March 2011 - KICTANet

2011 Anita Borg Change Agent Awards Nominations Open
by Dorcas Muthoni 04 Mar '11

04 Mar '11

2011 Anita Borg Change Agent Awards Nominations Open *Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology Honors Individuals **Advancing Women’s Participation in the Creation and Use of Technology Worldwide* *PALO ALTO, Calif. — February 22, 2011, —* The *Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology <http://www.anitaborg.org/>* announced today it has opened the *Call for Nominations<http://anitaborg.org/initiatives/awards/change-agent-awards/> * for the *Anita Borg Change Agent Awards<http://anitaborg.org/initiatives/awards/change-agent-awards/> *. The Change Agent Awards celebrate the accomplishments of technical women from, and who work in, developing countries. These awards are designed to recognize up-and-coming leaders that impact or advance women’s participation in technology. Three individual awards will be given to women in computing that demonstrate leadership within their communities, expand opportunities and influence the careers of girls and women in technology, and demonstrate impact on advancing women’s participation in technology. Each winner will receive up to $5,000 in travel reimbursement to attend the *Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing <http://www.gracehopper.org/>*. Past winners have come from Bahrain, Brazil, Egypt, Georgia, Haiti, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey. The Change Agent Awards are sponsored by Google. *The awards will be presented on November 11, 2011 at the Grace Hopper Celebration in Portland, Oregon. Nominations will be accepted until May 2, 2011 at **http://anitaborg.org/initiatives/awards/change-agent-awards**/.* *About the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI)* The Anita Borg Institute provides resources and programs to help industry, academia, and government recruit, retain, and develop women leaders in high-tech fields, resulting in higher levels of technological innovation. ABI programs serve high-tech women by creating a community and providing tools to help them develop their careers. ABI is a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 charitable organization. ABI Partners include: Google, Microsoft, HP, CA, Cisco, First Republic Bank, IBM, Intel, Intuit, Lockheed Martin, National Science Foundation, National Security Agency, NetApp, SAP, Symantec, Thomson Reuters, Wilson Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, Motorola Foundation, Yahoo, Amazon, Facebook, and Raytheon. For more information, visit * www.anitaborg.org*. *Media Contact:** **Jerri Barrett** **650-857-6095** **jerrib(a)anitaborg.org*

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Cybercafes dieing? Not soon
by james ratemo 04 Mar '11

04 Mar '11

I totally agree that cyber cafes may not die any soon in the peri urban centres and rural areas. Despite the mobile Internet guys still need additional services that can only be available in digital villages/cyber cafes. An example is the SoftKenya Digital Village in Kenya which I and my friends recently initiated...people want to do research, primt, scan, laminate docs, apply for KRA pin online and others simply come to be helped to join facebook and open email accounts....there is still enormous potential in this field. The catch phrase is value adding, variety and innovation. And the fibre optic cables should be extended further deep into towns On Thu, Mar 3, 2011 at 9:35 PM, <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> wrote: > Robert, > You are right. Cyber Cafes may die in Nairobi CBD area but in low income > neighbourhoods and rural centers they are still relevant. Go to Korogocho > and see what Altawon is doing. At Mukuru Kwa Njenga the Cyber Cafe there > provides more than what we traditionally knew cyber cafes for. If our > definition of Cyber Cafe is the same, then some digital villages in > Kangundo, Malindi, Kioge, Tsiekuru etc are basically Cyber Cafes. > > The value proposition for such centers is increasingly becoming viable > with such new concepts as impact outsourcing (those who may be interested > to see model impact outsourcing centers can check with me next month). A > bit of field visit would enhance our discussion in this list. > > > Regards > > > Ndemo. > > > > > > > > > > Hi, > > > > I disagree with your assertion that cybercafes are closing down if > > anything they > > are mushrooming and in more seats that before, in the building where our > > offices > > are we used to have a single cyber on the 2nd floor in the past 12 months > > 2 have > > opened on the ground floor replacing a bookshop and a pharmacy each with > > over 30 > > stations. > > > > The availability of mobile on the phone is actually a plus for the cyber > > business as it creates a more aware market who end up spending more time > > and > > money as they need to download staff, print, cd burn etc. > > > > Unless you have an iPad the experience of browsing on your phone is still > > not as > > good as on a large 17" screen. > > > > Finally, many of thus opening cybers today have a better understanding of > > the > > business than the me too crowd that used to run them before. Any cyber > > cafe > > that does not charge automatically for printing is doomed to close soon. > > > > As more knowledgeable investors come into the cyber cafe business expect > > to see > > more of them coming up and with the right tools for monitoring and > > generating > > revenue such as protocol based billing. I visited a cyber in Rongai > where > > billing was bandwidth based as they where using a Safaricom 3G > connection. > > > > Regards > > Robert Yawe > > KAY System Technologies Ltd > > Phoenix House, 6th Floor > > P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 > > Kenya > > > > > > Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696 > > > > > > > > > > ________________________________ > > From: Edith Adera <eadera(a)idrc.or.ke> > > To: robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk > > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > > Sent: Wed, 2 March, 2011 19:12:16 > > Subject: [kictanet] The Death of Cybercafes? > > > > > > Listers > > > > Just back from Ghana where I was impressed to see that cybercafes are > > still > > alive (e.g. BusyInternet)...as my experience in Kenya is that it's hard > to > > find > > a functional cybercafe within easy reach with cutting edge services and > > programs (PDF etc)....most are closing down with Internet available on > the > > mobile (with aggressive competition). So outside the office set-up and > > with > > minimal home connections...one has almost no options for innovation. > > > > Is it a good thing that cybers are dying in Kenya and broadband is yet to > > reach homes? what needs to be done differently to inform our efforts on > > digital > > villages etc? > > > > Edith > > > > ________________ > > Edith Ofwona Adera > > Senior Program Specialist > > ICT4D Program and Climate Change & Water Program > > International Development Research Centre | Centre de recherches pour le > > développement international > > Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Africa > > Tel: +254202713160 | Fax/Téléc: +254202711063 | Skype: edithadera > > eadera(a)idrc.or.ke | www.idrc.ca| www.crdi.ca > > > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------- > > This message has been scanned for viruses and > > dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is > > believed to be clean. > > --------------------------------------------- > > "easy access to the world" > > > > _______________________________________________ > > 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 > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------- > This message has been scanned for viruses and > dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is > believed to be clean. > --------------------------------------------- > "easy access to the world" > > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: jratemo(a)gmail.com > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jratemo%40gmail.com > -- James Ratemo ICT reporter, The Standard Newspaper, P.O Box 49990-00100, Nairobi Cell Phone: 0724960649 OR 0731960649 Other Emaili-jratemo(a)standardmedia.co.ke or jratemo(a)gmail.com Website:www.ictcradle.com. Twitter accounts: kenyacurrent and jratemo Skype account:ratemoj Who is rich? He that is content. Who is that? No one.

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Re: [kictanet] KCSE Performance
by Jotham Kilimo Mwale 03 Mar '11

03 Mar '11

Hi Akich, I found the list you are asking for from The Standard online home page. I have attached the document. Regards, Jotham --- On Thu, 3/4/10, Akich Kwach <kwach(a)archway-productions.com> wrote: From: Akich Kwach <kwach(a)archway-productions.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] KCSE Performance To: jokilimo(a)yahoo.com Cc: "alewela" <alewela(a)ict.go.ke>, "ke users" <ke-internetusers(a)bdix.net>, "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, March 4, 2010, 1:01 AM _filtered #yiv689680575 { font-family:Wingdings;} _filtered #yiv689680575 { font-family:Cambria Math;} _filtered #yiv689680575 { font-family:Calibri;} _filtered #yiv689680575 {margin:70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt;} #yiv689680575 P.MsoNormal { MARGIN:0in 0in 0pt;FONT-FAMILY:"serif";FONT-SIZE:12pt;} #yiv689680575 LI.MsoNormal { MARGIN:0in 0in 0pt;FONT-FAMILY:"serif";FONT-SIZE:12pt;} #yiv689680575 DIV.MsoNormal { MARGIN:0in 0in 0pt;FONT-FAMILY:"serif";FONT-SIZE:12pt;} #yiv689680575 A:link { COLOR:blue;TEXT-DECORATION:underline;} #yiv689680575 SPAN.MsoHyperlink { COLOR:blue;TEXT-DECORATION:underline;} #yiv689680575 A:visited { COLOR:purple;TEXT-DECORATION:underline;} #yiv689680575 SPAN.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { COLOR:purple;TEXT-DECORATION:underline;} #yiv689680575 SPAN.EmailStyle17 { FONT-FAMILY:"sans-serif";COLOR:#1f497d;} #yiv689680575 .MsoChpDefault { FONT-SIZE:10pt;} #yiv689680575 DIV.Section1 { } #yiv689680575 OL { MARGIN-BOTTOM:0in;} #yiv689680575 UL { MARGIN-BOTTOM:0in;} Many thanks Barnabas for sharing this valuable information. Would you be having the list of top 100 candidates national and provincial categories with names of schools in which the candidates sat for their KCSE exams? If you do, kindly share it. The way the list is published in the media only gives incomplete information. Would you imagine if they announced the names of the winners during the Olympic Games and then they only play the national anthem without mentioning the countries they represent, (in our case the Index numbers represent schools). In the case of Olympic games, one has to go through the catalogue and find out which country is represented by such a flag; similarly, in the case of KCSE relults, those few who knows index numbers for various schools. I am of the view citizens should never be denied information they deserve. All in all your Ministry (MoE) and the KNEC has made good progress by incorporating ICT tools while releasing results. This has greatly saved parents and candidates the costs of running to schools, (some of them miles away) for their results. May God bless this nation to keep moving in the right direction at competitive speed. Akich Kwach ----- Original Message ----- From: Barnabas K. Sang To: kwach(a)archway-productions.com Cc: alewela ; ke users ; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2010 9:26 AM Subject: Re: [kictanet] KCSE Performance Thought would be of interest to you. Kind regards B. K. Sang _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: kwach(a)archway-productions.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/kwach%40archway-produc… -----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: jokilimo(a)yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jokilimo%40yahoo.com

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ICT RELATED - Wikileaks.ch -- Viewing cable 07NAIROBI4246, KENYA - DOING BUSINESS THE CHINESE WAY
by S.Murigi Muraya 02 Mar '11

02 Mar '11

Nothing new to most of us but interesting dossier all the same.. http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2007/10/07NAIROBI4246.html Viewing cable 07NAIROBI4246, KENYA - DOING BUSINESS THE CHINESE WAY Reference ID: 07NAIROBI4246 Created: 2007-10-30 08:08 Released: 2011-03-01 21:09 Classification: UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Origin: Embassy Nairobi UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NAIROBI 004246 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE PASS USTR - BILL JACKSON STATE FOR AF/E, AF/EPS AND EB/CIP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ECPS EFIN KCOR CH KE SUBJECT: KENYA - DOING BUSINESS THE CHINESE WAY REF: NAIROBI 4202 NAIROBI 00004246 001.2 OF 002 Sensitive-but-unclassified. This cable is not for release outside USG channels. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Chinese firms selling into Kenya's information and communications technologies (ICT) sector are throwing a lot of money around, according to industry contacts. Indeed, Chinese influence may be so great that it is distorting important investment decisions in the country. Putting aside corruption, Chinese ICT vendors are difficult to beat on price and quality, and therefore often win government procurement tenders. However, companies that buy Chinese equipment often find that they end up paying the piper later due to poor after-sales service. End summary. ¶2. (U) In the course of gathering information for reftel report on developments in Kenya's information and communications technology (ICT) sector, interesting anecdotes emerged about the way Chinese firms do business in Kenya. ---------------------------- China "Re-Colonizing Africa" ---------------------------- ¶3. (SBU) "The Chinese are re-colonizing Africa for natural resources," according to Michael Joseph, the Amcit CEO of Safaricom, Kenya's largest and most successful mobile phone company, speaking to U.S. Mission staff on October 18. Joseph diverged from his brief on Kenyan efforts to build FONN, a new terrestrial national fiber optic network (reftel), to say the project is an example of how "the Chinese are driving the ICT agenda in Kenya." FONN, he said, was poorly planned - consciously so, in his view, so that Chinese companies could get fatter contracts. As noted reftel, FONN will extend all the way to the borders of Kenya's neighbors, which means it will traverse vast tracts of virtually empty land in Kenya's northern and western reaches. Two Chinese firms and one French firm have been awarded contracts to construct the network. According to Joseph: "We don't need fiber to Garissa (in sparsely populated Northeast Province), we need it in Nyeri" (a bustling market town just north of Nairobi). --------------------------------------------- ---- Chinese Stuff: Good and Cheap, But Service Stinks --------------------------------------------- ---- ¶4. (SBU) Joseph went on to describe the use by Chinese ICT vendors of concessional credits from the Chinese government to lock up contracts - nothing new there. Echoing the views of many industry contacts, he said the quality of the ICT equipment provided by companies like Huawai and ZTE is pretty good, and their prices are low. But he used a monosyllabic expletive beginning with "S" to describe after-sales service. When there are equipment problems later, he said, the Chinese run for the door, and matters are made worse by the language barrier. Safaricom purchased equipment last year from Huawei, but the deal was too good to be true. Huawei effectively reneged and only delivered half the equipment promised in the contract. Joseph went to China personally, eventually got the Huawai CEO to admit that the company had lied, and then forced it to cancel the contract. ---------------------------------------- Chinese Buying Politicians and Influence ---------------------------------------- ¶5. (SBU) More insidious, said Joseph, is that "the Chinese" (by this we believe he meant Chinese firms, not the government) are "funding the political agenda" of Kenyan politicians and ministers. When he returned from China after cancelling the Huawei contract, he was summoned to the office of Mutahi Kagwe, the Minister of Information and Communication, and told the cancellation put all Chinese foreign assistance to Kenya at risk. He also received phone calls from different ministers with no responsibility for ICT who insisted that he reconsider the cancellation. One was the Minister of Immigration, who hinted that Joseph, a foreigner, might have work permit problems if he cancelled the contract. He held his ground. Joseph said that whenever he meets with a Chinese firm, "within 20 minutes" he receives calls from various Kenyan ministers or members of parliament lobbying on behalf of the company. ¶6. (SBU) Another likely manifestation of the undue influence and NAIROBI 00004246 002.2 OF 002 unfair play by the Chinese, said Joseph, was the recent Phase II expansion of the CDMA fixed wireless service being rolled out by Kenya's monopoly fixed line phone company, Telkom Kenya (see reftel). Because of Telkom Kenya's state-owned status, the project by law should have been put out for public tender. But instead, the Kenyan government quietly and unilaterally awarded the contract to Huawei, the Chinese company that did Phase I. Separately in August, the CEO of one of the country's largest internet service providers confirmed the details of the deal, which he said raised eyebrows throughout the industry. --------------------------------------------- ---- Telkom Kenya Looking for Non-Chinese Tech Partner --------------------------------------------- ---- ¶7. (SBU) Asked about China's influence in the ICT sector on October 18, the more restrained CEO of Telkom Kenya, Sammy Kirui, insisted that the Chinese "can't throw their weight around too much." He echoed Joseph's assessment that Chinese equipment is decent quality and low price. But like Joseph, he complained that "you pay down the line" in terms of poor after-sales service. As a state-owned entity, he said, Telkom has to follow government procurement procedures, and "the Chinese always do well on government tenders." After Telkom is privatized (reftel), however, it will have more flexibility to procure equipment on the basis of factors beyond price, such as network compatibility. The company already counts Huawei as a "strategic technical partner", but has issued an expression of interest for a second such partner. Huawei rival ZTE, also a Chinese company, is pressing hard, but Kirui insists that the company's second strategic tech partner must be non-Chinese. ------------------------------------------ Finding Ways Around the Chinese Juggernaut ------------------------------------------ ¶8. (SBU) More emphatic is the Permanent Secretary of Information and Communications, Dr. Bitange Ndemo. Ndemo, a talented former U.S.-resident business executive, has repeatedly lamented the inability of U.S. firms to win Kenyan government tenders. A strong proponent of U.S. technology, he is resorting to creative ways to circumvent a tender process which he sees as handcuffing the country by virtually guaranteeing that it is forced to buy low-cost Chinese equipment, without heed to other important factors, such as after-sales service and network compatibility. Ndemo recently signed a memorandum of agreement for a public-private partnership with a Saudi firm that for the most part sells and services U.S.-made equipment. The deal calls for the construction of at least one $30 million data center that will complement the roll-out of the national fiber network. By structuring the relationship in this way, Ndemo believes he can legally buy the equipment and technology most appropriate for Kenya, without having to pander only to the lowest price seller. ¶9. (SBU) More generally, Ndemo regularly expresses concern about the influence of China in the ICT sector. Without providing details, he has told Econ/C many times that he and other senior technocrats are under constant pressure from their own ministers and the country's senior political leadership to buy Chinese. ------- Comment ------- ¶10. (SBU) The views and anecdotes conveyed by people like Joseph and Ndemo put a bit flesh on the bones of the oft-repeated (but seldom proven) contention that Chinese companies play dirty. Most disturbing in this case is the idea that Chinese influence is so great that it's actually distorting critical investment decisions in Kenya's all-important ICT sector. For further investigation is the role of the Chinese government. We wonder if it simply turns a blind eye to the dirty work of Chinese firms, or if it actively contributes to the problem. Ranneberger ...

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Obama administration joins critics of U.S. nonprofit group that oversees Internet
by alice＠apc.org 01 Mar '11

01 Mar '11

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/28/AR201102280… Obama administration joins critics of U.S. nonprofit group that oversees Internet By Ian Shapira Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, February 28, 2011; 10:39 PM The California nonprofit organization that operates the Internet's levers has always been a target for such global heavies as Russia and China that prefer the United Nations to be in charge of the Web. But these days, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is fending off attacks from a seemingly unlikely source: the Obama administration. Concerned about the growing movement to cede oversight to the U.N., the U.S. government, which helped create ICANN in 1998, has been reprimanding the nonprofit group to give foreign nations more say over the Web's operations. The battle has come at a sensitive time for ICANN, which this month is meeting with foreign governments as it pulls off the biggest expansion ever of Web suffixes - including .gay, .muslim and .nazi. Also this fall, the nonprofit organization is seeking to hold on to its federal contract to oversee the Web's master database of addresses - a sweeping power that governments fear could be used to shut down foreign domains that the United States finds unsavory. "There's a deeper question of how the world is reacting to a small company - even a nonprofit - completely in charge of a key part of the Internet. Is that acceptable? There's no 100 percent comfortable solution here," said Steve Crocker, ICANN's vice chairman, who lives in Bethesda and is the chief executive of Shinkuro, a technology company. With some Middle East countries shutting down the Internet within their borders to curb uprisings, the question of who runs the Web is increasingly figuring into global foreign policy debates. Some fear that governments such as those of Libya or Iran could more easily crush rebellions if they gained more control over the Internet's inner workings. ICANN quietly wields vast influence over the Web, a power unfamiliar to many Americans and elected officials. Based in an off-campus University of South California building, the company has more than 100 employees and is led by a chief executive and a board of directors comprised of private sector executives and technology experts. ICANN's core function: Decide which Web addresses get seen on the Internet. ad_icon In Washington, ICANN remains somewhat mysterious to elected officials, according to Nao Matsukata, a senior policy adviser to the Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse, a grass-roots organization in Washington. Matsukata's main problem, he said, is trying to explain what ICANN is to people on Capitol Hill. His group has met with more than 50 members of Congress. "Sometimes, when we're in meetings on the Hill, they're just nodding their heads," said Matsukata, a former trade official in the George W. Bush administration. "Very few people understand where all these decisions are coming from, and that this is something that impacts us every day of our lives. Someone is determining what is allowed, what is not allowed, and someone is profiting from these things." The tiny nonprofit group can be especially provocative for a trade press that covers its every move, and for a rival U.N. agency, the International Telecommunications Union. When the ITU, a 145-year-old agency of nearly 200 nations and territories, held its annual meeting in October in Mexico, a Syrian emissary representing Arab states raged against ICANN as if it were an enemy nation. "Do not surrender to the ICANN!" Nabil Kisrawi yelled during one of the conference's sessions, according to a story in the Register, an online publication on Internet governance. "There is even a representative of the ICANN in this room!" Kisrawi said. (Kisrawi recently died.) Other nations have been mobilizing against ICANN. China, which monitors dissident activity on the Web, has been leading a campaign among dozens of developing nations to lobby the U.N. for oversight over ICANN, according to former and current ICANN officials. And a coalition of former Soviet states led by a Russian minister has been pushing the U.N. to obtain veto power over ICANN. Some countries also worry that the new wave of Web suffixes might be too controversial and that others might require companies to spend vast sums to protect their online brands and trademarks. (Who gets .merck? The U.S. drug company? Or the German drug company with the same name?) Chris Disspain, chairman of an ICANN internal group and an executive who oversees Australian domain names, said the prospect of governments running the Web would be calamitous. "China, Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia and number of others have said in meetings they believe ICANN shouldn't be in existence, or be replaced by some U.N. body," he said. "Frankly, that would be a disaster." Some countries fear that the United States has, at the very least, the appearance of too much power by owning the contract to run the master database of Web addresses. "One concern is that if the U.S. decides Syria is behaving badly, then they could make all Web sites using Syria's country code domain - .sy - point to freedom of expression sites, for example," said Avri Doria, an ICANN group chairman. "Countries say, 'How can we subject ourselves to that?'" Crocker, the ICANN board's vice chairman, said the chances of the United States tinkering with the master Web database are "nil." ICANN can only request changes in the master database; the U.S. government reviews those decisions, then the Dulles-based company VeriSign executes the change. The Commerce Department, however, worries that other countries might soon lobby en masse for the U.N. to take over instead. Commerce officials prefer a nimble private-sector organization to run the Web's addressing system, but the government doesn't believe ICANN is listening enough to the international community. Some ICANN officials worry that, if tensions continue with the Commerce Department, the nonprofit organization might lose its contract to run the Web's master database. That contract, which the Commerce Department last gave to ICANN in a no-bid process, comes up for renewal in the fall. Commerce officials have yet to decide whether they will ask for other organizations to compete for it. In mid-February at a technology conference in Colorado, Lawrence Strickling, an assistant secretary in the Commerce Department, put ICANN on notice, declaring it "must act" by June on a set of accountability guidelines made by him and international leaders who will continue to "monitor" it. Strickling warned about the "forces at play" lobbying for the U.N. to run the Web. ad_icon Strickling said he met privately in December with ICANN board members in Colombia, where he urged ICANN to be more transparent and open to recommendations from foreign nations. "It's not out of hostility . . . but I am trying to nudge ICANN to be its best," Strickling said in an interview. "It's important that this model have buy-in from other governments in order to support the global growth of the Internet." ICANN scored one minor victory in February. Its advisory body of foreign nations rejected the Obama administration's proposal that would have required ICANN to make it easier for nations to object to controversial new Web suffixes such as .gay or .xxx. The United States proposed that any country within ICANN's advisory council should be able to recommend eliminating any new domain name. If no other country objected to that nation's veto recommendation, then ICANN's board would have to follow suit. ICANN, however, wants those challenges to go before three experts guiding the International Chamber of Commerce. But ICANN's advisory body of foreign countries recently decided that any nation's objection will be considered as non-binding advice to ICANN's board. Commerce Department officials worry that if foreign governments feel they have no role in the process, they will start ignoring ICANN, blocking Web sites and splitting up the Internet so that only certain domains can be accessed, depending on the country. Critics of the Commerce Department say the agency is bending too much to other nations' preferences. "The U.S. government was pushing hard to give any country the power to object and have that right be decisive," said Milton Mueller, a Syracuse University professor who has chaired and participated in several groups that developed ICANN policies that would be overridden by the U.S. intervention. "We think they were playing a geopolitical game of placating governments."

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Database manager needed
by Sean Moroney 01 Mar '11

01 Mar '11

Dear Listers, A UK company wants to employ or contract an experienced database researcher/manager, Nairobi-based. Could be full or part-time. Please could anyone who is interested in the position please send me their CV. Asante, Sean Moroney Chairman AITEC Africa seanm(a)aitecafrica.com UK Tel: +44(0)1480-880774 UK Mobile: +44(0)7973-499224 Skype: <mailto:seanmoroneyseanm@aitecafrica.com> seanmoroney seanm(a)aitecafrica.com <http://www.aitecafrica.comfollow/> www.aitecafrica.com Follow us on twitter: <http://twitter.com/aitecafrica> http://twitter.com/aitecafrica UPCOMING AITEC AFRICA EVENTS: <http://www.aitecafrica.com/event/view/67> lAITEC Banking & Mobile Money COMESA, Nairobi, 2-3 March 2011 <http://www.aitecafrica.com/event/view/65> lAfrican Outsourcing Summit, Nairobi, 4-5 May 2011 <http://www.aitecafrica.com/event/view/68> lAITEC Banking & Mobile Money West Africa, Accra, 8-9 June 2011 <http://www.aitecafrica.com/event/view/71> lBroadcast & Film Africa, Nairobi, 6-7 July 2011 <http://www.aitecafrica.com/event/view/72> lAITEC East Africa ICT Summit, Nairobi, 26-27 October 2011 <http://www.aitecafrica.com/event/view/73> lAITEC Mozambique ICT Congress, Maputo, 12-13 October 2011 <http://www.aitecafrica.com/event/view/74> lAfriHealth, Nairobi, 16-17 November 2011

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Obama administration joins critics of U.S. nonprofit group that oversees Internet
by alice＠apc.org 01 Mar '11

01 Mar '11

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/28/AR201102280… Obama administration joins critics of U.S. nonprofit group that oversees Internet By Ian Shapira Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, February 28, 2011; 10:39 PM The California nonprofit organization that operates the Internet's levers has always been a target for such global heavies as Russia and China that prefer the United Nations to be in charge of the Web. But these days, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is fending off attacks from a seemingly unlikely source: the Obama administration. Concerned about the growing movement to cede oversight to the U.N., the U.S. government, which helped create ICANN in 1998, has been reprimanding the nonprofit group to give foreign nations more say over the Web's operations. The battle has come at a sensitive time for ICANN, which this month is meeting with foreign governments as it pulls off the biggest expansion ever of Web suffixes - including .gay, .muslim and .nazi. Also this fall, the nonprofit organization is seeking to hold on to its federal contract to oversee the Web's master database of addresses - a sweeping power that governments fear could be used to shut down foreign domains that the United States finds unsavory. "There's a deeper question of how the world is reacting to a small company - even a nonprofit - completely in charge of a key part of the Internet. Is that acceptable? There's no 100 percent comfortable solution here," said Steve Crocker, ICANN's vice chairman, who lives in Bethesda and is the chief executive of Shinkuro, a technology company. With some Middle East countries shutting down the Internet within their borders to curb uprisings, the question of who runs the Web is increasingly figuring into global foreign policy debates. Some fear that governments such as those of Libya or Iran could more easily crush rebellions if they gained more control over the Internet's inner workings. ICANN quietly wields vast influence over the Web, a power unfamiliar to many Americans and elected officials. Based in an off-campus University of South California building, the company has more than 100 employees and is led by a chief executive and a board of directors comprised of private sector executives and technology experts. ICANN's core function: Decide which Web addresses get seen on the Internet. ad_icon In Washington, ICANN remains somewhat mysterious to elected officials, according to Nao Matsukata, a senior policy adviser to the Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse, a grass-roots organization in Washington. Matsukata's main problem, he said, is trying to explain what ICANN is to people on Capitol Hill. His group has met with more than 50 members of Congress. "Sometimes, when we're in meetings on the Hill, they're just nodding their heads," said Matsukata, a former trade official in the George W. Bush administration. "Very few people understand where all these decisions are coming from, and that this is something that impacts us every day of our lives. Someone is determining what is allowed, what is not allowed, and someone is profiting from these things." The tiny nonprofit group can be especially provocative for a trade press that covers its every move, and for a rival U.N. agency, the International Telecommunications Union. When the ITU, a 145-year-old agency of nearly 200 nations and territories, held its annual meeting in October in Mexico, a Syrian emissary representing Arab states raged against ICANN as if it were an enemy nation. "Do not surrender to the ICANN!" Nabil Kisrawi yelled during one of the conference's sessions, according to a story in the Register, an online publication on Internet governance. "There is even a representative of the ICANN in this room!" Kisrawi said. (Kisrawi recently died.) Other nations have been mobilizing against ICANN. China, which monitors dissident activity on the Web, has been leading a campaign among dozens of developing nations to lobby the U.N. for oversight over ICANN, according to former and current ICANN officials. And a coalition of former Soviet states led by a Russian minister has been pushing the U.N. to obtain veto power over ICANN. Some countries also worry that the new wave of Web suffixes might be too controversial and that others might require companies to spend vast sums to protect their online brands and trademarks. (Who gets .merck? The U.S. drug company? Or the German drug company with the same name?)

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Local versus International
by robert yawe 01 Mar '11

01 Mar '11

Where should we be placing our emphasis in relation to link reliability and access speed, on the local or international circuit? Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 Kenya Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696

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CCK - courier (UPS) double charging?
by Francis Hook 01 Mar '11

01 Mar '11

If a courier, UPS, charges for import documentation costs in addition to shipping costs, at the source, should their local office also raise charges for an IDF? I find this a rather extortionate way of doing business and wondering if CCK has a role to play or if it can intervene? Or perhaps my understanding of the 'documentation' costs is wanting? Any advice appreciated. -- Francis Hook +254 733 504561

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Posta; a sleeping giant
by Matunda Nyanchama 01 Mar '11

01 Mar '11

Robert, A few years ago I emceed the launch of PostaPay in the Diaspora; we were all excited and remarked how we would reclaim "our lunch" being eaten by others like Western Union, MoneyGram, etc. Years later we would learn of mismanagement and accusations of embezzlement from gains from this business line! We were astounded; and Western Union, MoneyGram and co continue to eat our lunch! Postal corporations world over are remaking themselves in the face of falling volumes of paper-based items - letters, ads, company reports, bills, statements, etc. Electronic Bill Payment and Presentment (EBPP) offers huge opportunities; this PCK is aware of; I am hoping they can take it up, especially with the growth of ICT infrastructure and smartening of mobile devices! Add mobile money, combine with payment platforms such as M-pesa and you are home clean, and relevant for the times. Agency Banking is another not fully exploited area that PCK could capitalize on; I cannot imagine another corporation with a larger branch network than PCK. But as the Kiswahili saying goes "ukiona vyalea, vimeundwa", nothing comes without clear planning, strategy, leadership, execution. Jumapili njema. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matunda Nyanchama, PhD, CISSP; mnyanchama(a)aganoconsulting.com Agano Consulting Inc.; www.aganoconsulting.com; Twitter: nmatunda; Skype: okiambe ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Be prepared to face ICT Security failures & know how to respond when they happen! Call: +1-888-587-1150 or info(a)aganoconsulting.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk I have a workstation…" - Anonymous ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This e-mail, including attachments, may be privileged and may contain confidential or proprietary information intended only for the addressee(s). Any other distribution, copying, use, or disclosure is unauthorized and strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail and permanently delete the message, including any attachments, without making a copy. Thank you. ________________________________ From: "kictanet-request(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke" <kictanet-request(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> To: mnyanchama(a)aganoconsulting.com Sent: Sun, February 27, 2011 4:00:00 AM Subject: kictanet Digest, Vol 45, Issue 165 Send kictanet mailing list submissions to kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to kictanet-request(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke You can reach the person managing the list at kictanet-owner(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of kictanet digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Posta; a sleeping giant (robert yawe) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2011 11:35:44 +0000 (GMT) From: robert yawe <robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk> To: Kictanet Mail list <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Subject: [kictanet] Posta; a sleeping giant Message-ID: <622799.66783.qm(a)web27805.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Hi, Finally seems that I am not the only one who believes that Postal Corporation has many more years in it, the IBM Corps are coming in to provide free consultancy services. As we were busy relegating Postal to the annals of technology other have made the move to take the plunge to revive the sleeping giant. http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000029740&cid=456& There is more to posta than just snail mail. Regards Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 Kenya Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696

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