- KICTANet - KICTANet

discussing the bills, holding leaders accountable,
by Rebecca Wanjiku 12 Jun '07

12 Jun '07

i hope we have all accessed the bills from the doc. link provided earlier, i believe that these bills may come to parliament soon, you never know, for us to be prepared of any eventuality, i think its good if shared our opinions, which can be considered by the MPs the comments can begin, regards Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ --------------------------------- Sick sense of humor? Visit Yahoo! TV's Comedy with an Edge to see what's on, when.

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training opportunities-in case of interest....
by Rebecca Wanjiku 12 Jun '07

12 Jun '07

for those interested in training, here are some, just in case you had not seen... regards Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ --------------------------------- Shape Yahoo! in your own image. Join our Network Research Panel today!

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Holding our Leaders Accountable(delay in response)
by Mr President 12 Jun '07

12 Jun '07

Hi All First of all my apologies to you all, as am unsure wether this debate is over, but my reson for wanting to input my ideas is because i agree with ceryain sentiments. The chai concept, is polite and a means to an end, it was utilised by Njoki Ndungu and, i agree that to have a workshop, seminar for MPs would be ideal. Guys get real, HOW do we talk about E-govt and members of parliament are ICT illiterate ?? How do we drive demand, with the puiblic when those who represent them need mail and not E-mails ?? I consistently say, that we sahould borrow a leaf from Rwanda, The Head of state, conducts Govt online, bunge there uses electronic voting, the state is divided into four regions and all Hqs are served via a WAN. What is the state of our E-govt and the use of the same? Tho Mps may not be ICT lerned, then they should get assistants/ interns- tho not Lewinsky- to assist them in ResearchBills before the houseNational and constituency issuesICT and its benefits We agreed to lead by example, let us invite the Waheshimiwas and enlighten them and better still form and ICT lobby forum for use now and later, Example ? the media and ICT bills these would be the same MPs we would invite for informal then formal talks and for those who understand Govt like in the US we as KICTANET should learn to lobby, to me that is being Pro active as opposed to being Re active Have a thoughtful and blessed week end Njenga M.Pthose who fear to fail.will never try to succeded,for to fail to plan is to plan to FAIL _______________________________________________ No banners. No pop-ups. No kidding. Make My Way your home on the Web - http://www.myway.com

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Cisco Systems opens IT training centre in Kibera
by Alex Gakuru 12 Jun '07

12 Jun '07

[Business Daily] 12-June-2007 Author : Kui Kinyanjui A unique educational programme in Kibera slums of Nairobi will see residents learn to build personal computers and connect them to local area networks. Technology solutions provider Cisco Systems Incorporated has opened an information technology (IT) training centre in the informal settlement, aimed at providing training opportunities for disadvantaged peoplemany who may have never used a computer before. The Kibera Academy is about improving IT skills and boosting local peoples prospects for the future and elevating their standard of living, said Hital Muraj, Ciscos area academy manager for East Africa. Cisco is one of a growing number of global technology giants to create specialised solutions for the Kenyan market. Increasingly, more international technology firms are shifting focus away from purely commercial interests in developing countries to more social ventures that allow them to enrich the technology skills of target population. http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1399&Item… --------------------------------- Got a little couch potato? Check out fun summer activities for kids.

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why member profile
by Rebecca Wanjiku 11 Jun '07

11 Jun '07

kictanet would like to encourage members to know each other, this is a network of networks and would like to feature the organisations represented or individuals, it will be a way of members knowing each other and what we do... if you feel your organisation or individual is doing a good job to promote ICTs, please feel free to contact me, regards Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ --------------------------------- Sucker-punch spam with award-winning protection. Try the free Yahoo! Mail Beta.

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forum reminder..
by Rebecca Wanjiku 11 Jun '07

11 Jun '07

just a reminder-- KICTANet's monthly forum on Thursday June 14 at Jacaranda at 3pm Michuki Mwangi from Kenic will be speaking about local content, Simba, KOCH Fm will also share, plan to be there.. see you there, Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ --------------------------------- Looking for a deal? Find great prices on flights and hotels with Yahoo! FareChase.

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doc link
by Rebecca Wanjiku 11 Jun '07

11 Jun '07

just to let you know that the media council bill and the KC amendment bill are available on the APC Africa website, once the Kictanet website is done, we will have them there.... http://africa.rights.apc.org/index.shtml?apc=he_1&x=5077882 --------------------------------- Park yourself in front of a world of choices in alternative vehicles. Visit the Yahoo! Auto Green Center.

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doc link
by Rebecca Wanjiku 11 Jun '07

11 Jun '07

just to let you know that the media council bill and the KC amendment bill are available on the APC Africa website, once the Kictanet website is done, we will have them there.... http://africa.rights.apc.org/index.shtml?apc=he_1&x=5077882 --------------------------------- Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha! Play Monopoly Here and Now (it's updated for today's economy) at Yahoo! Games.

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[Fwd: [Fibre-for-africa] EASSy breaks fresh ground]
by alice 11 Jun '07

11 Jun '07

EASSy breaks fresh ground By Wairagala Wakabi CIPESA/ Fibre for Africa Kampala, June 11, 2007 The East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) has concluded interconnection agreements with three cable systems to carry traffic between Africa, Europe and Asia. It has also included the Comoros in its planned fibre network, to which 29 African entities are party. The cables are SAFE/SAT3, SEA ME-WE and FLAG, according to John Sihra, the coordinator of EASSy and a director with Tanzanian operator ZANTEL. The SAT3/WASC cable runs from Portugal, through Spain, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Angola to South Africa. SAFE begins from South Africa, to La Reunion, Mauritius, on to India and Malaysia. FLAG covers the Indian sub-continent and is extending to the Middle East and North Africa, while SEA ME-WE runs in the Middle East and North Africa. Sihra and other members of the EASSy steering committee ended a three-day meeting in Kampala, Uganda last Friday June 8 to finalise legal paperwork for the interconnection deals and the inclusion of the Comoros, among others. They also harmonised the various legal documents they had drawn up since they signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in December 2003. Open Access Sihra and other parties to the EASSy MoU told Fibre for Africa that the EASSy project cost remained $235 million, and reiterated that the cable would be operated along open access principles. Even 10 years from now other operators who come on board will get capacity at the same price as existing operators, said Sihra. We have had some pressure from NEPAD (the New Partnership for African Development) to make sure the project takes into account the expectation of regional governments, namely that capacity pricing should be competitive and cost based, and that new companies have non-discriminatory access to it. We have addressed these concerns. But at exactly what price shall EASSy bandwidth come? We cannot give exact prices now, he said. There are many competing cables coming up; everyone now wants to build a cable round east Africas coast. They were sleeping but EASSy woke them up, he added, suggesting that revealing at what price EASSy would lease out its bandwidth could play into the hands of competitors. Completion date With EASSy expected to be ready for commercial operations in the fourth quarter of 2008, signatories to the MoU said they were certain to be the first cable on the eastern coast of Africa. They promised competitive prices and high quality services, which they believed would make EASSy the most viable marine cable in the region. The actual laying of cables, which will be done by Alcatel Lucent Submarine Networks of France with whom a contract was signed on March 9 2007, will take 6-7 months. A detailed feasibility study was concluded, so has an environment impact assessment which the operators said found the cable would not negatively impact on the marine ecosystem. A marine survey is due to start, to map the cable route, and ascertain whether the findings of earlier studies are accurate regarding best route and length of the fibre system. Landing points Under the new arrangement there will be landing points at Grand Comoro and at Mayotte, and these will be funded by the Comoros government. Their inclusion will bring to 10 the number of EASSy landing points the others being at Mtunzini in South Africa, Maputo (Mozambique), Toliary (Madagascar), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Mombasa (Kenya), Mogadishu (Somalia), Djibouti (Republic of Djibouti) and Port Sudan (Sudan). The operators said because EASSy is regional in nature with shareholders from 17 countries, and because these shareholders are not in EASSy to make money from bandwidth sales but to use the cable to improve their services, EASSy bandwidth would be competitively priced and the cable would be especially viable. We shall be the first cable to go into water, and for that we shall have an advantage, said Sihra, adding that operators who will lease from third parties who will be in the business of selling bandwidth will end up with high costs and low capacity. The operators said the interconnection agreements they had concluded with other cables would enable EASSy to offer the public and other operators services from the point of origin of the call to any part of the world. International carriers like BT, France Telecom, and Sauditel are part of EASSy and we will have multiple choices for accessing the international system, which will also make us competitive, one official said. Funding Donald Nyakairu, chairman of the EASSy finance committee, said their funding was all in place, with parties such as MTN and Vodacom having contributed directly, while others would contribute through the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) known as the Western Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC) which MoU partners have set up. He said the maximum amount of loans EASSy could accept was $170 million but it was likely that borrowed money would not exceed $110 million. The Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) announced early in June that it was ready to commit up to $40 million to EASSy but promoters say they might not need all of DBSAs kitty. Backhaul system Nyakairu, also chair of the East African Backhaul System (EABS) and corporation secretary of uganda telecom, said by the time EASSy is completed, there will be a fibre system running from Mombasa, through Nairobi, the Uganda-Kenya border town of Malaba and all the way to the Ugandas capital Kampala. The network will also have extended from Kampala through the Uganda-Rwanda border town of Kabale, to Kigali (Rwanda), through to Bujumbura, to the Tanzanian border and mainland, and onto the landing point at the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam. From the Uganda-Rwanda perspective, we see no problem of hooking up from Mombasa all the way to Rwanda, said Noel Meier, chief executive of MTN Uganda. Telkom Kenya is this year extending the fibre to Malaba from where Ugandan operators will pick it up. MTN currently has fibre from Kampala to the town of Bugiri not far from Malaba; while uganda telecom leases Uganda Electricity Transmission Company capacity that carries fibre to Tororo town, also near the border. On the western side, MTN has fibre to the Ugandan town of Mbarara, and uganda telecom is due to build fibre from there to the Rwandan border where it will link to the fibre that MTN Rwandatel is erecting to that point. Within Uganda, the EABS is expected to be hooked to a national fibre backbone which government is building with Chinese funding of up to $110 m. A backhaul system similar to EABS will be developed by operators in southern Africa. Parties to the MoU Parties to the EASSy MoU comprise of 11 operators who are 100% government owned and 18 who are either partially government owned or fully private sector-owned. They are: 1) Botswana Telecom 2) Onatel (Burundi) 3) Telecel (Burundi) 4) Comoro Telecoms 5) Djibouti Telecoms 6) Ethiopia Telecoms Corporation 7) Kenya Telkom 8) Kenya Data Networks 9) Lesotho Telecom Authority 10) Telcom Malagasy (Madagascar) 11) France Telecom (Mayotte) 12) Mauritius Telecom 13) Telecom de Mozambique 14) Vodacom (Mozambique) 15) MTN Rwanda 16) Dalkon (Somalia) 17) MTN South Africa 18) Telkom South Africa 19) Vodacom (South Africa) 20) Neotel (South Africa) 21) Canartel (Sudan) 22) Sudatel (Sudan) 23) Satcom Tanzania 24) Vodacom Tanzania 25) ZANTEL (Tanzania) 26) Tanzania Telecoms Company (TTCL) 27) MTN Uganda 28) ZAMTEL (Zambia_ 29) Tel.One (Zimbabwe) The non-African members are: BT (UK), Saudi Telecom, VSNL/Teleglobe (India), AT&T (USA), Verizon/ ex MCI (USA), France Telecom, and Etisalat (United Arab Emirates). Ends _______________________________________________ Fibre-for-africa mailing list Fibre-for-africa(a)lists.apc.org http://lists.apc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fibre-for-africa

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Opportunity - ICT in Education Prize: call for nominations]
by alice 11 Jun '07

11 Jun '07

For all those engaging in e-learning etc -------------------------------------------------------- ICT in Education Prize: call for nominations Open Access to Education is the theme of the 2007 UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of ICTS in Education. Funded by the Kingdom of Bahrain, the US$50,000 Prize is divided between two winners. The deadline for submissions is 31 July 2007. Launched in 2005, the prize aims to reward the projects and best practices of individuals, institutions and NGOs in using information and communication technologies (ICT) to enhance learning, teaching and overall educational performance. Winners will be celebrated at an award ceremony to be held on 19 December 2007 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. Candidatures must be presented by the government of a Member State of UNESCO or an international non-governmental organization, maintaining formal consultative relations with UNESCO and active in the relevant fields covered by the Prize. Each government or international non-governmental organization is entitled to nominate only two candidates per year. A self-nomination cannot be considered. For further details about the application procedure please consult the PDF file below: How to Apply - Guidelines and Checklist http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=24691&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECT…

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