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[Fwd: News Alert: Senate Votes to Broaden Government's Spying Powers]...phone companies now have legal protection
by alice 13 Feb '08

13 Feb '08

Breaking News Alert The New York Times Tuesday, February 12, 2008 -- 5:55 PM ET ----- Senate Votes to Broaden Government's Spying Powers By a vote of 68 to 29, the Senate gave final approval to a bill that expands the government's spying powers and gives legal protection to phone companies that cooperated in President Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program. Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/?emc=na ----- Visit our mobile site for the latest news: http://m.nytimes.com ----- NYTimes.com 620 Eighth Ave. New York, NY 10018 Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

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Bandwidth Subsidy to go live March 15th
by Al Kags 12 Feb '08

12 Feb '08

In an interview with Mark Okuttah of Business Daily, the Deputy CEO, Programmes of the Kenya ICT Board, Dr. Victor Kyalo announced that the Board would start disbursement on March 15th. Full story: http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5796&Item…

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Re: [kictanet] Develop the LOCAL outsourcing market
by robert yawe 12 Feb '08

12 Feb '08

Hi Mr. Kukubo, If I am not mistaken the ICT board is actually a government entity and thus aren't you abdicating your responsibility on this issue of government outsourcing? I raised what I believe is a pertinent issue, that the government needs to setup a central contact point. It is frustrating to have to call 3 ministries when looking for information. The site kenya.go.ke is a very good initiative and I hope the board can work towards providing us with a single contact telephone number that we can use to contact all wings and agencies of the government. It is interesting that except KRA none of the other government offices have an ISDN service. "Think global act local" Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 KEnya Tel: +254722511225 ----- Original Message ---- From: Paul Kukubo <pkukubo(a)ict.go.ke> To: robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk Cc: secretariat(a)kif.or.ke; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Monday, 11 February, 2008 6:07:44 AM Subject: Re: [kictanet] Develop the LOCAL outsourcing market Marcel Thanks for this email and I am glad that you have flagged two important issues. 1. Outsourcing creats jobs 2. Local outsourcing is critical. One would have to agree that the biggest potential source of outsource jobs in Kenya is the Corporate Sector and the Government. Both are not really big outsourcers at the moment. None of them is doing large outsourcing of customer service (through call centres) or data processing. The Kenya ICT Board believes that local outsourcing is what will give this industry momentum. I will therefore follow on the local opportunities you mention specifically in your email in order to establish what we can do as a board to support the industry. Here we need KIF's partnership to establish where this actual opportunities lie and to speak to the decision makers in the context of a private public partnership. Incidentally, I have spoken to the CEO at KEPSA to agree a date in March when the board will to meet with the larger corporations to understand their outsourcing strategies if any and to help encourage them to look at local companies favourably. We need to know whether decision makers feel there are challenges to this participation by local firms. The campaign to outsource work locally has our support. It is part of our strategy. One would have to agree that there are many reasons for the Kenya Governement to consider developing outsourcing. By unbundling service delivery, Government can deliver services better to citizens. As part of our strategy, the board is building a case for a formal governnment approach to outsourcing. This is one of the ways to create self sufficiency and jobs in the economy.When we present our strategic plan to the industry in March, we shall detail this. My challenge to the IT enabled services sector, (which includes Outsourcing, software development, systems support etc ) is that we also have to build strong businesses and partner with world class firms where it helps. My experience in the sector is that there is lots of work out there, but alot if it is actually outsourced offshore. We dont want a situation where the Board goes out building the case for outsourcing and we get in what is relatively low value work, only for the higher value work locally to be offshored. They way to mitigate this is to build strong local business lobbies (as we are doing through KIF etc), to be aggressive in partnering to deliver to contracts and to develop local skills. As the board, we have a mandate to ensure outsourcing is developed and people are employed in the process. As the outsourcing sector is also suffering due to Kenya's reputation currently, one of the mitigating actions is to build local outsourcing. On 2/11/08, Marcel Werner <marcelcwerner(a)gmail.com> wrote: We are encouraged by the developments in the BPO Sector. The recent meeting between Kenya BPO & Contact Center Society and the ICT Board revealed steps in the right direction as regards engagement by local entities and more specifically, Government, in taking the lead in outsourcing. The positive engagement between the BPO Society and The Ministry of Special Projects in establishing a call/contact center facility for the easy access by the displaced and other dis-enfranchised Kenyans following the recent sad events is a commendable effort. I am informed that the Kenya Police was severely constrained and could hardly cope with the numerous distress calls that it received because of inadequate technological systems. They may also similarly be looking to enhance their capability. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is a healthy practice and common business sense that helps improve efficiency. Farming out non-mission-critical tasks to specialised service providers creates jobs. Not only if the client is off-shore, but also if the client is local and now more focused on its core business, thereby becoming more competitive and cost-effective. We have not seen much evidence that we are scouting around at home for BPO opportunities, more urgent now that the country's international image has taken a beating during the past few weeks. Those locally based companies that have capabilities to offer BPO services should be given more support, also from locally based clients. This is good for the economy, and good for the BPO industry. Positive steps being taken by the Kenya ICT Board in promoting Kenya as an Outsource destination should be fully supported. More should also be done by the local business that should equally be encouraged to outsource. Some, like Safaricom, had made some indications towards outsourcing and nobody knows where this process ended. The Kenya ICT Board, The Ministry of ICT and other ICT Sector Associations should be urged to lobby for such opportunities to be given to local BPO Operators, not only because it enables job creation in these hard times, but also because it helps establish a local competence and capability that we need before we embark on the international leg of selling Kenya as an outsource destination. What are the industry players doing in encouraging this? Over to you…. Marcel Werner, chairman Kenya ICT Federation - www.kif.or.ke please send any office correspondence to: marcelwerner(a)innovation-africa.net _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: pkukubo(a)ict.go.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/pkukubo%40ict.go.ke -- Paul Kukubo Chief Executive Officer, Kenya ICT Board PO Box 27150 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya Teleposta Towers 10th Floor Tel direct: +254 20 2089062/251152 Fax: +254 20 315147 Cell: + 254 733 739488 website: www.ict.go.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: robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/robertyawe%40yahoo.co.… ___________________________________________________________ Support the World Aids Awareness campaign this month with Yahoo! 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Alari to be honored at Highway Africa 2008
by Rebecca Wanjiku 12 Feb '08

12 Feb '08

This year, the annual Highway Africa conference will be dedicated to the memory of the late Alari Alare. We are writing his story and would like to know how he touched your lives. Please email me a paragraph or two about him and his contribution to the ICT sector. This will be published in September during the conference. best regards, Becky Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

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Fibre Optic Cables
by bitange＠jambo.co.ke 12 Feb '08

12 Feb '08

Dear All, Below find a Wall Street Journal article on Fibre Optic. We have made significant progress in Teams. Having met all the requirements, work is to start anytime now and finished a head of any cable to our region. The Good news is that Etisalat (our partners in Teams) in conjunction with Akamai are building an Internet Point of Presence (POP) in Fujaira thus eliminating long distance needs for Internet in this region. For telephony, Etisalat have given Teams unbeatable prices in their e-cable and IMEWE to Europe. Ndemo. Internet Logjams Spur Cable Boom --- Outages in Mideast Expose Global Need For Fast Fiber Lines By Christopher Rhoads 2024 words 8 February 2008 The Wall Street Journal A1 English (Copyright (c) 2008, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) Seven years after a telecom boom and bust created a glut of fiber optical cable and destroyed $2 trillion in stock-market wealth, another building binge is on. Over the past 18 months, more than a dozen telecom companies have begun laying billions of dollars worth of undersea fiber cable. The projects this time connect areas largely bypassed a decade ago: the emerging economies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, as well as isolated places such as Greenland. The buildup comes as four cable outages in the Middle East -- two off the Mediterranean coast of Egypt and two in the Persian Gulf -- recently disrupted Internet connections across the region and as far away as India. The cuts throttled Egypt's connections outside the country by 70%, hampering international banks and curtailing trading on the country's stock exchange. India, whose huge outsourcing industry depends on the Internet, lost half its capacity. The kinks threw into stark relief the importance of these elaborate cable connections -- and their vulnerability. The likely result: Even more fiber building, as increasingly Internet-dependent companies and nations in the region seek reliable connections. Long-haul fiber is the conduit of globalization. Even in a "wireless" era, it is this physical labyrinth of cables that now carries the bulk of Internet, wireless and fixed-line traffic. Fiber has eclipsed satellite technology as the main means of long-distance communication -- enabling interaction between the world's businesses, governments and economies. The recent cable outages "prove the point that we sh

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develop the LOCAL outsourcing market
by Marcel Werner 11 Feb '08

11 Feb '08

We are encouraged by the developments in the BPO Sector. The recent meeting between Kenya BPO & Contact Center Society and the ICT Board revealed steps in the right direction as regards engagement by local entities and more specifically, Government, in taking the lead in outsourcing. The positive engagement between the BPO Society and The Ministry of Special Projects in establishing a call/contact center facility for the easy access by the displaced and other dis-enfranchised Kenyans following the recent sad events is a commendable effort. I am informed that the Kenya Police was severely constrained and could hardly cope with the numerous distress calls that it received because of inadequate technological systems. They may also similarly be looking to enhance their capability. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is a healthy practice and common business sense that helps improve efficiency. Farming out non-mission-critical tasks to specialised service providers creates jobs. Not only if the client is off-shore, but also if the client is local and now more focused on its core business, thereby becoming more competitive and cost-effective. We have not seen much evidence that we are scouting around at home for BPO opportunities, more urgent now that the country's international image has taken a beating during the past few weeks. Those locally based companies that have capabilities to offer BPO services should be given more support, also from locally based clients. This is good for the economy, and good for the BPO industry. Positive steps being taken by the Kenya ICT Board in promoting Kenya as an Outsource destination should be fully supported. More should also be done by the local business that should equally be encouraged to outsource. Some, like Safaricom, had made some indications towards outsourcing and nobody knows where this process ended. The Kenya ICT Board, The Ministry of ICT and other ICT Sector Associations should be urged to lobby for such opportunities to be given to local BPO Operators, not only because it enables job creation in these hard times, but also because it helps establish a local competence and capability that we need before we embark on the international leg of selling Kenya as an outsource destination. What are the industry players doing in encouraging this? Over to you…. Marcel Werner, chairman Kenya ICT Federation - www.kif.or.ke please send any office correspondence to: marcelwerner(a)innovation-africa.net

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Small Medium Size Symposium-Role Players Profiles (Pete Ondeng)
by Jose' 11 Feb '08

11 Feb '08

Pete Ondeng is the Africa regional Director for the Millennium Promise Alliance,a New York based,international development Goals(MDG's) Between 2005 and 2005,Pete was the CEO of the Eastern Africa Secretarait of the new partnership for Africa's Development(NEPAD)Sometime later,he proceeded by a successful three-year stint as Executive director of Faulu Kenya,currently one of East Africa's fastest growing micro finance institution. Pete is widely known as a motivational speaker,trainer and,until the end of 2006,the host of the most popular weekly prime time television program called "money Matters". We are humbled to have Mr.Pete Ondeng to join us a one of the key role players in our symposium to reach out to the SME's and give them skills on how to start small successful businesses.You cannot afford to join us for this symposium. Regards, Jose' 0728878744 --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.

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Develop the LOCAL outsourcing market
by Marcel Werner 11 Feb '08

11 Feb '08

We are encouraged by the developments in the BPO Sector. The recent meeting between Kenya BPO & Contact Center Society and the ICT Board revealed steps in the right direction as regards engagement by local entities and more specifically, Government, in taking the lead in outsourcing. The positive engagement between the BPO Society and The Ministry of Special Projects in establishing a call/contact center facility for the easy access by the displaced and other dis-enfranchised Kenyans following the recent sad events is a commendable effort. I am informed that the Kenya Police was severely constrained and could hardly cope with the numerous distress calls that it received because of inadequate technological systems. They may also similarly be looking to enhance their capability. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is a healthy practice and common business sense that helps improve efficiency. Farming out non-mission-critical tasks to specialised service providers creates jobs. Not only if the client is off-shore, but also if the client is local and now more focused on its core business, thereby becoming more competitive and cost-effective. We have not seen much evidence that we are scouting around at home for BPO opportunities, more urgent now that the country's international image has taken a beating during the past few weeks. Those locally based companies that have capabilities to offer BPO services should be given more support, also from locally based clients. This is good for the economy, and good for the BPO industry. Positive steps being taken by the Kenya ICT Board in promoting Kenya as an Outsource destination should be fully supported. More should also be done by the local business that should equally be encouraged to outsource. Some, like Safaricom, had made some indications towards outsourcing and nobody knows where this process ended. The Kenya ICT Board, The Ministry of ICT and other ICT Sector Associations should be urged to lobby for such opportunities to be given to local BPO Operators, not only because it enables job creation in these hard times, but also because it helps establish a local competence and capability that we need before we embark on the international leg of selling Kenya as an outsource destination. What are the industry players doing in encouraging this? Over to you…. Marcel Werner, chairman Kenya ICT Federation - www.kif.or.ke please send any office correspondence to: marcelwerner(a)innovation-africa.net

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Online University Education, an opportunity from the post election fiasco
by robert yawe 10 Feb '08

10 Feb '08

Online University Education, an opportunity from the post election fiasco After reading the articles in the Sunday Nation about the problems being experienced by Universities due to the post election violence I remembered the following saying; "If life serves you lemons, make lemonade" The post election violence will definitely have a major effect on all sectors of education, but I believe there is a quicker fix for the universities in the form of applied technology. We all know that 90% of the content of a university lecture is exactly that, a lecture, this makes it an ideal candidate for audio conferencing with expansion into video conferencing. Masinde Muliro, Moi, Egerton and Kabarak should look into providing their lectures virtually. Telkom, Safaricom and Celtel have a country wide network all we therefore need is a audio/video conferencing bridge installed so that students can listen to the lecture from wherever they are, questions can initially be sent via sms and assignments e-mailed or even posted via snail mail (fine this might not be leading edge technology but I am working on a short leash here). Exams (CAT's, mice and lobsters) well here is a chance to carry them out online just like is done with TOEFL, SAT and PAT the exams required for entry to American universities, not forgetting those microsoft and Cisco exams many of us have done. We also will need to push the lecturers to provide their material in form of computer based training (CBT) format. Here is the catch are we as IT experts, gurus and nugus ready to take up the challenge? are we ready to work cheap, fast and furious? can we stand up and be counted. The post election violence has created a problem, lets use this as an opportunity to deliver a leading edge solution. Now if only the government had concentrated on the terrestrial fiber to the district we would be discussing a different issue. We are ready to take on this challenge, who else out there is game? Regards Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 KEnya Tel: +254722511225 __________________________________________________________ Sent from Yahoo! Mail - a smarter inbox http://uk.mail.yahoo.com

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Small Medium Enterprise Symposium-March 22,2008
by Jose' 09 Feb '08

09 Feb '08

Small Medium Enterprise symposiums are programs that Kimathi Information Centre offers every year. The participants are introduced on ways that will make their small businesses have sound capability of growing positively by using computers as a tool to catalyze this process. This particular series focuses on emerging businesses with the theme; Emerging People, Emerging Markets, Emerging Technologies Among the key role players that will make this day a success will involve various practitioners who support Small Medium Enterprise they include; Kenya Youth Business Trust(KYBT) Equity Bank Ministry Of Youth Ministry Of Information and Technology Computers For Schools Kenya Mentors Business consultants. Small Medium Enterprise businesses lack an important growth ingredient which is lack of mentorship and exposure to business people, markets and technologies. This symposium acts as a catalyst to bring about sustainability in their business model. During the morning session, we shall have the opening remarks by Mr. Tom Musili who is the Executive Director of Computer For Schools Kenya then later on, we shall have three role players pick up topics that will go around; How to write business plans Business ethics and importance of networking The role of mentors. In the afternoon session, we shall have the mentorship clinic plus the exhibition whereby, the participants will have a chance to mingle with professional mentors from all walks of specialization. This will also bring alive the theme where entrepreneurs will emerge with new partnerships, get to network plus embrace new technologies that revolve around computers. We call for your participation that will make the Small Medium Enterprise (SME) breakthrough. Having your participation in the mentorship tent will go along way in support to Emerging enterprise. --------------------------------- Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.

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