March 2012 - KICTANet

UNESCO launches Women Make the News 2012- Rural women?s access to media and information
by Lydia Gachungi 08 Mar '12

08 Mar '12

UNESCO, once again, calls on its partners to ensure that gender equality and women?s empowerment remain on the forefront of their agenda, through its Women Make the News (WMN) 2012 initiative. Launched annually on the occasion of International Women?s Day (8 March), WMN is a global policy advocacy initiative aimed at promoting gender equality in and through the media. The theme for this year, is Rural women?s access to media and information For more details- http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/resources/news-a… http://iwmf.org/pdfs/IWMF-Global-Report.pdf Lydia UNESCO Communication and Information Sector

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Fw: [AfriNIC-rpd] Nominations Call for open seats on the AfriNIC Board
by Walubengo J 08 Mar '12

08 Mar '12

Apologies for cross-posting. As your current AfriNIC Board Director for East Africa, I am compelled to alert stakeholders that my term ends in May 2012 and invite interested parties to come forward and apply for my job ;-) I however wish to add that I will seek a second term and in the same spirit invite you to support my bid during the election period. More details below. regards. walu. --- On Thu, 3/8/12, Ernest - (AfriNIC) <ernest(a)afrinic.net> wrote: From: Ernest - (AfriNIC) <ernest(a)afrinic.net> Subject: [AfriNIC-rpd] [***SPAM***] Nominations Call for open seats on the AfriNIC Board To: announce(a)afrinic.net Date: Thursday, March 8, 2012, 7:38 AM Dear Colleagues, According to Section 11 of the AfriNIC Bylaws, the following members occupying seats on the AfriNIC Board will retire at the end of June 2012: Southern: --------- Primary: Mark J. Elkins Alternate: Silvio Cabral Almada Eastern: -------- Primary: John Walubengo Alternate: Lillian Wambui Karanja As a result, two (2) seats on the AfriNIC Board will be open for election: A) Seat 5: The Southern sub-region (Primary and Alternate) Mandate: 2012 to 2015 B) Seat 6: The Eastern sub-region (Primary and Alternate) Mandate: 2012 to 2015 We are pleased to invite nominations to fill in the above seats. Any suitable natural person residing in one of the above sub-regions can be nominated provided they comply with the minimum qualifications stipulated in Section 11 of the Bylaws. Members are strongly encouraged to nominate. Self nominations and nominations by those who are not members of AfriNIC are allowed but the nomination must be formally backed by at least two AfriNIC members in good standing. Nominees should demonstrate at least three years of managerial experience in the Internet Protocol Service/ Business or other Internet related organisation and preferably hold a senior level position such as Board member or similar. Candidates should be able to actively participate and contribute to all activities conferred to the Board under Section 13 of the AfriNIC bylaws: http://www.afrinic.net/corporate/bylaws.htm. Candidates should have a good comprehension of the English language (the working language of the Board). Nominations should be sent to nomcom2012(a)afrinic.net with the following information: 1. Candidate Information - Nominee (Full name): - Organisation (or affiliation): - Position: Physical address: - e-mail address: - Phone number: - Fax number: - Country of Residence: - Sub-region nominated for: 2. Nominator: Name, e-mail address, organisation and motivation. 3. Seconder Information – in the case of a self-nomination or nomination by a non-member: (Seconder must be a member of AfriNIC in good standing). Seconder 1: Name, e-mail address, organisation and motivation. Seconder 2: Name, e-mail address, organisation and motivation. 4. Referees : 1. (Name, e-mail address, organisation) 2. (Name, e-mail address, organisation) 5. Brief statement explaining the candidate's background and motivation (in English, and in not more than 500 words). Please highlight what expertise and experience you will bring to the organisation in general and to the board in particular. A copy of the candidate’s CV (in English preferably), should also be attached. The deadline for nominations is 29 March 2011 at 20:00 UTC. For more information on the election process, please refer to http://www.afrinic.net/elections/process or, in case of clarification, please contact us at nomcom2012(a)afrinic.net Note: It is highly expected that candidates attend the AfriNIC-15 meeting in person on the Election Day (18 May 2012) where they may be afforded an opportunity for introduction and to make a short presentation. More information about AfriNIC is available at http://www.afrinic.net/about.htm Sent on behalf of the Chair, 2012 Nominations/Elections Committee _______________________________________________ rpd mailing list rpd(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/rpd

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Kenya Gazette
by Collins Areba 08 Mar '12

08 Mar '12

Just wondering, Can the Kenya Gazette just be an online publication?

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Official email to GoK senior executives
by Dorcas Muthoni 08 Mar '12

08 Mar '12

Listers, My fingers cramp whenever i click send on an official email to GoK senior executives destined for Yahoo, GMail, Hotmail server etc....who will help? Email infrastructure is the last thing to trouble any one today! Dr. Ndemo, Dr. Getao, Paul Kukubo please help! -- Muthoni My Blog: http://rugongo.blogspot.com/ -------------------------------------------- Mahatma Gandhi once said:- First they ignore you, Then they laugh at you, Then they fight you, AND THEN YOU WIN!!!

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LTE - Still not clear on the status
by John Gitau 07 Mar '12

07 Mar '12

It has been several months since I asked about the status of LTE. Im following up with a few questions and hope that since the technical guys at EANOG <http://orion.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/eanog>are still interested we can get some answers. 1: Can I assume that the government is focused on the frequencies below 1GHz in use by the UHF spectrum? 2: Considering all channels are not used in all areas within the country, (commonly known as TV white space) is it possible for at least one vendor to show us using such free channels in some rural part of the country how this frequencies are ideal for good propagation and the maximum throughputs we'd expect? ie go beyond the physics and actually show us? - This is important for companies planning rural wifi. It wont make sense to make such an investment if cheaper options exist. - This would mean that the LTE devices don't interfere with Television and obviously they would have to withstand/tolerate interferance from television signals. - This is probably a long shot but it would be nice to imagine it was considered. Im sure we have alot of 'white space'. 3: How will you control spectrum access? 4: Is there a chance that this will be licence exempted like the 2.4GHz band? I would expect some control but maybe no fee. I think this is where the consortium came in but I can't honestly say I understood this model yet or who is in it, what their role is etc... 5: How soon is this expected and would you advice an investor to go ahead with other modes of mass broadband provision. Lets just call it WIFI? -Are broadcasters keen on moving on to digital? or is there a push back? Im sure others will come up but those are the ones top on my mind at the moment. Gitau

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KPLC Prepaid issue
by robert yawe 07 Mar '12

07 Mar '12

Hi, The KPLC prepaid system for purchasing tokens using mpesa has been down since midday on 6th March 2012 now that is an issue to be discussed in detail as opposed to the 2 day a year incidents with KNEC. The inability of KPLC and Safaricom, 2 of the largest listed companies in the country, to resolve the persistent issues with the system reflects very badly on us as a body of ICT experts. This issue waters down the excitement of another Kenyan developer being fêted for yet another mobile application, could it be that we are only destined to offer client facing solution and lack the skills or dedication to handle the critical backend? Our reputations are at stage it is time we dug into this issue and provide a long lasting solution. 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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#140friday debate
by Sam Gichuru 07 Mar '12

07 Mar '12

* * The last 24 hours has seen an interesting tweeter debate, if you missed it then you need to follow @pkukubo (Paul Kukubo), @blongwe (Brian Longwe), @kenyanpundit, @mikemachariaSST (Mike Macharia Seven Seas) and David Ndungu @davidndugu. On request from @agostal and @kenyanpundit and accepted by all, its time to move from behind the keypads and have a debate that can accommodate more than 140 characters *The Request:* A forum that will allow you to express yourself, is government being fair in awarding MNC tenders yet claiming to develop local tech business, do we have local capacity to handle some of this contracts?, are local tech companies being recruitment centers for the MNCs? Should private business depend on government contracts for growth? Are the same local companies giving smaller Startups and SME’s similar opportunities... hard talk? maybe, the debate will be moderated by some of Kenyans best. So on request from all the people/tweeps mentioned above, KICTB and Nailab will Co-Sponsor an intense debate limited to 80 participants on Friday Morning this week at the Nailab, you can start asking your questions on twitter using harshtag #>140friday, Get your ticket here, we have a limit of 80 Tickets FREE. - http://www.eventbrite.com/event/618723619 NB: Guest panel confirmed, So far Paul KuKubo, Linus Gitahi, Mike Macharia, Brian Longwe, have confirmed, Other proposed names on guest panel are Dan Awendo/Investor, Mbugua Njihia, Bloggers and start-up CEO's, a full list will be confirmed by Midday tomorrow the 8th. *Date:* 9th Friday 2012 *Location:* @thenailab, Bishop Magua Center 4th Floor *Time:* Start time: 7:30 – End time 10:00 (1 hour 30 minutes – 2 hours,) *Proposed Moderators:* Larry Madowo , Linus Gitahi & Terry Anne Chebet *Confirmed Guest Panel:* Paul Kukubo, Mike Macharia, Linus Gitahi – list growing by the min. *Participants:* Players and stakeholders in ICT especially Tech Entrepreneurs *Media:* Nation Media, Capital FM, Hope FM, … list growing by the min *Harsh tag: “140 Friday”* *Tag Line “tech debate beyond 140 Characters”* * * *Program:* 7:30 – Serve Breakfast 8:00 – Moderator Introduces the topic and a set of rules on the format of the debate 8:20 – Guest panel give their opinions to set pace for the debate (3 mins each) 8:30 – Floor Opens 9:30 - Networking 10:00 – Wrap up, -- Warm Regards, ------------------------ Sam Gichuru twitter: | @samgichuru <http://twitter.com/samgichuru> Blog: | www.samgichuru.com Facebook: | Sam.gichuru <http://www.facebook.com/sam.gichuru> Skype: Sam.gichuru Cellphone: | +254-722-730565 Co-founder/ Director /Nailab Incubation Location: | Nairobi Website: | www.nailab.co.ke twitter: | @thenailab

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Danish Ministry of Transport migrates to LibreOffice, saves taxpayers millions
by Evans Ikua 07 Mar '12

07 Mar '12

The Danish Ministry of Transport has succesfully migrated to LibreOffice. The project is called 180 degrees and consist of several parts. One is migrating away from MS Office to LibreOffice. The translated story (please note that the amount is DKK and not USD): http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=da&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=da&ie=UTF… The business case (please note that the amount is DKK and not USD): http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=da&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=da&ie=UTF…

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Linux Professional Institute announces “Linux Essentials” Program
by Evans Ikua 06 Mar '12

06 Mar '12

*- “Certificate of Achievement” introduces new users and youth to Linux and Open Source Software - * (Doha, Qatar and Hanover, Germany: March 6, 2012) The Linux Professional Institute (LPI), the world's premier Linux certification organization ( http://www.lpi.org) announced “Linux Essentials” an innovative new program measuring foundation knowledge in Linux and Open Source Software. Targeted at new technology users, the “Linux Essentials” program is set to be adopted by schools, educational authorities, training centers and others commencing June 2012. "Linux is ubiquitous and plays a significant role in the server room, on our phones and tablets, cash registers and, of course, embedded devices everywhere. Linux is in the enterprise, in movie studios, government, academia and throughout industry around the world. We at LPI, with the help of our partner channel, are going to take it to the last frontier--the classroom. LPI is at the forefront of creating the first generation of Linux professionals, and now with our "Linux Essentials" program we're going to create the first global generation of "users" who are as comfortable with Linux as they are with any other operating system," said Jim Lacey, president and CEO of LPI. Mr. Lacey however was quick to add that this new initiative isn't just for students: "Linux Essentials isn't just for youth, it’s for anyone that desires a gateway to Open Source Software. We've had business people, policy makers and government officials approach us and ask for an exam that demonstrates their knowledge of the Open Source ecosystem. Come June, we're going to start doing just that for everyone." The “Linux Essentials” program has been under development by LPI for approximately two years and includes the participation of qualification authorities, academic partners, private trainers, publishers, government organizations, volunteer IT professionals and Linux and Open Source experts. The single "Linux Essentials" exam leads to a "Certificate of Achievement" recognizing knowledge of the following subject matter: - The Linux Community and a Career in Open Source - Popular Operating Systems and Major Open Source Applications - Understanding Open Source Software and Licensing - Linux Command Line Basics, Files and Scripts - Program elements also include: · regional links to employment and apprenticeship programs available to youth in Linux and Open Source careers · support for skills competitions such as Worldskills International: http://www.worldskills.org/ · support for teacher collaboration and sharing of learning exercises for the “Linux Essentials” knowledge base · commitments from major IT courseware and content publishers on exam preparatory resources - a “low-stakes” exam available online either through LPI or partner internet-based testing - a PDF “certificate of achievement” valid for 10 years - will cost the equivalent of 50 euros at test centers of academic partners and 65 euros at private test centers The “Linux Essentials” exam will be available in June 2012 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and in other nations around the world in 2013. A full description of “Linux Essentials” is available at: http://www.lpi.org/linuxessentials Individuals and organizations interested in participating in the “Linux Essentials” program may email LPI at: innovation(a)lpi.org<innovations(a)lpi.org> Mr. Lacey made the announcement via video link to a press conference hosted by LPI representatives at CeBIT 2012 in Hanover, Germany. Mr. Lacey participated in the announcement following his appearance on an expert panel discussion on education, digital literacy, entrepreneurship, and the creation of an Arab ICT industry while attending the International Telecommunications Union “Connect Arab Summit” in Doha, Qatar ( http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/connect/arabstates/index.asp) The Linux Professional Institute is globally supported by the IT industry, enterprise customers, community professionals, government entities and the educational community. LPI's certification program is supported by an affiliate network spanning five continents and is distributed worldwide in multiple languages at more than 7,000 testing locations. Since 1999, LPI has delivered over 300,000 exams and 100,000 LPIC certifications around the world. # # # *About the Linux Professional Institute:* The Linux Professional Institute provides a global framework, industry leadership and other services to enhance, develop and further lifelong professional careers in Linux and Open Source technologies. Established as an international non-profit organization in September 1999 by the Linux community, the Linux Professional Institute continues to demonstrate recognized global leadership, direction and skill standards for those who pursue a career in Linux and Open Source technology. LPI advances the Linux and Open Source movement through strategic partners, sponsorships, innovative programs and community development activities. LPI's major financial sponsors are Platinum Sponsors IBM, Linux Journal, Linux Magazine, Novell, SGI, and TurboLinux as well as Gold Sponsors, HP and IDG.

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Africa Mobile Money Research Conference (AMMREC 2012)
by Kamotho Njenga 06 Mar '12

06 Mar '12

Greetings, Comprehensive Conference Information is available at http://ammrec.uonbi.ac.ke/ Kamotho Njenga

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