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Broadband plan gives FCC wider cybersecurity role
by alice 24 Mar '10

24 Mar '10

Broadband plan gives FCC wider cybersecurity role The National Broadband Plan released by the Federal Communications Commission this week contains several recommendations that are designed to boost the preparedness of communications networks to deal with cyberthreats. <http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9172258/> EFF: FTC to Internet Companies: Start Using SSL <http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/03/ftc-internet-companies-start-using-ssl> (might be good policy for CCK to look at?) U.S. Rockefeller and Snowe Unveil Comprehensive Cybersecurity Legislation, Senate Commerce Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME) , a senior member of the Committee, today released the latest draft of comprehensive, bipartisan cybersecurity legislation to address our nation¹s vulnerability to cyber crime, global cyber espionage, and cyber attacks. <http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_i…>

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Govt to implement ICT in learning institutions
by Harry Delano 24 Mar '10

24 Mar '10

Hey Listers, Quite an interesting read.. The more, the reason why Broadband, across the country is a matter of urgency... However, what would this portend - especially, perhaps for Educational Material/curriculum Publishers, who may lose a market share in the education sector.. On the flipside, it would help in the efforts towards Content Digitalization, Green ICT and Bridging the Digital divide.. Again, this topic came up on this forum a while back. Just how "multistakeholder" this initiative is going to be undertaken will greatly impact it's success.. Your thoughts please.. Harry http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=62933 Govt to implement ICT in learning institutions Written By:Carol Gakii/KNA , Posted: Tue, Mar 23, 2010 The government plans to make the entire education sector Information Communication Technology compliant. To this end the government will introduce an increased range of information and communication technologies and e-learning facilities in learning institutions countrywide. Addressing the press at a Nairobi hotel Tuesday Education Minister Prof Sam Ongeri said the ministry was working with the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) to develop a digital curriculum programme for public schools. "The ministry, through the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) has embarked on the digitalization of various curricula and curriculum support materials in efforts to enhance accelerated learning," Ongeri said. He said Kenya was lagging behind in ICT compliance but the ministry has started implementing plans to acquire modern technology. Prof Ongeri said that by beefing up ICT knowledge in all institutions of learning, the ministry will be playing a key role in the realization of vision 2030. So far 2,000 out of the 25,000 public schools in the country have been equipped with ICT knowledge. A regional E-learning conference will be held later this month at the KIE. The regional conference, the first of its nature is expected to attract over 1,500 participants from the Eastern and Central African region. "The use of ICTs enables development objectives which improves communication and exchange of information to strengthen and enhance the learners' acquisition of necessary skills for operating effectively," Ongeri said. He added that with the adoption of e-learning, science subjects will be taught with minimum recurrent cost. Ongeri said the government would provide alternative power sources such as solar, wind and power batteries to enable students from lower social-economic backgrounds have easy access to E-learning.

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Re: [kictanet] Seeking reputable org/agency in order to donate the funds for PEV Orphans
by June Arunga 24 Mar '10

24 Mar '10

Dear Listers, A Miami based group is organizing a noteworthy fashion show titled Fashion for Peace Miami. This year, the proceeds are tagged for the orphans of the post election violence in 2007. Fashion for Peace Miami, needs help identifying and connecting with an organization/agency in Kenya that focuses on the children affected by that particular conflict. Since it is a not-for-profit organization they need to be connected with a reputable org/agency (that is in compliance with the US Internal Revenue Service) in order to donate the funds raised from the event. Any assistance with this would be most useful. Thanks. June Arunga

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Internet connectivity
by Sam Aguyo 23 Mar '10

23 Mar '10

Dear Listeners, A small production unit based around Kendu Bay belonging to a church where i worship needs internet connectivity for its user base of about 10-25 users on a LAN. Please you can get in touch with me offline for a bargain solution. Regards, Sam Aguyo

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Accenture eyes Kenya as outsourcing location
by Rebecca Wanjiku 23 Mar '10

23 Mar '10

Accenture is a global outsourcing giant read more- http://bit.ly/9z3ZKG Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog: wanjiku.co.ke

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When the Internet consumer market bites back...
by aki 23 Mar '10

23 Mar '10

Dear Listers, Sorry for the cross-posting and am adding my opinion. There is a story in Business Daily today titled " AccessKenya records 31 p.c. drop in profit " . No matter what way you look at the article, the consumer has spoken. I believe we are now going to see a turning point for kenya's internet pricing. Competition for higher bandwidths at affordable rates is now starting to kick off. The original idea that was used by ISPs whereby after Seacom and Teams landed was to double bandwidth at existing prices was not a good idea and thus must have lead to depressed sales or no new sales. Lack of sales puts a severe financial stress on ISP companies, especially those who took up both under-sea fiber connectivity. In my opinion, I think the market has bitten back! Data Telcos and ISPs are now going to have to go head to head on competition for newer customers. I personally welcome back the competition. :-)

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Re: [kictanet] [Skunkworks] When the Internet consumer market bites back...
by James Muendo 23 Mar '10

23 Mar '10

Personally, I will call it voting with your feet. My 2cents. On 23 March 2010 07:48, Amarjit Labhuram < dj_labu_ft_freakonaleash(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > If anybody is interested in the article its available at this link: > > http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Company%20Industry/AccessKenya%20records… > > Aki, I am totally with you. We as consumers do have some control to what > decisions are made in the boardrooms of these corporate companies. The > future decisions of AK and similar firms towards price wars is inevitable > and the old strategy of "double the bandwidth for the same price" shall not > go on for too long if the ISP wants to survive our market. That is my > opinion and just that!! > > Have a great day! > > Warm regards, > Amarjit Singh Labhuram. > ====================== > MacroTECH Portal Ltd. > -------------------------------------------- > P.O. Box: 1501 - 00621, > Nairobi, KENYA. > -------------------------------------------- > Zain: +254-735-528725 > Safaricom: +254-721-528725 > Fax: +254-773-006734 > > > On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 7:31 AM, aki <aki275(a)googlemail.com> wrote: > >> Dear Listers, >> >> Sorry for the cross-posting and am adding my opinion. >> >> There is a story in Business Daily today titled " AccessKenya records 31 >> p.c. drop in profit " . No matter what way you look at the article, the >> consumer has spoken. >> >> I believe we are now going to see a turning point for kenya's internet >> pricing. Competition for higher bandwidths at affordable rates is now >> starting to kick off. The original idea that was used by ISPs whereby after >> Seacom and Teams landed was to double bandwidth at existing prices was not a >> good idea and thus must have lead to depressed sales or no new sales. Lack >> of sales puts a severe financial stress on ISP companies, especially those >> who took up both under-sea fiber connectivity. >> >> In my opinion, I think the market has bitten back! Data Telcos and ISPs >> are now going to have to go head to head on competition for newer customers. >> I personally welcome back the competition. :-) >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Skunkworks mailing list >> Skunkworks(a)lists.my.co.ke >> http://orion.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >> ------------ >> Skunkworks Server donations spreadsheet >> >> http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AopdHkqSqKL-dHlQVTMxU1VBdU1BSWJxdy1… >> ------------ >> Skunkworks Rules >> http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 >> ------------ >> Other services @ http://my.co.ke >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Skunkworks mailing list > Skunkworks(a)lists.my.co.ke > http://orion.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks > ------------ > Skunkworks Server donations spreadsheet > > http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AopdHkqSqKL-dHlQVTMxU1VBdU1BSWJxdy1… > ------------ > Skunkworks Rules > http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 > ------------ > Other services @ http://my.co.ke > -- James M. Muendo Timsoft Technologies & Solutions Ltd. P.O Box 28016 - 00200, Nairobi. Mobile: +254725567508 skype:tim.rick http://rickdeesadvantage.blogspot.com/

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Google: A new approach to China: an update
by alice 23 Mar '10

23 Mar '10

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-approach-to-china-update.html A new approach to China: an update 3/22/2010 12:03:00 PM On January 12, we announced on this blog that Google and more than twenty other U.S. companies had been the victims of a sophisticated cyber attack originating from China, and that during our investigation into these attacks we had uncovered evidence to suggest that the Gmail accounts of dozens of human rights activists connected with China were being routinely accessed by third parties, most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on their computers. We also made clear that these attacks and the surveillance they uncovered—combined with attempts over the last year to further limit free speech on the web in China including the persistent blocking of websites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Docs and Blogger—had led us to conclude that we could no longer continue censoring our results on Google.cn. So earlier today we stopped censoring our search services—Google Search, Google News, and Google Images—on Google.cn. Users visiting Google.cn are now being redirected to Google.com.hk, where we are offering uncensored search in simplified Chinese, specifically designed for users in mainland China and delivered via our servers in Hong Kong. Users in Hong Kong will continue to receive their existing uncensored, traditional Chinese service, also from Google.com.hk. Due to the increased load on our Hong Kong servers and the complicated nature of these changes, users may see some slowdown in service or find some products temporarily inaccessible as we switch everything over. Figuring out how to make good on our promise to stop censoring search on Google.cn has been hard. We want as many people in the world as possible to have access to our services, including users in mainland China, yet the Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement. We believe this new approach of providing uncensored search in simplified Chinese from Google.com.hk is a sensible solution to the challenges we've faced—it's entirely legal and will meaningfully increase access to information for people in China. We very much hope that the Chinese government respects our decision, though we are well aware that it could at any time block access to our services. We will therefore be carefully monitoring access issues, and have created this new web page, which we will update regularly each day, so that everyone can see which Google services are available in China. In terms of Google's wider business operations, we intend to continue R&D work in China and also to maintain a sales presence there, though the size of the sales team will obviously be partially dependent on the ability of mainland Chinese users to access Google.com.hk. Finally, we would like to make clear that all these decisions have been driven and implemented by our executives in the United States, and that none of our employees in China can, or should, be held responsible for them. Despite all the uncertainty and difficulties they have faced since we made our announcement in January, they have continued to focus on serving our Chinese users and customers. We are immensely proud of them. Posted by David Drummond, SVP, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer

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Kenyan takes on Silicon Valley]
by alice 22 Mar '10

22 Mar '10

Kenyan takes on Silicon Valley By MACHARIA GAITHO Posted Sunday, March 21 2010 at 21:21 I am a tree hugger at heart, is the response one gets on asking Ory Okolloh about Ushahidi.com's commercial prospects. She does see commercial potential for the new media sensation that has probably given her more coverage in the mainstream global media in recent months than the combined space given to President Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai, Safaricom boss Michael Joseph and Inter Milan footballer McDonald Mariga. Yet, if the global buzz Ushahidi is generating is any guide, we could be looking at a Kenyan Google, Microsoft or Facebook in terms of business potential. Ushahidi is a non-profit venture kept afloat by grants from various foundations, but Ms Okolloh is confident that in a few years, it will be able to sustain itself. It was built without venture capital, and even the technology developed to run it was deliberately kept open source, ruling out patents and proprietorship. And though she does have two young mouths to feed, she is reluctant to even talk about the prospect of super profits. Big business is starting to express interest in Ushahidi, but she remains cautious of commercial tie-ups that may cramp her style. That's the tree hugger in her. Her business card bears no title. It identifies her workplace as Ushahidi crowdsourcing and crisis information. Against her name is just an e-mail address. Across the world, however, she is earning recognition as co-founder and principal force behind Ushahidi, an online blogger-generated mapping tool that came into its own with the Haiti and Chile earthquakes and US blizzards. "Africa's Gift to Silicon Valley: How to Track a Crisis" was the title of a major feature on Ms Okolloh and Ushahidi in a New York Times article published less than a week before the Pan African Media Conference opened in Nairobi. "Ushahidi technology saves lives in Haiti and Chile", trumpeted the Newsweek interactive site on March 3. The publicity Ushahidi has generated has also served to put Kenya on the global digital map. And, ironically, if the site is Kenya's gift to Silicon Valley and the world, it is also a gift from Kenya's murderous round of post-election violence. Ms Okolloh, who is based in South Africa, had come home to vote and report on the polls when the violence broke out. Desperate for information and seeking ways to help, she sent out a plaintive cry on her blog: "Any techies out there willing to do a mash up of where the violence and destruction is using Google Maps?" The response was instantaneous. Within days, volunteer programmers had written a software code that allowed anyone to send in information via SMS, blog posts, video, phone calls and photographs. The information and its exact source was uploaded onto a map, providing a picture of serious hotspots based on the density of data coming from each location. The Kenyan poll violence was a test-run, and come the Haiti quake, Ushahidi became a global sensation. It was the first time such simple technology had been used on this scale and Ushahidi became the default data base for the Red Cross, US army and international relief effort. Then came Chile, the blizzards that paralysed much of the US, violence in Palestine and India, trouble in Afghanistan the list keeps growing. "Think about that", asked The New York Times on the blizzards. "The capital of the sole superpower is deluged with snow, and to whom does its local newspaper turn to help dig it out? Kenya." When I first met Ms Okolloh at the annual Highway Africa conference in South Africa a few years ago, she was part of the crowd of young bloggers with a social conscience trying to get a foot in the door. How does it feel now that she sits at the high table? "It feels good," she says with a laugh, "It's been a long journey." The lesson she learned is that if you stick around long enough and never tire, people will start to pay attention. Ushahidi's success is great vindication of her faith that technology would explode in Africa as, in the early days, many sneered at bloggers who imagined creating something worthwhile and sustainable. Internet penetration in Africa was nothing to write home about. Now, thanks partly to the mobile phone revolution, old wisdom has been turned upside down. Market researchers are noting the demographic shift, and it is obvious that anyone wanting to reach the under-25s, half the population, must look to new media. Moderating a roundtable discussion on new media at the Pan African Media Conference, Ms Okolloh wondered why talk of the concept in Africa too often focuses on the social and economic benefits paying bills or sending money through M-Pesa; farmers accessing information on weather and fertilisers through SMS. She thinks the so-called "development" benefit of new media is a by-product; the primary function being fun and ease of communication. But hasn't Ushahidi itself been a major catalyst for good? Yes, she concurs, but that was dependant on the "fun" technology being available in the first place. She points to the mobile phone revolution on the continent. If mobile phones were sold as "development" rather than affordable and convenient means of communication, she ventures, they might not have taken off so fast. She also refers to the push towards digital villages in Africa. Quite often, policy makers and implementers report failure because the customers they expected farmers seeking information on credit or farm inputs or mothers seeking help for a sick child were not forthcoming. Instead users might be youth "wasting time" on Facebook or downloading music. That, to her should be the measure of success. A nice and simple lesson, that, for Information and Communications Permanent Secretary Bitange Ndemo. Ms Ory Okolloh graduated from Harvard Law School in 2005 and is now a co-founder and executive director of http://Ushahidi.com. <http://Ushahidi.com.> Her self-penned online profile in Global Voices describes a social activist blogger, aka Kenyan Pundit, with a wide range of interests. Source: Daily Nation, Kenya The internet is the real unifier of the globe. Your country, sex, religion doesn't have to matter. Its what you are not where you are that will define the next crop of influential peoples of the world Submitted by popq Posted March 22, 2010 09:25 AM __,_._,___

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ICANN wraps up in Nairobi with no security hitches
by alice 22 Mar '10

22 Mar '10

ICANN wraps up in Nairobi with no security hitches By Rebecca Wanjiku <http://www.computerworld.co.ke/users/rebecca-wanjiku> 12 Mar, 2010 For the ICANN local organizing committee, today is a great day, it is the last day of the meeting, which by any standards can be considered a success considering the security video produced by ICANN just before the meeting. >From December last year, the LOC was involved more in answering security questions, whether the ruling coalition will break and whether the Al Shabab terrorist group will get away from the lucrative piracy along the gulf of Aden to attack KICC. No one denied that there were security concerns but thats a common denominator for many countries, rich or poor. In retrospect, I think the whole security debate benefitted Kenya and to some extent the continent. ICANN meetings have geographical rotation and am sure issues of security will come up the next time Africa is meant to host the meeting. For Kenya, the successful meeting is vital, given that the Internet Governance Forum will be held in the country next year. If the IGF raises the security issues, Kenya can point to ICANN and the security video, and the success that was achieved. To ICANN, the remote participation was good, the online participation matrix was shared before the meeting started and the parallel meetings in the US now look a bit ill advised. The 100mb bandwidth at the conference venue was very stable, I did not experience any hitches, even during the opening ceremony, where there were at least 100 laptops on; everyone at ICANN at least carries a laptop but not all were on at the time. For the ICANN participants who danced at the Carnivore till 4am, it just shows that they were enjoying the hospitality and the good things that the country has to offer. For those who took the Safaris, that is better than the caged animals out there. The meeting was optional for many people but for those in the new gTLD debate, it was important to have the two minutes on the mic in the public forum. Even members of the Government Advisory Committee took the mic, led by Bertrard De La Chapelle from France, who took the 2 minute Mic like 20 times, just to emphasize the importance of public sessions. For the ICM guys, the Independent Review Committee and those interested in matters of transparency in ICANN, the .xxx debate was important and their presence is vital, even in the face of security concerns. So, the meeting had lessons and successes for everyone; with more than 1000 people picking their conference bags, I think the meeting was a success and offers vital lessons to others holding meetings in Nairobi. Ends

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