- KICTANet - KICTANet

articles
by Rebecca Wanjiku 27 Mar '07

27 Mar '07

hi, we are in the process of finalising the Kictanet newsletter, i had earlier asked for articles and updates but got no response, if you would like us to feature your organisation or any updates, please send them directly to me, not to the list, just cut and paste my email, dont hit the reply button, regards becky ____________________________________________________________________________________ Expecting? Get great news right away with email Auto-Check. Try the Yahoo! Mail Beta. http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/mailbeta/newmail_tools.html

1 0

{Disarmed} FW: Rwanda's Knowledge Revolution
by Harry Hare 27 Mar '07

27 Mar '07

Fyi.. _____ From: Harry Hare [mailto:harry@africanedevelopment.org] Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 9:11 AM To: 'KICTanet Committee' Subject: Rwanda's Knowledge Revolution Very interesting reading, I think a lot of African countries can borrow a leaf from this. But what is probably evident in this article is the seriousness that leadership of the country has placed on ICT as an enabler to its development effort. It is the leadership that has facilitated the "from rags to riches" ICT … [View More]development. Read on Harry (http://www.businessinafrica.net/tech_telecoms/633087.htm) <javascript:self.close()> <javascript:window.print()> Rwanda's knowledge revolution Andrew Mack and Jeremy Goldberg '28-FEB-07 23:00' There was again, the same look - a combination of concern and disbelief - when I told a colleague that I'd been working in Rwanda. After all, what do we in the outside world know about Rwanda? A small country with a history of unspeakable violence and ethnic division, perhaps, but a place of opportunity? A leader of Africa's march into the 21st century? Rwanda? For all its challenges, Rwanda is by nearly all accounts making tremendous strides, working to re-build into a modern, knowledge-based economy. In fact, a number of Rwanda-watchers these days see the country on track to become the hottest IT spot between Cairo and Durban, a kind of "Silicon Valley of East-Central Africa." But it certainly did not have to be this way. In a region where so much has gone wrong, what went right in Rwanda? Everything started with vision. While much of the development of IT and the Internet around the continent has historically been ad hoc, Rwanda decided early on to build IT into its strategic plans for the future - in tangible, not just rhetorical ways. Since coming to power, President Kagame had stressed his eagerness to move the country from an agriculturally-based economy to a creative, competitive and more knowledge-based system. So following extensive consultations with different groups across Government and society at large in and around the year 2000, Rwanda launched its Vision 2020, the country's roadmap for development, with a focus on IT as a crucial cornerstone. It was an unusual vision, one that looked over the horizon with a confidence rarely shown by developing nations. In a country that needed so much, it was easy to ask the question "Why Internet? Why tech?" But consider Rwanda's position: landlocked, with long distances to the sea, troublesome infrastructure in neighbouring countries, instability in bordering Congo and Burundi. Add to this crushingly expensive air rates - the Nairobi-Kigali route is believed to be the second most expensive flight per kilometre in the world - one can see how traditional, goods-focused export trade would be challenging to say the least. Building a knowledge economy was and remains more than a logical choice. It is an enlightened necessity. So to make this vision work, the Government decided to invest in people - especially teachers and the tools they needed. After the genocide in 1994, Rwanda needed to rebuild the country's tech infrastructure, but had a shortage of trained local people to get the job done. To address the issue, in 1997 the Government opened the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). Since then, KIST has graduated thousands of Rwandan tech experts and is now recognised as a leader in the development of biogas technology and renewable energy. And the investment wasn't just limited to the capital, or to university-level students. As part of its IT outreach Rwanda focused on bringing computers and Internet access to young people across the country. Josh Kron, a Kigali-based journalist, recently recounted to me the story of a Danish IT consultant who came to Rwanda in 2002 with a container full of 57 computers to donate to schools. At that time it was one of the largest (if not the largest) shipments of its kind. Today over 1200 primary schools (not to mention secondary and university classrooms) have computers available. It's currently estimated that some 10 percent of all Rwanda's secondary schools already have wireless internet access, and plans are underway to expand this substantially. According to Musabayezu Narcisse, Secretary General in the country's Ministry of Education, "As of today (December 2006) [the Government has] given out 4 000 computers to secondary schools around the country." This combined with a proliferation of private access points - Kigali is home to literally dozens of internet cafes - has put Rwanda on a steep path to integrating IT into everyday life and development. Quite a change from 2002. At the same time, the country also set high goals for spending and investment in infrastructure to match the focus on training. In March of 2006 Rwanda committed to spend some $1bn to build and promote telecentres, specifically aimed at bringing rural areas online and promoting broader-based use of technology for business. This spending was part of an overall concentration in science. In January of this year Kagame reminded his fellow heads of state at an African Union summit that the country had set its science and technology spending at 1,6 percent of GDP, bringing it in line with typical OECD nations (as opposed to other African nations, which average less than 0.5%). He compared the IT future of Rwanda to that of Australia, as opposed to Kenya. Of course to make the kinds of big investments the country needed, Rwanda would need big support from the international donor community. And they got it, focusing a significant part of its donor-funded work on IT-related projects, among them a $20mn Public Sector Capacity Building project and in 2006, a $10mn e-Government project - both funded by the World Bank. The goal was to use technology to reach out over the head of logistics challenges, streamlining communications, and using video conferencing to facilitate work with district leaders in different parts of the country. As Albert Butare, Minister of State in Charge of Energy and Communications, explained simply, Rwanda wanted to use IT solutions to enable local government leaders to function "without them having to come to Kigali all the time". After all, e-government should be able to save time, promote accountability, efficiency and transparency and lower cost in Rwanda - if it can in Washington. Rwanda has also worked hard to re-design its business environment, promoting a new openness to investment and a series of reforms to create a business-friendly climate. The country was described as a top regional reformer in the recent World Bank Doing Business survey, noting some big changes in 2006. To ease company start-up, a presidential decree dramatically increased the number of authorised notaries, shrinking the time it takes to register a new business from 21 days to 16 days. Rwanda also decreased its corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 30 percent in 2005. The process of reform is far from complete, but international investors began to take notice. In fact, it didn't take long to attract telecommunications and software companies. Terracom brought wireless broadband internet to Kigali. Microsoft is bringing e-learning classrooms. Nokia set up a village phone programme, and just last month, a partnership was announced with the One Laptop per Child programme (the $100 laptop scheme). And these days Rwanda is saying the proof is in the fibre. Yes, fibre. Rwanda has become one of the most wired countries in the region. Terracom has laid more than 220 miles of fibre-optic cable. According to Christopher Lundh, Terracom's CEO, "Rwanda, through fibre-optic and CDMA technology, enjoys without question, the most advanced communications technology in Africa." And as a testament to this expertise, last year African countries unanimously voted Rwanda the headquarters of the East Africa Submarine Cable Project (EASSy). This $280mn project will serve Botswana, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, and Lesotho. A Rwandan will serve as the Chair of its Working Committee. Finally, Rwanda is taking steps to build its reputation - its brand - as an information hub for the long term. Just days ago Rwanda made public its offer to provide up to 100 ICT scholarships for students from East and Central African nations, starting in 2009. If East Africa were an IT village, Rwanda might now be seen as one of the village elders. So Rwanda is getting it right. But does that really matter for Africa as a whole, or for other emerging markets? Perhaps the most encouraging thing about this entire story is that the reasons for Rwanda's success are no mystery. Rwanda's IT-focused approaches work and can work elsewhere. If you don't yet believe me, believe The Economist - they recently reported that Rwanda is well on its way to achieving several of the Millennium Development Goals. And, Rwanda is not the only example of IT turning around an emerging market country. I could easily wave the Mauritian flag. Mauritius, a small island nation in the Indian Ocean, is now an IT powerhouse attracting growing numbers of foreign investors. Why shouldn't these new technologies be used to help modernise the government and infrastructure in Sierra Leone? Freetown is already looking to Rwanda as an example of the possibilities, with IT as one of the central objectives in their own Vision 2025. Could IT help trade for landlocked countries like Burundi and Uganda as they work to enhance exports through Tanzania and Kenya? The answer is of course yes. IT could help improve supply chain management, expedite port clearance delays, and increase the reliability of customs operations. all things that experts touched on at a recent World Bank Government seminar. In a region where so much has gone wrong, Rwanda is an example of how much can be accomplished with a focus on IT. Investment in people, clarity of vision and a focus on technology infrastructure have given the country new, entrepreneurial options for the future. Especially given the challenges of its past, we should recognise a country so focused on its potential, one that is looking over the horizon, beyond simple rebuilding. So, three cheers for Rwanda, the 'Singapore of Central Africa' - a model for post-conflict nations on the continent and beyond. Andrew Mack is a former World Bank official and the Principal of AMGlobal -Business <http://www.businessinafrica.net> in Africa Magazine _____ [View Less]

1 0

2-Day eHealth Workshop closes with a suprise
by Jose' 27 Mar '07

27 Mar '07

Reality check, We all have to start from the grass roots.The only way Kenya can be seen implementing what they have policy made is for the government especially the ministry of Info and technology to work with E-learning centres,equip them with internet connectivity and fund them to implement what they(Government) have policy made. Thereafter its the duty of the E-learning centre(e.g Kimathi information cente),to train the communities on a certain level then another higher institution … [View More]picks them up and takes them to a much higher level. The government has the capacity.All it needs is to slot in E-learning centres on the grassroots level.We are doing it in our Kimathi community.It surely works!! Best Regards, Jose' Njuki-Imwe Ngunjiri ----- Original Message ---- From: Pauline Muthigani <pauline(a)nordic.co.ke> To: ngunjirijnr(a)yahoo.com Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 9:20:29 AM Subject: Re: [kictanet] 2-Day eHealth Workshop closes with a suprise Hello, I too had a chance to attend the same workshop .And relate to what Walu is saying.I have studied many African countries and I can simply state that the difference between Kenya and the likes of Rwanda and Namibia is that Kenya we are GREAT In policy making BUT not as GREAT when it comes to implementation! Kenya got GREAT plans/policies but challenged when it comes to fast implementation. SA ,Namibia Morocco,Egypt, Tunisia and the Rwandas of Africa have their govt supporting ICT fully, same here our government does , but then why is the implementation speed so low. What must we do to expedite implementing of these.. WE NEED ACTION ACTION ACTION!! albest, Pauline > Last week on Wed 21st/Thrs 22nd, I had the opportunity to > attend the above regional (East African) meeting on eHealth > at the Nairobi Safari Club. Member states (Ke, Ug, Tz, Rw, > & Burundi) were showcasing their eHealth projects and > sharing experiences. > > As usual, Rwanda's experience was way ahead of the pack. > The chaps are pretty focused and have established eHealth > Task forces that have been on the ground for over five > years. The have a comprehensive (Vision, Mission, > Objective, Activities, etc) eHealth Strategy that is well > integrated into their National Health Plan (Solved their > Budget/Funding Wars that way). > > Amongst some of the acitivities they have implemented was > to link up their three National Referral Hospitals with > fiber and are running Telemedicine & Other applications > such as: Doctor-to-Doctor Consultations, Doctor-to-patient > consultations(e.g. sharing digitized X-rays), Drug > Inventory Control & Monitoring, Blood Bank Control & > Monitoring, Epidemic Surveillance amongst others. > > They are currently looking forward to mapping their Health > Information Systems (HIMS) onto a Geographical Information > Systems (GIS) in order to extract 'Health-Intelligence' > from their data. For example, using the two systems, they > would be able to 'see' why consumption of Malaria drugs is > higher in some locations as compared to the other - > probably due to the surrounding swampy conditions. This > would get their Health managers to intervene by way of > treating the swampy conditions rather than just increasing > the stock levels of Malaria drugs for that region. {I think > that is clever} > > It always beats me:- How comes we are having to learn from > Rwanda every now and then and yet we are supposedly the > 'big brother'? > > walu. > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ > Don't get soaked. Take a quick peek at the forecast > with the Yahoo! Search weather shortcut. > http://tools.search.yahoo.com/shortcuts/#loc_weather > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke > http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > Please unsubscribe or change your options at > http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/pauline%40nordic.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" > > -- Pauline Muthigani Telecom/ ICT Strategy Analyst Nordic Consulting P.O Box 61191, 00200 Nairobi-Kenya Tel: 254 20 2736633 Cell: 254 7222614771 Fax: 254 202731194 ---------------------------------------------- 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 listc kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Please unsubscribe or change your options at http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/ngunjirijnr%40yahoo.com ____________________________________________________________________________________ We won't tell. Get more on shows you hate to love (and love to hate): Yahoo! TV's Guilty Pleasures list. http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/265 [View Less]

1 0

Re: [kictanet] 2-Day eHealth Workshop closes with a suprise
by A. Wanjira Munyua 27 Mar '07

27 Mar '07

Okay Soberly now, having shared my frustrations, we need to seriously consider re-framing the way we advocate for ICTs for development. Perhaps linking them to concrete livelihood issues could be a start making it easier for policy makers to place ICTS within the broader development/poverty reduction frameworks. We could then lobby to ensure that ICTs as tools and the sector in general is taken seriously. Lobbying parliamentarians to remind them of the pending communications/ICT related bills/… [View More]

2 1

Re: [kictanet] 2-Day eHealth Workshop closes with a suprise
by A. Wanjira Munyua 26 Mar '07

26 Mar '07

Agree we talk a lot, write a lot of papers, develop many policies, form committees that develop and submit comprehensive recommendations, etc but never seem to have the drive/will or is it resources to implement. Look at the IC bill, our impressive E-government strategy and many others. Did you all note that none of the bills that affect the communications sector were mentioned as priorities for parliamentary discussions. well, I am sorry I am not offering any constructive suggestions just … [View More]

1 0

[Fwd: PROJECT OFFICER: KNOWLEDGE COMMUNICATIONS position with IISD]
by A. Wanjira Munyua 26 Mar '07

26 Mar '07

---------------------------- Original Message ---------------------------- Subject: PROJECT OFFICER: KNOWLEDGE COMMUNICATIONS position with IISD From: "A. Wanjira Munyua" <alice(a)apc.org> Date: Mon, March 26, 2007 12:16 pm To: kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke -------------------------------------------------------------------------- KICTANet Listers, Interesting position with International Institute for Sustainable Development. Please respond to the e-mail address listed at the … [View More]end of this notice not to KICTANet list. best alice --------------------------------------------------------- PROJECT OFFICER KNOWLEDGE COMMUNICATIONS IISD is seeking a Project Officer to support the initiatives of its Knowledge Communications program. This position is located in Ottawa. Specific duties and responsibilities with respect to the Knowledge Communications program: Research policy linkages between the information society and sustainable development. o Develop a program of work on Internet Governance and its impact on sustainable development: monitor the Internet governance debates, within the IGF, ICANN, and other relevant arenas; prepare information briefs, research papers and organize workshops that contribute to an understanding of the importance of the Internet Governance debate to sustainable development practitioners and policy makers. o Liaise between the key actors (IGF, ICANN, ITU, IDRC, and others) and IISD. o Analyze ICT4D policies in developing countries and develop recommendations for policy coherence with sustainable development strategies, Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, Millennium Development Goals and other development frameworks and agendas. o Develop new projects and funding proposals to advance this work. Support capacity building initiatives with young people as leaders in using information and communications technologies to achieve more sustainable development. Contribute to the Knowledge Communications program of work on the operation, management and assessment of networks and other models for individual and inter-organization collaboration o Support evaluations of networks (interviews, surveys, etc.) as assigned o Conduct research on knowledge management and communications topics, as assigned. Other duties as assigned General The Project Officer supports all initiatives of IISD as assigned. General responsibilities include: managing assigned projects, controlling budgets, and supervising IISD or external staff associated with those projects; maintaining contacts with domestic and international project partners; identifying and initiating new projects through IISDs project planning and review mechanism; developing proposals and raising funds for new project initiatives; contributing to IISD projects under various strategic objectives; representing IISD at local, national and international fora; organizing meetings and holding discussions with appropriate persons/groups according to the needs of IISDs initiatives; participating on IISDs Planning and Review Committee as requested; other duties as assigned. The Project Officer reports to the Director, Knowledge Communications. Travel within and outside Canada may be required. Qualifications and Skills The Project Officer should hold a Masters degree in an appropriate field (such as international affairs, environmental studies or ICT policy), with two years relevant experience. S/he should be familiar with the literature and organizations within the fields of Internet governance, ICT for development, knowledge for development, communications for development and institutional collaboration. In particular, s/he should have knowledge of institutions involved in the WSIS (including WSIS follow-up processes) and IGF. S/he should also have a broad knowledge of sustainable development issues. S/he should understand accountability and transparency issues in governance processes and how they relate to sustainable development, be aware of issues related to security and stability of the Internet and their potential implications for the global South, and be able to draw on linkages between ICT and PRSPs. The Project Officer will have demonstrated capacity for managing projects and budgets, and for working with minimal supervision. S/he should be a team player with good interpersonal skills. Excellent writing skills, the ability to work virtually with distributed teams and the capacity to research and communicate via the Internet are essential. Fluency in English is required; knowledge of other languages is desirable. Candidates must be Canadian citizens or landed immigrants. Closing Date: April 6, 2007 Reply in confidence to: Director, Human Resources & Administration International Institute for Sustainable Development 6th Floor, 161 Portage Avenue East Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 0Y4 Fax: +1 (204) 958-7710 E-mail: info(a)iisd.ca [View Less]

1 0

PROJECT OFFICER: KNOWLEDGE COMMUNICATIONS position with IISD
by A. Wanjira Munyua 26 Mar '07

26 Mar '07

KICTANet Listers, Interesting position with International Institute for Sustainable Development. Please respond to the e-mail address listed at the end of this notice not to KICTANet list. best alice --------------------------------------------------------- PROJECT OFFICER KNOWLEDGE COMMUNICATIONS IISD is seeking a Project Officer to support the initiatives of its Knowledge Communications program. This position is located in Ottawa. Specific duties and responsibilities with respect to … [View More]the Knowledge Communications program: Research policy linkages between the information society and sustainable development. o Develop a program of work on Internet Governance and its impact on sustainable development: monitor the Internet governance debates, within the IGF, ICANN, and other relevant arenas; prepare information briefs, research papers and organize workshops that contribute to an understanding of the importance of the Internet Governance debate to sustainable development practitioners and policy makers. o Liaise between the key actors (IGF, ICANN, ITU, IDRC, and others) and IISD. o Analyze ICT4D policies in developing countries and develop recommendations for policy coherence with sustainable development strategies, Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, Millennium Development Goals and other development frameworks and agendas. o Develop new projects and funding proposals to advance this work. Support capacity building initiatives with young people as leaders in using information and communications technologies to achieve more sustainable development. Contribute to the Knowledge Communications program of work on the operation, management and assessment of networks and other models for individual and inter-organization collaboration o Support evaluations of networks (interviews, surveys, etc.) as assigned o Conduct research on knowledge management and communications topics, as assigned. Other duties as assigned General The Project Officer supports all initiatives of IISD as assigned. General responsibilities include: managing assigned projects, controlling budgets, and supervising IISD or external staff associated with those projects; maintaining contacts with domestic and international project partners; identifying and initiating new projects through IISDs project planning and review mechanism; developing proposals and raising funds for new project initiatives; contributing to IISD projects under various strategic objectives; representing IISD at local, national and international fora; organizing meetings and holding discussions with appropriate persons/groups according to the needs of IISDs initiatives; participating on IISDs Planning and Review Committee as requested; other duties as assigned. The Project Officer reports to the Director, Knowledge Communications. Travel within and outside Canada may be required. Qualifications and Skills The Project Officer should hold a Masters degree in an appropriate field (such as international affairs, environmental studies or ICT policy), with two years relevant experience. S/he should be familiar with the literature and organizations within the fields of Internet governance, ICT for development, knowledge for development, communications for development and institutional collaboration. In particular, s/he should have knowledge of institutions involved in the WSIS (including WSIS follow-up processes) and IGF. S/he should also have a broad knowledge of sustainable development issues. S/he should understand accountability and transparency issues in governance processes and how they relate to sustainable development, be aware of issues related to security and stability of the Internet and their potential implications for the global South, and be able to draw on linkages between ICT and PRSPs. The Project Officer will have demonstrated capacity for managing projects and budgets, and for working with minimal supervision. S/he should be a team player with good interpersonal skills. Excellent writing skills, the ability to work virtually with distributed teams and the capacity to research and communicate via the Internet are essential. Fluency in English is required; knowledge of other languages is desirable. Candidates must be Canadian citizens or landed immigrants. Closing Date: April 6, 2007 Reply in confidence to: Director, Human Resources & Administration International Institute for Sustainable Development 6th Floor, 161 Portage Avenue East Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 0Y4 Fax: +1 (204) 958-7710 E-mail: info(a)iisd.ca [View Less]

1 0

PRESIDENTS ADDRESS AT THE INAUGURATION OF COMMONWEALTH CONNECTS: INTERNATIONAL E-PARTNERSHIP SUMMIT, 23RD MARCH 2007, NEW DELHI
by Harry Hare 26 Mar '07

26 Mar '07

Dear Colleagues, Below is President Dr Abdul Kalami's speech when inaugurating the first commonwealth connects International ePartnership Summit in New Delhi India last Friday. It is important to note that the President did not just read his speech, but he used a PowerPoint presentation to visualize his ideas. It was quite a trip for those who were there. Kindest Regards Harry PRESIDENTS ADDRESS AT THE INAUGURATION OF COMMONWEALTH CONNECTS: INTERNATIONAL E-PARTNERSHIP SUMMIT, NEW … [View More]DELHI _____ Following is the text of the President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalami's Address at the Inauguration of Commonwealth Connects: International E-Partnership Summit here today: Evolution of Commonwealth Knowledge Grid "Connectivity enriches the societies" I am indeed delighted to participate in the inauguration of Commonwealth Connects: International e-Partnership Summit. I am happy that the summit is aiming to promote effective global partnerships between public and private sectors in developing and implementing strategies which will bridge the digital divide across the 53 countries of the Commonwealth. My greetings to the ICT Ministers of the Commonwealth, CEOs, Managing Directors, Government Officials and Senior Representatives from Civil Society. Today when I am with you, I would like to share with you some of the Indian experience in connectivity for achieving the societal transformation. This along with the experiences of other participating Commonwealth countries can lead to evolution of a multi-lateral connectivity between and among nations. Hence, I would like to discuss with you on the topic "Evolution of Commonwealth Knowledge Grid". Broadband economy for prosperity The telecom revolution in India has opened multiple windows of opportunities and the benefits of this revolution are in the process of percolating to the vast majority of our villages. It is through this network that people living in the villages would be able to access modern education, healthcare services and employment opportunities. And I believe, this would be true for many countries in the Commonwealth spectrum. Broadband connectivity is key to realizing the stated socio-economic goals. Large scale utilization of local languages would enable people of the Commonwealth to create content with ease and authenticity which, when shared, would have a positive effect in the growth of economy of all the countries of Commonwealth through the benefits of telecom revolution and related Internet and multimedia tools. Bandwidth is demolisher of imbalance: The bandwidth is the demolisher of imbalances and a great leveler in the knowledge society. Making the bandwidth available is like the Government laying the roads. Movement of materials through these roads creates wealth in the industrial economy and the government recovers more than the investment on the roads by way of taxes and enhanced prosperity to its people. In the modern digital economy driven by knowledge products, bits and bytes traverse the network and create wealth and this will recover the cost of investments in the bandwidth. Thus, a singular action of making the bandwidth available to all our people will bridge the perceived divide. The free bandwidth will make economic sense if we appropriately cost the services offered using the bandwidth. We have the fiber infrastructure ready up to block level, last mile wireless technologies are being implemented and the VSAT technologies for the unreachable are in place in the form of Satellite services. Hence, we are well on course to bridge the digital gap. We are in the midst of convergence of digital technologies. The total installed bandwidth capacity in India, is in the range of 19-20 Terra bytes and lit-up capacity is progressively increasing with enhanced economic activity. Empowerment through Connectivity The total land area of India is around 3.3 million square kilometers with 7000 kilometers of coast line. The entire area is spread into deserts, hilltops, mountains, sea shores, islands, valleys and plains. Out of the billion plus population in the country 70% live in six hundred thousand villages. We are in the process of a societal transformation towards sustainable development for our growth. This we propose to realize in a time bound manner through a knowledge society for empowering the entire nation. Electronic and knowledge connectivity is the key to realize this goal. Connecting a billion people gives multiple challenges. Now, I would like to discuss about societal transformation. In the proposed model, the inter-connectivity among the three sectors of the economy is brought about by four grids: namely, Knowledge Grid, Health Grid, e-Governance Grid and the Rural Grid,. Each grid is a system of multiple portals. This system of grid will bring prosperity to 700 million people in the rural areas and 300 million plus people in the urban areas. In the process, it will ensure that the lives of 220 million people are transformed from below the poverty line. First let me discuss about knowledge grid. Knowledge Grid The endeavor is indeed to build and transform an information society into a knowledge society. The knowledge society will be a society producing, marketing and using products and services that are rich in both explicit and tacit knowledge, thus creating value-added products for national and international consumption. In the knowledge economy, the objective of a society changes from fulfilling the basic needs of all-round development to empowerment. The education system instead of going by textbook teaching will be promoted by creative, interactive self learning ? formal and informal with focus on values, merit and quality. The workers instead of being skilled or semi-skilled will be knowledgeable, self- empowered and flexibly skilled. We have rich knowledge institutions but what we have to add is connectivity. This connectivity today is technologically possible but would need creation of high bandwidth reliable network infrastructure to the extent of minimum 10 Gigabits per second all through the country to provide uniform access of knowledge in different regions leading to the creation of Knowledge GRID. Now, I would like to discuss on establishing the next network in the system of GRIDs across the country, namely Health Grid. Health Grid The mission of telemedicine with healthcare Grid is gaining momentum and it will spread to all the equipped Primary Health Centres in the country, medical colleges and research institutions. Connectivity between 35 urban super-specialty hospitals with 165 remotely located Healthcare Centres has been established through Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) telemedicine grid. This will enable unique case studies and experiences to be exchanged between the super specialists through this health grid. It will also be possible to conduct Conferences of specialist doctors from multi centers to discuss the critical disease patterns and provide treatment. Now I would like to take up e-Governance Grid. Connectivity for E-Governance Good governance is being recognized as an important goal by many countries across the world. They have taken up specific initiatives for open and transparent governance. Freedom of information is being redefined and supported by detailed guidelines. The internet revolution has proved to be a powerful tool for good governance initiatives. An important dimension of the internet potential is the possibility of providing services any time anywhere. Along with this there is a conscious effort to put the citizen as the centre of focus of the governance. Citizens are being perceived as customers and clients. E-governance has to be citizen friendly. Delivery of services to citizens is considered as a primary function of the government. Particularly in a democratic nation of a billion people like India, e-Governance should enable seamless access to information and seamless flow of information across the state and central government in the federal setup crossing the inter-departmental barriers. Typical scenario: I visualize an election scenario, where a candidate files his nomination from a particular constituency. Immediately the election officer verifies his/her authenticity from the national citizen ID database through multifactor authentication, through a multipurpose Citizen ID card. The education credentials of the candidate come from the university records. Candidate's track record of employment comes from various employers with whom the candidate had worked. His or her income and wealth resources come from the income-tax department, and other sources. Candidate's property record comes from the registration of land authority across the country. Candidate's credit history comes form various credit institutions like banks. Candidate's civic consciousness and citizenship behaviour comes from the police crime record. Candidate's legal track records come from the judicial system. All the details arrive at the computer terminal of the election officer within few seconds automatically by the act of e-Governance software agents which crawls across the various state and central government web services directories through the network GRID and collects the information automatically and presents the facts in real-time without any bias. Artificial intelligence software analyses the credentials of the candidate and gives a rating on how successful he or she will be as a politician. Election officer sitting at the remote block of the country decides on the spot and the election process starts. All the voters vote from their home through virtual polling booths. If we consider the breakthroughs and expansion in telecommunication and internet in the last five years, this visualization is no longer a dream and is possible to be achieved by many nations. To establish a system what I have visualized, we need a high bandwidth broadband connectivity across the many Government departments such as State and District Administration, Election commission, Universities, Banks, Home/Police Departments, Insurance companies etc., This scenario requires vertical and horizontal e-Governance grid established across various institutions and the Government. Hence, we can draw information and feed information from these GRIDs for seamless flow of data to achieve the goal of good governance. Now let me discuss the significance of the sustainable development through establishing Rural Grid. Rural Grid India with six hundred thousand villages and seven hundred million people living in the rural areas needs an unique rural development model called PURA. PURA envisages provision of three connectivities namely physical connectivity, electronic connectivity and knowledge connectivity leading to economic connectivity. For providing the knowledge connectivity to the PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) complexes, Village Knowledge Centers will act as frontline delivery system. The Village Knowledge Centre should provide the essential data required for the targeted population such as farmers, fishermen, craftsmen, traders, businessmen, entrepreneurs, unemployed youth and the students. Now the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology is in the process of establishing 100,000 Common Service Centre (CSC?s) across the country through public-private partnership model. We have so far discussed all the four connectivities at the national level required for the societal transformation leading to empowerment. Now, I would like to share with you the experience of establishing a Pan African e-Network for providing connectivity among 53 African nations. Pan African e-Network During the year 2003-04, I visited African countries such as Sudan, Tanzania, Zanzibar and South Africa. I addressed the Pan African Parliament on 16 Sept 2004, at Johannesburg, South Africa which was attended by Heads of 53 member countries of the African Union. Based on my study of the communication, healthcare and education needs of the African countries, I proposed the concept of Pan African e-Network for providing seamless and integrated satellite, fiber optics and wireless network connecting 53 African countries. The Pan-African e-Network project is estimated to cost around US$100 million. As part of the project 12 universities (7 from India and 5 from Africa), 17 Super Specialty Hospitals (12 from India and 5 from Africa), 53 tele-medicine centers and 53 tele-education centres in Africa will be connected. The pilot project on tele-education and tele-medicine in Ethiopia has already been commissioned. One of our Indian Universities has taken up the MBA Course for 34 Ethiopian students of Addis Ababa and Harmaya Universities. As regards, tele-medicine, the specialists from CARE Hospital, Hyderabad are providing one-hour live tele-consultation to doctors in Black Lion Hospital, Addis Ababa in Cardiology and Radiology since November 2006. The Pan African e-Network will primarily provide Tele-Education, Tele-Medicine, Internet, videoconferencing and VOIP services. It also supports e-Governance, e-Commerce, infotainment, resource mapping and meteorological services. Each remote location will be able to access the Internet through the network by linking the HUB to Internet backbone. Using this network the Heads of the State in all the 53 countries will be connected for instant communication. The network is designed to have 169 terminals and a central hub to deliver tele-education and tele-medicine services. The proposed network will utilize state-of-the-art technology and can be integrated with the latest broadband technologies like Wi-Fi and Wi-Max. The network is scalable to support different applications catering to increased number of users. I am happy to inform you that 22 countries will be connected in the first half of 2007 and the rest will be operationalized by early 2008. RB Multimedia Studio Now, I would like to share with you another experience when I delivered 2006 Phillip Tobias Lecture on 27th September 2006 from Rashtrapati Bhavan Multimedia studio using Multimedia tele-conferencing. After the lecture, I was interacting with Prof Tobias and his team at Durban, Johannesburg in South Africa and Sanfrancisco in USA. This experience made me realize the power of technology as an integrator of minds leading to a borderless world without geographical barriers ? a symbol of universalisation. Based on these interactions, I have suggested one of our leading scientific institutions to collaborate with specialists in South Africa in Anthropology for promoting conservation of certain types of endangered species. I am sure many Commonwealth countries participating in today?s summit have several experiences to share and Commonwealth connects programme can formulate a plan to integrate the core-competence of nations for mutual benefit. This power of networking can definitely be used by Commonwealth countries for sharing their core competencies and building a knowledge platform for serving the development aspirations of the individual nations through collective wisdom. Suggestions I would like to give few suggestions for the consideration of the Commonwealth Connects 2007: International e-Partnership Summit. 1. Evolving guidelines for common telecommunication policy to share resources, network, infrastructure, without any barrier and facilitate implementation through a Commonwealth co-ordination centre. 2. Evolving guidelines for Common Information Security policy in IT. 3. Modernizing education through state of the art skill development programmes among the Commonwealth nations leading to skill certification and acceptance among the countries for global employment opportunities. 4. Undertaking study of e-governance implementations across the Commonwealth nations and suggest the best practices for the G2G and G2C implementations. 5. Creating a mechanism which will facilitate pooling of core competence of nations for developing knowledge products and systems for serving the global market in education, healthcare and e- governance. 6. Identifying gaps in educational standards of IT professionals in the Global business scenario in IT, ITES and BPO services and creating institutional mechanisms for training, accreditation and grading based on performance. Creating a common web portal for sharing information and knowledge among Commonwealth countries. 7. Creating a Commonwealth Connects Fund and Institute a Commonwealth committee to address the above mentioned suggestions. Conclusion The 53 countries of Commonwealth constitute a population of 2 billion i.e. one third of the population of the Planet. This network of independent nations in the past has taken up many initiatives for interconnecting their heritage in art, culture, science and technology, history, sports and way of living. Such a strong base of relationship and the core competence of the countries can be further integrated into a very useful partnership by providing connectivity through the Evolution of a Commonwealth Knowledge Grid. This can address many common challenges for development such as developing a knowledge society through quality education, providing affordable quality healthcare to all, sustainable rural development through cluster approach, providing transparent people-friendly-governance and above all evolution of an enlightened society for improving the National Prosperity Index of all the partner countries. The model developed by the Commonwealth Nations will have the potential to be extended to the entire Planet. With these words, I inaugurate the Commonwealth Connects: International e-Partnership Summit. My best wishes to all the participants of the Summit for success in their mission of creating a productive e-Partnership between and amongst all the Commonwealth countries. May God bless you. [View Less]

1 0

Re: [kictanet] SYMPOSUIM FOR THIS WEEKEND."MUST HAVE ATTEND"
by Jose' 26 Mar '07

26 Mar '07

I understand.Thank you.Tho you may order a recorded tape you get to hear what the speakers said.Its not all lost.I am sorry. Best Regards, Jose' Njuki-Imwe Ngunjiri || +254 722 336754 || ----- Original Message ---- From: Judy Okite <judyokite(a)gmail.com> To: ngunjirijnr(a)yahoo.com Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2007 9:55:44 AM Subject: Re: [kictanet] SYMPOSUIM FOR THIS WEEKEND."MUST HAVE ATTEND" Sorry Jose', On behalf of the Chix....please give ample notice in the future. Kind … [View More]Regards, On 3/23/07, Fatma Bashir <fbashir(a)cyberschooltech.com> wrote: hi Jose' I'll have to post my regrets and for my team as well, we are off to the field today for the whole weekend...perhaps the next time around...but good luck. Fatma ----- Original Message ----- From: Jose' To: fbashir(a)cyberschooltech.com Cc: CATHY ATIENO ; Goria Lilian ; FRANCIS MWANGI Sent: Friday, March 23, 2007 10:42 AM Subject: [kictanet] SYMPOSUIM FOR THIS WEEKEND."MUST HAVE ATTEND" Dear Colleague, Financing is one of the setbacks that the youth face to start up there small businesses enterprises. It with this concern that,Kimathi Information centre in collaboration with the Ministry of youth,Ministry of Information and technology,IMAC/KAYE,KWFT,business consultants,Investors,UN Habitat,GEEP,CFSK and Faulu Kenya have organized a Symposium that shall bring together up to 250 youth delegates be able to address the need of financing and how the delegates are going to get hold of the resources/finances to see the SME businesses get a kick start. I also attach the program for your perusal.Come see also the youth show case and what they sell in the exhibition tables. "THIS IS A MUST HAVE ATTEND SYMPOSIUM" DATE:24th March 2007 TIME:0900hrs to 1400hrs VENUE:KENYA ASSEMBLIES OF GOD MULTI PURPOSE HALL-BAHATI ENTRANCE FEE:50ksh(FIFTY SHILLINGS ONLY) Including all taxes Best Regards, Jose' Njuki-Imwe Ngunjiri || +254 722 336754 || Never miss an email again! Yahoo! Toolbar alerts you the instant new Mail arrives. Check it out. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Please unsubscribe or change your options at http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/fbashir%40cyberschooltech.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" _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Please unsubscribe or change your options at http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/judyokite%40gmail.com -- Judy Ann Okite, +254-721237507,+254-734252336 P.O. BOX 2228 00100, NAIROBI,KENYA. "Even if you are on the right track, you'll still get run over if you just sit there." _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)kictanet.or.ke http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Please unsubscribe or change your options at http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/ngunjirijnr%40yahoo.com ____________________________________________________________________________________ It's here! Your new message! Get new email alerts with the free Yahoo! Toolbar. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/ [View Less]

4 4

tips
by Rebecca Wanjiku 26 Mar '07

26 Mar '07

just in case this business hots up in kenya, here are the tips.... How To Get Started As A Domainer28 Tips, Techniques and Resourcesdigg_url = 'http://digg.com/offbeat_news/How_To_Get_Started_As_A_Domainer '; How to Get Started as a Domainer: 28 Tips, Techniques and Resources10 Comments » How does a salary of $10,000 per day sound to you? Webmaster and marketing extraordinaire Marcus Frind reportedly pulls in $10,000 per day in Google AdSense from his dating website PlentyofFish.com. But … [View More]that’s chump change compared to the $100,000 per day that domainer Yun Ye was pulling in before he sold his domain portfolio for about $164M in 2004 and subsequently disappeared under the radar. When it comes to making a buck on the internet it seems that everyone has a solution, although few of them seem to work. But if you’re looking to capitalize on one of the most powerful cash earning enterprises on the internet that is actually making plenty of people money, you should check out domaining. Although you may not be quite as successful as these two entrepreneurs, it’s never too late to start in the domaining industry. A domainer is someone who earns a profit buying and selling domain names. The philosophy is similar to the stock market: buy low and sell high. Here are 28 tips, tools, techniques and financing options to get you started on your way to successful domaining. Domain Buying StrategiesDomaining is a lot like stock investing, the very best in the field have moved beyond basic strategies and have developed their own specific formulas for success. But just as with stocks, to obtain the skills necessary to reach that advanced stage, beginners must first understand the fundamentals of strategic domain buying. In this section we introduce you to five traditional domain buying strategies, and explain a bit about each. Trademark Typo Domains. One of the original domainer buying strategies was to hunt for any trademarked names that hadn’t yet been purchased, and failing that, to purchase typos of those domains. These trademark typo domains often yielded a lot of type-in traffic, and because e-commerce law hadn’t yet developed to its current state, companies would often buy out these domainers at very inflated prices. But if you’re thinking about getting into trademark typo domaining, the ship has sailed. Current trademark law treats domainers that are seeing lots of traffic from a typo domain, and don’t otherwise have a legitimate business use for owning the name, as illegal trademark diluters. As such, trademark typo domainers typically have to turn over the domain to the trademark holder with little or no compensation. Simply stated, avoid the trademark typo strategy altogether. Keyword Typo Domains. While the trademark typo domain loophole has closed, a very legitimate and ethical domaining technique is pursuing keyword typo domains. Keyword typo domains (e.g., Mortgeges.com) can bring in a good deal of type-in traffic and are often significantly undervalued. While normally these aren’t the type of domains that someone would want to build a high-value company around (though typo domain Voyuer.com went for $112,000 in 2005), smaller individual webmasters are always in the market for targeted type-in traffic, so these sites are often in high demand among small-time domain purchasers.Automated Volume Buying. The next strategy, automated volume buying, is simply that; using an application to automatically search for available domains that meet your pre-set criteria, and purchasing the domains that result from the search. Automated volume buying requires, first and foremost, an excellent application to accept your search criteria and conduct the searches. While there are a number of domain research tools available for purchase, many top domainers use a customized version. No matter which volume buying tool you’re using, however, they all work in roughly the same way by allowing you to search WHOIS servers and filter results by keywords, Overture price ranges, search engine results, etc. So, for example, you could filter your potential domains by those that have a minimum of 1000 keyword searches per month and which yielded more than a top bid of $1.00 on Overture. While it is certainly true that now that more people are using automated volume buying tools the easiest bargains are usually taken, domainers can still find a good haul of cheap .com’s as long as they stay ahead of the curve by getting creative with their filter criteria.Trendwatching. If you’re looking for a domaining strategy that is longer-term but that can be highly lucrative, you might consider trendwatching. Trendwatching is simply the practice of anticipating popular domains before they become popular. The keys to successful trendwatching are good sources and creativity. One of the biggest mistakes novice domainers make, is attempting to trendwatch a very diverse group of industries, rather than focusing on a few and becoming an expert in those areas. The best way to start trendwatching is to pick two or three niches that you feel comfortable with and which are reasonably lucrative, then add eight to ten blogs within that niche to your RSS feed. Bloglines, Newsgator, and Google Reader are all free web-based feed readers, just in case you are unfamiliar with RSS. If you’re in a competitive niche, time is of the essence, so regularly check your feed for information on rising stars, new technologies, burgeoning trends or hot products, and once you hear of the trend, pounce on it immediately by buying up some relevant domains. In addition to RSS feeds, Google Trends can also help keep you on top of developing trends by showing relative query volume for one to five keywords or phrases. One thing to keep in mind when trendwatching, is that not every predicted trend will pan out, so anticipate plenty of total losses for every big hit. As a consequence, it is important to keep your domain holdings diversified, so that you aren’t too heavily invested in a single trend, and thus you can afford to wait out the staggering returns when one of your trend predictions proves true.Brute Force. Automated Domain Research Tools (DRT’s) allow you to sift through millions of available domains to find the few thousand that you might be interested in buying. But getting from those thousand to identifying the few specific domains you want to purchase can often be accomplished only through brute force. By “brute force” we refer to the most common domaining technique, which involves the use of a compilation of different manual research tools to identify the most lucrative domains. Each tool listed in this category simply helps to facilitate the process of manually going through and examining each potential domain on an individual basis (thus the “brute force” moniker). While it is impractical to cover every sort of tool that would fall into the “brute force” category, we have compiled a few of the most common tools to get you started. AjaxWhois is a convenient web2.0 domain search engine that executes multiple Top-Level Domain (TLD) queries on a root domain name. This can be a time-saver if you already have a specific root domain name in mind to purchase. dnScoop provides a variety of information about a domain, including whois, traffic, domain history and popularity, appraisal, pagerank check, inbound links and more. DigitalPoint is a set of webmaster tools geared more for websites and SEO’s, but which also provides some helpful tools such as a keyword recommendation tool which can help you come up with new domain ideas and word combinations. DomainState tools is a suite of browser-based domaining tools and links to trademark databases. Domain Tools has a suite of useful tools for domainers, including domain history, reverse IP (to see what other websites are hosted on an IP), DNS tools (whois, traceroute, etc.), domain monitor, and more. PagerankPredict is a very simple tool that gives you a predicted Google pagerank for a domain. This tool is handy if you plan to build out a domain with content. It is also free, but the site limits you to 5 queries per hour. SearchStatus is a robust SEO, SEM and domaining tool that works as a plugin for the Firefox browser. It will enable you to quickly get an overview of a potential purchase as well as a look and what backlinks are powering your competitors’ sites.The Marchex Model. Back in early 2005, Marchex Inc. paid a whopping $164 million for 100,000 high-quality hand selected domains, planning in the short term to leverage the domains’ type-in traffic for revenue, and in the long-term to selectively sell their appreciating portfolio. Individual domainers can follow a similar strategy, by targeting domains in the $1,000 to $5,000 range that are of higher quality and thus have a higher long-term upside potential. By targeting a dozen or so sites in this higher price range, Marchex Model domainers can eliminate most casual domainer competition and though they face higher risks, there is the possibility of much higher returns. It should go without saying, that having access to cheap capital is a must, as well as having a good understanding of domain appraisals. Unlike brick and mortar real estate, the domain name resale market is still not fully competitive, meaning that domains are often wildly under-priced, but can also be wildly overpriced. As a result, simply following market valuation for a domain without having a firm grip on your own appraisal metrics, is a certain way to fail when Marchex domaining.Financing Your DomainingNo matter what buying strategy you decide to follow, the first step to getting into domaining is acquiring enough capital to play in the market. Put simply, the more capital you have, the easier it is to build your domaining portfolio. So in this section we cover some simple strategies for coming up with the right types of capital you need to get your domaining off the ground. Spend only cheap capital. What’s the point of making a profit domaining only to pay it right back out again with high credit card interest rates? It is difficult to consistently make a return of more than 20-50% on your domain flipping, but you will need that return just to break even if you are funding your operations on credit card debt. So to minimize the risk of paying out all or most of your gains in credit card fees, make sure that early on you are only purchasing domains with only the money you have, and not what your credit limit says you are worth. If you do buy domains on credit, make sure that you are paying off the cards before they start accumulating interest and fees; otherwise you’ll start to see your domaining profits shrink as your break even point becomes that 20-50% interest rate. Partnership. Nobody likes to share their profits. But teaming up with a few partners who bring capital to the partnership will allow you to diversify your holdings and overall lower your risks and increase your net earnings. Just remember, however, that if the partnership dissolves, you may be forced to pony up cash to buy out your partners, or sell domains for less than you were hoping for. So if you and your partners have different ideas about how to profit from domaining, it may be a good idea to instead opt for a joint venture in which everyone’s obligations are spelled out ahead of time. Credit card balance transfer arbitrage. If you’ve opened up your mail lately, you’ve probably noticed that 0% APR credit card offers have now replaced AOL Free Trial CDs as the most abundant piece of mail in the world. Well, some card issuers have taken the free credit offer one step further by offering you something called a transfer check, which is simply a 3-18 month interest free loan. They make the offer to entice you to use their credit card, but if want to live dangerously, this can also be an easy way to come up with some quick cash. This advanced financing method, known as balance transfer arbitrage, will allow you to use that “free” money before the offer period expires, then pay it back. This is a very risky technique, however, because if you run into emergencies or other financial problems and cannot pay back the free loan before the regular high interest kicks in, then you are sunk. But in a situation where you come across the once in a lifetime deal, engaging in ‘balance transfer arbitrage’ may be worth the risk. Bootstrap and reinvest. Bootstrapping isn’t so much a single fundraising technique, as it is a ‘do it yourself’ mindset of leveraging what you earn back into growing your business. Entrepreneurs engaged in bootstrapping take very little of the company profits out of their business early on, and instead use those funds in lieu of a formal bank loan or venture capital. If you are anxious to quickly expand your domaining portfolio and can afford to live without the immediate profits, consider leaving all or most of your profits in the business to leverage new purchases. Bootstrapping is the poor entrepreneur’s way to compete against larger competitors, because by reinvesting their gross profits back into the business, bootstrappers gain a return which is functionally equivalent to compound interest. Important PracticesNow that you have decided on a strategy for identifying domains to purchase as well as secured the financing to make those purchases, it is time to turn to the actual practice of holding and maintaining your domains. In this section we cover some basic ground rules and insider tips to keep in mind as you purchase and manage your domains. Organize and auto-renew. If you’re holding domains for longer than a year, it’s a very good idea to have them all set to auto-renew. Make sure all of your contact info is correct and updated, and if necessary, change registrars. Whatever source of funds (credit card, PayPal) you use to pay for auto-renew should always have enough in extra funds so that in case you miss the notices, you’re still able to avoid auto-cancellations, which usually cost more to get back than a new registration. Don’t fall in love with a domain name. Plain and simple, your goal in domaining is to make a consistent profit. One of the biggest mistakes new domainers make is holding on to a domain just because they like the name, or personally feel its worth more than the market will bear. If a domain doesn’t sell and you can’t monetize it to at least cover its costs, the domain is just dead weight. A name may sound unique or potentially popular, but you have to face the possibility that it may not have a market value beyond what you paid for it. Ridiculous domain names (the very sort new domainers tend to get attached to) can be lucrative, but the buzz may not last long enough for you to hold out for more money after a decent bid comes in. So when you are dealing with a gimmicky domain name and you get your chance to make a quick profit, take it. Name that domain. Whether creating new domains or acquiring existing ones, the current trend (which doesn’t show signs of changing) is to stay away from those domains that have digits and/or hyphens, as both naming schematics devalue a domain. The only exceptions are specific 3- and 4-digit domain names, most of which are all taken. Taste this. After you register a domain, many registrars offer a few day grace period during which you can rethink your purchase and still get a full refund. Domain tasting, is the ethically questionable, but legal, act of utilizing this loophole by parking a domain, testing the amount of type-in traffic, then cancelling it before the grace period expires. Most registrars are starting to recognize these loopholes and are quickly cracking down on this unscrupulous practice, but with those registrars that haven’t yet barred the practice, this can be a very good way of minimizing the risk of a purchase. Create traffic. If you own domains that aren’t receiving a lot of type-in traffic, you may want to try to increase their value by getting them indexed into the search engines so that the eventual purchaser will find it easier to get the site to rank for relavent search engine results. The easiest way to do that is to place a link with relavent anchor text to the domain on one of your own related websites. In addition to getting the domain indexed, this is also a way to advertise the domain to interested buyers. Linking to your domain is generally allowable by most parking sites, but you may want to check with yours just to make sure. Forums. Everyone loves to use forums to exchange information and to connect with people who have similar interests, and as a result many new domainers buy up “forum” domains. But if you’ll notice, very few people are getting rich managing forums, and even fewer are making money holding on to forum domains. Popular forums can generate tons of traffic, but domains with “forum” in the name are worthless without the actual site. Unless you can find a buyer capable of turning it into a site, or can build the site yourself, stay away from “forum” domain names. Be prepared, legally. If you decide to domain full-time, talk to an accountant about at what point in the yearly tax cycle is financially most advantageous for you to form your domaining enterprise into a legal entity. Forming a legal entity can be a headache, but by not doing so, you may be missing out on business deductions you might otherwise be able to take. So, just in case, keep all your relevant receipts, even if you’re just starting out, to prove to the IRS how much you invested.Potentially more important than financial concerns, however, are the legal ones. Deciding to form a limited liability entity (Inc. or LLC) will limit your personal financial risk if legal problems ever arise. Though the legal differences between LLC’s and corporations can be subtle, they are not insignificant, (e.g. differing tax treatment) so you should do your research before forming an entity. Watch for pinchers, swipers, and thieves. Sex.com was stolen from its owner using a fake transfer form, eventually costing the owner millions. Slammers, spammers, swipers, and claim jumpers will try various tricks to get a domain away from you, including fake renewal email messages or snail mail letters (e.g., Domain Registry of America scam letters). If you fall for one of these sneaky transfer forms, you may end up paying extra for a domain or accidentally “permitting” the transfer of your domains to someone else.In addition to having your existing domains hijacked through subversive transfers, there are an increasing number of reports of people having their domain ideas pinched before they can register the domain themselves. It appears that a number of domain research tools are culling the data from users’ searches, and using that data to instantly purchase the searched domains before the searcher himself can do so. So, for example, if you are using a tool to research available domains and come across a real gem, the owner of the tool you are using may swoop in and buy up the domain, thus taking advantage of your ingenuity while depriving you of a great domain. Because of this possibility, it is important that if you come across a previously unregistered gem domain, spend the few bucks right then to buy it up rather than take the chance on losing it by waiting a few minutes. Beyond pinches and swipers, you also need to keep an eye on your registrar. There are a number of reports of domain registrars being intentionally slow or unresponsive in the days leading up to a domain’s expiration so as to ensure that the domain expires and reverts back to the registrar. If you have a dispute, check with WIPO for mediation, but the best policy is just to protect yourself in the first place by having at least a full-month’s buffer when transferring registrars. Techniques for MonetizingFor almost every domainer, the big money is in the actual flip, not the domain maintenance. So just as with real estate, one of the biggest keys to domaining success is to limit your overhead during the holding period when you are waiting for your buyer. In this section, we cover some common and not-so-common techniques for monetizing your domain to cover your overhead expenses. Duke of URL: type-in traffic. Google may control most of the western world’s web traffic, but they don’t yet control everything. In fact, a good keyword based domain can receive loads of type in traffic. With a well converting PPC landing page, this type in traffic can bring in from $100 to $1000 per day for a top-notch domain. Not a bad way to bide your time waiting for that perfect buyer to come along! So, when you’re searching for domains, keep in mind that type-in traffic is entirely defensible, meaning it doesn’t rely on a search engine or any other third party to send traffic your way, and that with enough of it, you can entirely cover your overhead expenses. Optimize your parked domains. Some registrars allow you to add content and advertising directly to your parked domain’s page at no extra cost. If that is the case in your situation, you should definitely take advantage of this opportunity by optimizing your landing page. Try various configurations and combinations of affiliate ads and PPC ads to see what yields the highest return. Often simply changing the color of your landing page is enough to double your click-through rate. So, don’t sell yourself short by using a default ad configuration, or worse, not placing any advertising at all. The (traffic) collector. If you already have your own well-converting highly monetized website within the same niche as your domain, instead of optimizing your landing pages, it may be more profitable for you to simply redirect your parked domains to that website. The key consideration when making this decision is simple, can I make more money by optimizing or redirecting? By electing the more immediately profitable option, you ensure that the maximum amount of your domaining overhead costs are offset, which may ultimately enable you to hold out for the right buyer longer than you might otherwise be willing to. Park and go. While running your own PPC or adsense is the more lucrative solution, some domainers who are short on time or technical expertise choose to simply park domains at a service like Sedo. These sites allow you to optimize your parked page template, and they run PPC (Pay Per Click) ads such as AdSense for you, in exchange for taking a cut of any PPC revenues your domain earns. While this is a fine solution for those that are flipping sites on a very short timeline, for those domainers planning to hold the site for any significant length of time, the technical knowhow required to optimize on your own is very small relative to the earnings you may be giving up by sharing with a site like Sedo. Community spirit. Converting expired domains with traffic into web 2.0 community sites is one of the most popular new trends in domaining. The theory goes, that by starting your own community, regular focused traffic will visit your website in great numbers which you will be able to leverage to offset maintenance costs. Unfortunately, the hype surrounding web 2.0 typically overshadows the reality, which is that most community sites eventually fail, so trying something like this will require a lot of time, effort, money and luck. For those of you working on a tight budget, good ole’ fashioned domain parking may still be the best solution. Creating your own lead generation. Buying up older expired domains with a niche focus can serve as an internal lead generation system. For domains with a narrow focus, redirecting them to specific landing pages on your more general high-converting website can be an excellent way of leveraging your domains into a sort private Adwords / PPC campaign. Adsense Arbitrage. Google AdSense arbitrage is the practice of buying traffic at a relatively cheap price, and leveraging that traffic by having those users click through to ads which are relatively more lucrative than the cost of bringing in the traffic. When considering whether adsense arbitrage is the best monetization solution for your domains, it is first necessary to consider whether it is allowed by your parking host. Even if it is, however, adsense arbitrage is a very risky game which is in almost every instance better left for more experienced domainers and webmasters. Choose volume over quality early on.. It’s the volume domain purchasers who consistently earn the highest profits from domaining. New domainers are often intrigued by the possibility of owning THE keyword in a niche (keyword.com) But more often that not, it is better to diversify your holdings, start small, then later bootstrap your early profits into domains a bit higher up the food chain. Think of it like this: it’s easier to sell 100 domains at $10 profit than one domain at $1000 profit. Tools for the TradeIn the business of domaining, automation and resource tools are your friend. Because the key to regular success is volume, not that one big hit, utilizing quality resources and tools will go a long way to improving your bottom line by marginally increasing the profitability every transaction you make. I’m pickin’ up good registrations. Since you’re dealing in volume, a cheap registrar is important, especially when you’re first starting out. But some deals are too good to be true, and occasionally registrars will go out of business. For good cheap hosting, GoDaddy is a baseline option, but it’s not ideal for many high volume domainers or high quality domains. For your biggest domains, the ones you hope to sell and retire from the proceeds with, you may want to try Moniker. Whatever direction you decide to take, make sure to shop around, and at a minimum check the resource list at the end of this article for a few more of your options. Traffic monitors and predictors. Keeping track of a site’s traffic and popularity are both important metrics in valuating your own domains as well as those of potential acquisitions. The following tools, despite their individual limitations, are designed to provide you with a method of obtaining those stats on your own domains, as well as those of your competitors.Alexa is the benchmark traffic rankings directory. It is widely regarded as inaccurate, however, its relative numbers are still very valuable when studying a domain for purchase. Alexaholic is based on Alexa but allows you to compare the traffic charts of multiple domains. The value of Alexaholic (and Alexa) is that you don’t need the current owner of a domain to have installed a traffic monitoring script (which is usually not possible on a parked domain anyway) to estimate the volume of traffic the site is receiving. Ranking.com provides the popularity of a website and requires script installation on your domain. Ask the Owner. A domain parking service will provide traffic statistics for the site’s owner. So if you’re interested in a domain, simply ask the owner for proof of statistics.Resource SitesIn domaining, as with most industries, a key to success is keeping yourself educated about new developments in the field and constantly learning from the successes and failures of your peers. As a result, we have compiled a list of a few popular sites that offer domaining related news or services: Daily Domainer.DNJournal.Domainer’s Edge. Domain Editorial.Domain Name Forum(a)WebHostingTalk.Domaining Blog. Domain Name Wire.Domain Sponsor. Domains Magazine.Earner’s Forum domaining thread. Monetizing Domains Network. Moniker. Parked. Sedo. TDnam. Sitepoint Marketplace. As the value of domains continue to increase, the industry of domaining becomes continually more sophisticated and competitive. But for the person willing to do the necessary research, planning and investing, domaining can prove a very lucrative profession. In this article we have introduced you to some of the basic strategies, tips, and tools used by domainers. Recognizing, however, that no single article can fully cover even the basics of this complex industry, we recommend that you constantly seek out new and more domain investing information, even as you begin to go out and compile your own domaining portfolio. Best of luck! ____________________________________________________________________________________ No need to miss a message. Get email on-the-go with Yahoo! Mail for Mobile. Get started. http://mobile.yahoo.com/mail [View Less]

1 0