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Scramble for Fibre Optic Infrastructure in Kenya. When will Telcos embrace the Frenemy Concept and stop individual build out?
by Ali Hussein 15 Apr '13

15 Apr '13

Listers Am I naive in thinking that the Telco sector needs to come together and stop individual build out of fibre optic networks across the country? We should be concerned because the normal Return on Investment principals suggest that for them to recoup the cost of this infrastructure the customer needs to pay for it? Is this a case for a Private Public Partnership? Does the Information Ministry have an opinion on this? Does TESPOK have an opinion on this? Wasn't the government involved in this at some point? Or is my memory not serving me right? I know these are many questions...Which need to be answered.. http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/business/MTN-Kenya-drops-partners-and-lays-… *Ali Hussein* *CEO, 3mice interactive media ltd* *Partner, Telemedia Africa Ltd * Tel: +254713601113 Twitter: @AliHKassim Skype: abu-jomo LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim<http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim> Blog: www.alyhussein.com

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Digital Stealing
by Edith Adera 15 Apr '13

15 Apr '13

Forwarded Message Are you aware of this? "I locked my car As I walked away I heard my car door unlock''.I went back and locked my car again three times.Each time, as soon as I started to walk away, I could hear it unlock again!! Naturally alarmed, I looked around and there were two men sitting in a car next to the Store. They were obviously watching me intently, and there seemed no doubt they were somehow involved in this very weird situation. I quickly abandoned my errand, jumped into my car and sped away. I went straight to the police station, told them what had happened, and found out I was part of a new, and very successful, scheme being used to gain entry into parked cars. Two weeks later, my friend's son had a similar experience... While traveling, he stopped at a motorway service area to use the toilet. When he came out to his car less than 5 minutes later, someone had managed to get into his car and had stolen his mobile phone, laptop computer, sat-nav, briefcase and other belongings. He called the police and since there were no signs of his car having been broken into, the police told him he had probably been a victim of the latest robbery tactic - there is a device that robbers are using now to clone your security code when you lock your doors on your car using your remote locking device. They sit a distance away and watch for their next victim. They know you are going inside the Store, restaurant, or whatever and that they now have a few minutes to steal and run.* The police officer said always to lock your car manually with the key when parking in a public area. That way if there is someone sitting in a car nearby watching for their next victim, it will not be you. When you lock up with the key upon exiting, it does not send the security code, but if you walk away and use the remote button, it sends the code through the airwaves where it can be easily intercepted by the device" This is very real. Be aware of what you just read and pls pass this information. Thanks

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China – The Sleeper Awakens (innovation in china)
by John Gitau 15 Apr '13

15 Apr '13

a great 5 part series describing the chinese innovation/funding process. http://steveblank.com/2013/04/10/china-the-sleeper-awakens/ http://steveblank.com/2013/04/11/chinas-torch-program-the-glow-that-can-lig… http://steveblank.com/2013/04/12/the-rise-of-chinese-venture-capital/ http://steveblank.com/2013/04/13/zhongguancun-in-beijing-chinas-silicon-val… http://steveblank.com/2013/04/14/china-startups-the-gold-rush/ Some interesting statistics like: For a hundred years the fantasy of global marketers was, “ if only everyone in China would buy one…” That day is final here. The numbers of mobile subscribers are staggering – 1.18 billon, 260 million are 3G<http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&ie=UTF8&la…>. Chinese Internet companies live in a large closed, self-contained ecosystem with 564 *million* web users with *420 million* having mobile web access. 309 million use microblogs and 242 million shop online..... While not running a startup myself, Steve Blanks books have been an interesting read. With thanks, John Gitau

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Orange to stop hosting non .ke domains
by robert yawe 15 Apr '13

15 Apr '13

Hi, Just in case there are people as crazy as me to have hosted their domains with orange please note that they will not be renewing hosting for any domains that are not .ke. It is not life threatening as Safaricom and GoDaddy still do but doesn't this go against the objective of keeping local content local? What is the take on this by the Government of Kenya and the CCK? Regards PS. Just in-case I am missing a point here can somebody explain to me what the difference is between hosting a .ke or .com domain. Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 Kenya Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696

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Opinion split on whether laptops are a priority in schools
by Grace Githaiga 14 Apr '13

14 Apr '13

IN SUMMARYCritics say the idea is noble but many schools lack basics and laptops are a mere luxuryReport shows that as high as 90 per cent of teachers are computer illiterate; who will aid pupils?http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Opinion-split-on-whether-laptops-are-a-priority-in-schools/-/1056/1747588/-/item/1/-/sxhoh3/-/index.html

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Software Developers stick to your proffession
by Paul Roy Owino 13 Apr '13

13 Apr '13

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/04/04/the-25-tech-companies… Sent from my Windows Phone

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Innovationville: where good money-making African startups go to die
by Gideon 13 Apr '13

13 Apr '13

+1 on the article its quite a sobering write up on innovation and technology, here is an interesting video Hardly Working: Start-up Guys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMmdl4VltD4 "So for one unthinkable moment let’s forget building the next Facebook, Google or Apple. Think about using your vast technical knowledge to for example, solve the simplest problem Africa faces — service delivery. Think of the innovation that would come with that." Gideon Rop. > Message: 2 > Date: Sat, 13 Apr 2013 10:25:23 +0300 (EAT) > From: "Bitange Ndemo" <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> > To: "Andrea Bohnstedt" < > andrea.bohnstedt(a)ratio-magazine.com> > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Innovationville: Where all the good money > making African start ups go to die > Message-ID: > <86f4368bc72c3c848f90f5230290b458.squirrel(a)mail.jambo.co.ke> > Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1 > > Talk about innovation. > > < > http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_turere_a_peace_treaty_with_the_lions.html? > ?utm_medium=social&source=email&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=ios-share> > > > Ndemo. > > > > > > Fun read: > > > > > http://ventureburn.com/2013/04/innovationville-where-all-good-money-making-… > > > > _______________________________________________ > > kictanet mailing list > > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > > > https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/bitange%40jambo.co.ke > > > > The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform > > for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and > > regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT > > sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and > > development. > > > > KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors > > online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and > bandwidth, > > share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do > > not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. > > > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Subject: Digest Footer > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > > ------------------------------ > > End of kictanet Digest, Vol 71, Issue 88 > **************************************** >

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Innovationville: Where all the good money making African start ups go to die
by Andrea Bohnstedt 13 Apr '13

13 Apr '13

Fun read: http://ventureburn.com/2013/04/innovationville-where-all-good-money-making-…

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School visit
by Mark Elkins 12 Apr '13

12 Apr '13

Today, Thursday 11th April, 2013, I visited the Sunward Park High School, Sonskyn Rd, Sunward Park, Boksburg (Johannesburg). The school has recently embarked on a one tablet per child project. My purpose was to simply visit the place to satisfy my own curiosity. The School is an old Model-C school, teachers are generally white or indian and the lerners are about 90% black. It is by no means a rich school. There are about 1250 children - excluding the matric learners. There are three double story blocks of classrooms and a further block which houses administration and a school hall. Classes are usually just under 40 learners. This school has achieved some interesting goals. They have a very active soccer program with an on-site dormitory for 20 or so learners. I understand the team has travelled around Europe and that a number of the learners are already pre-signed to play at various clubs in Europe. I understand that the Teachers were all equipped with Laptops a year or so ago. The Classrooms all seemed to have VGA projectors and there is a smart white board as well as a traditional blackboard in every classroom. Towards the end of last year, a plan was formulated by a businessman to provide a Wifi access point in every classroom and to provide every learner with either a 7" or 10" Android tablet. There was initial Headmistress and staff buy-in followed by parent buy-in to the project. The Wifi units are switched back to a central server via UTP copper cable. The Server provides the content. There is a localised e-mail server. A Firewall connects just the staff to the public Internet. The Businessman arranged with various publishers to obtain all the learners curriculum in an electronic format. For example, McMillian, one of the primary publisher, has provided a three year licence for half the price of paper based books. There is also a lot of other electronic media available, Wikipidia, Learn channels video content, Mindset Learning material and educational media from more than twenty other sources. I first spoke to the business man and the vice head of the school. Hardware costs were: Server R70,000 Wifi R250,000 Other R50,000 Total R320,000 or just under R300 per student. The E-Media costs are R300 per student per year and the 7” Tablet R1000. The cost thus for the first year is R1600 followed by R300 a year for two years. The usual fee cost for a student was given as R2000 a year using traditional methods - so fees have actually come down by half if you look at a two year cycle. There was some initial theft of tablets in the first day or two. Since then, no theft. After a month, only a handful of students had not purchased tablets so these students were "loaned" devices. About one third of students purchase the 7" tablet, the remainder purchased a more expensive 10" tablet. The choice of device is governed more by security and the ability to hide a smaller tablet than of cost. There have been breakages - Tablets dropped or used in lieu of a book to hit a fellow learner over the head. I then visited some classes. In a "Life Science" classroom, the teacher was presenting a class on the water cycle (sea->evaporation->rain->river). He presented from his laptop via the VGA projector and the students were looking at two equivalent presentations via their Tablets. Some of his comments were: End of class tests are easy, I get instant feedback on whether my teaching is being effective and so can react immediately. I spend more time teaching and less time doing administration and marking. I can teach in short bursts to match the learners attention span rather than give a half hour monologue from the front of the class and instead of spoon feeding them, I get them to research the subject. Its easier to handle learners of different ability, the quick I can give more work to and the slow can continue the work in their own time. He also believed that learners were becoming smarter and more interested in what was being taught. I then entered a History lesson where Martin Luther King was being discussed. The learners (a class of boys, one of the most difficult classes due to the presence of a large proportion of the successful football team) were using the Tablets as book-readers. This teacher also was in full support of the Table. She claimed the boys were much easier to keep in control than before (last year). She indicated that some work has still to be written in text books to comply with the educational department rules but students now have much thinner text books - saving money. I then talked to a small gathering of learners outside who seemed to have a spare lesson. They were Matric learners. As they are leaving at the end of this year, they are not a part of the Tablet program - though about 60% of them have Tablets. One, who has a younger sibling, remarked that she is envious of her sister. Homework seems much easier and more interesting now. Also, she still has to carry a full bag of books where as all the non-matric learners just carry Tablets. All of this crowd had Tablets and do use them unofficially at school. The "experiment" has only been running for three months but the results so far look very promising. I would like to visit the same school in a year. Mark Elkins -- . . ___. .__ Posix Systems - (South) Africa /| /| / /__ mje(a)posix.co.za - Mark J Elkins, Cisco CCIE / |/ |ARK \_/ /__ LKINS Tel: +27 12 807 0590 Cell: +27 82 601 0496

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Re: [kictanet] Laptops for 2014 class 1 entrants
by Paul Roy Owino 12 Apr '13

12 Apr '13

Am happy we are entertaining tablets this is the way to go. I believe we can do local assembly of these tablets further creating jobs for thousands. In anyway if one has a market for over 1million users why shouldn't they setup assembly operation locally? Sent from my Windows Phone ------------------------------ From: robert yawe Sent: 4/11/2013 6:07 PM To: Paul Roy Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] Laptops for 2014 class 1 entrants Hi Brian, It seems that we have a consensus that the traditional laptop is not the way to go, touch is critical and rich multimedia. I took the next step and searched for a sub $100 tablet and got very many http://www.ainovo.com/elfii.html, http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/president-launches-low-cost-aakash-2-tabl… is a major issue but I am sure someone out there will offer a workable solution preferably based on solar. We do not need to try and bring manufacturing in initially as the we still cannot get to the economies of scale that China has achieved but KQ could offer free shipping. The critical issue will be what will come pre-installed in device and how do we make sure that the headmasters or teachers do not decide to keep them in safe custody? Definitely a very feature rich drawing and painting program is essential with a photo editor. I believe a local app-store will be another essential component with local developers throwing out applications in the thousands and then leave the rest to the children. regards Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 Kenya Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696 ------------------------------ *From:* Brian Munyao Longwe <blongwe(a)gmail.com> *To:* robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> *Sent:* Thursday, 11 April 2013, 11:01 *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] Laptops for 2014 class 1 entrants Hi Edith, "Failure" in the context of the OLPC project needs to be clearly defined. I think that what the media have largely trumpeted as a failure was that the goal of coming out with a sub $100 laptop was not achieved. The costs of producing the OLPC devices is higher than $100 per piece. However, the fact that these devices are designed *from the ground up* with children (and learning) in mind has been a huge success in terms of yielding devices that are more appropriately suited to the vagaries of youth, both in terms of ruggedness as well as look and feel. The examples I gave earlier where countries like Uruguay with a tiny population of 3m have rolled out 500,000 over the past 5 years is a resounding success to me. Rather than reinvent the wheel - let us take one that works, modify it to better suit us, and fit it into the right mix of complementary hardware, software and systems to make the overall undertaking a success. Best regards, Brian On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 11:47 PM, Edith Adera <eadera(a)idrc.ca> wrote: Brian,**** ** ** It appears the “one laptop per child” program (OLPC) failed as widely touted, so important to learn lessons from that failure. **** ** ** Edith **** ** ** *From:* kictanet [mailto:kictanet-bounces+eadera= idrc.ca(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke] *On Behalf Of *Brian Munyao Longwe *Sent:* April 10, 2013 9:34 AM *To:* Edith Adera *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] Laptops for 2014 class 1 entrants**** ** ** Hi Robert,**** Good points. We actually don't need to look very far. The "One Laptop per Child" program has been on this issue for a while now and has a few models of laptop (including a tablet) that can be offer at a price of +/- $100.**** The OLPC project has already delivered over 200,000 laptops in Rwanda and over 500,000 in Uruguay via government driven programs. Considering these are relatively small countries (7m and 3m total populations respectively). The goal of 1 million laptops per year for std1 entrants is not unnattainable.**** As for content - this is where the opportunity lies. All of the current education materials exist in soft form with the varioius printing presses, it would not take much effort to process these into eBook format and push them onto a digital library along with related material such as story books, dictionaries, encyclopediae etc.**** In addition to the above, there is a huge opportunity to create educational games for all school going ages. Research has shown that children learn much faster when the knowledge is conveyed in a "fun" way.*** * Kazi kwetu?**** Brian**** ** ** On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 7:56 AM, robert yawe <robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote:**** Hi, I like the confirmation by the President - sworn and his deputy on the issue of laptops for class 1 students from next year, it is commendable and quite easily achievable but as ICT experts are laptops the ideal items or would low power touchscreen tablets be more practical and appropriate? However .com that the two principles are I suspect that they might not be up to speed on devices. Here again for the umpteenth time the opportunity for us to become relevant presents itself, shall we take action or sit back to carry out a forensic analysis when only 80% of the students get the devices? Regards PS. A new dispensation, a new dedication and new vigor **** ** ** **** Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 Kenya**** Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696**** _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/blongwe%40gmail.com The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.**** ** ** _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/robertyawe%40yahoo.co… The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.

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