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ICT policy
by Okech 14 Jun '10

14 Jun '10

Hi Listers, In Kenya currently, do we have separate policies for broadcasting, telecommunication and Internet? Any link? Regards, Okech JMMy blog

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FW: BPO/ITES-Gazette Notice
by Edith Adera 14 Jun '10

14 Jun '10

Here's the Gazette Notice I made reference to. Edith

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Interim Board Updates
by Paul Kukubo 14 Jun '10

14 Jun '10

Dear Listers as you enjoy the World Cup, I hereby provide the Kenya ICT Board's programs update. Kenya ICT Board Interim Update 11th June 2010 *Pillar 1. BPO ITES* Project 1.1. National Capacity 1. Centre of Excellence. The 2nd Centre of Excellence Workshop and engagement with Kenya BPO Society, academia and industry practitioners. The COE framework presented for discussion and buy-in. Stakeholders agreed on the proposed timelines and strategy for the implementation of the COE which will selection of the anchor institution and selection of training by end January 2011. 2. Permanent Secretary Information and Communications established a BPO Skills Gap taskforce in 2009. This taskforce has now completed and presented an assessment report. 3. National Software Certification. Consultancy for the development of Certification and initial training awarded, pending contract signing. 4. Incubation. Project has yet to commence. Kenya ICT Board and the World Bank finalizing discussions on the model. Project 1.2. BPO/ITES Marketing/ Country Positioning 1. Confirmation from donor with donors to support Kenya Outsourcing day in (Bellagio) Europe in March 2011. This targets leading outsourcing and market analysts I n Europe with a view to making the case for Kenya outsourcing. 2. Direct Marketing. ICT Board finalizing support for a leading NGO to locate their shared services centre in Kenya. ICT Board is pursuing 4 leading BPO companies to locate in Kenya by mid 2011. 3. Stakeholders received a presentation by PS Ndemo on the initial case for Malili. Presentations were also received from IFC. 4. Kenya Positioning Marketing Initiatives undertaken as follows: Presentation to European Firms in Turkey in Feb 2010, participation at the UNDP International Conference on Interoperability in Rio De Janeiro Brazil, in May 2010, Participation at the HP Technology Conference in Frankfurt in April 2010. Commonwealth South South BPO Summit Mauritius 2010 (ICT Board Sponsored a member of the BPO Taskforce) 5. Kenya Positioning initiatives planned for2010. Call Centre expo Birmingham Sep 2010, BPO Visit to South Africa October 2010, CISCO CIO Global Summit October 2010, Shanghai Expo participation August, Harvard Business School, Shared Services and Outsourcing Summit July 2010, Accenture Global Outsourcing Conference Prague, June 2010. Project 1.4 Capacity Building and Sector Development *Pillar 2. Digital Inclusion* Program 2.1 KENET (Kenya Education Network) support 1. 200 MB Bandwidth disbursed to 64 tertiary institutions across the country. This subsided internet connectivity worth 200 MB of Bandwidth has substantially lowered the costs of connectivity. This commenced in January 2009 and will run end 2010. 2. Contract has been awarded for the development of a modern network operation centre (NOC) for the efficient management of the universities virtual network in line with global standards. 3. Kenya ICT Board has advertised for the procurement of IRUs (long term international bandwidth arrangement) for supply o bandwidth and connection to other national and regional education networks. 4. The Kenya ICT Board has facilitated training of university engineers in network design administration and management across all the tertiary institutions in Kenya. Project 2.2. Digital Villages (Pasha) 1. The ICT Board has trained 1000 people across every constituency in the county. Training has been in entrepreneurship to prepare them to run digital access centre efficiently. The trainees will be eligible for loans under the digital revolving fund to establish digital centers. 2. The Digital centre pilots have been undertaken in 5 areas, Nairobi, Garissa Kangundo, Meru, and Malindi. Preliminary findings are positive and will inform the larger roll out. The key learnings have been that the centers require excellent broadband communication, technical support, good equipment and capacity especially with respect marketing and service delivery. 3. The ICT Board is working with the Ministry of Nairobi Metropolitan Development to establish digital centres in the metropolis. Project 2.3 Wezesha (University Laptops scheme) 1. The ICT Board has commenced implementation of the Wezesha project. Advertising of the project will be done in July. This project to provide a financial subsidy for students in all universities to purchase a laptop. We intend to provide subsidy towards 16,000 laptops over a maximum of 2 years. *Pillar 3. Local Digital Content (Tandaa).* Project 3.1 Tandaa Local Digital Content Grants 1. Kenya ICT Board announces the launch of the grants for entrepreneurs in local digital content. Launch of awareness and dissemination campaign. This phase will disburse a third of USD 4 Million in batches of a maximum 10,000 USD per selected individuals and 50,000USD for firms towards the development of Project 3.2 Tandaa capacity and awareness for local content) 1. Held two successful Tandaa Symposium local content awareness symposiums which involved. First symposium had 80 participants and the second over 200. Participants shared experiences concerning local content development. 2. CEO presentation to Skunksworks 3. Suppoted the Launch of Eyeballs, an innovative mobile based advertising medium in May 2010. 4. Supported the launch of Mobile Monday in April 2010. 5. Supported the launch of Ihub. 6. ICT Board supporting Barcamp, The local developer meeting that brings together Kenya’s most innovative local software community. Takes place on 14 th and 15th of June at the Ihub. Project 3.2 Bashiri, National News information centers and government portal and intranet *Pillar 4. Egovernement Applications* Project 4.1 State Law Office Digitization of Key Achievements 1. Completion of the digitization process at the State Law office 25.5 Million paper records have been digitized. This is towards the eventual automation and online enablement of the company registry. Project 4.2 Ministry of Lands Digitization 1. Infrastructure capacity support for the Ministry of Lands where we have provided funding and helped implementation of the new banking hall. This has included providing furniture computers , scanners and local area network. Kenya ICT Board has engaged university students in an outsourcing arrangement to prepare the lands records for imminent digitization. Project 4.3 Government Bandwidth 1. Broadband Internet access worth 80 MB provided to all ministries at head offices under the Government’s Core Communications Network Project. This is costing 120,000 USD per quarter. Commencing March 2010 for 24 months to augment the government’s current broadband. 2. The ICT Board will be purchasing long term bandwidth commitments for the Kenya government towards reduced costs of international internet communications. We are planning a 15v year lease to be delivered via the TEAMs cable. Project 4.4.Judiciary 1. Trials have commenced for high end video teleconferencing links at the courts of appeal between Nairobi and Mombasa. Once this is trialed successfully over 10 months, this will be rolled out across key areas of the judiciary. 2. Contract has been awarded for digitizing 30 Million records for the High Court Registry. 2. Contract has been awarded for an interactive 2 way SMS platform for citizens to track the status of their cases before the courts. Project 4.5 KEMSA 1. Successfully implemented a new Enterprises Resource Planning System for Kenya Medical Supplies Agency. Project 4.6 Kenya Film Commission 1. The ICT Board will be funding the implementation of a content management system for the Kenya Film Commission. Kenya ICT Board has advertised for bids. Pillar 5. Government Shared Services (SHIRIKIANA) Project 5.1. Central Government Shared Services 1. The ICT Board has contracted Accenture Consulting to develop a shared services masterplan and pilot for the Kenya government. The scope of this work includes a pilot for public sector budgeting at the treasury. Interviews and data gathering are on-going. This project aims to create a high performance centre of excellence in the management and delivery of government back-end services such as HR, IT Procurement and Finance. This impact positively service delivery to citizens by government. Project 5.2 Local Government Shared Services 1. ITC Board has fundraised and received USD 300,000 towards the development of Local Government Shared Services, to support local authorities in financial, HR and IT shared services. *Communication and Capacity Building* 1. ICT board launches online newsletters for their various projects to ensure our communication are kept up to date. 2. Media workshop held in April 2010 in partnership with Kenya ICT Reporters Association for attended by 30 reporters. Major interest by media on government shared services and using online as a medium for extending traditional media. 3. ICT Board staff commence training and implementation of Project Management in partnership with Deloitte. Training is aimed at The Kenya ICT Board becoming Project Management Certified. 4. Presentation by CEO at the Marketing Africa Marketers Night in June 2010. Presented the opportunities for marketers in ICT with specific reference to entrepreneurship and to influencing the process of local outsourcing. Paul Kukubo Chief Executive Officer, Kenya ICT Board PO Box 27150 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya 12th Floor, Teleposta Towers Koinange Street Tel +254 20 2089061, +254 20 2211960 Fax: +254 20 2211962 website: www.ict.go.ke local content project: www.tandaa.co.ke, www.facebook.com/tandaakenya twitter:@tandaaKENYA BPO Project: www. doitinkenya.co.ke Digital Villages Project: www.pasha.co.ke personal contacts _______________ Cell: + 254 717 180001 skype: kukubopaul googletalk: pkukubo personal blog: www.paulkukubo.co.ke personal twitter: @pkukubo ____________________ Vision: Kenya becomes a top ten global ICT hub Mission: To champion and actively enable Kenya to adopt and exploit ICT, through promotion of partnerships, investments and infrastructure growth for socio economic enrichment

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the budget and ICT
by ikua＠lpakenya.org 13 Jun '10

13 Jun '10

Listers, The Government will spend 1.3B to buy 300 computers in each of the 210 constituencies. That means that each of the 63,000 computers will cost the taxpayer KSh 20,634/=. This is a very good initiative. Now, they say that these computers will be assembled by institutions. I just hope this does not mean they will go for clones. They would do much better with branded, refurbished computers. As far as I know, the minister did not mention anything touching on used computers in the budget. Now then, at this price, there is absolutely no allowance for software purchases. Which is all well as these computers can be loaded with open source software that will give much more value to the investment anyway. So we will be watching keenly to see what kind of deals Microsoft will try to push at the government to include their software in these computers, probably at a ¨small price¨. The open source community is available and willing to advise the Government on the best way of ensuring that tax payer money is used prudently for the benefit of this country. Ikua LPA-Kenya

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(no subject)
by Gabby Kaba 13 Jun '10

13 Jun '10

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Fwd: [afrinic members] IPv6 Deployment Survey 2010
by Adiel A. Akplogan 11 Jun '10

11 Jun '10

Dear friends, Your input to this survey will be appreciated. - a. Begin forwarded message: > From: "Adiel A. Akplogan" <adiel(a)afrinic.net> > Date: June 11, 2010 15:30:47 PM GMT+04:00 > To: member-discuss(a)afrinic.net > Subject: [afrinic members] IPv6 Deployment Survey 2010 > > Dear Colleagues, > > The IPv6 Deployment Monitoring Survey, based on what has been carried > out in the RIPE NCC and APNIC service regions in 2009, is now open and > available for the AfriNIC and other regions. The survey can be > accessed at: > > http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/IPv6deploymentmonitoring2010 > > The purpose of the 2010 survey is to better understand where the > community > is moving, and what can be done to ensure the Internet community is > ready > for the widespread adoption of IPv6. We encourage all organisations > in the > AfriNIC service region to participate in this survey, which we hope > will > establish a comprehensive view of present IPv6 penetration and > future plans > for IPv6 deployment. The survey is composed of 23 questions and can be > completed in about 15 minutes. For those without IPv6 allocations or > assignments, or who have not yet deployed IPv6, the questions will be > fewer in number. > > The survey will close on 1 July 2010. > > Results of the IPv6 Deployment Monitoring Survey will be presented and > discussed at AfriNIC-13, the next AfriNIC Public Policy Meeting, > scheduled > to take place 20 – 26 November 2010. > > Please provide your name and contact information on the survey form > if you > wish to receive the draft survey analysis when available. Please also > indicate whether you are willing to share additional data with the > TNO and > GNKS Consult IPv6 Deployment Monitoring team. > > We appreciate your time and interest in completing this survey. If > you have > any questions concerning the survey, please send an email to > <info(a)gnksconsult.com>. > > Link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/IPv6deploymentmonitoring2010 > > Sincerely, > > ----------------- > Adiel A. Akplogan > Chief Executive Officer > AfriNIC, www.afrinic.net

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Postal Corporation Closing Outlets
by robert yawe 11 Jun '10

11 Jun '10

Hi, It is with shock that I read about the closing of some of the post offices around the country by Postal Corporation. This is an indication of a management that has no vision or ambition maybe as a result of using the corporation as a retirement centre. With us trying to achieve universal access, http://www.cck.go.ke/services/universal_access/downloads/FinalUAreport.pdf, shutting down post offices is a step in the wrong direction. It is unfortunate that we have heard no reaction to this issue from the ministry of information, CCK or even Kenya ICTBoard. It is time Postal corporation was run by someone who understands the transitioning of the role of the postal corporation in the digital age, to me they are the perfect platform for rolling out digital villages, outsorucing service and e-commerce. This will avoid the appointment of executives who are more interested in the supply of fuel, tyres and insurance as opposed to moving the organisations to new heights. Implementation of e-mail to mail systems would reduce the costs of transport incurred by PCK which makes up over 60% of their operational costs. Unfortunately most of those who have been appointed to the post of post master general have no appreciation of the role of the postal services in the development of the nation. Do not listen to the myopic stories about the death of the postal service because of e-mail, facebok and twitter as you and I know that a physical item can never be delivered electronically. I believe the appointment of the next post master general and by extension the chief executive of the Kenya ICTBoard and CCK need to include vetting and recommendations from the private sector with clearly defined performance indicators. 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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Where is the nearest Lithuanian Embassy/Consulate in Kenya?
by Grace Bomu 11 Jun '10

11 Jun '10

Dear all, Although the IGF in Lithuania is about three months away, does anyone know where the nearest Embassy\Consulate of Lithuania is, where a Kenyan can apply for a visa? Regards, -- Grace L.N. Mutung'u (Bomu) Kenya

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Malta goes open source
by ikua＠lpakenya.org 09 Jun '10

09 Jun '10

Listers, The Government of Malta has issued a new directive instructing all of its agencies to give preference to the use of open source software (OSS) throughout government. According to the directive, Malta will adopt free software using the definition set by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and it says that, "Where it is not possible to make use of OSS in the implementation of solutions, appropriate evidence shall be made available." Here is the link: http://geek2live.blogspot.com/2010/06/malta-government-prefers-open-source.…

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carrier pre-selection
by Christoph Stork 08 Jun '10

08 Jun '10

Dear colleagues: Does any one know about any African country that has implemented carrier pre-selection or considers implementing it? South Africa is required to implement by law but has not done so. Thanks Christoph ____________________________________________ Dr. Christoph Stork Senior Researcher Research ICT Africa (RIA) The Studios, Unit 414, Old Castle Brewery 6 Beach Road, 7925, Woodstock, Cape Town, South Africa Phone: +27214476332 Fax: +27214479529 Mobile: +27849990002 Email: christoph.stork(a)gmail.com Web: http://www.researchictafrica.net

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Council Of Europe Wants In On ICANN Government Body
by alice 08 Jun '10

08 Jun '10

* 7 June 2010* http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2010/06/07/council-of-europe-wants-in-on-ica… Council Of Europe Wants In On ICANN Government Body The 47-member Council of Europe wants to become an observer in the governmental advisory body of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and is pondering on a possible role as secretariat provider for the ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC). ICANN is the technical oversight body for the internet domain name system. Following a declaration adopted by the CoE Council of Ministers on “enhanced participation of member states in internet governance matters” at the end of May, the CoE secretary general is now asked to “arrange that the CoE becomes an observer at ICANN’s GAC.” ICANN is seen by the CoE, who in recent years did address internet governance issues more and more, as playing “a key role in ensuring the operational stability, security and resilience of the internet.” According to the Council of Ministers, the GAC could help to ensure “that the management of internet resources by ICANN takes full account of international human rights law.” In addition, the secretary general of the CoE has also been asked “to explore, in consultation with the GAC, ICANN and other relevant stakeholders ways,” how the CoE could contribute to arranging the GAC secretariat, according to a CoE press release. For years, the GAC secretariat has rotated among various GAC member states. According to the declaration of the CoE Council of Ministers <https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1627399&Site=CM&BackColorInternet=C3C3C3…>, efforts are “currently underway to establish a competent, independent and more stable secretariat for GAC.” /By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch/

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African broadband boost spurs rise in spam output
by alice 08 Jun '10

08 Jun '10

Story URL: <http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/networking/2010/05/27/african-broadband-boost-s…> (Link to the report <http://www.messagelabs.co.uk/mlireport/MLI_2010_05_May_FINAL_EN.pdf> Africa from page 8) African broadband boost spurs rise in spam output By Matthew Broersma, 27 May 2010 16:48 An undersea cable laid off the coast of east Africa last year has led to a boom in spam coming from the region, according to a new study from Symantec. A cable laid last summer boosted the broadband connectivity to countries along the country's eastern coast in July last year, Symantec noted in its May 2010 MessageLabs Intelligence Report, published on Wednesday. The consequent rise in broadband availability has given spammers access to a new source of machines for their botnets, it said. "Historically, broadband adoption has been a tipping point for spammers to acquire more bots," said MessageLabs analyst Paul Wood, in a statement. "The new undersea fibre optic cable along the east coast of Africa has enabled rapid growth in the number of users obtaining high-speed connections to the internet, creating a great opportunity for attackers to infect new machines and create new bots." There has been a significant rise in spam coming from Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, Symantec said. Spam output from those east African countries has risen by 7.2, 6.3 and 5.7 times, respectively, compared with levels seen a year ago. The more you know about the likely avenues of cybercrime attack, the better you can protect yourself against them, says Alan Calder While the majority of African spam still originates from outside of the eastern region, the new cable boosted eastern Africa's proportion of the continent's spam to 19 percent, up from 13 percent. Meanwhile, the proportion of spam coming from the rest of Africa decreased from 86 percent to 80 percent, Symantec said. Overall, spam originating from Africa rose by 1.2 billion junk messages per day. Africa now originates three percent of spam worldwide, up from just under two percent a year ago, according to the report. Earlier this week, VeriSign iDefense reported that botnets are available for hire for as little as $8.94 (£6.04) per hour, emphasising how little financial muscle or technical expertise is needed to carry out attacks. Worldwide, the Symantec study found that in May phishing scam emails accounted for one in 237.1 emails, or 0.42 percent, up 0.2 percentage points on April. Phishing emails represented 80.6 percent of all email-borne threats, up 10.3 percentage points on April. The UK remained the country against which the most phishing attacks were directed, with one in 121.8 phishing emails aimed at British systems, Symantec said.

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Global award scheme for innovative Digital content
by Gakiria 08 Jun '10

08 Jun '10

Dear All, The World Summit Youth award (WSYA) selects and promotes best practice in e-Content and technological creativity, demonstrates young people’s potential to create outstanding digital contents, and is a showcase to the world for young e-content creators, journalists and writers, application designers, and technologists. For application details, follow the link below.. http://www.youthaward.org/en_press_media-coverage.html Gakiria Andrew Kenya eLearning Centre

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The urgent case for a Regional Internet Exchange Point (RIXP)
by Harry Delano 08 Jun '10

08 Jun '10

Listers, I have noticed, that while all laudable efforts in speeding up our broadband connectivity to the rest of the world hits top gear, saddeningly regional local interconnectivity lags behind. Why is this so...? For instance reaching a branch office located in Tanzania from their Kenya HQ office,or vice versa means traffic transits out from our cyberspace to some international exchange point somwhere in London, hits the return trip back via some other Link to Dar. This especially affects VOIP connectivity and quality, between interconnected offices, and other services that rely on good QOS. This, especially while we are working on the economic, Social, and perhaps Political intergration of the Comesa block seems to fly in the face of the major milestones that have been achieved in the Telecommunication sectors of the member countries, and I strongly suggest the industry addresses this urgently. We need a Regional Internet Exchange point set up. Perhaps name it COMESA-IXP or something. But one thing is clear; the more we each send traffic destined locally on a roundtrip to Europe or elsewhere and back, means we incur huge transiting costs in the process, which dollars that we export out should be be used to expand and develop our local & Regional interconnection capacity.. I think, this is an issue worth being addressed and I'd be interested to discuss this more with anyone interested to drive this forward. Anyone..? Regards, Harry

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UBUNTUNET ALLIANCE FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATION NETWORKING, ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE POSITION OF TECHNICAL MANAGER
by alice 07 Jun '10

07 Jun '10

Technical Manager Advert Released June 7th 2010 Submission should be by email to: ceo(a)ubuntunet.net UBUNTUNET ALLIANCE FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATION NETWORKING ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE POSITION OF TECHNICAL MANAGER UbuntuNet Alliance for Research and Education Networking is a regional member-owned organisation whose mission is to secure affordable high speed regional and international connectivity as well as efficient ICT access and usage for African NRENs. Detailed documentation about the Alliance and its operations can be found at www.ubuntunet.net. The Alliance currently has twelve members, being the National Research and Education Networks of Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, DRC, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, and South Africa. The Alliance has a POP in London through which it connects to the European regional research and education network GÉANT and to the comercial cloud. An increasing number of member NRENs are getting connected to the POP. Over the next twelve months, the Alliance will be fully defining and procuring its regional network, to be followed by operations during the course of the subsequent twelve months. To support and enable both design and operations, the Alliance would like recruit a Technical Manager as envisaged in the Policy and Master Plan. The Technical Manager (TM), reporting to the CEO, will provide vision and strategic leadership in the use of technology to further the Alliance’s vision and strategic objectivesand will also have overall responsibility for management, control and maintenance of the Alliance’s ICT resources to enable the achievement of the service levels of client research and education networks. The TM will be specifically responsible for (key results areas): 􀁺 Strategic and tactical development, implementation and evaluation of technology policies and programmes to support and enhance the academic and research collaboration among UbuntuNet members as well as other Regional RENs; 􀁺 Leadership of the UbuntuNet Alliance Network Engineering Group (UNEG) responsible for technology architecture, strategy, and design; 􀁺 Design, procurement and implementation as well as management, control, and maintenance of all ICT resources; 􀁺 Negotiation and management of contracts with suppliers; 􀁺 Formulation and Management of Service Level Agreements with both vendors and clients consistent with the overall service level targets of the Alliance, and provide/oversee the technical resources to fulfil agreed service levels; 􀁺 Maintaining professional contacts with other stakeholders and vendors concerning ICT. Person Profile The Technical Manager will be a person: i. With at least five years experience in the implementation as well as management, control, and maintenance of large (multi-campus or national) data communication network(s); ii. Who possesses management and leadership experience that would enable them to interface, on behalf of the Alliance, with the different clients and stake holders; iii. Having the skills to deputise for the CEO of the Alliance. iv. Holding a Bachelors degree in engineering with major focus on telecommunication engineering/internetworking. Related qualifications like the CCNP; or relevant qualifications and research at the Masters and PhD level will be added advantages. The Board may consider a track record of expertise and delivery at the internet engineering level in lieu of formal qualifications at any level. v. With excellent report writing, oral communication, and presentation skills vi. With experience in the development, application, implementation and reporting for grant funded projects. Applicants should note the following: i. Preference will be given to applicants who are normally resident in countries where there is a member NREN to maximise opportunities for initial engagement without physical relocation. ii. The employment will be on contract terms for a period to be agreed with the successful candidate, renewable based on performance and mutual agreement. iii. Applications with CVs and capability statements should be submitted as pdf documents by 2000hrs East African Standard Time on the 9th of July 2010. The application should include the applicant’s current and expected salary and benefits. iv. Submission should be by email to: ceo(a)ubuntunet.net

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Fwd: Barcamp Nairobi/Wherecamp Africa
by Phares Kariuki 07 Jun '10

07 Jun '10

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Phares Kariuki <pkariuki(a)gmail.com> Date: Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 9:12 AM Subject: Barcamp Nairobi/Wherecamp Africa To: Skunkworks forum <skunkworks(a)lists.my.co.ke> Hi, Event is 55% booked. Kindly register for planning purposes. http://www.barcampnairobi.com/?page_id=21 <http://www.barcampnairobi.com/?page_id=21>Thanks, -- With Regards, Phares Kariuki | T: +254 734 810 802 | E: pkariuki(a)gmail.com | Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares | -- With Regards, Phares Kariuki | T: +254 734 810 802 | E: pkariuki(a)gmail.com | Twitter: kaboro | Skype: kariukiphares |

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[Fwd: Symantec Latest Internet Security Threat Report]
by alice 06 Jun '10

06 Jun '10

Dear all, Please see attached the latest Symantec security threat report, which provides an up to date on line threat environment around the world. best alice

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FOSSFA project manager
by alice＠apc.org 04 Jun '10

04 Jun '10

FOSSFA is looking for an enthusiastic African, currently living in Africa to serve the Foundation as Project Manager. Location for FOSSFA project Manager is preferably Accra, Ghana, however, the Manager may opt to work from his or her home base. TERM:12 months of initial contract. Renewable Full information : http://fossfa.net/node/106 Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone from Zain Kenya

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Announcement: Local Content and Software Applications Grant
by Lucy Odhiambo 03 Jun '10

03 Jun '10

Dear Listers, The Kenya ICT Board is pleased to announce the launch a Local Content and Software Applications Grant. A call for proposals was advertised this morning. Successful applicants will receive grants of up to US$ 50,000 for firms and US$ 10,000 for individuals. All Tandaa Participants are encouraged to submit proposals for consideration for the Local Content and Software Applications Grant. There are two grant opportunities. They include: 1. Government Information Portal This Grant Component will support the development of the existing Government information portal (www.information.go.ke) developed by the Ministry of Information and Communication. There is increased demand for the development of web and mobile based information services that provide Government agencies and the public with readily accessible and transparent content and data. The grant will be utilized for developing: a) Specific content and applications b) Innovative new content and applications c) Urban and rural community based applications 2. Private sector content and applications including SMS and IVR and e-Services This Grants Component will support the development, roll out and scale-up of content and applications including SMS/IVR and e-Services. The purpose of this grant is to support individuals and firms to develop innovative communications and information applications that utilize web and mobile technologies. This grant is open to firms and individuals in the private sector who are interested in developing applications that would be of benefit to the general public or improve the delivery of existing services. The grant will cover the expenses for service and content development as well as awareness building. Grant Amount The grant will be limited to a maximum of USD 50,000 for firms and USD 10,000 for individuals. The single currency for price conversions is Kenya Shillings, the source of official selling rates is Central Bank of Kenya and the date of exchange rates is the date of Call for Proposals advertisement. Application Forms * Online Application Forms for Firms <https://fs12.formsite.com/KenyaICTBoard/form040946701/form_login.html> * Online Application Forms for Individuals <https://fs12.formsite.com/KenyaICTBoard/form457837001/form_login.html> Questions? For more information: * Visit: www.ict.go.ke * Send an email to: grants(a)ict.go.ke * Call us on: 020 2394244 All the best! Regards, Kenya ICT Board Local Content Grants Team Lucy Gachui Odhiambo, Communications Manager Kenya ICT Board PO Box 27150 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya 12th Floor, Teleposta Towers , Kenyatta Avenue Entrance Tel +254 20 2089061, +254 737 839 047 Fax: +254 20 2211962 website: www.ict.go.ke Vision: Kenya becomes a top ten global ICT hub Mission: To champion and actively enable Kenya to adopt and exploit ICT, through promotion of partnerships, investments and infrastructure growth for socio economic enrichment

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Lessons from Idlelo4
by ikua＠lpakenya.org 03 Jun '10

03 Jun '10

Dear Listers, I have always wondered why it is that it is mainly the rich and developed/developing nations that see the value of adopting open source in their governments. I was reminded of this in the just concluded Idlelo4 conference in Accra, where we were shown a study conducted by the Centre for Strategic International Studies (CSIS.org) The poor nations are still paying the price of proprietary software. Read more on my blog here: http://www.ict-innovation.fossfa.net/blog/ikua

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Formal candidate search for DOT Kenya IBM CSC PM
by alice 02 Jun '10

02 Jun '10

Applications and enquiries should be submitted to Heather Marshall, DOT Global, by email: HMarshall(a)dotrust.org * Digital Opportunity Trust Kenya* Experienced Program Manager IBM Corporate Service Corps Program – Nairobi Closing Date: 16 June 2010 IBM has developed a new employee leadership initiative called the Corporate Service Corps. The Corporate Service Corps Program is designed to help enhance global economic opportunity, provide more access to education resources and to work on environmental issues. IBM's Corporate Service Corps will gather teams of IBM Leaders with a diversity of skills, drawn from different countries and business units and place them in emerging markets to tackle important social and economic issues in collaboration with NGO partners from around the world. The IBM Leaders will work on projects of significant value in developing countries, in four-week assignments. These teams will tackle real societal, educational and economic challenges, while at the same time experiencing a diverse cultural perspective and enhancing their skills and leadership competencies. Under the Corporate Service Corps, IBM will deploy IBM Leaders in teams of 8-10 people for a four-week in-country, on-the-ground experience. The onthe- ground experience will be extended by a period of pre-work to familiarize the volunteer with the local culture and language of their destination country as well as the content of the project on which they have been assigned to work. The experience will be followed by a post-work period intended for sharing the experience inside and possibly outside of the company. Digital Opportunity Trust (DOT) has been selected by IBM as a Global Implementation Partner for IBM’s new Corporate Service Corps (CSC) Program. DOT is already implementing the CSC program in Turkey, China and Egypt. DOT began operations in Kenya in 2005 and has been registered as a local non-profit organization since 2007, with head offices in Nairobi. DOT Kenya is part of an international network of DOT country programs that report to DOT global headquarters based in Ottawa, Canada (http://dotrust.org/) Through its core economic programs DOT Kenya works with Community Based Organizations and education institutions to build ICT and business skills capacity of vulnerable groups (women, youth, unemployed) and micro and small enterprises in selected communities to increase their employment and income-generation opportunities. DOT Kenya is a young, agile and rapidly growing organization with a proven track record and community of local partners. The next few years will be a period of both dynamic growth and institutional and program innovation. To contribute to the management of this continuing growth, DOT Kenya is now seeking to hire an experienced program manager to join its small but committed team in Nairobi. * The Position* The Project Manager will assume a key role within the management team for IBM CSC program. The Project Manager will provide leadership and assume responsibility in the following areas: 1) Leading the planned expansion of IBM’s new Corporate Service Corps (CSC) Program in Kenya (implemented by DOT) 2) Ensuring Operational Impact of projects and Monitoring and Evaluation 3) Facilitating knowledge sharing and coordination within the IBM and DOT international networks and regional/international program networks. *Duty Station & Reporting *o Duty Station: DOT Kenya Office in Nairobi o Reporting: The Project Manager will have a reporting relationship with DOT Vice-President, Istanbul, Turkey. * Duties and Responsibilities *The key responsibilities of the Project Manager will include: 1. IBM’s new Corporate Service Corps (CSC) Program in Kenya: a. Manages overall operations and in-country implementation of IBM Corporate Service Corps (CSC) Program in Kenya. Specific responsibilities include: selection of cities for program deployments, management of relationships with host partner organizations in selected cities, development of detailed Statements of Work for IBM assignments, management of briefing, logistics and socio-cultural program and overall promotion and execution in-country CSC program experience in Kenya. b. Active team member in DOT’s liaison with senior IBM CSC executive managers in London (UK) and Washington (USA) re planning and contribution to the CSC Program Pre-Service and Post-Service work experiences for each of the CSC team deployments. c. Active team member in planning and coordinating DOT input into IBM communications, knowledge sharing and security strategies for the IBM CSC program. d. Builds and manages relationships with key IBM CSC program stakeholders (both at regional/national level) e. Develops a Communications and Public Relations strategy for DOT (in consultation with IBM) to raise awareness of the program in Kenya 2. Operational Impact and Monitoring & Evaluation a. Responsible for operational impact of projects (i.e. CSC program, Identifies budget, personnel and risk issues as they arise and provides recommendations to DOT Regional Executive to address operational issues b. Ensure project plans and targets are met (CSC Program,) ensures successful delivery of projects; reviews progress frequently and prepares required progress reports for DOT c. Regularly communicates to DOT Regional Executive to provide program updates, as well as act as a point of contact for project partners. 3. Knowledge Sharing and Coordination a. Participate in monthly DOT international management team knowledge sharing and coordination meetings (as Kenya country lead) b. Participate in DOT regional or international knowledge sharing events and workshops (contingent on available funding) c. Develop options for deepening and expanding the project partnership in Kenya and potentially globally * Preferred skills, qualifications, experience, and language requirements* • Degree in business, economics, international development, international relations or another relevant field, with strong academic performance. • Preferably Master’s degree in business, social sciences and/or computer science or related field • At least five successful years experience formally managing projects or programs • Trained in project management methodologies • Has managed teams of ten or larger on projects longer than one year • Background includes detailed budget management & measurement reporting • Ability to broker and convene productive coalitions between business, government and development partners, experience in building strategic relationships and networks (in Kenya and internationally) • Sound understanding of economic and business development situation in Kenya • Fluent in English *• The following would be strong assets:* o on-the-ground experience related to issues of economic development and entrepreneurship o highly motivated, strong work ethic and desire/ability to develop new programs o good coach, skills transfer, detailed, dedicated, problem solver, risk manager, prioritization, interested in Flexible work arrangements o interest/desire to collaborate with other countries/programs internationally *Personal Characteristics* • Possess a strong spirit for community service and share DOT Kenya’s passion to contribute to a better Kenya; • Have a preference for an entrepreneurial and agile work environment. Flexible, comfortable with ambiguity and receptive to new ideas; • Be results driven. Motivated by a high sense of personal performance expectations and have a sense of urgency. Be a role model whose personal performance inspires others; • Be strategic. Able to translate opportunity into program strategy; • Have excellent interpersonal and communications skills. A comfortable leader and consensus builder, a team player; • A knowledgeable promoter of the role of technology in modern economic development and formal and informal education; • Have highest personal ethics. A person who demonstrates integrity and is a model of ethical values and behavior at all times. * Duration of Contract* • 12 months • Start: immediate *Compensation* DOT Kenya is a non-profit organization that recognizes that change is driven by involving the best people. Salary will be commensurate with experience. For More Information Closing date: 16 June 2010. *Applications and enquiries should be submitted *to Heather Marshall, DOT Global, by email: HMarshall(a)dotrust.org. Applications should include a cover letter, current curriculum vitae and the names and coordinates of three references. References will not be contacted without prior consent. DOT Kenya will contact only those candidates who are invited for interview. >

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EAST AFRICAN INTERNET GOVERNANCE FORUM 2010; STRENGTHENING EAST AFRICA’S CRITICAL INTERNET RESOURCES 11-13 August 2010, Kampala, Uganda.
by alice 02 Jun '10

02 Jun '10

*_EAST AFRICAN INTERNET GOVERNANCE FORUM 2010;_* *_STRENGTHENING EAST AFRICA’S CRITICAL INTERNET RESOURCES 11-13 August 2010, Kampala, Uganda._* * * ** The 2010 East African Internet Governance Forum (2010 EA-IGF) will take place on 11-13 August, 2010 at the Imperial Royale hotel in Kampala, Uganda. This third EA-IGF is hosted by the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), I-Network Uganda, Collaboration on International ICT policy for East and Southern (CIPESA), and Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET). Under the theme “*Strengthening East Africa’s Critical Internet Resources”*, participants will this year address and discuss the governance of Critical Internet Resources (CIRs) in East Africa. Particular focus has been given to three key CIRs that have been identified as cross-cutting.Past EA-IGFs identified issues of *ccTLD management and ownership, transitioning to IPv6, and the importance of national and regional IXPs* as crosscutting issues that needed to be addressed both at the national and regional levels. The 2010 meeting will therefore provide comprehensive consideration to addressing ccTLD management in East Africa. Research findings on ccTLDs will be shared based on the five priority issues effecting ccTLDs identified by the 2008 and 2009 EA-IGFs; Cybercrime, Policy and Regulation of ccTLDs, ccTLDs and consumer rights, and key issues that affect access to Broadband and Internet and how these affect the management and coordination of ccTLDs. The challenges and effective strategies for transitioning to IPv6 will also be discussed. This year’s access theme will examine the status of broadband in East Africa, noting achievements, hurdles to be overcome and plans for the immediate future. Security and privacy session will address Cybercrime and how it affects women differently among other Cybercrime concerns. The 2010 EA-IGF will introduce a new session focusing on emerging issues for the Internet society of East Africa. Policy and regulatory framework issues around cross-border/regional ICT certification and the role of youth in advancing the Internet Governance debate in East Africa. The meeting will also discuss the review and future of the global UN IGF process. The EA-IGF supports the continuation and extension of the mandate of the IGF and also supports Kenya’s expression of interest in hosting the 2011 IGF A *parliamentary and IG session* will be held on 13 August and will review the declarations made during the 2009 EA-IGF held in Nairobi as well as address emerging IG issues. The session will be attended by parliamentarians from the five East African countries as well as from the United Kingdom. The outcomes of the EA-IGF will be submitted to the fifth UN Internet Governance Forum taking place in Vilnius, Lithuania 14 – 17, September 2010. Further, the proceedings will be presented at other national and regional forums in Africa. For each thematic session, representatives from each country will provide their national perspective on the theme, identifying/sharing key issues, challenges and recommendations. *What is the EA-IGF*** The EA-IGF was convened in 2008 by the Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) as a multi-stakeholder process with the aim of ensuring meaningful participation of East African internet stakeholders in internet governance policy processes. The EA-IGF is open to representatives from government, civil society, academia, private sector, media, consumer groups, other entities and individuals interested in Internet Governance issues. This regional IGF process brings together participants from Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Burundi and South Sudan to identify, explore and build consensus around common Internet policy priority issues in the region. The EA-IGF model sees each country begin the process with online discussions to identify the Internet policy issues most important to them, followed by a face-to-face national IGF meeting. These national processes then fed into the regional meeting, the EA-IGF. The outcomes of the national and regional processes have then been very successfully shared at two global IGFs. While the EA-IGF is informed by IGF it does not mimic the global process. The national IGFs, which form the building block for the regional EA-IGF, identify issues that are unique and important to their local situations and needs. The goal of the EA-IGF is to create a Community of Practice that will be a sustaining foundation for meaningful participation of East African stakeholders in Internet public policy debates at the national, regional and international level. *The 2010 EA-IGF is supported by* · Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) · Collaboration on International ICT policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) · I-Network Uganda · Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) · International Development and Research Centre (IDRC) · Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) · Nominet United Kingdom · AT&T · AfriNic · AfTLD · Internet Society (ISOC) · Centre for Global Communications (GLOCOM) · Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) · Internet Governance Forum (UN-IGF) *To register for this event or obtain additional information, please visit the meeting website at **http://www.eaigf.or.ke*

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KENIC is wanting
by robert yawe 31 May '10

31 May '10

Hi, How safe is .ke if the servers have questionable security certificates, it seems we are taking this ctld issues very lightly. After attending ICANN I am now more informed about the importance of secure servers and the costs of lax dns issues. 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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Fwd: FW: Survey of National Cyber Security and CERT Capacity in Africa
by waudo siganga 31 May '10

31 May '10

Dear Colleagues - The International Cyber Center (ICC) at George Mason University and our survey co-sponsors Africa Union and WITSA are conducting a survey to determine current state of national cyber security and CERT capacity in Africa. This survey is intended to promote understanding of the needs and requirements of the region and provide a basis to engage key public and private stakeholders whose participation, support and action are critical to progress in this area. ICC will follow up the survey with a series of workshops in Africa during 2010 and 2011. Anonymized results of the survey will be published on the ICC website. We seek input from all stakeholders - government, industry, academia and civil society - in the Africa region. Given their unique roles, participation by government, critical infrastructures and industries (including banks, utilities, and manufacturing) are of particular interest. The survey is at http://internationalcybercenter.org/Home/africasurvey . The password is CERT-AFRICA . We request that you complete the survey by the end of May 2010. Finally, recognizing that responses from a broad cross section of stakeholders will enhance the survey results, we encourage you to forward this invitation to others with interest in the cyber security in Africa so that they too may participate in the survey. Thank you for your participation. Sincerely, Arun Arun Sood, PhD, Prof Computer Science and co-Director International Cyber Center Andy Purdy, co-Director International Cyber Center Joseph Richardson, Senior Fellow International Cyber Center

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SMS becomes e-mail and chat – Safaricom implements new service and others will follow shortly
by alice 31 May '10

31 May '10

(From Balancing Act) SMS becomes e-mail and chat – Safaricom implements new service and others will follow shortly In issue 452 in May 2009 we asked what the difference was between e-mail and SMS? Answer: A different interface and one has a far more limited length of message. The moment has now arrived at which the distinction between the two will now become completely blurred. Russell Southwood talks to Jeremy George, the COO of ForgetMeNot Africa about the implementation of a new service called Kipokezi which has just launched with Safaricom. ForgetMeNot Africa’s implementation means that all standard phones that can SMS can be turned into phones that can use e-mail and chat. The company sets up a gateway for the operator that translates SMS into e-mail and vice-versa. So for example, if your message is longer than a single SMS it will go out as two linked SMS messages and it will also be possible to send it to e-mail addresses. Users need to register but there is a simple “auto-register” procedure. The user then simply simply adds a contact and gets a number to send the e-mail to. The user can also set up a chat with another user by just adding “chat”. Everyone registered gets their own e-mail address which is “Yournumber(a)safaricom.com So now 15 million mobile phone subscribers in Kenya – over a third of the country’s population - will now be able to access email and online chat regardless of the make and model of their mobile phone. The new Kipokezi service is being rolled out by Kenya’s largest telecoms operator, Safaricom, suppliers of mobile phone connectivity for almost 9 in 10 Kenyan mobile phone subscribers. Safaricom CEO, Michael Joseph pointed out that it has been “the price of Internet-ready phones that has kept many Kenyans off the web,a trend we are determined to Change”. According to the company, 3.5 million out of the 5 million Kenyans who access the Internet do so through their 3G network. He believes that it will be widely used by the tech-savvy youth of Kenya, particularly for chat services like MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, Windows Live and Gtalk so that users can send and receive messages and invitations globally. The only downside is that if your message is two SMSs long, you pay for two SMSs to send it but you pay nothing to receive it. However, Safaricom’s tariff for chat is a third of the cost for e-mail as most chat messages are shorter. Another network ForgetMeNot Africa is working with is looking at a chat tariff that will be one sixth of the e-mail rate. So is the service being picked up anywhere else on the continent? Econet Lesotho implemented it at the end of last year and has already got a “high single figures percentage figure registered” out of their total subscriber base. ForgetMeNot Africa is also working with another half dozen operators on implementation: one in Southern Africa (which is just a few weeks away from launch); a couple in West Africa; and a couple in East Africa (which are at the trial stage). In several previous stories in the last year, we have talked about how the Internet in Africa will gain “critical mass” over the next two years. The blurring of the distinction between SMS and e-mail is another clear step in that direction. Users just want to communicate and they want to be able to do that as easily as possible.

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