June 2009 - KICTANet

Ebrief on 2009 Budget from DCDM
by alice＠apc.org 20 Jun '09

20 Jun '09

Dear all Find attached a brief from DCDM associates on this years budget. best alice

3 2

Fwd: [ke-internetusers] Excellent! Child Online Protection publications
by Gakuru Alex 19 Jun '09

19 Jun '09

I hope "Chukua Hatua" folks at CCK update 'Child Safety and Internet Use' at http://www.cck.go.ke/consumer_fact_sheets/ ? regards, ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Alex Gakuru <gakuru(a)gmail.com> Date: Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 9:51 AM Subject: [ke-internetusers] Excellent! Child Online Protection publications To: ke-users <ke-internetusers(a)bdix.net> Draft Guidelines 1) Draft Guidelines for Children 2) Draft Guidelines for Parents, Guardians and Educators Pdf format 3) Draft Guidelines for Industry Pdf format 4) Draft Guidelines for Policy Makers Pdf format "I welcome the ITU's Child Online Protection Initiative and I urge all States to support it." Ban Ki-moon UN Secretary-General http://www.itu.int/osg/csd/cybersecurity/gca/cop/guidelines/index.html _______________________________________________ ke-internetusers mailing list ke-internetusers(a)bdix.net http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers

1 0

Re: [kictanet] Day 12 of 12 -- BPO Discussions, Wrapping Up???
by Walubengo J 19 Jun '09

19 Jun '09

David et al, Ok. for once I dont know what to say. But only recall that when two bulls begin to fight it is the grass that suffers. I dont think this is the kind of "wrapping up" that Nyaki meant when she wrote the above subject line. So maybe the two can agree to meet offline and continue the discussion on if, how and why the money was returned? Unless ofcourse the Listers want that discussion - in which case it must be formally requested, scheduled and moderated. walu. --- On Thu, 6/18/09, David Otwoma <otwomad(a)gmail.com> wrote: > From: David Otwoma <otwomad(a)gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 12 of 12 -- BPO Discussions, Wrapping Up > To: jwalu(a)yahoo.com > Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke>, kictanet-bounces+bitange=jambo.co.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > Date: Thursday, June 18, 2009, 3:38 PM > Dear Dr. Ndemo, > > With all due respect, you appear to lose me > here. > > The partial statement you qoute below comes from http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/-/539552/608168/-/item/1/-/3te68rz/-/ind… > > > As regards, formal apology, please let me know if it > is to be directed to:- > > (a) your person (individual), > > (b) your official capacity, > > (c) organizers of the just ended BPO discussion, > > (d) Kicktanet list owners and listers, > > (e) all the above or more than one of the above. > > The above is without prejudice and as the case(s) may > be will be addressed accordingly. > > Finally, and if your permit, on appropriate forum we > may debate the reasons monies are returned/recalled to > Treasury year in year out. Is it by accident or design? > 2009 its famine. 2008 it was IDPs. ......1999 it was > drought....1991 it was land clashes. Is it by accident or > design? > > > Kind regards, > > David > > > > On Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 2:40 AM, > <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> > wrote: > > David, > You very clearly stated "in ICT there seems to be > laxity" where 500 nillion is being returned to > Treasury. The story very clearly states the reason why > Treasury had to reallocate the budget. > > > The motives in your earlier post were not good because you > are in a postion to know better and you should. I actually > expect a formal apology. > > > Ndemo. > > > Sent from my BlackBerry® > > -----Original Message----- > > From: David Otwoma <otwomad(a)gmail.com> > > Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:49:42 > To: <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> > > > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 12 of 12 -- BPO Discussions, > Wrapping Up > > > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > > This message was sent to: bitange(a)jambo.co.ke > Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/bitange%40jambo.co.ke > > > > > > > -- > > > > -----Inline Attachment Follows----- > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: jwalu(a)yahoo.com > Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jwalu%40yahoo.com >

3 2

Mobile Tech 4 Social Change Camp & Mobile Boot Camp 2009
by Jessica Colaço 19 Jun '09

19 Jun '09

Hi All, You are cordially invited to: - *Mobile Tech 4 Social Change Camp - 27th of June at Strathmore University: * - The charges are: Students (Strathmore and non-Strathmore): Ksh 500/- Non-Students: Ksh 1,000/- - More details: http://www.strathmore.edu/Events.php?EventID=30 * * - *Mobile Boot Camp 2009 - 9th - 11th of July at Strathmore University: * - The charges are: Students (Strathmore and non-Strathmore): Ksh 700/- Non-Students: Ksh 1,500/- - More details: http://www.strathmore.edu/aboutus.php?id=171 We look forward to seeing you there. Please email me if you have any queries. Best, -- Jessica Colaço

1 0

Day 4 of 10- BPO Discussions, Govt Subsidies
by Walubengo J 18 Jun '09

18 Jun '09

-Dear Listers, I must thank all for your insights over the last few days. I like the challenge that asked whether we are "over-regulating" an emerging market as the "answer" to the question on if we have legal and regulatory gaps. Listers are encouraged to challenge and not just answer the questions. Other arising issues included where we want to play within the BPO Value Chain, the Impact of the Political (in-)stability, the need to map our Data Protection laws to those in the target markets are just but some of the highlights I picked - and by all means this is NOT exhaustive as am still reading through the contributions. But today we need to open the theme on Government subsidies. The Researchers found the S.Africa and India had elaborate subsidy provisions for the sector that included Tax Holidays and Exemptions, Investment Grants to BPO operators, Training Subsidies, One-stop shop for Corporate Company Registrations that could be 100% foreign owned, etc. The Researchers noted the unique Mauritius case which had similar incentives but eventually abolished most of them arguing that they were more beneficial to the Operators than to the Nation. On the Kenyan front - other than the not so succesfull Govt Bandwidth subsidies for Operators, very little in terms of incentives was available to BPO Operators. It was noted that the BPO operators had to be within the EPZ in order to enjoy the subsidies other EPZ corporates operates - the problem being that most BPO operaters exist outside the EPZ area. Whats more, BPO operators had to pay additional charges to be registered by the CCK (Regulator) and should be at least 20% locally owned. Qtn6: What incentives / subsidies should the government provide to BPO operators? What of the clause requiring 20% Local shareholding in foreign companies - is it prohibitive or helpful? Floor is open comments. walu. Encl: Synthesis 2:- Subsidies and Incentives

31 82

FW: News - ELECTION FALLOUT / ACCESS TO INFORMATION Iran's cyber-revolution gets a hand from Canada
by Edith Adera 17 Jun '09

17 Jun '09

============================== http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/world/middleeast/17media.html?ref=middlee… June 17, 2009 U.S. Steps Gingerly Into Tumult in Iran By MARK LANDLER and BRIAN STELTER WASHINGTON - The Obama administration says it has tried to avoid words or deeds that could be portrayed as American meddling in Iran's presidential election and its tumultuous aftermath. Yet on Monday afternoon, a 27-year-old State Department official, Jared Cohen, e-mailed the social-networking site Twitter with an unusual request: delay scheduled maintenance of its global network, which would have cut off service while Iranians were using Twitter to swap information and inform the outside world about the mushrooming protests around Tehran. The request, made to a Twitter co-founder, Jack Dorsey, is yet another new-media milestone: the recognition by the United States government that an Internet blogging service that did not exist four years ago has the potential to change history in an ancient Islamic country. "This was just a call to say: 'It appears Twitter is playing an important role at a crucial time in Iran. Could you keep it going?' " said P.J. Crowley, the assistant secretary of state for public affairs. Twitter complied with the request, saying in a blog post on Monday that it put off the upgrade until late Tuesday afternoon - 1:30 a.m. Wednesday in Tehran - because its partners recognized "the role Twitter is currently playing as an important communication tool in Iran." The network was working normally again by Tuesday evening. The State Department said its request did not amount to meddling. Mr. Cohen, they noted, did not contact Twitter until three days after the vote was held and well after the protests had begun. "This is completely consistent with our national policy," Mr. Crowley said. "We are proponents of freedom of expression. Information should be used as a way to promote freedom of expression." The episode demonstrates the extent to which the administration views social networking as a new arrow in its diplomatic quiver. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton talks regularly about the power of e-diplomacy, particularly in places where the mass media are repressed. Mr. Cohen, a Stanford University graduate who is the youngest member of the State Department's policy planning staff, has been working with Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and other services to harness their reach for diplomatic initiatives in Iraq and elsewhere. Last month, he organized a visit to Baghdad by Mr. Dorsey and other executives from Silicon Valley and New York's equivalent, Silicon Alley. They met with Iraq's deputy prime minister to discuss how to rebuild the country's information network and to sell the virtues of Twitter. Referring to Mir Hussein Moussavi, the main Iranian opposition candidate, Mr. Crowley said, "We watched closely how Moussavi has used Facebook to keep his supporters informed of his activities." Tehran has been buzzing with tweets, the posts of Twitter subscribers, sharing news on rallies, police crackdowns on protesters, and analysis of how the White House is responding to the drama. With the authorities blocking text-messaging on cellphones, Twitter has become a handy alternative for information-hungry Iranians. While Iran has also tried to block Twitter posts, Iranians are skilled at using proxy sites or other methods to circumvent the official barriers. A Twitter account called IranNewsNow sent a message to CNN's Twitter account that read, "don't listen to what iran gov says u can or can't do! You can report the pics/vids coming from Twitter!" An account called StopAhmadi wrote on Tuesday evening, "We need ppl around world helping to raise the issues put pressure on Iranian gvmt." It posted links to pictures from Tehran, including one that showed a man bleeding profusely from his chest, surrounded by protesters. There were also suspicions that some pro-government forces might be using new-media outlets to send out misinformation. One popular opposition site, Persiankiwi, warned its followers on Tuesday to ignore instructions from people with no record of reliable posts. In addition to Twitter, YouTube has been a critical tool to spread videos from Iran when traditional media outlets have had difficulty filming the protests or the ensuing crackdown. One YouTube account, bearing the user name "wwwiranbefreecom," showed disturbing images of police officers beating people in the streets. On Monday, Lara Setrakian, an ABC News journalist, put out a call for video on Twitter, writing, "Please send footage we can't reach!" The BBC's Persian-language television channel said that for a time on Tuesday, it was receiving about five videos a minute from amateurs, even though the channel is largely blocked within Iran. One showed pro-government militia members firing weapons at a rally. "We've been struck by the amount of video and eyewitness testimony," said Jon Williams, the BBC world news editor. "The days when regimes can control the flow of information are over." As new media proliferate, however, traditional journalists are having a harder and harder time. Journalists were told on Tuesday that they could not cover protests without permission. The restrictions "effectively confine journalists to their offices," a spokesman for the BBC said. Still, many ventured out into the streets to witness pro- and antigovernment protests, at considerable risk. At the Laleh Hotel in central Tehran, the Time magazine columnist Joe Klein said, "A number of journalists were coming back from the streets pretty badly beaten." As their visas expired, journalists were looking for any chance to report. Jim Marshall, the last Sky News staff member in Tehran, was barred from reporting, so he went shopping instead and came upon thousands of supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a rally. "I kept shopping, and they kept demonstrating," he wrote in a blog post. "This was turning into a test of wills. How much longer could I shop without slipping into reporting?" Once he realized he was carrying a notepad in his pocket, he swiftly left the scene. Mark Landler reported from Washington, and Brian Stelter from New York. Richard Pérez-Peña contributed reporting from New York. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Adel El Zaim, PhD Senior Program Specialist / Administrateur de programme principal ICT4D - Acacia Centre de recherches pour le développement international (CRDI) / International Development Research Center (IDRC) aelzaim(a)idrc.org.eg Le Caire, Egypte / Cairo, Egypt http://www.idrc.ca/acacia ________________________________________ From: Laurent Elder [lelder(a)idrc.ca] Sent: June 17, 2009 4:18 PM To: ICT4D-Futures Workspace Subject: FW: News - ELECTION FALLOUT / ACCESS TO INFORMATION Iran's cyber-revolution gets a hand from Canada Apologies for cross-posting, but nice to see our colleagues at ONI/Citizen Lab involved with the recent activities in Iran... PUBLICATION: GLOBE AND MAIL IDN: 091680092 DATE: 2009.06.17 PAGE: A14 (ILLUS) BYLINE: OMAR EL AKKAD AND MATT HARTLEY SECTION: International News EDITION: Metro DATELINE: WORDS: 1194 WORD COUNT: 1275 ________________________________ ELECTION FALLOUT / ACCESS TO INFORMATION Iran's cyber-revolution gets a hand from Canada Psiphon, a censorship avoidance tool created at U of T, has been 'pushing' government-blocked Internet content to Iranian activists ________________________________ OMAR EL AKKAD AND MATT HARTLEY At the heart of the disputed Iranian elections, a group of Canadians is helping Iranian activists gain access to what has become the most precious and tightly controlled commodity in Iran: information. The Canadian researchers behind Psiphon, an online censorship avoidance tool, have begun a massive grassroots campaign to give Iranians access to sites that the Iranian government has gone to great lengths to ban - including Facebook, Iranian opposition sites and international news networks. Psiphon has been "pushing" that content to Iranians, giving them a glimpse of the outside world that has been largely blocked since the elections began. But Psiphon's founders are walking a tightrope in their attempts to empower Iranians, as they try to simultaneously offer activists unfettered access to the Internet and dissuade those same activists from launching cyberattacks on the government institutions that took that access away in the first place. "Thousands of people are arguing for [cyberattacks against government infrastructure]," said Greg Walton, editor of the Information Warfare Monitor and a research fellow at the Citizen Lab in the University of Toronto's Munk Centre, where Psiphon was first developed. "We're concerned that if people launch [denial of service attacks] - the Iranian government is already throttling [down] bandwidth - this may take up the remaining bandwidth." Mr. Walton said some government sites have been defaced and that others had gone down, possibly as a result of cyberattacks. Iran's biggest mass protest since the 1979 Islamic revolution has become a full-fledged global movement, fought on and fuelled by the World Wide Web. The cyber-revolution's epicentre is the microblogging site Twitter. Often disparaged as trivial because of its 140-character limit on posts, the site has proved to be an effective way for activists to post updates on the situation in Iran. Among the thousands of posts popping up are descriptions of government raids and the date and location of planned protests. Indeed, Twitter was supposed to go offline on Monday for prescheduled maintenance. However, the site's founders delayed that shutdown because of "the role Twitter is currently playing as an important communication tool in Iran." Washington officials reportedly also asked Twitter to postpone the maintenance. Without tools such as Psiphon, most Iranians would still be unable to gain access to sites such as Twitter. The censorship avoidance tool essentially links "trusted members" together with members who have access to content, sending it to those who don't, all under the authorities' noses. "When a people has no access to a free press, of course they have to get their words out there," said Jaffer Sheyholislami, an Iranian-born assistant professor of linguistics at Carleton University who has been monitoring the election closely. "As soon as the election results were announced in Tehran, you could tell something was not right from the beginning and you could tell by the fact that the Internet services such as Facebook and many websites were shut down - especially . . . opposition-group websites." One Tweet in particular caught Mr. Sheyholislami's attention. It was sent from Twitter account mousavi1388 (1388 is the year in the Persian calendar), and it read: "We have no national press coverage in Iran, everyone should help spread [Mir-Hossein] Mousavi's message. One Person = One Broadcaster." Without tools such as Twitter and cellular technology, it would be much more difficult for Iranians to get information out of the country, said Jeff Jarvis, associate professor and director of the interactive journalism program at the City University of New York's Graduate School of Journalism. "Once you have access to the Internet, information will flow around the despots," he said. "It is now inevitable. It will be more and less efficient and they'll be more and less smart about trying to stop it, but it will flow around tyranny and that is new and that is an absolute impact." *** THE REVOLUTION WILL BE DIGITIZED The widely disputed Iranian presidential election has spurred the largest wave of civil unrest in that country since the Islamic revolution of 1979. But even as hundreds of thousands take to the streets, a larger revolution is under way in cyberspace, where digital activists have taken to blogs - and, especially, Twitter - to express frustration and provide first-hand reporting. This digital revolution has raised questions about the rules of virtual activism: Cyberwarfare: There's an ongoing debate among online activists about launching Internet-based attacks against Iranian government infrastructure. Attacks such as "denial of service" are easy to launch and can cripple a server. Some argue such attacks are one of the few ways citizens can fight back against a repressive government, while others argue that using up bandwidth to launch such attacks makes it even harder for Iranian citizens to gain access to the Web. Anonymity: Facing serious consequences if caught, many Iranian bloggers are posting anonymously. However, this has made it difficult to tell which bloggers are activists and which accounts are fake. Some bloggers have begun building small communities of trusted sources, but are preferring not to publicize them for fear of putting them at risk. Safety in numbers: Many users around the world have taken one blogger's advice to change their personal information in Twitter such that their hometown appears to be Tehran. The purpose is to make it more difficult for Iranian security personnel monitoring the site to determine which activists are based in the country. Access: Internet service in Iran dropped significantly around the time of the election. However, it is unclear whether that was a result of government tampering or simply a result of massive worldwide interest in Iranian Web content. What is known is that many sites - including opposition websites, social networking hubs and news outlets - are blocked in Iran. Users have begun creating go-arounds that allow Iranians access to these sites. However, it seems that when the address of such a server is made public, it isn't long before it is blocked inside Iran. Omar El Akkad *** What is Psiphon? Developed at the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk Centre, Psiphon is essentially a tool that allows users to get around content-blocking systems, such as filters that ban users from gaining access to certain websites. First released in late 2006, the tool was designed with a social or political purpose. It is mainly aimed at users in countries with repressive regimes, where Internet usage is highly regulated. Early versions of the software worked on a "trusted member" model - essentially, encrypted information is passed between computers run by known and trusted users in small networks. This model reduces the likelihood that a government agent will be able to infiltrate the network and shut it down. The downside, however, is that networks of trusted users tend to stay small. Psiphon's developers took the software out of the lab in 2008, when they spun it out as a Canadian corporation. In the words of Ron Deibert, vice-president of policy and outreach for Psiphon and director of the Citizen Lab, "We are the first explicitly political company to be spun out of the University of Toronto." Omar El Akkad Dgroups is a joint initiative of Bellanet, DFID, Hivos, ICA, ICCO, IICD, OneWorld, UNAIDS and World Bank --- You are currently subscribed to ict4d-futures as: aelzaim(a)idrc.org.eg To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-ict4d-futures-90963U(a)dgroups.idrc.ca Dgroups is a joint initiative of Bellanet, DFID, Hivos, ICA, ICCO, IICD, OneWorld, UNAIDS and World Bank --- You are currently subscribed to ict4d-futures as: eadera(a)idrc.or.ke To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-ict4d-futures-75952T(a)dgroups.idrc.ca

1 0

Re: [kictanet] Institutional framework
by Walubengo J 17 Jun '09

17 Jun '09

Bill, I know yesterday was the last day of these discussions...but I feel I needed to chip in on the PMs office being the cordinating ICT organ...my take is that it may work btwn now and 2012, and then what next? Remember as much as the PMs office and his cordinating role is in our constitution, I tend to think that by 2012 this may not obtain. Depending on how we rewrite our constitution, the PM office maybe too strong, too weak or simply deleted and either case the ICT cordination role would then be misplaced. There was some KICTAnet breakfast meeting last year where the numerous ICT agents, organisations, assosciations, societies etc were enumurated (over 50!) and I wish Brian/Harry? who was the secretary could share with Listers to appreciate the level of confusion that stalks our ICT landscape in this country. Something needs to be be done to harness and cordinate their good efforts. walu. --- On Tue, 6/16/09, Bildad Kagai <billkagai(a)gmail.com> wrote: > From: Bildad Kagai <billkagai(a)gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Institutional framework > To: jwalu(a)yahoo.com > Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Date: Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 5:25 PM > On Jun 16, 2009, at 3:03 PM, godera(a)skyweb.co.ke > wrote: > > > There needs to be a body overseeing all these > ministries. > > It will determine which Ministry will handle which > component (seeing how > > different ministries are doing business parks etc and > duplicating efforts). > > And no, I do not see it having such a high budget. > > It is also called the Prime Minister's Office. Can one of > the outcomes of this discussion be Kictanet to organise a > delegation to his office with a view of requesting him to > assume the vacant position of National ICT Champion to lead > us as our sage in the detente between ICT and Media amongst > other sectors?? > > No need establishing another quango as is being suggested > here when you have a functional office entrenched in the > constitution and read together with the national accord. The > Prime Minister suffices. Sometimes I wonder where some of us > went to school!!! (on a light note). > > > > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: jwalu(a)yahoo.com > Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jwalu%40yahoo.com >

3 2

Invitation to the BPO Study Stakeholder’s Workshop -1st July 2009
by Walubengo J 17 Jun '09

17 Jun '09

Hey Listers, following your most valuable BPO contributions over the last 2weeks, I wish to extend the invitation below on behalf of the Research Team: walu. +++++++ invite +++++++++++++ Dear KICTANet mailing list members, Re: Invitation to the BPO Study Stakeholder’s Workshop The School of Computing and Informatics, University of Nairobi, in collaboration with the Kenya BPO & Contact Centre Society and the Kenya ICT Board has been conducting a study titled ‘Development of a Business Process Outsourcing Industry in Kenya: Critical Success Factors’. The project is funded by the International Development Research Centre(IDRC) and it’s overall objective is to undertake comprehensive research in the BPO sub-sector in pioneer, emerging and mature markets to provide evidence and a deeper understanding of the imperatives for success in the BPO industry to better inform Kenya’s policy decisions and investment choices. Data collection which comprised of collecting data from USA, South Africa, Kenya, India, Mauritius and UK is complete. The high-level research findings have been discussed in the KICTANET list and the inputs incorporated. The research team would like to share these findings and obtain further input from stakeholders for incorporation into the final document which will contain the policy implications. This will be done at a workshop on Wednesday 1st July 2009 at the KICC from 8.30 am to 1.00 pm. You have been recommended as a key stakeholder and therefore we are inviting you to attend this workshop in order to participate in shaping the future of the BPO industry in Kenya. Lunch will be provided at the end of the meeting. We look forward to interacting and exchanging ideas with you. Please email your confirmation of attendance to: munyiva(a)uonbi.ac.ke. Yours faithfully, Prof. Timothy Mwololo Waema BPO Research Project Team Leader ++++end of invite++++++

1 0

Re: [kictanet] Day 12 of 12 -- BPO Discussions, Wrapping Up
by Walubengo J 17 Jun '09

17 Jun '09

Thanx Nyaki for being a tremendous co-moderator and between you and Mwende, I now know I can retire comfortably. As for institutional overlaps u describe below - we just need to borrow from Rwanda. Create an oversight body like RITA (Rwanda Info Technology Authority) that will have a broad cordinating role over all the others (KICTBoard, Min Ed, eGov, GITS, etc) that have anything ICT. walu. --- On Tue, 6/16/09, Catherine Adeya <elizaslider(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > From: Catherine Adeya <elizaslider(a)yahoo.com> > Subject: [kictanet] Day 12 of 12 -- BPO Discussions, Wrapping Up > To: jwalu(a)yahoo.com > Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Date: Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 9:06 AM > > > > > -- > Day 12 of 12- BPO Discussions, > Wrapping Up --After > extremely interesting discussions yesterday, where I > summarized once or twice > during the day, we would like to bring the BPO discussion > to a close. It was > very interesting to see that many of you were concerned > that the media is > portraying Kenya negatively and this could (or maybe was) > affecting some of the > decisions of potential investors. Some in the media > fraternity responded that > they really must report what is there and that their > priority is Kenyans not > foreigners first. As one said “…bottomline- the media > can’t just be improvised > to promote the interests of the business and capitalist > class. There are the > rest of us citizens whose welfare, life and worries too > must be reported”. > > Thank > you to all of you who have actively participated both > online and offline > (directly to the moderators sometimes) during the last 12 > days. To recap, we > have covered the following themes: > > The policy, legal > and institutional frameworks for > BPO sector Subsidies accorded > to BPO sector Human Capacity > Issues Youth and > Gender IssuesStrengths, > Challenges and niches for Kenya as a BPO > destination > > As > we wrap up today I believe we could have done more justice > to the institutional > framework issue. More specifically I draw from the > conclusion of the > institutional framework summary and the question: > > > In > conclusion for Kenya, it > can be observed that there is an overlap between KenInvest > and the Kenya ICT > Board when it comes to promotion of Kenya as an investment > destination to > potential investors. There could be other overlaps as well. > For example, both > KICTB and MoHEST are planning for technology/BPO parks. > This is likely to lead > to duplication of effort, differences in the messages > communicated to stakeholders > and confusion on the part of investors with respect to whom > to deal with, > amongst other problems. In addition, there is need to > coordinate between ICT > Board, KenInvest, EPC and MoEST. The big question is: Who > will perform the > coordination? Finally, the Monitoring > and Evaluation (M&E) Directorate in the Ministry of > Planning has never been > devolved into the ministries and public enterprises. > Whether it is a > consequence of this lack of devolution or not, the M&E > capacity of the > Ministry of Information and Communications, Kenya ICT Board > and all the other > institutions highlighted earlier is weak. At the same time, > the institutional > framework for Vision 2030 is in the > formation stages > and, > even if it were to develop strong M&E capabilities, it > may not be able to > marshal enough power to ensure corrective action is taken > by the concerned > institutions in a timely manner. > > This draws me to > the discussion question: What needs to be done > to > improve/strengthen the institutional framework in order for > the BPO and outsourcing > sector to play its planned role in the Kenyan > economy? > > Let us discuss this > today and any other gnawing > issues in all the thematic areas as we wrap up. > > Best, > > Nyaki > > > > > > > > -----Inline Attachment Follows----- > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: jwalu(a)yahoo.com > Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jwalu%40yahoo.com >

5 5

Re: [kictanet] Institutional framework
by Betty Ogange 16 Jun '09

16 Jun '09

The document posted in by Sang this morning suggests that as early as 2004 there was a draft ‘policy document’ proposing the formation of the Kenya Information and Communications Technology Authority (KICTA) that would be responsible for 'managing, co-ordinating and regulating' ICT activities in the public sector. The document indicates that KICTA ‘shall be the custodian of all government information and all ICT programmes, and shall be headed by a Director General or Secretary General who will also be the governments Chief Information Officer at the Permanent Secretary Supper Scale level.’ And the document goes on to appropriately define roles and functions. I did have a quick read through and I found no mention of the BPO as an industry (I may have missed it); there is a probability that the subsequent drafts address some of the issues that have arisen in the discussions. KICTA, as defined in this document, sounds like the oversight body that Walu and other listers referred to earlier on. I would like to find out if anyone in the list a) has the final copy of this document (and would be willing to share it;) ) b) is aware of how far its implementation has gone / who is taking responsibility for its implementation. Betty --- On Tue, 6/16/09, Sam Aguyo <saguyo(a)yahoo.com> wrote: From: Sam Aguyo <saguyo(a)yahoo.com> Subject: [kictanet] Institutional framework To: ogange(a)yahoo.com Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 5:21 PM Listners. When we talk of institutional framework in my understanding is not a political office but on office mandated to interface between the BPO and the probable markets, translate the market requirements of those markets to the BPO , communicate effectively and market the value proposition and Kenya's competitiveness as a BPO destination both locally and abroad. This body could be KICTB, Brand Kenya.....! A political office can only be ceremonial and nothing to do with tactical. The political office will only associate with a well cordinated outfit producing products. With not products, very difficult indeed. Sam From: Bildad Kagai <billkagai(a)gmail.com> To: saguyo(a)yahoo.com Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 4:25:31 PM Subject: Re: [kictanet] Institutional framework On Jun 16, 2009, at 3:03 PM, godera(a)skyweb.co.ke wrote: > There needs to be a body overseeing all these ministries. > It will determine which Ministry will handle which component (seeing how > different ministries are doing business parks etc and duplicating efforts). > And no, I do not see it having such a high budget. It is also called the Prime Minister's Office. Can one of the outcomes of this discussion be Kictanet to organise a delegation to his office with a view of requesting him to assume the vacant position of National ICT Champion to lead us as our sage in the detente between ICT and Media amongst other sectors?? No need establishing another quango as is being suggested here when you have a functional office entrenched in the constitution and read together with the national accord. The Prime Minister suffices. Sometimes I wonder where some of us went to school!!! (on a light note). _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: saguyo(a)yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/saguyo%40yahoo.com -----Inline Attachment Follows----- _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: ogange(a)yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/ogange%40yahoo.com

1 0