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reminder
by Rebecca Wanjiku 15 May '07

15 May '07

hi, just to remind you of the upcoming debate on ICT at the Norfolk, on wednesday (16th) at 2pm the confirmations are coming in, and it will be good for members to attend in huge numbers, hope to see you there, regards becky ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a PS3 game guru. Get your game face on with the latest PS3 news and previews at Yahoo! Games. http://videogames.yahoo.com/platform?platform=120121

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Re: [kictanet] [Fwd: presidential aspirants' debate on ICT enabled Kenyan Economy
by Michuki Mwangi 15 May '07

15 May '07

waudo siganga wrote: > Thank you Engineer. I will be away for WITSA meetings in Kualr Lumpur > 14-19 May. Keziah Muthoni will attend on my behalf. > I see content opportunity - maybe if someone can provide bandwidth we can audio-stream the session live for those who not able to make it. Regards, -- Michuki Mwangi KENIC

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Live Streaming for presidential aspirants' debate on ICT enabled Kenyan Economy. Mainsteraming ICTs into the National Agenda
by alice 15 May '07

15 May '07

Apologies for cross posting Dear All Courtesy of KENIC and KDN, there will be live streaming of this event for those who can not make it to be there physically. The URL is: http://idhaa.kenic.or.ke:8001/ best alice ------------------------------------------------------------------- Michuki Mwangi wrote: > I see content opportunity - maybe if someone can provide bandwidth we > can audio-stream the session live for those who not able to make it. > > Regards, > > _______________________________________________ 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/alice%40apc.org

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End of Online Deliberation - CCK Internet Report
by John Walubengo 14 May '07

14 May '07

Dear All, I wish to 'officially' declare the above deliberation closed after 3 weeks of enriching online exchange. I want to thank all of you who spared the time and effort to contribute your ideas on the various topics. I also want to thank all those who spared the time to READ those contributions - even though you may have said nothing, am sure you may have learnt alot more like I did. As for the way forward? Basically, I would be compiling a summary of the deliberations in form of a report which will be published on the list and possibly handed over to appropriate authorities in a short 'Breakfast' ceremony that will be announced later after confirmations. Thanx again to all and hope to get your participation in future online deliberations. J. Walubengo KICTANet ____________________________________________________________________________________ TV dinner still cooling? Check out "Tonight's Picks" on Yahoo! TV. http://tv.yahoo.com/

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KCCT looking for an Intergrated Management System.
by John Walubengo 14 May '07

14 May '07

Hey, Allow me to air some commercial, some of you may be ICT Consultants and may be interested.. ...KCCT went public (advertised) the other friday for the above system. Plse ask your colleagues who may be intrested in supplying the system to visit the url below for details. http://www.kcct.ac.ke/downloads/brochures/TenderNotice.pdf walu ____________________________________________________________________________________Get the Yahoo! toolbar and be alerted to new email wherever you're surfing. http://new.toolbar.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/index.php

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"INFRASTRUCTURE SHARING" Nairobi, Kenya 6 – 7 June 2007: Eighth Forum on Telecommunications
by alice 13 May '07

13 May '07

"INFRASTRUCTURE SHARING" Nairobi, Kenya 6 – 7 June 2007 We are pleased to announce the eighth Forum on Telecommunications/ICT Regulation in Africa (FTRA-2007), organized by the Telecommunications Bureau (BDT) in collaboration with the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK).The Forum will be held in Nairobi, Republic of Kenya from 6 to 7 June 2007 and will be chaired by, Eng. John Waweru, the Director General, CCK. INFRASTRUCTURE SHARING: Africa is one of continents where countries are still working on the roll out of basic infrastructure, including the Telecommunications and Information and Communications Technology (ICT). Various utilities and various Telecommunications and ICT Operators in particular, are running parallel infrastructure that if shared could have reduced the costs; duplications and wasting of scarce resource. Further by sharing some infrastructure we could minimize the negative impact in our environment! Can Policy Makers and Regulators Promote Infrastructure Sharing without jeopardizing the competition and the benefits to consumers? Would the Sharing of Infrastructure minimize the impact on the environment? What are the issues to be looked at when considering the infrastructure sharing and what are the long term implications? These and other topic will be introduced in the discussion paper being prepared by the ITU/BDT for discussion in the Forum. The Forum will be preceded in the same venue by the Public and Private Partnership Forum (PPPF-2007) from 4 to 5 June 2007, providing the opportunity for the participants to meet formally and informally the representatives from the Private Sector, Policy Makers and Regulators http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/afr/events/FTRA/Nairobi-2007/index.html <http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/afr/events/FTRA/Nairobi-2007/index.html>

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KENYA’S TEAMS FIBRE PROJECT LOOKS SET TO DRAW IN OTHER COUNTRIES
by alice 13 May '07

13 May '07

From Balancing Act: KENYA’S TEAMS FIBRE PROJECT LOOKS SET TO DRAW IN OTHER COUNTRIES At the East African Broadband Workshop in Kigali on 8-9 May, five Governments signed a communiqué that may well be the first step on the road to the widening out of participation in the TEAMS fibre project to all East African Community countries: these now include: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Signatories included three Ministers (Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda) and two senior officials (Burundi and Tanzania). The event was organised by the Rwandan Ministry of Infrastructure and the US Digital Freedom Initiative. The communiqué noted that:”Progress must be made to bring undersea fibre optic cable systems and backbone connections to the region as quickly as possible.” In a diplomatically worded statement clearly aimed at the faltering NEPAD sponsored project it stated that all fibre projects “should aim to meet the requirements of all public and private stakeholders.” The Kenyan Government requested the nomination of technical teams from East African countries and said it would brief regional governments about the technical, legal and investment details in 4-6 weeks time. Furthermore, the signatories agreed that the EAC should adopt “an open access policy for backbone networks and agree that they should be operated on a non-discriminatory manner based on a cost model that is sustainable, which supports regional interconnectivity and allows for high end usage that is affordable to the end users within three months.”

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KENYA SPECIAL: MARKET GETS READY FOR CHEAPER BANDWIDTH
by alice 13 May '07

13 May '07

TOP STORY FROM BALANCING ACT: KENYA SPECIAL: MARKET GETS READY FOR CHEAPER BANDWIDTH _____________________________________________________________________ The Kenyan Internet market is set for a big change as the players transform their strategies to take advantage of new opportunities. With legal VoIP, they are now no longer looking at just offering Internet access. Once the long-delayed interconnect agreements are sorted out, these newcomers will start making inroads into the voice market. With the arrival of cheaper, plentiful international bandwidth in 2008, those who will flourish in a competitive market will no longer primarily sell bandwidth. With cheaper broadband offers, the number of their customers will increase and they will look to services and applications that they can sell their customers. The market is going through a major period of re-alignment and investment. Access Kenya’s IPO was four times over-subscribed, showing the level of interest there is in the market and it has plans to expand (see On the Money) . Telkom South Africa is now the proud owner of Africa Online and is devising its strategy for both the pan-African and local markets. ATC is now firmly at the helm of Wananchi and has ambitious expansion plans. There are also losers as we understand that there are at least two ISPs that are not in the best of financial health. Last week five governments signed a communiqué in Kigali saying that the East Africa Community “should adopt an open access policy for backbone networks”. TEAMS will be fast-tracked, promising to start in Q1 2008 and it will seek input from regional partners within 4-6 weeks. (see Internet News below). Meanwhile, a large team from the private sector competitor project, Sithe’s Seacom, was in Nairobi last week talking to potential customers. The heat is on to see who will be the first to market with cheaper international fibre. In this Kenya special, Russell Southwood interviews John Joseph, the new CEO of Africa Online who gives some pointers about its future direction and to Kai Wulff, CEO of KDN whose recent “free access” experiment provides a fascinating insight into the potential size of the market. After the flattening out of dial-up demand, the market’s on the move again with strategies to attract new customers in what looks set to become a much bigger market. * AFRICA ONLINE’S NEW CEO LAYS OUT HIS STALL In an interview last Friday, Africa Online’s new CEO talked to Russell Southwood about his strategy to revive the company and renew faith in its pan-continental brand. He spoke frankly about how he sees competitive markets and the kind of opportunities the company will pursue. Q: Why did Telkom buy Africa Online? It links immediately with the pan-African acquisition target Telkom has set itself and its desire to create a presence across the continent. It’s been looking right across the IT scale (at potential acquisitions), including fixed and mobile service providers. Africa Online gives us the opportunity to immediately get into eight countries and the ability to opportunity to expand in each of them. It gives us immediate access to the existing licences and the potential to acquire new licences in these territories. In addition, we have affiliates in 20 countries where they are resellers of our corporate connectivity services. We’re searching for affiliates in those countries where we currently don’t have a presence. There’s a also number of carriers in South Africa and the Far East who want to be able to deal with one service operator. We’re also talking to major European carriers who we will be pursuing to set up agreements to provide corporate connectivity and obviously similarly with Telkom SA. It’s always had difficulties with a number of corporates about creating a presence across Africa to meet their needs, companies like retailers and banking organisations, to provide reliable connectivity in their branches. Q: What about the competitors in that market? There’s very few competitors in that space and that’s what makes it attractive. We’ve also had discussions with providers in Hong Kong. Q: What’s the current subscriber base across the eight countries? There’s around 15,000 subscribers. Q: So where are you starting from? We’re offering dial-up and broadband access. The broadband we’re rolling out is using iBurst which is already set up in Kenya and Ghana. We’re currently sorting out spectrum licences to roll that out elsewhere. Our main business will become broadband. We want to significantly grow existing services and add growth in new markets. There’s currently limited iBurst coverage in Kenya with only Nairobi and Mombasa but we’re looking to expand. Q: What kinds of things will you be investing in? There’s currently a limitation on operations that we need to address to increase the top line. The way we do our business is limiting the number of orders per month we can handle. We need to invest in IT systems for process flow. There are limitations on connectivity and bandwidth. We need to increase in-country connectivity and international connectivity and get subscriber numbers up. We need to look at our initial technology choices – iBurst – and then have a wireless base station roll-out. We need to expand services like good quality VoIP services. We’re trialling these within African Online at the moment but we have to do a lot more to improve them. We need to invest in products like VoIP and video calling. Q: What about investment in the brand? I’ve picked up on the history of pride with the brand but this has faded over time. We need to create a passion for the brand in Kenya and other countries but also outside of the continent. Customers need to know what they might get so it’s the brand plus the quality of the product. The brand association should be quality and price. I see a lot of other ISPs advertising here in Kenya and elsewhere and we need to create our own external profile. But we also need to do create that profile internally within the company so that Africa Online is the employee of choice. Q: You mentioned the need for more plentiful, cheaper bandwidth. What’s your attitude to SAT3 and the new East coast fibre projects? My opinion is that there’s a real urgency to get an undersea fibre cable landed on the East coast. It will change the whole ICT marketplace in East Africa. It changes the capacity of price per consumer that would be possible and provides quality connectivity. I believe that the prices we now see on SAT3 and other projects are coming down. I’m flying to the west coast later this month to discuss this. We have to have more investment in fibre projects because it’s a supply and demand issue. Q: Will you be focusing only on services or will you also look at infrastructure? There’s some discussion on the West coast of Africa about looking at providing some infrastructure. Specifically we’re looking at bandwidth provision to other ISPs in some countries. There’s discussions about facilitating that so investment is focused on the service layer but progressing infrastructure and connectivity. Q: Will demand increase if prices come down? Even without price reductions, demand is not being met. We’re moving forward on broadband in Kenya and it’s going to be very competitive. We need to remove the bottlenecks and offer more cost effective offerings. There’s a great deal of demand there but it’s not being fulfilled because of the limitations of current coverage. Q: How does it feel being in a competitive market? I’ve seen greater liberalisation in East Africa than down in South Africa. Regulators in the region have moved more quickly towards competition and deregulating the marketplace. Within the South African marketplace, there’s great competition but there’s a need from the regulatory point of view to change the landscape more. The reality’s there but there’s the need for more implementation. Q: Telkom SA has expressed interest in buying Telkom Kenya. How would it work? Do you buy it or does the parent company? Africa Online is looking to expand. We’re looking at ISP operations, new markets and new licences to grow. However, we would not look at buying into Telkom Kenya as Africa Online. Telkom SA’s expansion plans are looking at all operations throughout Africa and that’s what they’re really pursuing. We are operating as an arms length subsidiary but generating synergies between the two operations. * KDN’S FREE ACCESS OFFER UNCOVERS EXTENT OF WI-FI DEVICES KDN’s Wi-Fi service called Butterfly has been offered for free with no login page on the basis of a word-of-mouth “whispering” campaign and the results have thrown up some potential surprises about the shape and size of the Kenyan market and what the users really want. The free trial took place over a public holiday when there would be plenty of bandwidth available. According to KDN’s CEO Kai Wulff:”We wanted to see where our traffic threshold was. It got up to 22,000 users and then we were smoked away. There were things like corrupted config files occurring.” When it crashed, it was provisioned for 40 megs up and 40 megs down. The significance of the test is that there are 22,000 users with separate MAC addresses using Wi-Fi-enabled devices, purely on the basis of spreading news about the offer on a word-of-mouth basis. It guesses that the figure may actually be double or triple that number. KDN itself has sold around 2,000 Wi-Fi cards in the last few months. At present, Wulff says that:”A broadband service costs on average around KS30,000 a month and I’m confident that by the end of the year there will be 20-30,000 users on a pay-for basis.” Interestingly, customer expectations have gone up considerably with the provision of the Wi-Fi service. Wulff says:”Customers expect the service to be like a leased line. When they see the Wi-Fi indicator going from 48 meg to 36 meg, I start to get customers ringing me on my mobile.” So what was the demand from customers over the free period? Lots were browsing international content. There was a lot of VoIP usage, particularly Skype, where users were phoning each other both within the country and outside it. The network was offered without bandwidth restrictions and it enabled peer-to-peer services like Skype to work well. Apparently lots of students found out about the offer and went out and bought Wi-Fi cards to take advantage of it. Peak use period was after-office hours between 7-9 pm. On a pay for basis, VoIP use (by traffic) on the KDN network is between 10-15% but rises to 20% on the Butterfly service. It’s possible to have a Skype conversation between two people without delays. Unfortunately users are not as security conscious with Skype and viruses are now being spread by users. KDN is now offering all its ADSL 2 customers (unless they specifically request otherwise) Funkwerk modems with Wi-Fi capability. Out of the 24 meg capacity, 4 meg is devoted to Wi-Fi, in effect creating lots of little base stations and thus rolling out coverage to an ever wider number of places. It has tested IP-TV over Wi-Fi and although this is not yet commercially available, it is talking to KTN about offering content.

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{Disarmed} {Filename?} FW: [www.eThinkTankTz.org] Short term opportunities for Software developers ..
by Harry Hare 13 May '07

13 May '07

Warning: This message has had one or more attachments removed Warning: (Tender No. 38 .pdf). Warning: Please read the "smtpout.swiftkenya.com-Attachment-Warning.txt" attachment(s) for more information. Any takers? _____ From: eThinkTankTz(a)yahoogroups.com [mailto:eThinkTankTz@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Raymun Mutagahywa Sent: Friday, May 11, 2007 11:32 AM To: eThinkTankTz(a)yahoogroups.com Subject: [www.eThinkTankTz.org] Short term opportunities for Software developers .. Hi EThinkers, We have advertised this call for Expressions of Interest as of Monday 7th May 2007. I would encourage any capable ethinkers to respond or, inform people whom they think are capable. We would also welcome any hints on any other forums (in the East Africa region) that would have people interested in software development work using JAVA, MS Visual Studio, ASP.Net and MS SQL or Oracle databases. Please respond to my official address: raymondmutagahywa@ <mailto:raymondmutagahywa%40estabs.go.tz> estabs.go.tz and cc: to raymunm@hotmail. <mailto:raymunm%40hotmail.com> com Thanks and Best Regards, Raymond Mutagahywa M & E Database Specialist Presidents Office - Public Service Management >From: eThinkTankTz@ <mailto:eThinkTankTz%40yahoogroups.com> yahoogroups.com >Reply-To: "No Reply"<notify-dg-eThinkTan <mailto:notify-dg-eThinkTankTz%40yahoogroups.com> kTz(a)yahoogroups.com> >To: eThinkTankTz@ <mailto:eThinkTankTz%40yahoogroups.com> yahoogroups.com >Subject: [www.eThinkTankTz.org] Digest Number 2006 >Date: 10 May 2007 10:21:50 -0000 > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >Think Tank on the development of Information and Communications Technology >as the "infostructure" for socio-economic progress > > > > > > Think Tank on the development of Information and Communications >Technology as the "infostructure" for socio-economic progress > > > Messages In This Digest (2 > Messages) > > > > > 1a. > > Re: World Bank in turmoil > From: > eberhardblocher > > > 2. > > Hardening your Firefox browser > From: > Dharmin > > > > View All Topics | Create New Topic > > > Messages > > > > 1a. > > > > Re: World Bank in turmoil > > Posted by: "eberhardblocher" > director@ourtanzani <mailto:director%40ourtanzania.com> a.com > > > eberhardblocher > > > > Wed May 9, 2007 8:01 am (PST) > > > Greetings eThinkers, > > > >now this is totally off-topic. But sorry, couldn't resist. > >It was David Sawe who started this thread, by the way, didn't you, > >David? Thanks to Mervyn Lobo of Tanzanet for pointing out this piece > >of news, giving a new twist to the matter. > > > >Wolfowitz's Girlfriend Resigns as Wolfowitz's Girlfriend > > > >Relinquishes Girlfriend Post `Effective Immediately' > > > >In yet another setback for the embattled World Bank > >president, Paul Wolfowitz's girlfriend Shaha Riza > >announced today that she was resigning as Mr. > >Wolfowitz's girlfriend, "effective immediately." > > > >While Ms. Riza's role in the conflict of interest > >scandal involving Mr. Wolfowitz and the World Bank had > >placed her in the eye of the media storm, few had > >expected her to relinquish her girlfriend post without > >a fight. > > > >But according to a source close to Ms. Riza, the > >increasing pressure on the high-profile couple in > >recent days had convinced her that she "could no > >longer function effectively as Paul Wolfowitz's > >girlfriend." > > > >A joint communiqué released by the couple indicated > >that the decision to leave her girlfriend post was > >entirely Ms. Riza's, but sources close to Mr. > >Wolfowitz suggest that the idea had originated not > >with her, but with the World Bank president himself. > > > >According to one source, "Paul had dinner with Shaha > >last night and told her they should start seeing other > >banks." > > > >News of Ms. Riza's departure sparked speculation that > >Mr. Wolfowitz's might have difficulty acquiring a new > >girlfriend, but according to Vice President Dick > >Cheney, who has served as Mr. Wolfowitz's unofficial > >"wingman" for years, nothing could be farther from the > >truth. > > > >"The fact that the World Bank found Paul guilty of > >wrongdoing gives him an air of danger," Mr. Cheney > >said. "The ladies dig that." > > > >--- In eThinkTankTz@ <mailto:eThinkTankTz%40yahoogroups.com> yahoogroups.com, "David Sawe" <david.sawe@...> wrote: > > > > > > Greetings eThinkers, > > > > > > > > > > > > This posting may be a little off-topic in our forum. But given the > >global > > > role of the World Bank in our areas of interest, it is certainly of > > > relevance to us. The article below contains some interesting > >perspectives, > > > while depicting of how key countries are dealing with this widely > >publicised > > > crisis situation. It seems that departure is now imminent, and only > > > questions about modalities remain at this stage. > > > > > > > > Back to top > > Reply to sender > | > > Reply to group > | > > Reply via web post > > > > Messages in this topic > (3) > > > > 2. > > > > Hardening your Firefox browser > > Posted by: "Dharmin" > Dharmin.Mandalia@ <mailto:Dharmin.Mandalia%40tanganet.net> tanganet.net > > > dharmin98 > > > > Thu May 10, 2007 12:36 am (PST) > > > Hello > > > >As some of you use Firefox browser, worth reading info on below url :- > >http://searchenterp <http://searchenterpriselinux.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid39_gci1254195,0 0.html> riselinux.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid39_gci1254195,00.html > >http://firekeeper. <http://firekeeper.mozdev.org/index.html> mozdev.org/index.html > >and > >http://prefbar. <http://prefbar.mozdev.org/> mozdev.org/ > > > >Regards > >Dharmin > > > > > > > > Back to top > > Reply to sender > | > > Reply to group > | > > Reply via web post > > > > Messages in this topic > (1) > > > > > > > > > > Recent Activity > > > > 3 > New Members > > > > > > > > > > Visit Your Group > SPONSORED LINKS > > > Tanzania safaris > Tanzania travel > Information and communication technology > Communication technology > Ict > > > > > > > Yahoo! Music > >Check Who's Next > >Discover new bands > >before anyone else > > Y! Messenger > >Instant hello > >Chat over IM with > >group members. > > Yahoo! Mail > >Drag & drop > >With the all-new > >Yahoo! Mail Beta > > > > > Need to Reply? > >Click one of the "Reply" links to respond to a specific message in the >Daily Digest. > > > > > > Create New Topic | > > Visit Your Group on the Web > > > > > > Messages > | Files > | Photos > | Links > | Database > | Polls > | Members > | Calendar > > > Anyone who would like to join eThinkTankTz is welcome to do so >by sending a blank email to: > >eThinkTankTz- <mailto:eThinkTankTz-subscribe%40yahoogroups.com> subscribe(a)yahoogroups.com > > > > > > > > > Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) > > Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Individual | Switch >format to Traditional > > > Visit Your Group | > > Yahoo! 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How to Upgrade 22,000 Nurses in Kenya
by Harry Hare 13 May '07

13 May '07

Dear Colleagues, As we debate the CCK report its also important to reflect on other successful initiative in the country. On such initiative is a partnership between AMREF, the Nursing Council of Kenya and Accenture, a global management consultancy, technology services, and outsourcing company, where 22,000 nurses will have an opportunity of continuous professional development through ICT or if you like eLearning. I wonder how many such initiatives are taking root albeit quietly in the country. Congratulations are in order to both AMREF and the Nursing Council of Kenya for this effort. Kindest Regards Harry http://www.checkpoint-elearning.com/article/3925.html How to Upgrade 22,000 Nurses in Kenya Nairobi (KEN), May 2007 - In a public-private partnership, Accenture and the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) have developed the Kenya Nurses Training Program. eLearning Program Manager Adesuwa Akinboro from AMREF will present this very successful case study in the conference section "Online Learning Opportunities for Health Professionals". How did the cooperation with Accenture come to be? Adesuwa Akinboro: AMREF and the Nursing Council of Kenya have been involved in the training of nurses for over five years now. Initially, this was through the distance education print-based mode. However, due to the chronic nurse shortage, the need to accelerate the training of health workers arose. AMREF approached Accenture, a global management consultancy, technology services, and outsourcing company with many years of experience in eLearning for a solution. Together, AMREF, Accenture, and the Nursing Council of Kenya designed a solution to address the chronic shortage of registered nurses in the country. Could you please describe the outline of the program? Adesuwa Akinboro: Twenty-seven nursing schools are currently implementing the program. Their role is to enrol the students, who are drawn from hospitals, health centers, non-governmental organisations, and from the general population. The students must meet the following requirements: * A community health nurse certificate (ECHN); * Furthermore, government employees should have more than three years of service. Once enrolled, the students take the course at their places of work on computers that are installed and maintained by AMREF. The program currently has 100 of these centers equipped with a total of 340 computers. These include hospitals and medical training colleges. The eLearning centers have an AMREF trained mentor whose responsibility is to assist the students during their clinical placements and to serve as the first level of computer help-desk support. The upgrading program is structured into four modules. Every module consists of several units with two self-tests in each module. In addition to the self-tests, the schools administer a written exam at the end of each module and a final exam at the end of the course. The school also monitors student progress on an ongoing basis. The need for practical experience cannot be over emphasised. The program requires that all students receive practical experience at approved hospitals, and this is one of its strengths since it allows students to put into practice the knowledge they will have acquired almost immediately. What has been the most important experience? Which obstacles did you have to overcome? Adesuwa Akinboro: This has been a very exciting program. It has motivated the nurses enrolled in their provision of health services across the country. The nurse managers have also noted and commented on the improved service delivery as a result of the eLearning programme. In addition, it has enabled many nurses who previously did not have the opportunity to take the course to do so. Such multi-faceted national level programs will encounter obstacles in implementation, particularly when they contain such innovative components. The program has a strong risk management strategy in place and thus mitigates the following risks and challenges: * The need for internet access, connectivity, and IT infrastructure in the hospitals where the nurses work. AMREF has provided computers but is currently looking into the connectivity issue. * The release of students from hospitals to take up the training, since nurse managers initially did not quite grasp the benefits that eLearning can bring. * The fees charged by schools. As you might expect, the cost of taking the course should be less than that of a residential course. This has not always been the case. Through stakeholder sensitisation, this is gradually being achieved. * Policy issues: there is the need to integrate eLearning into the training policy for health workers. * Stakeholder identification and involvement is crucial to ensuring their participation support and continued buy-in. So far over 2,000 student nurses have been enrolled for the eLearning courses. Can you tell us any success stories? Adesuwa Akinboro: Through our monitoring and evaluation exercises, we have received feedback from nurse managers regarding improvement in the quality of care provided by the trainee nurses. The managers have attributed this to the eLearning course. In addition, nurses have broadened their managerial and technical knowledge and acquired IT skills. This has enhanced their confidence and motivation. The program has enabled more nurses to enroll than was previously possible with the residential programme. Some nurses who previously could not get admitted to the course due to the limited number of places available and who have tried for over ten years have finally been able to enroll. The uptake of the program by students, schools, and hospitals has been overwhelming. Many more nurses need to be trained. What are the next steps that need to be taken? Adesuwa Akinboro: A core component of this program is skills transfer and as such, the partnership has built up the capabilities of AMREF, the Nursing Council of Kenya, and the schools, including through a bespoke training programme delivered by Accenture Learning. The eLearning model can be used to train other cadres of health workers even to the degree level. We now cover all of the country's eight provinces. This infrastructure is capable of training the remaining nurses. We also intend to hook up the centers to the Internet so that we can improve communication and access to information, encourage collaboration among students, improve data management, and get the most out of our Learning Management System. Will the cooperation between AMREF and Accenture continue? Adesuwa Akinboro: Yes, the cooperation will continue. As a result of this program, AMREF and Accenture have extended the partnership to include other organizational areas such as strategic support. Furthermore, discussions are also underway that will allow replication of the program in other African nations. This is indeed just the beginning and an excellent example of North-to-South cooperation and of a public-private partnership. -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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