interest in acquiring a 1.25 per cent stake. The identity of two local companies that had expressed interest in the project remains unknown. The companies are, however, said to be associated with Brian Longwe, a Kenyan IT sector businessman. The signing of the shareholder pact, also known as an Escrow agreement comes after the Government signed an initial shareholder agreement with Etisalat of United Arab Emirates. The Government paid 12 per cent of its total 85 per cent ownership in the cable. Etisalat also made a down payment of $1.2 million to cover 12 per cent of its total 15 per cent ownership of the cable. These two payments gave Alcatel-Lucent, the company that won the tender to build the cable from Fujairah to the port of Mombasa . Manufacturing the cables was to begin on March 15, this year, but started three days later. Information ministry Permanent secretary, Bitange Ndemo, said Alcatel-Lucent has appointed a team to oversee construction. The timeline for the TEAMs project indicates that it should be ready by the second quarter of next year. Other than TEAMs, two other fibre optic cables, SEACOM and EASSy are competing to connect East Africa to the global network of highspeed internet. EASSy concluded financial closure in the last week of February having raised $248 million that enabled it to make a down payment to the contractor Alcatel-Lucent. According to the EASSy secretariat, the first phase of construction kicked off on March 14, this year and is expected to be ready in the first half of 2010. The EASSy cable will run 10,500 kilometres from South Africa, through Mozambique, Madagascar, Comoros, Mayotte, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti and Sudan. Thirteen land locked countries will also be linked to the system through terrestrial backbone networks. This includes, Bostwana, Burundi, Central Africa Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Rwanda Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Jamii Telecom Limited, a subsidiary of the AdGroup of Companies' investment in TEAMS project is meant to complement its Metro Fiber Network whose construction began last year. Technology company AccessKenya has a 1.25 per cent stake in the project and aims at increasing its bandwidth capacity 10 times. Access Kenya is yet to disclose the amount of money it plans to pump into the project. So far Jamii has spent more than Sh500 million on the Nairobi Metro Fibre –– targeting a market that is currently dominated by Telkom Kenya and Kenya Data Networks (KDN) ––and plans to spend additional Sh700 million in the network. By buying into TEAMS, Jamii and Access Kenya hope to provide terrestrial connectivity that will ultimately hook consumers to the global network of high speed Internet. John Kamau, the general manager at Jamii said the firm hoped to leverage on the National Fiber Optic backbone to enhance international connectivity. Kenya's information communication technology (ICT) sector is expected to grow tremendously once the fibre optic cables are up and running. The cables will stop reliance on the more expensive satellite technologies, bringing down costs and attracting new players especially in the Business Process Outsourcing, call centres, segment. Mr Kamau says that the Jamii's Metro Fiber network, is able to support High Definition Video, Voice and Data is ideal for Telco's, businesses with branch networks like banks, BPOs, disaster recovery sites, SMEs, ISP's, Media Houses and residential users among others.

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INVITATION - New Generation Organizational Models for eGovernment: Emerging Role of Centers of Excellence, April 1, 2008; 4.30-pm-6.30 pm
by Harry Hare 27 Mar '08

27 Mar '08

Dear colleagues, You are kindly invited to join us for a Global Dialogue workshop on New Generation Organizational Models for eGovernment: Emerging Role of Centers of Excellence. The event will take place via video conference from 4.30pm on April 1, 2008 at the World Bank offices in Nairobi. The event is organized by the e-Development Thematic Group/Global ICT Department of the World Bank in collaboration with GDLN, DGF, ECCB, IIS Russia, African eDevelopment Resource Centre in Kenya and other organizations. Workshop Description Given the complexities of designing and implementing e-government applications, institutional structures are extremely important for achieving success. Traditionally, governments have established specialized ICT agencies/organizations to deal with technology issues in the public sector. Such agencies variously deal with policy, operational and procedural aspects of e-government. However, rapid changes taking place in technologies and business models, require a fundamental rethink of the organizational structures and institutional designs for ICT organizations supporting e-government. Apart from the public sector, the private sector has some useful lessons of experience to offer in this regard. For example, Integration/SOA Competency Centers are playing a useful role in rationalizing and coordinating IT deployments, in cost effective and efficient ways. This workshop will discuss the role of a new generation of e-government organizations which could extend the role of e-Government "Centers of Excellence" or "Competency Centers" in keeping with emerging technology and organizational trends. These organizations could potentially help expand and scale-up successful e-Government approaches, including those using Service Oriented Architecture and Web 2.0 technologies. These "e-Gov 2.0" organizations could be designed as hybrids with flexible structures, drawing expertise from government agencies, academia, private sector and industry. The session intends to explore promising approaches to the design of such organisations drawing upon successful experiences from the private and public sectors. The session will discuss the applicability of such next generation e-government organizations to different environments. In environments where e-Government projects are risky and, involve high level technical skills, and domain expertise, such approaches could effectively meld the business of government with new technologies and business models to achieve future oriented and high impact eGovernment applications. The speakers will include: Philippe Dongier, Sector Manager, Global ICT Dept., World Bank Reinhard Posch, Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Government of Austria Randeep Sudan, Lead ICT Policy Specialist, Global ICT Dept., World Bank Jaijit Bhattacharya, Country Director at Sun Microsystems India Samia Melhem (Moderator), Senior Operations Officer, Global ICT Dept., World Bank; and Chair, e-Development Thematic Group Juan Navas Sabater, Senior Operations Officer, Global ICT Dept., World Bank Additional information on this seminar, such as the agenda, speaker profiles and slides will be placed online as they become available at http://go.worldbank.org/2LA3GGGEA0. Participation to the event is free; however, one needs to register to get access to the venue. If you are interested in participating send an email directly to <mailto:susan@africanedevelopment.org> susan(a)africanedevelopment.org giving your name, organization, position and contacts. Space is limited at the venue; only 15 places are available and will be given out on a first-come-first-served basis. Deadline for registration is midday Monday 31st March 2008. Kindest Regards Harry Hare African eDevelopment Resource Centre 3rd Floor, Nelleon Place Raphta Road, Westlands PO Box 49475 00100 Nairobi, Kenya Cel +254 725 650044 Land +254 20 4453445 www.africanedevelopment.org <http://www.africanedevelopment.org/> My Blogg <http://egov-notes.blogspot.com/> *********************************************************** April 2008 Training Opportunities GIS 16-18 April Records Management 28-30 April Book Now, Limited spaces available P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

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Re: [kictanet] Cellphone Types - Chinese case
by dmakali＠yahoo.com 26 Mar '08

26 Mar '08

Elijah, stop the hype. I bought that nokia N95 u r talking about and threw it away after two days. The thing was vibrating in my ears wen I pick calls and radiating my entire head! It was a cheap health hazard I boughtfor 25k! The original is 65k plus. Obviously there is gud chinese technology but on phones, am yet to see. Don't become a conduit for cheap hazardous goods. D Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device -----Original Message----- From: Elijah Kombo <komboelijah(a)yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 07:10:59 To:kaziafrika@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Cellphone Types - Chinese case I planned to start selling chinese phones as i have good deals with a Chinese company. Infact i am set to start very very soon. Companies like Nokia have given some chinese companies to assemle the phones uisng very cheap materials. I bought N95 phone sometime last year at only 350 usd while its going at approximately 85k in Kenya. I have a sample of several chinese phones whihc have been tested and approved by all standards. If you also watch CNN Richard Quest programme - the guys shows how China products are way ahead. Its not in order to buy something which doesnt have a name or brand! I presume such do not come with guarantee. Remember too that that any gadget has got some effect on human body as the pro........i can recall that in chemistry. Even the ordinary nokia 3310 we normally use has got dangeraous radio activityy. I attended a seminar in Singapore where they demonstrated 2 eggs left with an active phone overnight - found cooked in the morning (ready to chew). Basically, we can contain side effects by buying or having anti radiation..... Go chinese............please don disqualify them from the market. And anyone needing to have a sample price list and models can talk to me - of course i might not reveal the source cos i dont want compe..... Kombo Elijah ----- Original Message ---- From: James K. Kamau <jimkamau(a)gmail.com> To: kaziafrika(a)googlegroups.com Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2008 4:45:39 PM Subject: Re: Cellphone Types - Chinese case Hi pple, My friend bought a chinese phone...which had no "name"! The phone had : 1. Blue-tooth, 2. Infra-red, 3. Huge memory,external memory, 4. Camera with a zoom, 5. TWIN sim both operational, 6. radio and a 7.TV <http://7.tv/> ...with active local channels,KTN,KBC,NTV...! The fones are all-over Nairobi for KSHs.13,000 only! The big question is...How safe are they...especially on radio-activity! We need to be careful.... On 3/26/08, eric maina <iz_cartmanz(a)yahoo.com <mailto:iz_cartmanz@yahoo.com> > wrote: Hey Robert, I am one of the silent guys in the group but Man you are one in a million. thanks alot n God above is going to bless U 4 ur great for ur good ideas especially 4 coming up with this group. you spoke of Chinese phones which have an effect on the hearing capability? please can you may be give the models of the ones that your friends are using coz at least if anyone has any of them we can try n do something about it, or else even use alternative options eg bluetooth headsts for receiving the calls??? how comes the phones are getting to users hands. this is so serious and thanks alot for everything you do, have done n will ever do. may it be a blessing. Robert Alai <alai.robert(a)gmail.com <mailto:alai.robert@gmail.com> > wrote: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Becky Kem <beckygrs(a)yahoo.com <mailto:beckygrs@yahoo.com> > Date: Mar 26, 2008 3:30 PM Subject: Cellphone Survey To: alai.robert(a)gmail.com <mailto:alai.robert@gmail.com> Hi Welcome to our survey section at Sambaza Group. Survey data is extremely helpful in allowing us to create the best programs possible to aid the communities we work in. This particular survey is about cellphone use in Kenya. You have been invited by Sambaza Group to take this survey if you live in Kenya, please click on the link below and answer the following questions. All answers will be electronically submitted to Sambaza Group. The survey is completely anonymous but will help us serve better the communities we work with. The link: http://www.sambazagroup.com/survey <http://www.sambazagroup.com/survey> Thank you for your support and valuable information. Please feel free to forward it to your friends and other cellphone users. Yours Sincerely Javier Ogembo ---------------- Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51438/*http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs> ---------------- Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51734/*http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/c…> ---------------- Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51734/*http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/c…> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ YOU ARE IN KAZI AFRIKA GROUP UNSUBSCRIBE: kaziafrika-unsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com http://groups.google.com/group/kaziafrika?hl=en www.kazi-africa.com FOR A VERY PEACEFUL KENYA -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---

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Fwd: Urgent meeting of SC 34 Mirror Committee
by Dorcas Muthoni 26 Mar '08

26 Mar '08

*Attention: All those interested in attending the OOXML Technical Committee Meeting at KEBS tomorrow. *General Manager - Standards Development Division will address the meeting A call from KEBS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As a result of the meeting held on 2008-03-19 on the final vote by Kenya on DIS 29500, and the mail I circulated on Thursday 2008-03-20, several issues have arisen which the KEBS management would like to clarify to members before transmitting the vote to ITTF. This message is therefore to invite you to a meeting tomorrow Thursday, 2008-03-27 at 0900 hrs at KEBS headquarters, where General Manager - Standards Development Division will make a few issues clear. Please arrange to attend.

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Fwd: Opportunity for Learning / IT Professional
by Patrick Mburu 26 Mar '08

26 Mar '08

Thank you for the responses coming through; I apologise to re-send the message on here, however, if you could fill out the attached form and re-send this to me, this would be highly appreciated; Kind Regards, Patrick ----- Original Message ----- *From:* Patrick Mburu <patrick.mburu(a)gmail.com> *To:* Kenya ICT Action Network - KICTANet <kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke> *Sent:* Tuesday, March 25, 2008 6:35 PM *Subject:* Looming opportunity for Learning / IT Professional Dear Colleagues, There is an opportunity that is urgently required for those of us in the business of Learning + Development / E-Learning / IT Project Management arena; Unfortunately i am engaged in a similar activity and cannot take on the task; Do you know anyone who fits on the below profile? The assignment will be in Rome, Italy on a short term contract with one of the UN Bodies *Brief:* Project Management Experience with Training background, to work on Global Needs Assessment programme; Must have elearning content design / implementation experience and is familiar with Learning Management systems as this will be the platform that all of the above will be linked to. If you know of someone, please send CV's through to me; Thanks in advance. Patrick Mburu

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26 March 2008: The world's first Document Freedom Day
by Dorcas Muthoni 26 Mar '08

26 Mar '08

Today is Document Freedom Day: Roughly 200 teams from more than 60 countries worldwide are organising local activities to raise awareness for Document Freedom and Open Standards. In a world where records are increasingly kept in electronic form, Open Standards are crucial for valuable information to outlive the application in which it was initially generated. The question of Document Freedom has severe repercussions for freedom of choice, competition, markets and the sovereignty of countries and their governments. More can be found at: http://www.documentfreedom.org/Open_Standards -- Muthoni My Blog: http://rugongo.blogspot.com/ -------------------------------------------- Mahatma Gandhi once said:- First they ignore you, Then they laugh at you, Then they fight you, AND THEN YOU WIN!!!

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[Fwd: [AfriNIC-rpd] AfriNIC-8/AfNOG2008: Registration is now open]
by alice 25 Mar '08

25 Mar '08

Dear all FYI -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [AfriNIC-rpd] AfriNIC-8/AfNOG2008: Registration is now open Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:37:30 +0200 From: radha(a)afrinic.net <radha(a)afrinic.net> Reply-To: AfriNIC Resource Policy Discussion List <rpd(a)afrinic.net> To: undisclosed-recipients:; [*Apologies for any duplicate mails*] Dear Colleagues, AfriNIC invites you to attend the 8th AfriNIC Open Policy Meeting which will be held in conjunction with AfNOG 2008 from 24 May to 06 June 2008 in Rabat, Morocco. AfriNIC Meetings are open to everyone and provide an excellent opportunity to take part in Internet policy discussions in the African region. Workshop and Meeting ----------------------- The Workshop and all Tutorials will be held at the EMI (Mohammadia Engineering Institute) from 24 May - 2 June 2008. All meetings from 3 - 6 June will be held at the Golden Tulip Farah Hotel. For more details, please see http://www.afrinic.net/meeting/afrinic-8/index.htm AfriNIC-8/AfNOG2008 Registration ----------------------------------- Online Meeting Registration is now open. Please visit: http://www.afrinic.net/meeting/afrinic-8/registration.htm AfriNIC fellowship --------------------- The fellowship programme is reserved for representatives from small organisations actively involved in Internet Operations or ICT Policies in their respective countries and the community and who can positively and actively contribute to IP address management awareness in the AfriNIC region of service. If you are interested in applying for an AfriNIC fellowship, please visit the fellowship section at http://www.afrinic.net/meeting/afrinic-8/index.htm The deadline for applications is 15 April, 2008. Sponsorship opportunities ---------------------------- Sponsoring an AfriNIC meeting will provide you with a range of opportunities to expose your organisation to the African Internet community. If your organisation is interested in participating in the sponsoring of AfriNIC-8, please visit the sponsorship section at http://www.afrinic.net/meeting/afrinic-8/index.htm Visa information ------------------- Some meeting attendees may require a visa to visit Morocco. For your invitation letter, please send the following details (name as on passport, passport no, date of issue and expiry, nationality) to invit-ltt(a)afrinic.net. Please feel free to contact our Meeting Team at meeting(a)afrinic.net for any query or assistance. We look forward to seeing you in Rabat. Regards, AfriNIC Meeting Team See you at AfriNIC-8, Rabat, Morocco, 31 May - 06 June, 2008 _______________________________________________ rpd mailing list rpd(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/rpd

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Looming opportunity for Learning / IT Professional
by Patrick Mburu 25 Mar '08

25 Mar '08

Dear Colleagues, There is an opportunity that is urgently required for those of us in the business of Learning + Development / E-Learning / IT Project Management arena; Unfortunately i am engaged in a similar activity and cannot take on the task; Do you know anyone who fits on the below profile? The assignment will be in Rome, Italy on a short term contract with one of the UN Bodies *Brief:* Project Management Experience with Training background, to work on Global Needs Assessment programme; Must have elearning content design / implementation experience and is familiar with Learning Management systems as this will be the platform that all of the above will be linked to. If you know of someone, please send CV's through to me; Thanks in advance. Patrick Mburu

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ATTN: ICT BOARD MEMBER/S IN THIS LIST( SayNo to OOXML)
by Judy Okite 25 Mar '08

25 Mar '08

Dear Colleagues, I have been deeply grieved by the silence that has surrounded,this matter...How do we talk about growth and development in ICT,if we do not talk about software? A few questions that I have for the Board and a response will be highly appreciated: 1.what steps have the ICT BOARD taken in regard to the matter,on the link below. http://www.noooxml.org/ having in mind that it is less than a week...to final decision 2.What is Kenya's,position? More voice to this reason http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080312151954507 Kind Regards, -- Judy Ann Okite, +254-721237507,+254-734252336 P.O. BOX 2228 00100, NAIROBI,KENYA. 'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. ' Martin Luther King, Jr.

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OOXML Meeting
by Dorcas Muthoni 25 Mar '08

25 Mar '08

*Date:* 27th March 2008 *Venue:* KEBS, Popo Road, Off Mombasa Road *Time:* 9.00am *Who can attend: *People concerned about the standard ( for or against, to understand) *Main events at the meeting: * The final position of Kenya with regard to the OOXML standard will be agreed. -- Muthoni My Blog: http://rugongo.blogspot.com/ -------------------------------------------- Mahatma Gandhi once said:- First they ignore you, Then they laugh at you, Then they fight you, AND THEN YOU WIN!!!

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