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Re: [kictanet] Niche Markets
by Luvisia Bakuli 15 Jun '09

15 Jun '09

For those looking for niche areas, the following article might generate some ideas. DBL ____________________ June 15, 2009 I.B.M. to Help Clients Fight Cost and Complexity By STEVE LOHR In 2000, the Linux operating system was a hot technology, but it had not spread much beyond scientists, researchers and computer programmers. Then I.B.M. declared that it would back Linux with investment, research and marketing, and the technology moved swiftly into the corporate mainstream. The same thing happened with the personal computer in the early 1980s, when I.B.M. endorsed that upstart technology and entered the market. Starting this week, I.B.M. is returning to the same playbook, introducing some initial products and services and a roadmap for its stable of corporate and government customers to comfortably embrace cloud computing. Cloud computing — in which vast stores of information and processing resources can be tapped from afar, over the Internet, using a personal computer, cellphone or other device — holds great promise in the corporate market. The cloud model, analysts say, has the potential to cut the costs, complexity and headaches of technology for companies and government agencies. Already, Amazon.com, Google and Salesforce.com, among others, offer cloud-based Web services to companies, including e-mail, computer storage and customer management software. But many big companies and government agencies have been reluctant to get on board because of traditional corporate-computing concerns like the security of data, reliability of service and regulatory compliance. “I.B.M. knows how to do all of those things,” said Frank Gens, chief analyst for IDC, a technology research firm. “Its strategy is all about making cloud computing safe for enterprise customers.” Even if I.B.M. succeeds in its bid to make cloud computing more palatable for big corporations, there is no guarantee that it will be the main beneficiary of the trend. After I.B.M. helped create the PC industry, lower-cost competitors ended up dominating the business. In the cloud market, I.B.M. plans to take a tailored approach. The hardware and software in its cloud offerings will be meant for specific computing chores. Just as Google runs a computing cloud optimized for Internet search, I.B.M. will make bespoke clouds for computing workloads in business. Its early cloud entries, to be announced on Monday, follow that model. One set of offerings is focused on streamlining the technology used by corporate software developers and testers, which can consume 30 percent or more of a company’s technology resources. The second set is virtual desktop services, in which personal computer software, either from Microsoft or open-source alternatives, is run on remote servers and piped to simple desktop machines equipped with screens and keyboards. I.B.M. found in tests with clients that such virtual PCs, with little desktop processing or storage, can use 70 percent less power than conventional PCs and reduce technical support costs by up to 40 percent,. Both the software development and desktop services are being offered as an integrated bundle of hardware and software for a cloud running inside a corporate or government data center, or as a cloud service hosted in an I.B.M. data center. Other offerings are planned, I.B.M. executives said, including clouds fine-tuned for data storage, and clouds for business analytics, which is software that analyzes data for patterns of customer behavior, market trends and other potentially valuable information. I.B.M. calls its approach of fine-tuning hardware and software for specific jobs “hybrid computing.” And it will open a Hybrid Computing Research lab later this year, inviting industry and university scientists to work cooperatively on new application-specific designs intended to improve performance by 100 to 1,000 times compared with today’s systems. The fresh look at computer design is being prompted by the surge in Internet data, from social networking to smartphone applications to sensors monitoring food shipments and electrical use. By 2011, IDC estimates, there will be one trillion Internet-connected devices, up from 500 million in 2006. “This huge explosion of data is driving a movement to design systems around workloads because it is the only way to deliver the computation needed, and it’s far more energy-efficient,” said Kunle Olukotun, a computer scientist at Stanford. I.B.M. had an initiative, begun in early 2008, called Blue Cloud, which mainly involved adapting its server computers for cloud technology. Most major technology suppliers have cloud-related hardware and software products, including Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems and Dell. But I.B.M., analysts say, is going further by offering simplified, integrated stacks of hardware and software, as well as cloud services. I.B.M.’s cloud strategy, the company said, is the culmination of 100 prototype projects with companies and government agencies over the last year, and its research partnership with Google. “The information technology infrastructure is under stress already, and the data flood is just accelerating,” said Samuel J. Palmisano, I.B.M.’s chief executive. “We’ve decided that how you solve that starts by organizing technology around the workload.” One of I.B.M.’s test beds for cloud computing has been the Interior Department’s National Business Center, a service center that handles payroll, human relations, financial reporting, contracting services and other computing tasks for dozens of federal agencies. The center runs two large data centers, one in Northern Virginia and another outside Denver. Douglas J. Bourgeois, the center’s director, said he is introducing several cloud-style applications over the next nine months including Web-based training, and staffing and recruitment software. And in tests with financial and procurement software, the cloud-computing environment has delivered efficiencies of 40 to 60 percent in productivity and power consumption, he said. “For us, like other data centers, the volume of data continues to explode,” Mr. Bourgeois said. “We want to solve some of those problems with cloud computing, so we don’t have to build another $20 million data center.” Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

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Re: [kictanet] Day 10/11 of 12- BPO Discussions, Strengths and Weaknesses (Observations from USA and UK); and Trends and Niches
by Wainaina Mungai 15 Jun '09

15 Jun '09

Well, I am a mwananchi wa kawaida first...then a media or ICT person. Thinking as a mwananchi, i'd prefer a media that listens to wananchi. The bit that is similar in both govt&media is the insistence that they "speak for us" but neither wants to "listen to us". Listen to the IDPs and you'd temper the politics and focus on development. Listen to the hungry youth and you'd discuss solutions - not (only) point fingers. That said, it's not a media versus government war. It's meant to be engagement in various ways so as to achieve the good for mwananchi. However - most of our media is part of the 'capritalist class' being vilified by some. Resilience must be our greatest strength as a nation. Wainaina On 6/15/09, dmakali(a)yahoo.com <dmakali(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > I wonder, does the media report for outsiders or kenyans who need the info > to make decisions in their daily lives? We live right here and the media has > a duty to report reality not make-believe propaganda for foreign investors. > Government shud fix the corruption, insecurity, infrastructure etc to create > an environment for investment not plead with the media to abdicate its > obligation to report accurately. If it did that it would be an accomplice in > deception. No need burying our heads in the sand for short term gain. > I have been to many countries and nothing tells me the kenyan media is > crazy, save for common professional shortcomings. If govt functioned half as > much as the media in the pursuit of greater kenya, we wud be far! > Last nite hundreds of pepole, me included, were stranded at moi airport in > msa because there were no lights on the runway so no planes could land or > take off. > I dont know how many pple missed their connecting international flights but > that does more damage to investor confidence than crime reports. I read > those everywhere i go but not about airports that have no lights. And that > takes just a generator. Or is that among the unspecified services that the > mysterious 1.5b in the budget will cater for? Long shot. > Bottomline- the media cant just be improvised to promote the interests of > the business and capitalist class. There is the rest of us citizens whose > welfare, life and worries too must be reported. Besides, it will be the same > media that will be whipped for keeping quiet when things were going wrong. > Remember the election fiasco? Yes, better blame the media now rather than > later for not warning of the danger lurking in our midst. Dont beseech the > media to join in the collective national amnesia and deception of the world. > Ask the govt to deal with the issues. > > David > Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device > > -----Original Message----- > From: bitange(a)jambo.co.ke > > Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:37:06 > To: <dmakali(a)yahoo.com> > Cc: 'KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions'<kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 10/11 of 12- BPO Discussions, Strengths > andWeaknesses (Observations from USA and UK); and Trends and Niches > > > Listers, > Please take a moment and see what is on-line from our papers today and > understand what I am trying to say. You cannot convince even our people > in the diaspora to invest in Kenya. Compare that with what SA has on the > web from their papers. They have managed their violence especially on > foreingners well even as it continues. We are showing machetes to > investors without critical analysis and how we see the future of our > country. > > The few potential investors I met this morning are distgusted with what > they see. Allow me to request my brother Linus who is on this list to > remove the picture please. > > > Ndemo. > > > > > > >> Dr. Ndemo, >> >> I stopped watching news in the local media a while back. Too much negative >> stuff affecting the peace and tranquility I expect in my home. >> >> There is a lot of crime in S.A. yet the country is geared to host the >> World >> Cup come next year. How are they working to make it a success? >> >> I support you fully. It is high time we Kenyans started to think >> nationally >> as a nation. To look at the positives. We live in a real world and >> things >> will not always be perfect in any country, Kenya included. >> Therefore we should promote the positive aspects of Kenya first before we >> can expect outsiders to support us. >> >> >> Sammy Buruchara >> CEO NairobiNet Ltd >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: kictanet-bounces+sammy=opensystems.co.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >> [mailto:[email protected]] On >> Behalf Of bitange(a)jambo.co.ke >> Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 12:11 PM >> To: sammy(a)opensystems.co.ke >> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions >> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 10/11 of 12- BPO Discussions, Strengths >> andWeaknesses (Observations from USA and UK); and Trends and Niches >> >> Prof. >> We should understand the impact of internet better. Our papers are >> on-line and they contribute the greatest content out there. A potential >> investor trying to surf the net, gets mostly negative information. I am >> not against our media but they could do better in setting the agenda. A >> few examples may help here. >> >> It is not only Kenya that has suffered the youth bulge. This is something >> that has affected countries world over. The US suffered in the 1930's >> leading the country to get rid of the problem by investing heavily on >> public works and the war. In China they put much of their people into >> labour intensive public works (roads, energy, ICTs ets). While they did >> this they also suffered a high rate of crime. This is how the Al Capones >> came up. Italy has had a mafia crisis over a long period of time but the >> media there did not only focus on crime. They suggested economic >> solutions that have helped reduce crime in the south go down. When we >> write about mungiki, we should also suggest a way forward. We must also >> create hope for our people because we are all responsible for what happens >> in our land. >> >> The recent US elections were all about hope that things will change. Look >> at the Uhuru Budget. It was a budget of hope. But read our yesterday >> papers. While one Media house attempted to create hope. The other >> focused on hopelessness - "the devil is in the details" - yet for once we >> were united in hope for our future. I had expected many positive >> headlines out of the budget but I was disappointed. This is a budget we >> should have leveraged to create a new Kenya. A Kenya where we all have >> hope. It gave us our much a waited new constitution. That we can devolve >> our resources based on the districts. That we may not need to dismantle a >> constitution that has relatively served us well for more than 40 years. >> That we may need only Parliament to amend only the governance aspects of >> our constitution as many civilized countries do. This where media had a >> chance to set the agenda for this country but they have yet again wasted >> the opportunity. It is not too late for them to bring hope. The Vision >> 2030 can be achieved if we all agree that it will bring the desired >> change. >> >> I am glad we deviated a little but this discussion will shape our future >> policies. Where we all respect one another. >> >> Regards >> >> >> Ndemo. >> >> >>> Dr. Ndemo, >>> >>> You have captured very well the problem with us Kenyans. At the same >>> time, >>> it is important to acknowledge that we have very many people who are >>> positive and are doing very good things for this country. But they are >>> drowned by the bad elements amongst us. However, things will not change >>> if >>> we do not make a deliberate change intervention. According to me, it >>> will >>> be >>> almost impossible to achieve V2030 with this attitude. We must change.I >>> strongly believe that there is a 4th pillar that V2030 conceptualization >>> missed - NATIONAL COHESION. It is what is required to move forward and >>> fulfil the other plans. We could therefore argue that we need to sell >>> Kenya >>> to Kenyans before we go out to foreigners. Otherwise all the positive >>> messages that will be put out there in selling Kenya to investors by >>> whoever >>> (assuming we can get this right in the first instance) will soon be >>> negated >>> by the bad attitudes that you speak of. And who said Kenya must be >>> developed >>> by outsiders? >>> >>> I hope I have not sounded like a barking dog. >>> >>> tim mwololo >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 12:16 AM, <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> wrote: >>> >>>> Catherine, some barking dogs are causing untold pain to our people. >>>> Hate >>>> against Kenyans in Tanzania is at its worst. Irrespective who you are, >>>> you >>>> are refered to as Mungiki who is after grabbing Tanzanian land. Whom >>>> do >>>> you >>>> think created this image for our people? >>>> >>>> Mungiki is more of any economic crisis in our country but our Media has >>>> refused to link the two. We lack analytical depth in our media houses. >>>> What you read is petty fitina. When a media house purpots that "Cable >>>> lands into financial trouble" do you think such media has the interests >>>> of >>>> this country at heart? If they did they should have asked the right >>>> questions before publishing. I do not think they have a clue how such >>>> any >>>> article impacts the country negatively. >>>> >>>> The audience of what is published locally is not only Kenyan people who >>>> read it. We must love our country and stop hoping that someone else >>>> will >>>> change our image. The sad part is that all of what has been read >>>> throughout >>>> the world are all lies. Some people reading this may never know that >>>> it >>>> was >>>> not true. >>>> >>>> This what I meant to say that negativity will fail us and we should >>>> check >>>> every barking dog. >>>> >>>> Ndemo >>>> >>>> Sent from my BlackBerryR >>>> >>>> -----Original Message----- >>>> From: Catherine Adeya <elizaslider(a)yahoo.com> >>>> >>>> Date: Sun, 14 Jun 2009 07:36:34 >>>> To: <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> >>>> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> >>>> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 10/11 of 12- BPO Discussions, Strengths and >>>> Weaknesses (Observations from USA and UK); and Trends and Niches >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> 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 >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> kictanet mailing list >>>> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >>>> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet >>>> >>>> This message was sent to: timwololo(a)gmail.com >>>> Unsubscribe or change your options at >>>> >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/timwololo%40gmail.com >>>> >>> >>> ---------------------------------------------- >>> This message has been scanned for viruses and >>> dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is >>> believed to be clean. >>> --------------------------------------------- >>> "easy access to the world" >>> >>> >> >> >> >> ---------------------------------------------- >> 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: sammy(a)opensystems.co.ke >> Unsubscribe or change your options at >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/sammy%40opensystems.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" >> >> > > > > ---------------------------------------------- > 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: dmakali(a)yahoo.com > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/dmakali%40yahoo.com > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: wainaina(a)madeinkenya.org > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/wainaina%40madeinkenya… > -- Sent from my mobile device --- http://www.bungesms.com http://www.madeinkenya.org

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Re: [kictanet] Day 10/11 of 12- BPO Discussions, Strengths and Weaknesses (Observations from USA and UK); and Trends and Niches
by Solomon Mburu 15 Jun '09

15 Jun '09

Dear All, I also concur with the previous comments on the negativity brought about by Kenya's myopic character, and forgive me for using this harsh tome. Because I'm a Kikuyu, makes me think the other communities are just as feeble as I can imagine. This is perhaps the problem that makes our unique policies from seeing the light of day. And the cause for this... politicians. I like the approach we have adapted in this discussion forum - dealing with issues and forgetting the tribal jibes which have poisoned our minds for the last 46 years. I hope, as one of us has aptly put it, the media is listening and not be enslaved with political and character assassinations. The media, can shape the face of Kenya or destroy it. I hear it orchestrated the PEV. Just tune into your favourite TV and what you see is images of poverty, illiteracy, political wars and other social ills that you can think of. Yet, through Citizen Journalism, there are unique stories of Kenyans who are doing impact and having a legacy within the local community. I see a future where Kenyans (whether the youth or old generation) will have an understanding of dealing with issues than tribes. Technology can bring us together and destroy those who would rather not change because they believe in outdated thoughts and ideals. Now to the issues of Weaknessses and Strengths in the BPO sector. *Strenghts* 1. The most recognizable strength is there are so many Kenyans who are into IT and this would be a forum/ platform for flexing their muscles, while driving Kenyans to economic growth 2. There is a lot of content which needs to be utilized. This means the BPO will be central in making good use of the local content 3. There is political will in terms of capital, motivation, positive perception by the political leadership. The State is actively involved in the various formulation of the BPO (Dr. Ndemo is a case to note in this regard) 4. Entrepreneurial developement will be achieved with the MTEF (2008 - 2012) and Vision 2030, because it is the BPO is an underlying factor in national development, state security and health fields etc *Weaknesses* 1. There is a lack of confidence within the state corporations in adapting IT (BPO) because of fear of 'losing' touch with the citizens. Corporations such as the security department (CID, Army, NSIS, Immigration) would need to get in touch with a person making any application for either jobs, Certificate of Good Conduct etc), in order to verify the existence of such an individual 2. Financial institutions have adapted technology, but cautiously. The great fear is security. For instance, banks will not comunicate with a customer through internet, phone, especially when discussing financial status of an account holder. The same is true of hospitals etc. 3. Although we have internet savvy Kenyans, not all understand the spine behind BPO. Further elaboration is needed on the basics behind the BPO My commemts! 2009/6/15 Walubengo J <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> > > I agree with Dr. Ndemo et al. One of our greatest weakness is negative > energy. And the root cause of this negative energy is tribalism. Our East > African citizens (TZ,UG etc) know that Kenyans identify themselves first as > being from their tribe, then 2nd as being from their clan and finally as > being from their country ( the 'Navumulia' kua mkenya mentality). > > As noted by others, the sheer capacity of this negative energy will overide > any marketing dollars that may be poured out there in "Brand Kenya" > initiatives...There must be conscious and deliberate effort to sell Brand > Kenya internally. We have to find a way to celebrate our diversity rather > than exagerate our differences...This to me should have been one of the > pillars in the Vision 2030 because it wont happen overnite. > > walu. > > > > > > --- On Mon, 6/15/09, Catherine Adeya <elizaslider(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > > > From: Catherine Adeya <elizaslider(a)yahoo.com> > > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 10/11 of 12- BPO Discussions, Strengths > andWeaknesses (Observations from USA and UK); and Trends and Niches > > To: jwalu(a)yahoo.com > > Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > > Date: Monday, June 15, 2009, 12:35 PM > > Dakatari, thanks for the > > elaboration....I hear you! I hope the media is also reading > > this. > > > > Nyaki > > > > From: > > "bitange(a)jambo.co.ke" <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> > > To: Catherine > > Adeya <elizaslider(a)yahoo.com>; > > kictanet-bounces+bitange=jambo.co.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > Cc: KICTAnet > > ICT Policy Discussions > > <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > > Sent: Monday, > > June 15, 2009 12:16:12 AM > > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day > > 10/11 of 12- BPO Discussions, Strengths andWeaknesses > > (Observations from USA and UK); and Trends and Niches > > > > > > Catherine, some barking dogs are causing untold pain to our > > people. Hate against Kenyans in Tanzania is at its > > worst. Irrespective who you are, you are refered to as > > Mungiki who is after grabbing Tanzanian land. Whom do > > you think created this image for our people? > > > > Mungiki is more of any economic crisis in our country but > > our Media has refused to link the two. We lack > > analytical depth in our media houses. What you read is > > petty fitina. When a media house purpots that > > "Cable lands into financial trouble" do you think > > such media has the interests of this country at heart? > > If they did they should have asked the right questions > > before publishing. I do not think they have a clue how > > such any article impacts the country negatively. > > > > The audience of what is published locally is not only > > Kenyan people who read it. We must love our country > > and stop hoping that someone else will change our > > image. The sad part is that all of what has been > > read throughout the world are all lies. Some people > > reading this may never know that it was not true. > > > > This what I meant to say that negativity will fail us and > > we should check every barking dog. > > > > Ndemo > > > > Sent from my BlackBerry® > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Catherine Adeya <elizaslider(a)yahoo.com> > > > > Date: Sun, 14 Jun 2009 07:36:34 > > To: <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> > > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 10/11 of 12- BPO Discussions, > > Strengths and > > Weaknesses (Observations from USA and > > UK); and Trends and > > Niches > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > kictanet mailing list > > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > > > > > This message was sent to: bitange(a)jambo.co.ke > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/bitange%40jambo.co.ke > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -----Inline Attachment Follows----- > > > > _______________________________________________ > > kictanet mailing list > > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > > > This message was sent to: jwalu(a)yahoo.com > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jwalu%40yahoo.com > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: solo.mburu(a)gmail.com > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/solo.mburu%40gmail.com > -- Solomon Mburu P.O. Box 19343 - 00202 Nairobi Cell: (+254-0) 735 431041 Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the same way to the side of a hill! AND It is better to die in dignity than in the ignomity of ambiguous generosity!

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Re: [kictanet] Day 10/11 of 12- BPO Discussions, Strengths andWeaknesses (Observations from USA and UK); and Trends and Niches
by Walubengo J 15 Jun '09

15 Jun '09

--- On Mon, 6/15/09, bitange(a)jambo.co.ke <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> wrote: > The few potential investors I met this morning are > distgusted with what they see. Allow me to request my brother Linus who > is on this list to remove the picture please. Bwana PS, Whereas I/we understand where you are coming from, you have to be careful that tomorrows headlines dont read " PS orders media website shutdown"... Maybe the media should explore having different editions of their publications, I mean truly we dont have to always washing our dirty linen all the time. But if we have to, lets at least keep it local. This headlines do cause panic even to Kenyan diaspora, so one can imagine what it does to non-kenyans... walu. --- On Mon, 6/15/09, bitange(a)jambo.co.ke <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> wrote: > From: bitange(a)jambo.co.ke <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 10/11 of 12- BPO Discussions, Strengths andWeaknesses (Observations from USA and UK); and Trends and Niches > To: jwalu(a)yahoo.com > Cc: "'KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions'" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Date: Monday, June 15, 2009, 1:37 PM > Listers, > Please take a moment and see what is on-line from our > papers today and > understand what I am trying to say. You cannot > convince even our people > in the diaspora to invest in Kenya. Compare that with > what SA has on the > web from their papers. They have managed their > violence especially on > foreingners well even as it continues. We are showing > machetes to > investors without critical analysis and how we see the > future of our > country. > > The few potential investors I met this morning are > distgusted with what > they see. Allow me to request my brother Linus who is > on this list to > remove the picture please. > > > Ndemo. > > > > > > > > Dr. Ndemo, > > > > I stopped watching news in the local media a while > back. Too much negative > > stuff affecting the peace and tranquility I expect in > my home. > > > > There is a lot of crime in S.A. yet the country is > geared to host the > > World > > Cup come next year. How are they working to make it a > success? > > > > I support you fully. It is high time we Kenyans > started to think > > nationally > > as a nation. To look at the positives. We > live in a real world and > > things > > will not always be perfect in any country, Kenya > included. > > Therefore we should promote the positive aspects of > Kenya first before we > > can expect outsiders to support us. > > > > > > Sammy Buruchara > > CEO NairobiNet Ltd > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: kictanet-bounces+sammy=opensystems.co.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > [mailto:[email protected]] > On > > Behalf Of bitange(a)jambo.co.ke > > Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 12:11 PM > > To: sammy(a)opensystems.co.ke > > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions > > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 10/11 of 12- BPO > Discussions, Strengths > > andWeaknesses (Observations from USA and UK); and > Trends and Niches > > > > Prof. > > We should understand the impact of internet > better. Our papers are > > on-line and they contribute the greatest content out > there. A potential > > investor trying to surf the net, gets mostly negative > information. I am > > not against our media but they could do better in > setting the agenda. A > > few examples may help here. > > > > It is not only Kenya that has suffered the youth > bulge. This is something > > that has affected countries world over. The US > suffered in the 1930's > > leading the country to get rid of the problem by > investing heavily on > > public works and the war. In China they put much > of their people into > > labour intensive public works (roads, energy, ICTs > ets). While they did > > this they also suffered a high rate of crime. > This is how the Al Capones > > came up. Italy has had a mafia crisis over a > long period of time but the > > media there did not only focus on crime. They > suggested economic > > solutions that have helped reduce crime in the south > go down. When we > > write about mungiki, we should also suggest a way > forward. We must also > > create hope for our people because we are all > responsible for what happens > > in our land. > > > > The recent US elections were all about hope that > things will change. Look > > at the Uhuru Budget. It was a budget of > hope. But read our yesterday > > papers. While one Media house attempted to > create hope. The other > > focused on hopelessness - "the devil is in the > details" - yet for once we > > were united in hope for our future. I had > expected many positive > > headlines out of the budget but I was > disappointed. This is a budget we > > should have leveraged to create a new Kenya. A > Kenya where we all have > > hope. It gave us our much a waited new > constitution. That we can devolve > > our resources based on the districts. That we > may not need to dismantle a > > constitution that has relatively served us well for > more than 40 years. > > That we may need only Parliament to amend only the > governance aspects of > > our constitution as many civilized countries do. > This where media had a > > chance to set the agenda for this country but they > have yet again wasted > > the opportunity. It is not too late for them to > bring hope. The Vision > > 2030 can be achieved if we all agree that it will > bring the desired > > change. > > > > I am glad we deviated a little but this discussion > will shape our future > > policies. Where we all respect one another. > > > > Regards > > > > > > Ndemo. > > > > > >> Dr. Ndemo, > >> > >> You have captured very well the problem with us > Kenyans. At the same > >> time, > >> it is important to acknowledge that we have very > many people who are > >> positive and are doing very good things for this > country. But they are > >> drowned by the bad elements amongst us. However, > things will not change > >> if > >> we do not make a deliberate change intervention. > According to me, it > >> will > >> be > >> almost impossible to achieve V2030 with this > attitude. We must change.I > >> strongly believe that there is a 4th pillar that > V2030 conceptualization > >> missed - NATIONAL COHESION. It is what is required > to move forward and > >> fulfil the other plans. We could therefore argue > that we need to sell > >> Kenya > >> to Kenyans before we go out to foreigners. > Otherwise all the positive > >> messages that will be put out there in selling > Kenya to investors by > >> whoever > >> (assuming we can get this right in the first > instance) will soon be > >> negated > >> by the bad attitudes that you speak of. And who > said Kenya must be > >> developed > >> by outsiders? > >> > >> I hope I have not sounded like a barking dog. > >> > >> tim mwololo > >> > >> > >> On Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 12:16 AM, <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> > wrote: > >> > >>> Catherine, some barking dogs are causing > untold pain to our people. > >>> Hate > >>> against Kenyans in Tanzania is at its > worst. Irrespective who you are, > >>> you > >>> are refered to as Mungiki who is after > grabbing Tanzanian land. Whom > >>> do > >>> you > >>> think created this image for our people? > >>> > >>> Mungiki is more of any economic crisis in our > country but our Media has > >>> refused to link the two. We lack > analytical depth in our media houses. > >>> What you read is petty fitina. > When a media house purpots that "Cable > >>> lands into financial trouble" do you think > such media has the interests > >>> of > >>> this country at heart? If they did they > should have asked the right > >>> questions before publishing. I do not > think they have a clue how such > >>> any > >>> article impacts the country negatively. > >>> > >>> The audience of what is published locally is > not only Kenyan people who > >>> read it. We must love our country and > stop hoping that someone else > >>> will > >>> change our image. The sad part is that > all of what has been read > >>> throughout > >>> the world are all lies. Some people > reading this may never know that > >>> it > >>> was > >>> not true. > >>> > >>> This what I meant to say that negativity will > fail us and we should > >>> check > >>> every barking dog. > >>> > >>> Ndemo > >>> > >>> Sent from my BlackBerryR > >>> > >>> -----Original Message----- > >>> From: Catherine Adeya <elizaslider(a)yahoo.com> > >>> > >>> Date: Sun, 14 Jun 2009 07:36:34 > >>> To: <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> > >>> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > >>> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 10/11 of 12- BPO > Discussions, Strengths and > >>> Weaknesses > (Observations from USA and UK); and Trends and Niches > >>> > >>> > >>> > _______________________________________________ > >>> 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 > >>> > >>> > _______________________________________________ > >>> kictanet mailing list > >>> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > >>> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > >>> > >>> This message was sent to: timwololo(a)gmail.com > >>> Unsubscribe or change your options at > >>> > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/timwololo%40gmail.com > >>> > >> > >> ---------------------------------------------- > >> This message has been scanned for viruses and > >> dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is > >> believed to be clean. > >> --------------------------------------------- > >> "easy access to the world" > >> > >> > > > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------- > > 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: sammy(a)opensystems.co.ke > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/sammy%40opensystems.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" > > > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------- > 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: jwalu(a)yahoo.com > Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jwalu%40yahoo.com >

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Training & Workshop Schedule Q3
by njeri.rionge＠igniteconsulting.co.ke 15 Jun '09

15 Jun '09

Dear Colleagues, After reading a number of emails related to Human Resource competency development needs. I have decided to send a Q3 calender schedule of training and workshops that we believe are relevant to the industry. Please note the developmental areas are soft skills based, around the already good technical skills. For more information please access our website www.igniteconsulting.co.ke. The new calender will be uploaded on to the website later in the day. For more information contact the undersigned. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Njeri Rionge (Ms) Founder & Executive Director __________________________________ Tel: +254 20 2364072 (Orange Fixed Plus) Tel: +254 772 522136 (Orange Mobile) Tel: +254 722 522136 (Safaricom Mobile) URL: www.igniteconsulting.co.ke P. O. Box 15568 Nairobi 00100, Kenya ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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Villagers to host digital world in East Africa
by Edith Adera 14 Jun '09

14 Jun '09

Villagers to host digital world in East Africa (http://www.dailynews.co.tz/home/?n=2530&cat=home) JAMES MPINGA in Lugoba, Coast Region, 14th June 2009 The dateline is an unlikely sleepy village called Lugoba now sitting on a super global 'knowledge highway' - whose residents did not know they have a high-level delegation of scientists and policy-makers from five East African Community (EAC) member states in their midst to prove just that. The EAC citizens - and technical partners from Sweden - were out here to demonstrate that villages could soon be playing host to the most advanced technological networks across the world. The delegates from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and hosts Tanzania were attending a regional 'hands-on' training workshop on community fibre networks at the Peacock Millennium Hotel in suburban Msasani in Dar es Salaam (June 9-12, 2009). At the end of the workshop, they declared in a joint communiqué: "Community fibre networks are not only within reach to serve and empower our communities in the region but also, the cost of implementation is now cheaper and affordable. "With emerging national fibre infrastructure now under implementation and the launching of submarine cable to link east Africa with the rest of the world for the first time on fibre, it is necessary for the communities to prepare to take advantage of this fibre infrastructure to stimulate socio-economic development," The regional workshop convened and organised by the Tanzania Commission of Science and Technology (COSTECH) and sponsored by Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) was inspired by the availability of emerging national fibre networks in the region built by governments, national operators, power and energy utilities, rail companies as well as water organizations among others. However, there weren't any illusions that all this will happen tomorrow. "Services may take a long time to reach the 'last mile' in each country and therefore it is important for the community to be sensitized on other possibilities of building their own networks bottom-up," they cautioned, adding that the 'first mile' was the greatest challenge in creating awareness about the benefit of community fibre networks among them. The events in rural Tanzania provided a fitting backdrop to neighbouring Kenya which celebrated its ascent to a major technological take-off after the much-awaited East African Marine System (Teams) fibre optic cable landed in Mombasa. The cable, launched by Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki yesterday at Fort Jesus in the seaside city, the country's second biggest, connects the East African nation to worldwide cable networks. On June 27, 2009 Tanzania will be connected to another artery on the global highway - the Seacom - linking it to its SADC neighbours in South Africa and Mozambique. In both Kenya and Tanzania, the cable will improve Internet connectivity and reduce the cost of data transmission - and create thousands of jobs, especially in the telecommunications sector. Tanzania alone has more than 7,000km of fibre 'jealously' guarded by public utilities unaware of the immense opportunities that ICT now provides due to outdated legislative frameworks - or simply unwilling to share it out. The delegates therefore called on governments to live up to the "important role of creating an enabling environment for community networks to thrive." "Here in Lugoba village... not even the president knew that his own village had gone 'digital' until someone sent him an e-mail message from his own place of birth (Lugoba) ... the president was then in Washington, DC," narrated Theophilus Mlaki, who took some of the delegation on a field trip to Chalinze and Wami last week - where ICT is changing lives among the villagers. The regional workshop also recommended that all stakeholders should take advantage of emerging national fibre networks now under implementation to work with rural communities yet to be covered with communication services. Unfortunately, the emerging projects are often not interconnected and hence fell short of appropriate synergy. However, where the networks traversed, they provided an opportunity to serve the rural communities. The objective of the event was therefore to: . Build awareness on the potential for customer/ community fibre deployment in helping to meet connectivity needs; .Lay grounds to effect policy changes that may be required to allow for community owned fibre infrastructure developments, and Encourage the use of fibre for improving connectivity. The regional workshop brought together 28 participants who included ICT regulators, ICT ministries, Chair ICT Parliamentary Committee Kenya, managers of community owned networks and members of academia. The Royal Institute of Technology of Sweden facilitated the workshop.

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Re: [kictanet] [Bpoteam] Day 7 of 10- BPO Discussions, Youth and Gender Issues
by muriuki mureithi 14 Jun '09

14 Jun '09

Good afternoon everyone, Like other issues that have been discussed (Day 1 to day 6), my take is that we must have things right from the beginning. A BPO-specific outfit (like the BPO society) should have the mandate to enforce (or at least lobby the law enforcers) labour laws for this young industry. This way, issues like the one that appeared on the Standard Newspaper sometime back (http://www.eastandard.net/sciencetech/InsidePage.php?id=1144013244 <http://www.eastandard.net/sciencetech/InsidePage.php?id=1144013244&ci> &ci) will be unheard of. Furthermore, some clients especially from the US are concerned about how the vendor he/she is giving work to treats employees. On a light note; could we begin re-thinking this whole issue of interpretation gender issues to mean women issues; men are threatened too! Muthoni ________________________________ From: kictanet-bounces+muthoni=uonbi.ac.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Catherine Adeya Sent: 10 June 2009 08:08 To: muthoni(a)uonbi.ac.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] Handing over to Nyaki - 2nd Moderator Thanks Walu, will do so shortly. Best, Nyaki (aka Dr. C. Adeya, C. Nyaki Adeya and C. Adeya-Weya) ________________________________ From: Walubengo J <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> To: elizaslider(a)yahoo.com Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 7:58:41 AM Subject: [kictanet] Handing over to Nyaki - 2nd Moderator Dear Listers, As per the schedule, I am pleased to hand-over the rest of the moderation to Nyaki who will introduce the remaining themes starting with the "Youth and Gender" theme today. Nyaki's CV is too long to fit in one email but its suffice to say that she belongs to this breed of Researchers that wants to bridge the gap between Academia and Socio-economic realities of out times. The rest of her story can be googled, but remember to use her official "handle" - Dr. Catherine Adeya. Over to you Nyaki. Plse tell us about today's theme. walu. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: elizaslider(a)yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/elizaslider%40yahoo .com ----------------------------------------- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner <http://www.mailscanner.info/> , and is believed t o be clean. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI IS ISO CERTIFIED The University of Nairobi is committed to providing quality services to all its clients. The University will monitor and review its quality performance from time to time through an effective implementation of the Quality Management System based on ISO 9001:2000 standard. University of Nairobi Website: http://www.uonbi.ac.ke/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ----------------------------------------- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner <http://www.mailscanner.info/> , and is believed t o be clean. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI IS ISO CERTIFIED The University of Nairobi is committed to providing quality services to all its clients. The University will monitor and review its quality performance from time to time through an effective implementation of the Quality Management System based on ISO 9001:2000 standard. University of Nairobi Website: http://www.uonbi.ac.ke/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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Re: [kictanet] [Bpoteam] Day 7 of 10- BPO Discussions, Youth and Gender Issues
by muriuki mureithi 14 Jun '09

14 Jun '09

Muthoni, Two issues here but I think we should focus more on the first paragraph that you discuss so well. However, I will allow the occasional digression on the second issue of interpreting gender issues but that debate has been on in various fora and for now we know that gender issues in Kenya seem more inclined to women's issues though we know the definition includes both. For now listers delve on the questions and if the definitional issues come up in the course of answering them then that is an added bonus. Why the silence? Why the silence? Why the silence? We are almost there just 3 days left in a very successful discussion so far. Please write...... Nyaki ________________________________ From: Muthoni Masinde <muthoni(a)uonbi.ac.ke> To: elizaslider(a)yahoo.com Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 2:14:43 PM Subject: Re: [kictanet] [Bpoteam] Day 7 of 10- BPO Discussions, Youth and Gender Issues Good afternoon everyone, Like other issues that have been discussed (Day 1 to day 6), my take is that we must have things right from the beginning. A BPO-specific outfit (like the BPO society) should have the mandate to enforce (or at least lobby the law enforcers) labour laws for this young industry. This way, issues like the one that appeared on the Standard Newspaper sometime back (http://www.eastandard.net/sciencetech/InsidePage.php?id=1144013244 <http://www.eastandard.net/sciencetech/InsidePage.php?id=1144013244&ci> &ci) will be unheard of. Furthermore, some clients especially from the US are concerned about how the vendor he/she is giving work to treats employees. On a light note; could we begin re-thinking this whole issue of interpretation gender issues to mean women issues; men are threatened too! Muthoni ________________________________ From: kictanet-bounces+muthoni=uonbi.ac.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Catherine Adeya Sent: 10 June 2009 08:08 To: muthoni(a)uonbi.ac.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] Handing over to Nyaki - 2nd Moderator Thanks Walu, will do so shortly. Best, Nyaki (aka Dr. C. Adeya, C. Nyaki Adeya and C. Adeya-Weya) ________________________________ From: Walubengo J <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> To: elizaslider(a)yahoo.com Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 7:58:41 AM Subject: [kictanet] Handing over to Nyaki - 2nd Moderator Dear Listers, As per the schedule, I am pleased to hand-over the rest of the moderation to Nyaki who will introduce the remaining themes starting with the "Youth and Gender" theme today. Nyaki's CV is too long to fit in one email but its suffice to say that she belongs to this breed of Researchers that wants to bridge the gap between Academia and Socio-economic realities of out times. The rest of her story can be googled, but remember to use her official "handle" - Dr. Catherine Adeya. Over to you Nyaki. Plse tell us about today's theme. walu. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: elizaslider(a)yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/elizaslider%40yahoo .com ----------------------------------------- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner <http://www.mailscanner.info/> , and is believed t o be clean. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI IS ISO CERTIFIED The University of Nairobi is committed to providing quality services to all its clients. The University will monitor and review its quality performance from time to time through an effective implementation of the Quality Management System based on ISO 9001:2000 standard. University of Nairobi Website: http://www.uonbi.ac.ke/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ----------------------------------------- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner <http://www.mailscanner.info/> , and is believed t o be clean. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI IS ISO CERTIFIED The University of Nairobi is committed to providing quality services to all its clients. The University will monitor and review its quality performance from time to time through an effective implementation of the Quality Management System based on ISO 9001:2000 standard. University of Nairobi Website: http://www.uonbi.ac.ke/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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Re: [kictanet] New Mobile Phenomenon
by muriuki mureithi 14 Jun '09

14 Jun '09

Interesting article... "For Teens, later to bed, the Worse the Outlook" by Greg Toppo, USA Today Teens whose parents let them stay up after midnight on weeknights have a much higher chance of being depressed or suicidal than teens whose parents enforce an earlier bedtime, says research being presented today at a national sleep conference. The findings are the first to examine bedtimes' effects on kids' mental health - and the results are noteworthy. Middle- and high-schoolers whose parents don't require them to be in bed before midnight on school nights are 42 percent more likely to be depressed than teens whose parents require a 10 p.m. or earlier bedtime. And teens who are allowed to stay up late are 30 percent more likely to have had suicidal thoughts in the past year. The differences are smaller but still significant - 25 percent and 20 percent, respectively - after controlling for age, sex, race and ethnicity. A team led by Columbia University Medical Center's James Gangwisch examined surveys from 15,659 teens and their parents who took part in a National Institutes of Health (NIH) adolescent health study. Previous research has established a firm connection between teens getting less sleep and feeling depressed or suicidal. The NIH survey found that kids whose parents called for a 9-10 p.m. bedtime said they were in bed, on average, by 10:04 p.m. They slept for 8 hours and 10 minutes on average, compared with 7 hours for kids allowed to stay up past midnight. The lesson for parents is simple, Gangwisch says: try to sell teenagers on the importance of getting enough sleep. They need about nine hours, the NIH says. Rafael Pelayo, an associate professor of pediatric sleep medicine at Stanford University, agrees. "They've got to think it's in their own best interest to get to sleep," says Pelayo, who read the study. Says Gangwisch, "We feel like we can just eat into our sleep time, but we pay for it in many different ways." The data come from analyses of NIH surveys from 1994 to 1996. Gangwisch believes disparities between teens with and without prescribed bedtimes are greater today, given greater distractions. In 1996, for instance, teens couldn't stay up late texting and checking Facebook. "I would guess that there are more kids getting less sleep," he says. Gangwisch is presenting the findings in Seattle at SLEEP 2009, the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. Disclaimer: Views expressed here (except those quoted or referenced) are the authors own On Tue, Jun 9, 2009 at 11:34 AM, Gakuru Alex <alexgakuru.lists(a)gmail.com> wrote: Mwende, Let's get touch base, locally. I am investigating a compliant report where mobile companies through the Sunday Nation (last page) reportedly caused to be published invitation to (SMS) content that would contravene Section 84(d) of Kenya Communications (Amendment) Act. I shall revert with my findings. regards, Alex On Tue, Jun 9, 2009 at 5:36 AM, mwende njiraini<mwende.njiraini(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Dear all, > > Given that most people including children have access to mobiles, there is > now a growing problem being referred to as 'sexting'. > (View CBS news > clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xOZ81dXzdA <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xOZ81dXzdA&feature=channel_page> &feature=channel_page). > > Are there the parental control services available in Kenya? > > Kind regards > Mwende > > > Disclaimer: Views expressed here (except those quoted or referenced) are the > authors own > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: alexgakuru.lists(a)gmail.com > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/alexgakuru.lists%40 gmail.com >

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Re: [kictanet] [Bpoteam] Day 7 of 10- BPO Discussions, Youth and Gender Issues
by muriuki mureithi 14 Jun '09

14 Jun '09

Good afternoon everyone, Like other issues that have been discussed (Day 1 to day 6), my take is that we must have things right from the beginning. A BPO-specific outfit (like the BPO society) should have the mandate to enforce (or at least lobby the law enforcers) labour laws for this young industry. This way, issues like the one that appeared on the Standard Newspaper sometime back (http://www.eastandard.net/sciencetech/InsidePage.php?id=1144013244 <http://www.eastandard.net/sciencetech/InsidePage.php?id=1144013244&ci> &ci) will be unheard of. Furthermore, some clients especially from the US are concerned about how the vendor he/she is giving work to treats employees. On a light note; could we begin re-thinking this whole issue of interpretation gender issues to mean women issues; men are threatened too! Muthoni ________________________________ From: kictanet-bounces+muthoni=uonbi.ac.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Catherine Adeya Sent: 10 June 2009 08:08 To: muthoni(a)uonbi.ac.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] Handing over to Nyaki - 2nd Moderator Thanks Walu, will do so shortly. Best, Nyaki (aka Dr. C. Adeya, C. Nyaki Adeya and C. Adeya-Weya) ________________________________ From: Walubengo J <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> To: elizaslider(a)yahoo.com Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 7:58:41 AM Subject: [kictanet] Handing over to Nyaki - 2nd Moderator Dear Listers, As per the schedule, I am pleased to hand-over the rest of the moderation to Nyaki who will introduce the remaining themes starting with the "Youth and Gender" theme today. Nyaki's CV is too long to fit in one email but its suffice to say that she belongs to this breed of Researchers that wants to bridge the gap between Academia and Socio-economic realities of out times. The rest of her story can be googled, but remember to use her official "handle" - Dr. Catherine Adeya. Over to you Nyaki. Plse tell us about today's theme. walu. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: elizaslider(a)yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/elizaslider%40yahoo .com ----------------------------------------- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner <http://www.mailscanner.info/> , and is believed t o be clean. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI IS ISO CERTIFIED The University of Nairobi is committed to providing quality services to all its clients. The University will monitor and review its quality performance from time to time through an effective implementation of the Quality Management System based on ISO 9001:2000 standard. University of Nairobi Website: http://www.uonbi.ac.ke/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ----------------------------------------- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner <http://www.mailscanner.info/> , and is believed t o be clean. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI IS ISO CERTIFIED The University of Nairobi is committed to providing quality services to all its clients. The University will monitor and review its quality performance from time to time through an effective implementation of the Quality Management System based on ISO 9001:2000 standard. University of Nairobi Website: http://www.uonbi.ac.ke/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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Re: [kictanet] Day 7 of 10- BPO Discussions, Youth and Gender Issues
by muriuki mureithi 14 Jun '09

14 Jun '09

Nyaki, It would be nice to be reminded (in some cases informed) of the Kenyan labour law and implications within the context of BPO sector Edith ________________________________ From: kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Catherine Adeya Sent: 10 June 2009 08:12 To: Edith Adera Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: [kictanet] Day 7 of 10- BPO Discussions, Youth and Gender Issues - Day 7 of 10- BPO Discussions, Youth and Gender Issues - Morning all, Walu has done a fantastic job moderating so far and now you are stuck with me for the next four days. Todays theme is on Youth and Gender issues. It is obvious we have touched on a number of issues that focus on this theme in the last few days; however, it is still pertinent to address it as an exclusive issue. Some of you have wondered why we keep referring to S. Africa, Mauritius and India. I would like to re-emphasize that those are the countries where the research was conducted but views from other countries are welcome. The idea is not to compare Kenya per se but to bench-mark on our (or potential) competitors. Views based on other countries are very welcome, the researchers could not visit more countries due to funding constraints. It is useful to begin by noting that the researchers found that the unemployment rate (2008 est) was 40% in Kenya, 21.7% in S. Africa, 7.6% in Mauritius and 6.8% in India. The researchers also found that the minimum qualification for professional staff was a Bachelors degree in all four countries. However, the minimum qualification for operators/agents varied. In Kenya it was a certificate, diploma or degree depending on operation; in S. Africa it was Grade 12; Mauritius school certificate or below and in India it was a High school certificate. The common work related challenges include project management (especially meeting deadlines) and long hours. Some employees in Kenya complained about challenges with transportation. The detailed summary findings will be availed. Generally there were more women in call centres than male but more males in the professional cadre. The youth are mostly found in the agent/operator jobs. The following are some country specific issues: 1. In, India there is the Equal Remuneration Act ensures that there is equal remuneration to men and women for same jobs. Under this law, no discrimination is permissible in recruitment and service conditions except where employment of women is prohibited or restricted by the law. NASSCOM has launched the Women in Leadership-IT Initiative to enhance participation of women in the workforce and ensure there are more women leaders in the IT-BPO industry. 2. In South Africa, there are 40% more females than males below 25 years working in the BPO sector. However, there are 7% more males than females above 25 years old. There is no gender or age based discrimination in the work place. There exists no law or policy that prefers youth from other groups of people in employment. 3. In Mauritius, there is no 24 hour work culture. In addition, the Labor Act prohibits employment of female employees in industrial undertakings between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m; while youth are not allowed to work between between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Interestingly, there is clause that no person shall, except with the Permanent Secretary's written consent, transport a female worker or cause a female worker to be transported in a goods vehicle; any other vehicle, unless the vehicle is provided with an easy means of entering and alighting which does not involve climbing. In Kenya we have the Employment Act which many of you know. This leads us to the following discussion questions: Discussion Q9: Are the Kenyan laws adequate to protect the youth and women from exploitation by BPO&O employers? Discussion Q. 10: The BPO sector is not seen as a long term source of employment for most employees. Most believe it is a stepping stone to other lucrative opportunities. What needs to be done to ensure the youth and women view the industry as attractive, especially in terms of quality of employment and career progression? Discussion Q11: Attrition and poaching are prevalent in most countries studied. What mechanisms should employers adopt to attract and retain their staff? Let the games (oops! Discussion) begin! Thanks Nyaki To be Encl: Synthesis 4 Youth and Gender Issues

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Handing over to Nyaki - 2nd Moderator
by muriuki mureithi 14 Jun '09

14 Jun '09

Dear Listers, As per the schedule, I am pleased to hand-over the rest of the moderation to Nyaki who will introduce the remaining themes starting with the "Youth and Gender" theme today. Nyaki's CV is too long to fit in one email but its suffice to say that she belongs to this breed of Researchers that wants to bridge the gap between Academia and Socio-economic realities of out times. The rest of her story can be googled, but remember to use her official "handle" - Dr. Catherine Adeya. Over to you Nyaki. Plse tell us about today's theme. walu. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: mureithi(a)summitstrategies.co.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mureithi%40summitstrate gies.co.ke

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Day 7 of 10- BPO Discussions, Youth and Gender Issues
by muriuki mureithi 14 Jun '09

14 Jun '09

- Day 7 of 10- BPO Discussions, Youth and Gender Issues - Morning all, Walu has done a fantastic job moderating so far and now you are stuck with me for the next four days. Todays theme is on Youth and Gender issues. It is obvious we have touched on a number of issues that focus on this theme in the last few days; however, it is still pertinent to address it as an exclusive issue. Some of you have wondered why we keep referring to S. Africa, Mauritius and India. I would like to re-emphasize that those are the countries where the research was conducted but views from other countries are welcome. The idea is not to compare Kenya per se but to bench-mark on our (or potential) competitors. Views based on other countries are very welcome, the researchers could not visit more countries due to funding constraints. It is useful to begin by noting that the researchers found that the unemployment rate (2008 est) was 40% in Kenya, 21.7% in S. Africa, 7.6% in Mauritius and 6.8% in India. The researchers also found that the minimum qualification for professional staff was a Bachelors degree in all four countries. However, the minimum qualification for operators/agents varied. In Kenya it was a certificate, diploma or degree depending on operation; in S. Africa it was Grade 12; Mauritius school certificate or below and in India it was a High school certificate. The common work related challenges include project management (especially meeting deadlines) and long hours. Some employees in Kenya complained about challenges with transportation. The detailed summary findings will be availed. Generally there were more women in call centres than male but more males in the professional cadre. The youth are mostly found in the agent/operator jobs. The following are some country specific issues: 1. In, India there is the Equal Remuneration Act ensures that there is equal remuneration to men and women for same jobs. Under this law, no discrimination is permissible in recruitment and service conditions except where employment of women is prohibited or restricted by the law. NASSCOM has launched the Women in Leadership-IT Initiative to enhance participation of women in the workforce and ensure there are more women leaders in the IT-BPO industry. 2. In South Africa, there are 40% more females than males below 25 years working in the BPO sector. However, there are 7% more males than females above 25 years old. There is no gender or age based discrimination in the work place. There exists no law or policy that prefers youth from other groups of people in employment. 3. In Mauritius, there is no 24 hour work culture. In addition, the Labor Act prohibits employment of female employees in industrial undertakings between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m; while youth are not allowed to work between between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Interestingly, there is clause that no person shall, except with the Permanent Secretary's written consent, transport a female worker or cause a female worker to be transported in a goods vehicle; any other vehicle, unless the vehicle is provided with an easy means of entering and alighting which does not involve climbing. 4. In Kenya we have the Employment Act which many of you know. This leads us to the following discussion questions: Discussion Q9: Are the Kenyan laws adequate to protect the youth and women from exploitation by BPO&O employers? Discussion Q. 10: The BPO sector is not seen as a long term source of employment for most employees. Most believe it is a stepping stone to other lucrative opportunities. What needs to be done to ensure the youth and women view the industry as attractive, especially in terms of quality of employment and career progression? Discussion Q11: Attrition and poaching are prevalent in most countries studied. What mechanisms should employers adopt to attract and retain their staff? Let the games (oops! Discussion) begin! Thanks Nyaki To be Encl: Synthesis 4 Youth and Gender Issues

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Re: [kictanet] [Bpoteam] Day 7 of 10- BPO Discussions, Youth and Gender Issues
by muriuki mureithi 14 Jun '09

14 Jun '09

Muthoni, Two issues here but I think we should focus more on the first paragraph that you discuss so well. However, I will allow the occasional digression on the second issue of interpreting gender issues but that debate has been on in various fora and for now we know that gender issues in Kenya seem more inclined to women's issues though we know the definition includes both. For now listers delve on the questions and if the definitional issues come up in the course of answering them then that is an added bonus. Why the silence? Why the silence? Why the silence? We are almost there just 3 days left in a very successful discussion so far. Please write...... Nyaki ________________________________ From: Muthoni Masinde <muthoni(a)uonbi.ac.ke> To: elizaslider(a)yahoo.com Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 2:14:43 PM Subject: Re: [kictanet] [Bpoteam] Day 7 of 10- BPO Discussions, Youth and Gender Issues Good afternoon everyone, Like other issues that have been discussed (Day 1 to day 6), my take is that we must have things right from the beginning. A BPO-specific outfit (like the BPO society) should have the mandate to enforce (or at least lobby the law enforcers) labour laws for this young industry. This way, issues like the one that appeared on the Standard Newspaper sometime back (http://www.eastandard.net/sciencetech/InsidePage.php?id=1144013244 <http://www.eastandard.net/sciencetech/InsidePage.php?id=1144013244&ci> &ci) will be unheard of. Furthermore, some clients especially from the US are concerned about how the vendor he/she is giving work to treats employees. On a light note; could we begin re-thinking this whole issue of interpretation gender issues to mean women issues; men are threatened too! Muthoni ________________________________ From: kictanet-bounces+muthoni=uonbi.ac.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Catherine Adeya Sent: 10 June 2009 08:08 To: muthoni(a)uonbi.ac.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] Handing over to Nyaki - 2nd Moderator Thanks Walu, will do so shortly. Best, Nyaki (aka Dr. C. Adeya, C. Nyaki Adeya and C. Adeya-Weya) ________________________________ From: Walubengo J <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> To: elizaslider(a)yahoo.com Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 7:58:41 AM Subject: [kictanet] Handing over to Nyaki - 2nd Moderator Dear Listers, As per the schedule, I am pleased to hand-over the rest of the moderation to Nyaki who will introduce the remaining themes starting with the "Youth and Gender" theme today. Nyaki's CV is too long to fit in one email but its suffice to say that she belongs to this breed of Researchers that wants to bridge the gap between Academia and Socio-economic realities of out times. The rest of her story can be googled, but remember to use her official "handle" - Dr. Catherine Adeya. Over to you Nyaki. Plse tell us about today's theme. walu. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: elizaslider(a)yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/elizaslider%40yahoo .com ----------------------------------------- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner <http://www.mailscanner.info/> , and is believed t o be clean. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI IS ISO CERTIFIED The University of Nairobi is committed to providing quality services to all its clients. The University will monitor and review its quality performance from time to time through an effective implementation of the Quality Management System based on ISO 9001:2000 standard. University of Nairobi Website: http://www.uonbi.ac.ke/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ----------------------------------------- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner <http://www.mailscanner.info/> , and is believed t o be clean. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI IS ISO CERTIFIED The University of Nairobi is committed to providing quality services to all its clients. The University will monitor and review its quality performance from time to time through an effective implementation of the Quality Management System based on ISO 9001:2000 standard. University of Nairobi Website: http://www.uonbi.ac.ke/ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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Re: [kictanet] Handing over to Nyaki - 2nd Moderator
by muriuki mureithi 14 Jun '09

14 Jun '09

Thanks Walu, will do so shortly. Best, Nyaki (aka Dr. C. Adeya, C. Nyaki Adeya and C. Adeya-Weya) ________________________________ From: Walubengo J <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> To: elizaslider(a)yahoo.com Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 7:58:41 AM Subject: [kictanet] Handing over to Nyaki - 2nd Moderator Dear Listers, As per the schedule, I am pleased to hand-over the rest of the moderation to Nyaki who will introduce the remaining themes starting with the "Youth and Gender" theme today. Nyaki's CV is too long to fit in one email but its suffice to say that she belongs to this breed of Researchers that wants to bridge the gap between Academia and Socio-economic realities of out times. The rest of her story can be googled, but remember to use her official "handle" - Dr. Catherine Adeya. Over to you Nyaki. Plse tell us about today's theme. walu. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: elizaslider(a)yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/elizaslider%40yahoo .com

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Re: [kictanet] Day 10 of 10- BPO Discussions, Strengths and Weaknesses (Observations from USA and UK); and Trends and Niches
by Alex Gakuru 14 Jun '09

14 Jun '09

--- On Sat, 6/13/09, Alex Gakuru <alex.gakuru(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > very true. I wonder how many of the discussants here run or > have ever attempted *any* outsourcing business, locally or > internationally? > btw, either as an 'outsourcer' or the 'outsourcee'? 8-)

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Re: [kictanet] Day 10 of 10- BPO Discussions, Strengths and Weaknesses (Observations from USA and UK); and Trends and Niches
by Alex Gakuru 13 Jun '09

13 Jun '09

--- On Sat, 6/13/09, Sam Aguyo <saguyo(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > We need to involve > everybody in this matter, in my understanding organisations > such as auditing > firms, research firms have been involved in outsourcing for > a long period of > time! > very true. I wonder how many of the discussants here run or have ever attempted *any* outsourcing business, locally or internationally? > All this should be coordinated by a > substantive > office which will market all this abroad. At the moment > confusing though! > Sam Aguyo > The office exists. Seek Legal Notice No. 26 of 2nd March, 2007, State Corporations Act (Cap 446) for that office creation, its clear functions and an elaborate mandate spelled-out.

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Kenya gets undersea broadband fibre optic cable - 1 hour ago
by Alex Gakuru 12 Jun '09

12 Jun '09

Kenya gets undersea broadband fibre optic cable 1 hour ago MOMBASA, Kenya (AFP) — An undersea fibre optic cable bringing broadband Internet connectivity to east Africa, reached the Kenyan coast from the United Arab Emirates on Friday, the president said. The East Africa Marine Systems (TEAMS) fibre optic submarine cable project is a joint venture of the Kenyan government and Emirates Telecommunication Technology (Etisalat) and a consortium of local investors. It is expected to boost internet connections and greatly reduce the cost of telecommunications, especially data transmission in the region. It is expected to become operational next month. President Mwai Kibaki said the project was a landmark in Kenya's national development history. "With the launch of this project Kenya is now equipped with one of the most advanced and cost effective, nation-building tools," said Kibaki, adding it would allow east Africans to be "fully digital citizens of the 21st century" The 4,500 kilometre (2,790 mile) cable links Mombasa on the Kenyan coast to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. Initially projected at 82 million dollars when it was initiated in 2006 an alternative to the East African Submarine Cable System which the government felt was dominated by South Africa. Alcatel-Lucent won the contract to lay the cable. Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More » <http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gLTAqnEgDXYbpYzaGDte25k5…>

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Re: [kictanet] Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues
by Matunda Nyanchama 12 Jun '09

12 Jun '09

Waudo Siganga, That is an interesting report. It appears that we have a long way to go with respect to IT skills development. I would be interesting to understand the "business skills" referred to in the report and whether these include project management, customer service, financial skills (cost versus gross profit), etc. On a related note, what is the current ICT contribution to national GDP? What is the related resource allocation (both private and public) to this sector? And is it commensurate to the sector's contribution or projected contribution? Finally, how do these numbers compare with other countries, especially NIC's like India, China, Malaysia, as well as developing countries? regards ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matunda Nyanchama, mnyanchama(a)aganoconsulting.com Agano Consulting Inc.; www.aganoconsulting.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “If you have less than 1 year to invest, plant rice. If you have 10 to 25 yearsto invest, build a house. If you have more than 25 years to invest, invest in your children" - Anonymous. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________________________ From: waudo siganga <emailsignet(a)mailcan.com> To: mnyanchama(a)aganoconsulting.com Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Monday, June 8, 2009 10:03:13 AM Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues Dear Catherine - That report (which dealt with the overall ICT workforce rather than just BPO) was handed over to the sponsor, USAID in Dec. 2006. I do not know what they did with it but I have attached a copy for those who may want to browse it. It contained some policy recomendations maybe some are still relevant. Kind Regards, Waudo On Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:12 -0700, "Catherine Adeya" <elizaslider(a)yahoo.com> wrote: Apology I meant CSK (Computer Society of Kenya) conducted a study some years back and not CFSK (Computers for Schools Kenya). N ________________________________ From: Catherine Adeya <elizaslider(a)yahoo.com> To: elizaslider(a)yahoo.com Cc: kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke Sent: Monday, June 8, 2009 3:13:47 PM Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues Tim et. al, If I am not wrong there have been attempts to find a way to develop a skills inventory in Kenya especially of IT or IT-related graduates. I do believe CFSK conducted a study a few years back, am not sure what became of the study. There were also attempts by others to develop such a database but some were curtailed due to lack of funding or good-will....if some of you are out here in cyberspace kindly do share so we build on what you have done and do not reinvent the wheel. Walu, you may remember some of the round-tables we were involved in some years ago. What we realized immediately is that the universities did not even know where their graduates were, they did not have an active alumni network to help them identify the sectors that were absorbing their graduates and where the gaps were as this could inform curriculum review. I know it is a long shot to expect the universities to do this but I think it would help if specific departments tried to collate this information. If the potential graduates knew it would be beneficial for them to share that information once they graduate then it may ease the process. Beneficial in two ways, to help with curriculum review and place share their names and details with those looking for the relevant skills....ok am waffling I know. I think the team was on to something there but we kind of dwelt too much on the successful South African model where they did an excellent study titled the SAITIS study as far back as 1998 and I think updated the study and implementation around 2004 or so, I can't remember off the top of my head. I know that relevant institutions came together to share their expertise in the study so that it was representative and collaborative. The studies basically covered a number of issues including the national IT Education and Training intiatives in SA (including schools, tertiary institutions, government and private sector iniatives. It attempted to categorize jobs and skills in the IT industry and looked at it in the context of global trends. There are similar studies elsewhere but I thought I may highlight on this one as I read about it years ago. Best, Nyaki ________________________________ From: Mwololo Tim <timwololo(a)gmail.com> To: elizaslider(a)yahoo.com Cc: kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke Sent: Monday, June 8, 2009 1:47:11 PM Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues Bwana Ndemo, These are good initiatives. However, I believe we need to look at the total secondary and tertiary education system to make sure it produces the skill sets we require for the BPO&O sector, depending on the strategy we take as a country. One university college, which is new and still struggling to "stand up", so to speak, will not do. Of course we need the skills inventory you talk about to know where we are so that we can take an appropriate strategy for skills development. I know KNBS is currently very busy focusing on the census and I am not sure they have adequate capacity to push several large projects simultaneously, which may mean delays here. We might therefore need to find ways of expediting this exercise. tim On Mon, Jun 8, 2009 at 1:31 PM, <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> wrote: Walubengo, With respect to capacity building, the Government has done the following Established Multimedia University to focus on IT Skills Development; Contracted the Central Bureau of Statistics through CCK to conduct ICT Skills inventory in Kenya and Set up a task force to look into Skills development as recommended by MaKinsey in the just concluded Value Proposition. We are in the process of appointing other stakeholders into the committee. Although we do not have a sector strategy on Capacity building, the Governemnt takes issues of skills development very seriously. This is a matter that NESC emphasizes as key to our competitiveness. In this regard we look forward to a quick finalization of the skills inventory and the task force recommendation. Regards Ndemo. > -Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, Human Capacity Issues > > Morning all, > > I trust you had a refreshing weekend. Today I want to introduce the theme > on Human Resource Development for the BPO industry. The Researchers found > that India, S.Africa and Mauritius had a comprehensive inventory of their > skill-base that was also available for Validation by prospective employers > and investors. Another observation was ofcourse the sheer numbers of > Indian graduates (millions) that made it the largest base of highly > skilled pool of graduates with strong mathematical/scientific orientation. > Whereas, Mauritius was producing only 10,000 (university) graduates per > year compared to Kenya's 30,000 per year, Mauritius had the advantage of > properly documenting their national graduates database and marketing it > appropriately to potential clients in Europe/America. In addition, the > Researchers noted that Mauritius had a government funded but > Private-Sector oriented ICT Academy that produced graduates specificially > for the ICT industry. > > In Kenya, the Researchers observed that apart from the lack of a national > database on the available skills/graduates, some of the BPO operators were > engaged in vicious poaching cycles where Agents trained in-house by one > Operater are immediately hired by the Competing Operators. It was noted, > that an attempt has been made by the .KE Government to create an > Industry-specific University (Multimedia University College of Kenya) to > address the HR gap but its success or otherwise will remain to be seen in > a few years time. The Researchers also noted that Kenya's > English-speaking labor force had an edge over the Indian one given that > the average Kenyan had a "neutral" accent unlike the Indian graduate who > tended to have an "ethnic" accent that often distracted the Euro-American %3 ---------------------------------------------- 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: timwololo(a)gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/timwololo%40gmail.com

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Handing over to Nyaki - 2nd Moderator
by Walubengo J 11 Jun '09

11 Jun '09

Dear Listers, As per the schedule, I am pleased to hand-over the rest of the moderation to Nyaki who will introduce the remaining themes starting with the "Youth and Gender" theme today. Nyaki's CV is too long to fit in one email but its suffice to say that she belongs to this breed of Researchers that wants to bridge the gap between Academia and Socio-economic realities of out times. The rest of her story can be googled, but remember to use her official "handle" - Dr. Catherine Adeya. Over to you Nyaki. Plse tell us about today's theme. walu.

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Re: [kictanet] Day 8 of 10- BPO Discussions, Youth and Gender Issues
by Catherine Adeya 11 Jun '09

11 Jun '09

Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2009 05:25:46 -0700 (PDT) From: Catherine Adeya <elizaslider(a)yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] [Bpoteam] Day 8 of 10- BPO Discussions, Youth and Gender Issues To: Solomon Mburu <solo.mburu(a)gmail.com> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Solomon, Interesting perspective bringing in the issue of the Youth Fund not supporting BPO. In addition, kindly reply all or you will miss the list as it was addressed to me only. Finally you are not late as you may note that this theme was to be discussed for 2 days and I just rehashed the same summary today. The only thing I will encourage is that you put the subject header as day 8 like I have now done as still very relevant. Thanks Catherine ________________________________ From: Solomon Mburu <solo.mburu(a)gmail.com> To: Catherine Adeya <elizaslider(a)yahoo.com> Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2009 10:37:34 AM Subject: Re: [kictanet] [Bpoteam] Day 7 of 10- BPO Discussions, Youth and Gender Issues Morning, Apologies for late intervention. My own views in as far as youth and gender employment are concerned, will involves the element of equipping them with the right materials for their empowerment. This is because the varoius factors which promote entrepreneurial development include sound policies (the govt says at least a third of positions in public offices should be given to women), enough funding (through the youth fund and women development fund) and offering incentives to the target group. The Kenyan situation is not so conducive when it comes to promoting the youth in entrepreneurship. While the Youth Fund has helped the youth become economic independent, it is only pegged to activities such as hardware, human rights etc, but it does not support any technological advancement. Only the private sector have the BPO loosely in the specific organizations such as Safaricom Jambo Centre, Kencall etc. The employment of the youth and women in such a sector has not received the government support. Do we really have a govt fully run and supported BPO? That is where the problem is, because the government does not want to establish such an opportunity for the youth, probably due to fear, resources and the level of innovation that is shielded in govt shelves due to 'lack of funds' etc. The BPO sector is thus not supported by this Fund maybe due to the cost implications attached and the fear of adapting change. How about the labour laws? They are perhaps silent on the development of the BPO sector because they have been overtaken by the political sentiments and COTU's fighting for the rights of workers in Industrial Area! -- Solomon Mburu P.O. Box 19343 - 00202 Nairobi Cell: (+254-0) 735 431041 Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the same way to the side of a hill! AND It is better to die in dignity than in the ignomity of ambiguous generosity! --0-1156563532-1244723146=:87324 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii <html><head><style type="text/css"></style></head><body><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt"><div>Solomon, Interesting perspective bringing in the issue of the Youth Fund not supporting BPO. In addition, kindly reply all or you will miss the list as it was addressed to me only. Finally you are not late as you may note that this theme was to be discussed for 2 days and I just rehashed the same summary today. The only thing I will encourage is that you put the subject header as day 8 like I have now done as still very relevant. Thanks Catherine </div><div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><hr size="1">From: Solomon Mburu <solo.mburu(a)gmail.com> To: Catherine Adeya <elizaslider(a)yahoo.com> Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2009 10:37:34 AM Subject: Re: [kictanet] [Bpoteam] Day 7 of 10- BPO Discussions, Youth and Gender Issues Morning, Apologies for late intervention. My own views in as far as youth and gender employment are concerned, will involves the element of equipping them with the right materials for their empowerment. This is because the varoius factors which promote entrepreneurial development include sound policies (the govt says at least a third of positions in public offices should be given to women), enough funding (through the youth fund and women development fund) and offering incentives to the target group. The Kenyan situation is not so conducive when it comes to promoting the youth in entrepreneurship. While the Youth Fund has helped the youth become economic independent, it is only pegged to activities such as hardware, human rights etc, but it does not support any technological advancement. Only the private sector have the BPO loosely in the specific organizations such as Safaricom Jambo Centre, Kencall etc. The employment of the youth and women in such a sector has not received the government support. Do we really have a govt fully run and supported BPO? That is where the problem is, because the government does not want to establish such an opportunity for the youth, probably due to fear, resources and the level of innovation that is shielded in govt shelves due to 'lack of funds' etc.  The BPO sector is thus not supported by this Fund maybe due to the cost implications attached and the fear of adapting change. How about the labour laws? They are perhaps silent on the development of the BPO sector because they have been overtaken by the political sentiments and COTU's  fighting for the rights of workers in Industrial Area!   -- Solomon Mburu P.O. Box 19343 - 00202 Nairobi Cell: (+254-0) 735 431041 Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the same way to the side of a hill! AND It is better to die in dignity than in the ignomity of ambiguous generosity! </div></div></div> </body></html> --0-1156563532-1244723146=:87324--

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Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, HR Issues
by Walubengo J 11 Jun '09

11 Jun '09

-Day 5 of 10- BPO Discussions, Human Capacity Issues Morning all, I trust you had a refreshing weekend. Today I want to introduce the theme on Human Resource Development for the BPO industry. The Researchers found that India, S.Africa and Mauritius had a comprehensive inventory of their skill-base that was also available for Validation by prospective employers and investors. Another observation was ofcourse the sheer numbers of Indian graduates (millions) that made it the largest base of highly skilled pool of graduates with strong mathematical/scientific orientation. Whereas, Mauritius was producing only 10,000 (university) graduates per year compared to Kenya's 30,000 per year, Mauritius had the advantage of properly documenting their national graduates database and marketing it appropriately to potential clients in Europe/America. In addition, the Researchers noted that Mauritius had a government funded but Private-Sector oriented ICT Academy that produced graduates specificially for the ICT industry. In Kenya, the Researchers observed that apart from the lack of a national database on the available skills/graduates, some of the BPO operators were engaged in vicious poaching cycles where Agents trained in-house by one Operater are immediately hired by the Competing Operators. It was noted, that an attempt has been made by the .KE Government to create an Industry-specific University (Multimedia University College of Kenya) to address the HR gap but its success or otherwise will remain to be seen in a few years time. The Researchers also noted that Kenya's English-speaking labor force had an edge over the Indian one given that the average Kenyan had a "neutral" accent unlike the Indian graduate who tended to have an "ethnic" accent that often distracted the Euro-American markets/clients. But this advantage is yet to be exploited - even as the Indians move up the BPO value chain and concentrate on non-accent related processes such as Software Engineering, Research (Financial, Medicine, etc), Product (e.g. Civil and Architectural) Design amongst others. Which leads us to todays questions. Qtn 7: How do we develop a national database on the wide-range of available ICT skill in Kenya - specifically which institution should be mandated to realise this, ensuring that such a database is kept upto date over the years? Qtn 8: What strategies should the country adopt to ensure a continuous supply of relevant and timely BPO-Specific skills? Please, lets have your comments flowing,dig yahjwalu starting now... walu. Encl: Synthesis 3 - HR Issues

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Re: [kictanet] Day 8 of 10- BPO Discussions, Youth and Gender Issues
by Walubengo J 11 Jun '09

11 Jun '09

folks, indeed she 'deliberately' repeated day 7 issues. The catch is that we have 2days to discuss the Youth and Gender issue... meanwhile, i noted in yesterdays Daily Nation, pag 15 - its like Safaricom has finally published tenders to outsource part of the Customer Services? Kazi kwa vijana. walu. --- On Thu, 6/11/09, Wainaina Mungai <wainaina(a)madeinkenya.org> wrote: > From: Wainaina Mungai <wainaina(a)madeinkenya.org> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 8 of 10- BPO Discussions, Youth and Gender Issues > To: jwalu(a)yahoo.com > Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Date: Thursday, June 11, 2009, 1:49 AM > Nyaki, > > I got that very same feeling that day 8 intro is a repeat > of day 7's intro... > > might be a time zone issue ;-) > > Wainaina > > On 6/11/09, Bill Kagai <billkagai(a)gmail.com> > wrote: > > This looks like repetition of Day7 unless am missing > > something.....or..... confused..... > > > > On Thu, Jun 11, 2009 at 12:24 AM, Catherine > Adeya<elizaslider(a)yahoo.com> > > wrote: > >> > >> - Day 8 of 10- BPO Discussions, Youth and Gender > Issues Continued - > >> > >> It is a few minutes past midnight now so let me > introduce Day 8 of the > >> discussions. > >> > >> Today we continue with the theme of Youth and > Gender issues. The following > >> is part of the summary I sent yesterday (the > detailed attachment I sent > >> yesterday is re-attached). > >> > >> It is useful to begin by noting that the > researchers found that the > >> unemployment rate (2008 est) was 40% in Kenya, > 21.7% in S. Africa, 7.6% in > >> Mauritius and 6.8% in India. The researchers also > found that the minimum > >> qualification for professional staff was a > Bachelor’s degree in all four > >> countries. However, the minimum qualification > for operators/agents > >> varied. > >> In Kenya it was a certificate, diploma or degree > depending on operation; > >> in > >> S. Africa it was Grade 12; Mauritius school > certificate or below and in > >> India it was a High school certificate. > >> > >> The common work related challenges include project > management (especially > >> meeting deadlines) and long hours. Some employees > in Kenya complained > >> about > >> challenges with transportation. The detailed > summary findings will be > >> availed. > >> > >> Generally there were more women in call centres > than male but more males > >> in > >> the professional cadre. The youth are mostly > found in the agent/operator > >> jobs. The following are some country specific > issues: > >> > >> In, India there is the Equal Remuneration Act > ensures that there is equal > >> remuneration to men and women for same jobs. Under > this law, no > >> discrimination is permissible in recruitment and > service conditions except > >> where employment of women is prohibited or > restricted by the law. NASSCOM > >> has launched the Women in Leadership-IT Initiative > to enhance > >> participation > >> of women in the workforce and ensure there are > more women leaders in the > >> IT-BPO industry. > >> In South Africa, there are 40% more females than > males below 25 years > >> working in the BPO sector. However, there are 7% > more males than females > >> above 25 years old. There is no gender or age > based discrimination in the > >> work place. There exists no law or policy that > prefers youth from other > >> groups of people in employment. > >> In Mauritius, there is no 24 hour work culture. In > addition, the Labor Act > >> prohibits employment of female employees in > industrial undertakings > >> between > >> 10 p.m. and 5 a.m; while youth are not allowed to > work between between 6 > >> p.m. and 6 a.m. Interestingly, there is clause > that no person shall, > >> except > >> with the Permanent Secretary's written consent, > transport a female worker > >> or > >> cause a female worker to be transported in a goods > vehicle; any other > >> vehicle, unless the vehicle is provided with an > easy means of entering and > >> alighting which does not involve climbing. > >> > >> 4. In Kenya we have the Employment Act which > many of you know. > >> > >> This leads us to the following discussion > questions: > >> > >> Discussion Q9: Are the Kenyan laws adequate to > protect the youth and women > >> from exploitation by BPO&O employers? > >> > >> Discussion Q. 10: The BPO sector is not seen as a > long term source of > >> employment for most employees. Most believe it is > a stepping stone to > >> other > >> lucrative opportunities. What needs to be done to > ensure the youth and > >> women > >> view the industry as attractive, especially in > terms of quality of > >> employment and career progression? > >> > >> Discussion Q11: Attrition and poaching are > prevalent in most countries > >> studied. What mechanisms should employers adopt to > attract and retain > >> their > >> staff? > >> > >> Let the discussions continue as we move to another > topic tomorrow. > >> > >> Thanks > >> > >> Nyaki > >> > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> kictanet mailing list > >> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > >> > >> This message was sent to: billkagai(a)gmail.com > >> Unsubscribe or change your options at > >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/billkagai%40gmail.com > >> > >> > > > > > > > > -- > > Bildad Kagai > > MD - MediaCorp Limited > > Nairobi Stock Exchange Authorised Information Vendor > > Suite B2, Tetu Court, State House Avenue > > P. O. Box 20311 - 00200 > > Nairobi, Kenya > > Tel. 254 20 272 8332 > > Fax. Rendered Obsolete > > S - 1°17'13.8" > > E - 36°48'22.7" > > www.mediacorp.co.ke > > --- > > > > _______________________________________________ > > kictanet mailing list > > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > > > This message was sent to: wainaina(a)madeinkenya.org > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/wainaina%40madeinkenya… > > > > -- > Sent from my mobile device > > --- > http://www.bungesms.com > > http://www.madeinkenya.org > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: jwalu(a)yahoo.com > Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jwalu%40yahoo.com >

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Executive e-Learning Strategy Development & Implementation workshop, July 6-10, Windhoek Namibia
by Gakiria 10 Jun '09

10 Jun '09

Dear all, Attached for your information. The aim of the workshop is to expose participants to practical success stories on e-Learning strategy development and implementation from a policy and strategic level. There will be expert presentations and coaching by Prof Johannes Cronje, a leading international e-Learning expert from South Africa, including working group sessions and practical, interactive activities. Please refer to the attached information sheet and application form. Kind regards Andrew Gakiria Kenya e-Learning Center

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Executive e-Learning Strategy Development & Implementation workshop, July 6-10, Windhoek Namibia
by Gakiria 10 Jun '09

10 Jun '09

Dear all, Attached for your information. The aim of the workshop is to expose participants to practical success stories on e-Learning strategy development and implementation from a policy and strategic level. There will be expert presentations and coaching by Prof Johannes Cronje, a leading international e-Learning expert from South Africa, including working group sessions and practical, interactive activities. Please refer to the attached information sheet and application form. Kind regards Andrew Gakiria Kenya e-Learning Center

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