March 2010 - KICTANet

Request for Proposals - Python Software Development
by Cecilia Matanga 24 Mar '10

24 Mar '10

Dear Listers Please find attached a Request for Proposals that may be of interest to you. Please circulate within your networks Thank you -- Cecilia Matanga Programme Officer Africa i-Parliaments Action Plan UNDESA Nairobi - Kenya Mobile : +254-718568154 Telephone : +254-20-374 9892/3 Fax : +254-20-374 9894

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Will broadband have an impact on e-Government demand and supply in Kenya?
by Lilian Karanja 24 Mar '10

24 Mar '10

Dear Listers: Now that broadband technology is here, and we know that it is certainly going to enhance the competitiveness of our economy and sustain economic growth, am increasingly wondering what strategies the Government of Kenya is working on, to develop broadband applications that will enhance the delivery of public services to citizens. There is no doubt that the Government of Kenya has taken great strides to harness the implementation and use of broadband technologies with the Ministry of Information and Communications leading the way. Is there an e-Gov/Civic Engagement program that will evaluate how broadband can improve the performance of government specifically in terms of transparency and citizen participation and more generally in terms of effectiveness and efficiency? Such engagement programs with ‘mwananchi’, on broadband and eGovernment, will consider various ways all levels of government, can use broadband to improve public service performance and delivery, including lessons that might apply, for the purposes of developing a pragmatic national broadband plan. The Government of Kenya needs to take stock, consider and pay keen attention to the potential benefits of universal broadband in enabling various government operations to move to a digital platform in terms of improved performance, cost savings, and strategic benefits to the communications infrastructure. The Government should initiate such programs with the support of the private sector. 'Mwanachi' needs to know how they are a part of e-Government and now 'this' new phenomenon, ‘broadband’, and what they can do to enjoy the privileges that both bring. Lilian.

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Broadband plan gives FCC wider cybersecurity role
by alice 24 Mar '10

24 Mar '10

Broadband plan gives FCC wider cybersecurity role The National Broadband Plan released by the Federal Communications Commission this week contains several recommendations that are designed to boost the preparedness of communications networks to deal with cyberthreats. <http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9172258/> EFF: FTC to Internet Companies: Start Using SSL <http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/03/ftc-internet-companies-start-using-ssl> (might be good policy for CCK to look at?) U.S. Rockefeller and Snowe Unveil Comprehensive Cybersecurity Legislation, Senate Commerce Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME) , a senior member of the Committee, today released the latest draft of comprehensive, bipartisan cybersecurity legislation to address our nation¹s vulnerability to cyber crime, global cyber espionage, and cyber attacks. <http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_i…>

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Govt to implement ICT in learning institutions
by Harry Delano 24 Mar '10

24 Mar '10

Hey Listers, Quite an interesting read.. The more, the reason why Broadband, across the country is a matter of urgency... However, what would this portend - especially, perhaps for Educational Material/curriculum Publishers, who may lose a market share in the education sector.. On the flipside, it would help in the efforts towards Content Digitalization, Green ICT and Bridging the Digital divide.. Again, this topic came up on this forum a while back. Just how "multistakeholder" this initiative is going to be undertaken will greatly impact it's success.. Your thoughts please.. Harry http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=62933 Govt to implement ICT in learning institutions Written By:Carol Gakii/KNA , Posted: Tue, Mar 23, 2010 The government plans to make the entire education sector Information Communication Technology compliant. To this end the government will introduce an increased range of information and communication technologies and e-learning facilities in learning institutions countrywide. Addressing the press at a Nairobi hotel Tuesday Education Minister Prof Sam Ongeri said the ministry was working with the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) to develop a digital curriculum programme for public schools. "The ministry, through the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) has embarked on the digitalization of various curricula and curriculum support materials in efforts to enhance accelerated learning," Ongeri said. He said Kenya was lagging behind in ICT compliance but the ministry has started implementing plans to acquire modern technology. Prof Ongeri said that by beefing up ICT knowledge in all institutions of learning, the ministry will be playing a key role in the realization of vision 2030. So far 2,000 out of the 25,000 public schools in the country have been equipped with ICT knowledge. A regional E-learning conference will be held later this month at the KIE. The regional conference, the first of its nature is expected to attract over 1,500 participants from the Eastern and Central African region. "The use of ICTs enables development objectives which improves communication and exchange of information to strengthen and enhance the learners' acquisition of necessary skills for operating effectively," Ongeri said. He added that with the adoption of e-learning, science subjects will be taught with minimum recurrent cost. Ongeri said the government would provide alternative power sources such as solar, wind and power batteries to enable students from lower social-economic backgrounds have easy access to E-learning.

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Re: [kictanet] Seeking reputable org/agency in order to donate the funds for PEV Orphans
by June Arunga 24 Mar '10

24 Mar '10

Dear Listers, A Miami based group is organizing a noteworthy fashion show titled Fashion for Peace Miami. This year, the proceeds are tagged for the orphans of the post election violence in 2007. Fashion for Peace Miami, needs help identifying and connecting with an organization/agency in Kenya that focuses on the children affected by that particular conflict. Since it is a not-for-profit organization they need to be connected with a reputable org/agency (that is in compliance with the US Internal Revenue Service) in order to donate the funds raised from the event. Any assistance with this would be most useful. Thanks. June Arunga

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Internet connectivity
by Sam Aguyo 23 Mar '10

23 Mar '10

Dear Listeners, A small production unit based around Kendu Bay belonging to a church where i worship needs internet connectivity for its user base of about 10-25 users on a LAN. Please you can get in touch with me offline for a bargain solution. Regards, Sam Aguyo

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Accenture eyes Kenya as outsourcing location
by Rebecca Wanjiku 23 Mar '10

23 Mar '10

Accenture is a global outsourcing giant read more- http://bit.ly/9z3ZKG Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog: wanjiku.co.ke

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When the Internet consumer market bites back...
by aki 23 Mar '10

23 Mar '10

Dear Listers, Sorry for the cross-posting and am adding my opinion. There is a story in Business Daily today titled " AccessKenya records 31 p.c. drop in profit " . No matter what way you look at the article, the consumer has spoken. I believe we are now going to see a turning point for kenya's internet pricing. Competition for higher bandwidths at affordable rates is now starting to kick off. The original idea that was used by ISPs whereby after Seacom and Teams landed was to double bandwidth at existing prices was not a good idea and thus must have lead to depressed sales or no new sales. Lack of sales puts a severe financial stress on ISP companies, especially those who took up both under-sea fiber connectivity. In my opinion, I think the market has bitten back! Data Telcos and ISPs are now going to have to go head to head on competition for newer customers. I personally welcome back the competition. :-)

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Re: [kictanet] [Skunkworks] When the Internet consumer market bites back...
by James Muendo 23 Mar '10

23 Mar '10

Personally, I will call it voting with your feet. My 2cents. On 23 March 2010 07:48, Amarjit Labhuram < dj_labu_ft_freakonaleash(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > If anybody is interested in the article its available at this link: > > http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Company%20Industry/AccessKenya%20records… > > Aki, I am totally with you. We as consumers do have some control to what > decisions are made in the boardrooms of these corporate companies. The > future decisions of AK and similar firms towards price wars is inevitable > and the old strategy of "double the bandwidth for the same price" shall not > go on for too long if the ISP wants to survive our market. That is my > opinion and just that!! > > Have a great day! > > Warm regards, > Amarjit Singh Labhuram. > ====================== > MacroTECH Portal Ltd. > -------------------------------------------- > P.O. Box: 1501 - 00621, > Nairobi, KENYA. > -------------------------------------------- > Zain: +254-735-528725 > Safaricom: +254-721-528725 > Fax: +254-773-006734 > > > On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 7:31 AM, aki <aki275(a)googlemail.com> wrote: > >> Dear Listers, >> >> Sorry for the cross-posting and am adding my opinion. >> >> There is a story in Business Daily today titled " AccessKenya records 31 >> p.c. drop in profit " . No matter what way you look at the article, the >> consumer has spoken. >> >> I believe we are now going to see a turning point for kenya's internet >> pricing. Competition for higher bandwidths at affordable rates is now >> starting to kick off. The original idea that was used by ISPs whereby after >> Seacom and Teams landed was to double bandwidth at existing prices was not a >> good idea and thus must have lead to depressed sales or no new sales. Lack >> of sales puts a severe financial stress on ISP companies, especially those >> who took up both under-sea fiber connectivity. >> >> In my opinion, I think the market has bitten back! Data Telcos and ISPs >> are now going to have to go head to head on competition for newer customers. >> I personally welcome back the competition. :-) >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Skunkworks mailing list >> Skunkworks(a)lists.my.co.ke >> http://orion.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >> ------------ >> Skunkworks Server donations spreadsheet >> >> http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AopdHkqSqKL-dHlQVTMxU1VBdU1BSWJxdy1… >> ------------ >> Skunkworks Rules >> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >> ------------ >> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Skunkworks mailing list > Skunkworks(a)lists.my.co.ke > http://orion.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks > ------------ > Skunkworks Server donations spreadsheet > > http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AopdHkqSqKL-dHlQVTMxU1VBdU1BSWJxdy1… > ------------ > Skunkworks Rules > http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 > ------------ > Other services @ http://my.co.ke > -- James M. Muendo Timsoft Technologies & Solutions Ltd. P.O Box 28016 - 00200, Nairobi. Mobile: +254725567508 skype:tim.rick http://rickdeesadvantage.blogspot.com/

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Google: A new approach to China: an update
by alice 23 Mar '10

23 Mar '10

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-approach-to-china-update.html A new approach to China: an update 3/22/2010 12:03:00 PM On January 12, we announced on this blog that Google and more than twenty other U.S. companies had been the victims of a sophisticated cyber attack originating from China, and that during our investigation into these attacks we had uncovered evidence to suggest that the Gmail accounts of dozens of human rights activists connected with China were being routinely accessed by third parties, most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on their computers. We also made clear that these attacks and the surveillance they uncovered—combined with attempts over the last year to further limit free speech on the web in China including the persistent blocking of websites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Docs and Blogger—had led us to conclude that we could no longer continue censoring our results on Google.cn. So earlier today we stopped censoring our search services—Google Search, Google News, and Google Images—on Google.cn. Users visiting Google.cn are now being redirected to Google.com.hk, where we are offering uncensored search in simplified Chinese, specifically designed for users in mainland China and delivered via our servers in Hong Kong. Users in Hong Kong will continue to receive their existing uncensored, traditional Chinese service, also from Google.com.hk. Due to the increased load on our Hong Kong servers and the complicated nature of these changes, users may see some slowdown in service or find some products temporarily inaccessible as we switch everything over. Figuring out how to make good on our promise to stop censoring search on Google.cn has been hard. We want as many people in the world as possible to have access to our services, including users in mainland China, yet the Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement. We believe this new approach of providing uncensored search in simplified Chinese from Google.com.hk is a sensible solution to the challenges we've faced—it's entirely legal and will meaningfully increase access to information for people in China. We very much hope that the Chinese government respects our decision, though we are well aware that it could at any time block access to our services. We will therefore be carefully monitoring access issues, and have created this new web page, which we will update regularly each day, so that everyone can see which Google services are available in China. In terms of Google's wider business operations, we intend to continue R&D work in China and also to maintain a sales presence there, though the size of the sales team will obviously be partially dependent on the ability of mainland Chinese users to access Google.com.hk. Finally, we would like to make clear that all these decisions have been driven and implemented by our executives in the United States, and that none of our employees in China can, or should, be held responsible for them. Despite all the uncertainty and difficulties they have faced since we made our announcement in January, they have continued to focus on serving our Chinese users and customers. We are immensely proud of them. Posted by David Drummond, SVP, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer

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