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Jubilee - Freedom of Information?
by S.M. Muraya 12 Apr '13

12 Apr '13

Where are we with Freedom of Information in Kenya? The Law + Rules + Regulations? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9942442/Police-officer… Will it not improve public services + increase sensitivity :=) In addition to web portals (access to general information) some go.ke orgs have been providing for some years now, we need e-mail addresses for all case officers in central & county governments. This will help in auditing services, communications and delays which are often retaliation or neglect for "not talking properly". Ghost employees should not have e-mail addresses unless.... Beyond email, we move on to CRMs :=) http://www.futuregov.asia/articles/2009/feb/04/crm-citizen-centric-governme…

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Re: [kictanet] School visit
by Paul Roy Owino 12 Apr '13

12 Apr '13

Thanks for sharing this. Great lesson for our upcoming laptop per child project. Sent from my Windows Phone ------------------------------ From: Brian Munyao Longwe Sent: 4/12/2013 2:37 AM To: Paul Roy Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] School visit Hi Mark, Thank you so very much for sharing this with us. What I like the most about this model you have shared is the quasi Public-Private-Partnership where the businessman has taken the risk element, innovated with the publishers, and worked out a way of putting more than 1,000 tablets into the students' hands WITHIN 1 MONTH! 1,000 units a month is godd business for any type of company - if the margins have been designed right and the costs of finance are not too high. Best regards, Brian On Thu, Apr 11, 2013 at 6:01 PM, Mark Elkins <mje(a)posix.co.za> wrote: > Today, Thursday 11th April, 2013, I visited the Sunward Park High > School, Sonskyn Rd, Sunward Park, Boksburg (Johannesburg). The school > has recently embarked on a one tablet per child project. My purpose > was to simply visit the place to satisfy my own curiosity. > > The School is an old Model-C school, teachers are generally white or > indian and the lerners are about 90% black. It is by no means a rich > school. There are about 1250 children - excluding the matric learners. > There are three double story blocks of classrooms and a further block > which houses administration and a school hall. Classes are usually > just under 40 learners. > > This school has achieved some interesting goals. They have a very > active soccer program with an on-site dormitory for 20 or so learners. > I understand the team has travelled around Europe and that a number of > the learners are already pre-signed to play at various clubs in > Europe. > > I understand that the Teachers were all equipped with Laptops a year > or so ago. The Classrooms all seemed to have VGA projectors and there > is a smart white board as well as a traditional blackboard in every > classroom. > > Towards the end of last year, a plan was formulated by a businessman > to provide a Wifi access point in every classroom and to provide every > learner with either a 7" or 10" Android tablet. There was initial > Headmistress and staff buy-in followed by parent buy-in to the > project. The Wifi units are switched back to a central server via UTP > copper cable. The Server provides the content. There is a localised > e-mail server. A Firewall connects just the staff to the public > Internet. > > The Businessman arranged with various publishers to obtain all the > learners curriculum in an electronic format. For example, McMillian, > one of the primary publisher, has provided a three year licence for > half the price of paper based books. There is also a lot of other > electronic media available, Wikipidia, Learn channels video content, > Mindset Learning material and educational media from more than twenty > other sources. > > I first spoke to the business man and the vice head of the school. > > Hardware costs were: > Server R70,000 > Wifi R250,000 > Other R50,000 Total R320,000 or just under R300 per student. > > The E-Media costs are R300 per student per year and the 7” Tablet R1000. > > The cost thus for the first year is R1600 followed by R300 a year for > two years. The usual fee cost for a student was given as R2000 a year > using traditional methods - so fees have actually come down by half if > you look at a two year cycle. > > There was some initial theft of tablets in the first day or two. > Since then, no theft. After a month, only a handful of students had > not purchased tablets so these students were "loaned" devices. About > one third of students purchase the 7" tablet, the remainder purchased > a more expensive 10" tablet. The choice of device is governed more > by security and the ability to hide a smaller tablet than of cost. > There have been breakages - Tablets dropped or used in lieu of a > book to hit a fellow learner over the head. > > I then visited some classes. > > In a "Life Science" classroom, the teacher was presenting a class on > the water cycle (sea->evaporation->rain->river). He presented from > his laptop via the VGA projector and the students were looking at two > equivalent presentations via their Tablets. > > Some of his comments were: > End of class tests are easy, I get instant feedback on whether my > teaching is being effective and so can react immediately. I spend > more time teaching and less time doing administration and marking. I > can teach in short bursts to match the learners attention span rather > than give a half hour monologue from the front of the class and instead > of spoon feeding them, I get them to research the subject. Its > easier to handle learners of different ability, the quick I can give > more work to and the slow can continue the work in their own time. > He also believed that learners were becoming smarter and more interested > in what was being taught. > > I then entered a History lesson where Martin Luther King was being > discussed. The learners (a class of boys, one of the most difficult > classes due to the presence of a large proportion of the successful > football team) were using the Tablets as book-readers. > > This teacher also was in full support of the Table. She claimed the > boys were much easier to keep in control than before (last year). She > indicated that some work has still to be written in text books to > comply with the educational department rules but students now have > much thinner text books - saving money. > > I then talked to a small gathering of learners outside who seemed to > have a spare lesson. They were Matric learners. As they are leaving > at the end of this year, they are not a part of the Tablet program - > though about 60% of them have Tablets. One, who has a younger > sibling, remarked that she is envious of her sister. Homework seems > much easier and more interesting now. Also, she still has to carry a > full bag of books where as all the non-matric learners just carry > Tablets. All of this crowd had Tablets and do use them unofficially at > school. > > The "experiment" has only been running for three months but the > results so far look very promising. I would like to visit the same > school in a year. > > Mark Elkins > > > -- > . . ___. .__ Posix Systems - (South) Africa > /| /| / /__ mje(a)posix.co.za - Mark J Elkins, Cisco CCIE > / |/ |ARK \_/ /__ LKINS Tel: +27 12 807 0590 Cell: +27 82 601 0496 > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/blongwe%40gmail.com > > The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform > for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and > regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT > sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. > > KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors > online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, > share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do > not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. >

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Obama budget favors Cyber Security
by Brian Munyao Longwe 11 Apr '13

11 Apr '13

Federal spending by USA on cyber security will increase to $13 billion. The funds will be allocated towards Cyber security programs operated by the following agencies: 1. Department of Homeland Security 2. Department of Defense 3. Intelligence Community 4. Department of Commerce 5. Department of Justice Funding also includes amounts allocated for key basic research such as $754 million for National Institute of Standards and Technology laboratories and $500 million to promote innovation and economic growth to fund research and development advances in cybersecurity, explosives detection and chemical/biological response systems. Full article here: http://www.govinfosecurity.com/obama-budget-favors-cybersecurity-a-5673?rf=…

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Laptops for 2014 class 1 entrants
by robert yawe 11 Apr '13

11 Apr '13

Hi, I like the confirmation by the President - sworn and his deputy on the issue of laptops for class 1 students from next year, it is commendable and quite easily achievable but as ICT experts are laptops the ideal items or would low power touchscreen tablets be more practical and appropriate? However .com that the two principles are I suspect that they might not be up to speed on devices. Here again for the umpteenth time the opportunity for us to become relevant presents itself, shall we take action or sit back to carry out a forensic analysis when only 80% of the students get the devices? Regards PS. A new dispensation, a new dedication and new vigor Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 Kenya Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696

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Re: [kictanet] kictanet Digest, Vol 71, Issue 78
by Ory Okolloh 11 Apr '13

11 Apr '13

Meanwhile away from the "Silicon Savannah" noise, guys are quietly building regional IT businesses and doing big things e.g. Cellulant has impressed me<https://twitter.com/bytebandit/status/322237172604354561/photo/1> . On Thu, Apr 11, 2013 at 4:14 PM, <kictanet-request(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke>wrote: > Send kictanet mailing list submissions to > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > kictanet-request(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > You can reach the person managing the list at > kictanet-owner(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of kictanet digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Innovationville: Where all the good money making African > start ups go to die (Andrea Bohnstedt) > 2. Re: Innovationville: Where all the good money making African > start ups go to die (Ali Hussein) > 3. Re: Innovationville: Where all the good money making African > start ups go to die (Agosta Liko) > 4. Re: Fwd: Laptops for 2014 class 1 entrants (robert yawe) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:29:34 +0300 > From: Andrea Bohnstedt <andrea.bohnstedt(a)ratio-magazine.com> > To: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Subject: [kictanet] Innovationville: Where all the good money making > African start ups go to die > Message-ID: > < > CAFaobUCR1g4kz3Cre3FpCAf4B6qf5RmOAZGtKx5EmufLXg2zFg(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > Fun read: > > > http://ventureburn.com/2013/04/innovationville-where-all-good-money-making-… > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:57:21 +0300 > From: Ali Hussein <ali(a)hussein.me.ke> > To: Andrea Bohnstedt <andrea.bohnstedt(a)ratio-magazine.com> > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Innovationville: Where all the good money > making African start ups go to die > Message-ID: <2E4A336C-BAE2-4C64-95BE-AEFD260C20D7(a)hussein.me.ke> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > Interesting read Andrea. And of course Africa is no different from most > start up environments..there is the hype and then there is the > business..both feed on each other.. > > Thanks for sharing. > > Ali Hussein > CEO | 3mice interactive media Ltd > Principal | Telemedia Africa Ltd > > +254 773/713 601113 > > "The future belongs to him who knows how to wait." - Russian Proverb > > Sent from my iPad > > On Apr 11, 2013, at 3:29 PM, Andrea Bohnstedt < > andrea.bohnstedt(a)ratio-magazine.com> wrote: > > > Fun read: > > > > > http://ventureburn.com/2013/04/innovationville-where-all-good-money-making-… > > > > _______________________________________________ > > kictanet mailing list > > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/info%40alyhussein.com > > > > The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform > for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and > regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT > sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. > > > > KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors > online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, > share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do > not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. >

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Chipuka Software Developer Certification
by Dorcas Muthoni 11 Apr '13

11 Apr '13

The Chipuka Software Developer Certification (SDC) is a credentialing program developed at Carnegie Mellon University in conjunction with the Kenya Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Board Does anyone know if the Chipuka Software Developer Certification is now part of the exams that IT and Computer Science students are sitting before graduation? More information: http://www.softwaredevelopercertification.com/the-sdc-program -- Muthoni My Blog: http://rugongo.blogspot.com/ -------------------------------------------- Mahatma Gandhi once said:- First they ignore you, Then they laugh at you, Then they fight you, AND THEN YOU WIN!!!

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Re: [kictanet] Laptops for 2014 class 1 entrants
by Walubengo J 11 Apr '13

11 Apr '13

@Ikua, Indeed it is never too early for ICTs. As the tweeting class, all our Kids have these gadgets at home and its largely beneficial. But trust me, the 'private' experience takes a whole new shape when done nationally and on a public basis. Other than the well known economic concept of the 'tragedy of the commons' there are those are other challenges I highlighted earlier. These risks/challenges are 10 times lower under our high school system when compared to our primary school system. Our high schools already have curricula beyond IT (Harry H?), theres already a small but emerging community of ICT high school teachers and quite a good group of high schools already have substantial Computer Lab Management experience. As a risk management consultant, @Ikua, you will agree with me that this project has a better chance of success and bigger social dividends if it kicked off at high school level rather than at primary level. After all, by the time these standard 1s get to high school, they will get this free device/ict ystem extremely mature. And as these form1s get to University, we shall be ready to graduate the true knowlege workers in just another 8yrs rather than in the next 20yrs- when std1s graduate. So guys, am not fighting the idea, am just increasing its chance of success by suggesting changes to its point of entry within our educational system. walu. ------------------------------ On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 2:36 PM AST (Arabian) Evans Ikua wrote: >A good place to start would be to get the laptops installed with Qimo for >Kids. > >Qimo is a desktop operating system designed for kids. Based on the open >source Ubuntu Linux <http://www.ubuntu.com/> desktop, Qimo comes >pre-installed with educational games for children aged 3 and up. Qimo’s >interface has been designed to be intuitive and easy to use, providing >large icons for all installed games, so that even the youngest users have >no trouble selecting the activity they want. >My kids use it and the one in class 1 has really improved his grades >because of its educational games that improve memory, language and maths >skills, not mention that his keyboarding and mouse skills are very good. >For those who think class 1 is too early, he started using this about 2 >years ago. and i wish I had discovered it earlier. > >Also, I hope and pray that my tax money will not be used to pay for any >software that we do not need at all. > > >On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 1:28 PM, Dorcas Muthoni <dmuthoni(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >> +1 Harry! >> >> As you can see on literacy (*age 15 and over can read and write*) here: >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_literacy_rate , Kenya >> is one of the leading countries in Africa but still a distant from getting >> it to the best level. >> >> There is no world map indicating IT literacy by country >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_literacy, we should support this >> move by the new government so that come 2030, we shall be leading on this >> space. >> >> We should begin now. >> >> >> On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 11:49 AM, Harry Hare < >> harry(a)africanedevelopment.org> wrote: >> >> Hey Walu et al, >> >> I do not expect the President to have answers to your questions below. >> You know the workings in government, what has been made is a high level >> policy pronouncement now it will be unto the technocrats like yourself to >> craft a working strategy and plan for this to work. >> >> I expect that a team within the Ministry (may be include KIE and the ICT >> Integration Unit) will be set up to work on the detail of how to deliver >> this policy. And on your point "1", shouldn't we be targeting IT for >> Eduction and not IT education? Why would yu need an IT curriculum for class >> one? >> >> Kindest Regards >> >> Harry Hare >> >> Director | African eDevelopment Resource Centre >> PO Box 49475 00100 | Nairobi, Kenya >> Tel +254 20 4041646 | Cel +254 725 650044 >> >> >> From: Owino Jakakaeta <mpodhiambo(a)yahoo.com> >> Reply-To: Owino Jakakaeta <mpodhiambo(a)yahoo.com> >> Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:24:38 -0700 (PDT) >> To: Cio_Magazine Hare <harry(a)africanedevelopment.org> >> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> >> >> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Laptops for 2014 class 1 entrants >> >> 50 + 1 @ walu >> >> Owino Jakakaeta >> Life is too SHORT to eat Green BANANAS! >> >> >> ------------------------------ >> *From:* Walubengo J <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> >> *To:* "mpodhiambo(a)yahoo.com" <mpodhiambo(a)yahoo.com> >> *Cc:* kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >> *Sent:* Tuesday, April 9, 2013 10:40 PM >> *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] Laptops for 2014 class 1 entrants >> >> >> @Yawe, >> >> I was on travel (not to SA :-) but caught up with our two new >> Principals. Great speeches. But if there's someone already in the new >> Presidents kitchen cabinet plse pass the following news. Just drop the >> laptop business or at least modify it because of the following reasons. >> >> 1. Curriculum. >> Ok. So the kids have laptops next year. What to do with them? Play games, >> watch porn? In other words do we have an IT curriculum for these youngsters >> or we believe they will automatically become Bill Gates once we throw >> gadgets at them.? >> >> 2. IT Teachers. >> Assuming we cobble together some curriculum before next year. How soon >> can we get out primary teachers upto speed on the same? Do we have a ToT >> program in place. ToT= Training of Trainers for the non-academics. >> >> 3. Examinations. >> It is known that Kenyans learn ONLY when it is examinable. Indeed >> teachers make space in their timetables if they know the unit is >> examinable. Otherwise you can as well do your IT lessons at home as your >> hobby since the lesson will NOT be scheduled at the expense of say >> Mathematics which is examinable. So is the KNEC ready with this exam? >> >> 4. Security/Theft. >> If folks can still IEBC laptops from secure strongrooms, what about >> laptops hanging either in staffrooms or on standard 1 pupils? What about >> a poor parent who opts to trade in the laptop in favour of cash to use for >> other purposes? This is not far fetched since even the largely successful >> Wezesha Laptop initiative were University students got subsidized Laptops >> and quite a number sold them off at market price. >> >> 5. Maintenance\Disposal program. >> Usually laptops are rarely maintained. Just dump them after 3-4yrs. So we >> need to think efficient disposal mechanism for 1million+ gadgets across >> rural and urban Kenya. Worse still those Kids will now be in standard 4 and >> so our buget for laptops will double -both for Sdt1s and the Std4s. >> >> But I have a simple solution for our new digital President. Just traget >> Form1s and perharps forget Laptops and adopt Networked >> PCs. The ecosytem described above is more mature to take on this great >> idea. Our Primary schools will just drain this initiative with little >> returns to the taxpayer. >> >> walu. >> >> >> >> >> >> ------------------------------ >> On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 7:56 AM AST (Arabian) robert yawe wrote: >> >> >Hi, >> > >> >I like the confirmation by the President - sworn and his deputy on the >> issue of laptops for class 1 students from next year, it is commendable and >> quite easily achievable but as ICT experts are laptops the ideal items or >> would low power touchscreen tablets be more practical and appropriate? >> However .com that the two principles are I suspect that they might not be >> up to speed on devices. >> > >> >Here again for the umpteenth time the opportunity for us to become >> relevant presents itself, shall we take action or sit back to carry out a >> forensic analysis when only 80% of the students get the devices? >> > >> >Regards >> > >> >PS. A new dispensation, a new dedication and new vigor >> > >> > >> > >> >Robert Yawe >> >KAY System Technologies Ltd >> >Phoenix House, 6th Floor >> >P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 >> >Kenya >> > >> > >> >Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696 >> >> _______________________________________________ >> kictanet mailing list >> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet >> >> Unsubscribe or change your options at >> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mpodhiambo%40yahoo.com >> >> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform >> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and >> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT >> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. >> >> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors >> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, >> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do >> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. >> >> >> _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list >> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Unsubscribe or >> change your options at >> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/harry%40africanedevel… Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for >> people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and >> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT >> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and >> development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable >> behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and >> bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect >> privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> kictanet mailing list >> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet >> >> Unsubscribe or change your options at >> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/dmuthoni%40gmail.com >> >> >> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform >> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and >> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT >> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. >> >> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors >> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, >> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do >> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. >> >> >> >> >> -- >> Muthoni >> >> My Blog: http://rugongo.blogspot.com/ >> -------------------------------------------- >> Mahatma Gandhi once said:- >> >> First they ignore you, >> Then they laugh at you, >> Then they fight you, >> AND THEN YOU WIN!!! >> >> _______________________________________________ >> kictanet mailing list >> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet >> >> Unsubscribe or change your options at >> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/ikua.evans%40gmail.com >> >> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform >> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and >> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT >> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. >> >> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors >> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, >> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do >> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. >> > > > >-- >*---------------------------------------------------- >Kind Regards, >Evans Ikua,* >lanetconsulting.com, >lpi-eastafrica.org, >ict-innovation.fossfa.net, >Skype: @ikuae >Cell: +254-722-955831

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Re: [kictanet] kictanet Digest, Vol 71, Issue 65
by James Kimani 10 Apr '13

10 Apr '13

I highly think giving laptops to class 1 kids is not bad at all.My son uses my ipad very well and in most cases he teaches me new things.He is 4 yrs but he started using it when 2 yrs 9 months.My main problem is "who will teach the kids from village schools since even majority of teachers including their principals are computer illiterate? On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 2:38 PM, <kictanet-request(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke>wrote: > Send kictanet mailing list submissions to > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > kictanet-request(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > You can reach the person managing the list at > kictanet-owner(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of kictanet digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Ethiopia and Tunisia reaping the fruit of a rejuvenated > copper plant (Dorcas Muthoni) > 2. Re: Laptops for 2014 class 1 entrants (Evans Ikua) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:30:48 +0300 > From: Dorcas Muthoni <dmuthoni(a)gmail.com> > To: Brian Munyao Longwe <blongwe(a)gmail.com> > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Ethiopia and Tunisia reaping the fruit of a > rejuvenated copper plant > Message-ID: > < > CACFhaS71Ua23erEowsF8qs9Hjn9RBLXSPjN+ypxUv7DAk6MQXg(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > I have said this before and i fully agree with you Brian.... > > > On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 7:05 AM, Brian Munyao Longwe <blongwe(a)gmail.com > >wrote: > > > Ethiopia and Tunisia deliver high speed data over wireline while here in > > Kenya we have allowed France Telecom who have management of Telkom Kenya > to > > basically neglect and "throw away" our copper plant - and yet it could be > > the basis for providing affordable high speed access to hundreds of > > thousands. The new government *must* review this counterproductive > > "strategic investment" from France. Preferably show them the door and let > > us rebuild our national carrier. Full story here http://ictafrica.info/ > > FullNews.php?id=8231< > http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fictafrica.info%2FFullNews.php%… > > > > > > Best regards, > > > > Brian > > > > _______________________________________________ > > kictanet mailing list > > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > > > https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/dmuthoni%40gmail.com > > > > The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform > > for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and > > regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT > > sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and > development. > > > > KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors > > online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and > bandwidth, > > share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do > > not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. > > > > > > -- > Muthoni > > My Blog: http://rugongo.blogspot.com/ > -------------------------------------------- > Mahatma Gandhi once said:- > > First they ignore you, > Then they laugh at you, > Then they fight you, > AND THEN YOU WIN!!! >

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Re: [kictanet] Laptops for 2014 class 1 entrants
by Walubengo J 10 Apr '13

10 Apr '13

@Yawe, I was on travel (not to SA :-) but caught up with our two new Principals. Great speeches. But if there's someone already in the new Presidents kitchen cabinet plse pass the following news. Just drop the laptop business or at least modify it because of the following reasons. 1. Curriculum. Ok. So the kids have laptops next year. What to do with them? Play games, watch porn? In other words do we have an IT curriculum for these youngsters or we believe they will automatically become Bill Gates once we throw gadgets at them.? 2. IT Teachers. Assuming we cobble together some curriculum before next year. How soon can we get out primary teachers upto speed on the same? Do we have a ToT program in place. ToT= Training of Trainers for the non-academics. 3. Examinations. It is known that Kenyans learn ONLY when it is examinable. Indeed teachers make space in their timetables if they know the unit is examinable. Otherwise you can as well do your IT lessons at home as your hobby since the lesson will NOT be scheduled at the expense of say Mathematics which is examinable. So is the KNEC ready with this exam? 4. Security/Theft. If folks can still IEBC laptops from secure strongrooms, what about laptops hanging either in staffrooms or on standard 1 pupils? What about a poor parent who opts to trade in the laptop in favour of cash to use for other purposes? This is not far fetched since even the largely successful Wezesha Laptop initiative were University students got subsidized Laptops and quite a number sold them off at market price. 5. Maintenance\Disposal program. Usually laptops are rarely maintained. Just dump them after 3-4yrs. So we need to think efficient disposal mechanism for 1million+ gadgets across rural and urban Kenya. Worse still those Kids will now be in standard 4 and so our buget for laptops will double -both for Sdt1s and the Std4s. But I have a simple solution for our new digital President. Just traget Form1s and perharps forget Laptops and adopt Networked PCs. The ecosytem described above is more mature to take on this great idea. Our Primary schools will just drain this initiative with little returns to the taxpayer. walu. ------------------------------ On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 7:56 AM AST (Arabian) robert yawe wrote: >Hi, > >I like the confirmation by the President - sworn and his deputy on the issue of laptops for class 1 students from next year, it is commendable and quite easily achievable but as ICT experts are laptops the ideal items or would low power touchscreen tablets be more practical and appropriate? However .com that the two principles are I suspect that they might not be up to speed on devices. > >Here again for the umpteenth time the opportunity for us to become relevant presents itself, shall we take action or sit back to carry out a forensic analysis when only 80% of the students get the devices? > >Regards > >PS. A new dispensation, a new dedication and new vigor > > > >Robert Yawe >KAY System Technologies Ltd >Phoenix House, 6th Floor >P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 >Kenya > > >Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696

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Ethiopia and Tunisia reaping the fruit of a rejuvenated copper plant
by Brian Munyao Longwe 10 Apr '13

10 Apr '13

Ethiopia and Tunisia deliver high speed data over wireline while here in Kenya we have allowed France Telecom who have management of Telkom Kenya to basically neglect and "throw away" our copper plant - and yet it could be the basis for providing affordable high speed access to hundreds of thousands. The new government *must* review this counterproductive "strategic investment" from France. Preferably show them the door and let us rebuild our national carrier. Full story here http://ictafrica.info/ FullNews.php?id=8231<http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fictafrica.info%2FFullNews.php%…> Best regards, Brian

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County Executive Committes
by robert yawe 10 Apr '13

10 Apr '13

Hi, As we inaugurate our new president let us not drop the ball on keeping ICT relevant especially since all class one pupils joining next year will be walking in with a laptop in hand. Over the past few days I have taken a keen interest in the county executive committee recruitment exercises going on and to date only Uasin Gishu County has placed ICT as its number one issue as indicated by the listing of positions. In many others ICT is number 10 which means that for those counties that qualify for only 9 members ICT is dropped. Regards Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 Kenya Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696

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Catalog of the mass surveillance industry
by Gideon 09 Apr '13

09 Apr '13

You Only Click Twice: FinFisher’s Global Proliferation *March 13, 2013* Download PDF version<https://citizenlab.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/15-2013-youonlyclicktwice…> *Authors:* Morgan Marquis-Boire, Bill Marczak, Claudio Guarnieri, and John Scott-Railton. *This post describes the results of a comprehensive global Internet scan for the command and control servers of FinFisher’s surveillance software. It also details the discovery of a campaign using FinFisher in Ethiopia used to target individuals linked to an opposition group. Additionally, it provides examination of a FinSpy Mobile sample found in the wild, which appears to have been used in Vietnam.* Summary of Key Findings - We have found command and control servers for FinSpy backdoors, part of Gamma International’s FinFisher “remote monitoring solution,” in a total of 25 countries: Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, Qatar, Serbia, Singapore, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam. - A FinSpy campaign in Ethiopia uses pictures of Ginbot 7, an Ethiopian opposition group, as bait to infect users. This continues the theme of FinSpy deployments with strong indications of politically-motivated targeting. - There is strong evidence of a Vietnamese FinSpy Mobile Campaign. We found an Android FinSpy Mobile sample in the wild with a command & control server in Vietnam that also exfiltrates text messages to a local phone number. - These findings call into question claims by Gamma International that previously reported servers were *not* part of their product line, and that previously discovered copies of their software were either stolen or demo copies. https://citizenlab.org/2013/03/you-only-click-twice-finfishers-global-proli… http://surveillance.rsf.org/en/gamma-international/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FinFisher https://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00002114.html http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/finfisher.pdf (in arabic)

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US Airforce Increases cyber workforce to 7, 200 by adding 1, 200
by Brian Munyao Longwe 09 Apr '13

09 Apr '13

...and this is the cyber workforce in the *air force*, other millitary units have their own detachments, and so do specialized agencies including the Department of Justice, State and Federal Police, Immigration etc... In Kenya we have? Mmm, I think I can probably count on one hand :) The article where I got this makes an interesting read, the scary part is that the US has 6 cyber-tools that have now been classified as weapons. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57578567-83/u.s-air-force-designates-six-c… Best regards, Brian

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AFRINIC 101 Issue 1 - Policy Development Process
by Babusha Radhakissoon 09 Apr '13

09 Apr '13

Dear Colleagues, Please find below the first issue of AFRINIC 101, the first of a series of summaries of various AFRINIC services and operations. The 101 series will act as a guide, to enable all members of the community to understand our activities. The first edition has been published in view of the coming Public Policy Meeting, AFRINIC-18, to be held on 15 - 21 June 2013, in Lusaka, Zambia. Enjoy the read. Regards, Babusha Radhakissoon *If you cannot view this email properly please click here* <http://afrinic.net/multimedia/email/social_101/Social_101.html> Ever wondered what the Policy Development Process is all about? I remember when I first joined AFRINIC, the main thing I retained after my first week, was that AFRINIC’s main activity was the management and distribution of IP addresses and this was facilitated by policies, defined and adopted by the community, for the community. At the time that seemed like an over rehearsed, generic line that was thrown around and I too memorised the text. But, with time and interactions with the community, I learnt that as an integral part of the AFRINIC team, we all need to know about our core activity and be able to talk about it with anyone. Enter AFRINIC 101! This series of mini articles on AFRINIC processes will help guide each and every one of you through many of our operations, which you might not be fully conversant with. Since our main mandate is the management and distribution of Internet resources, what better way to start the series than by the Policy Development Process (PDP)? *A**FRINIC 101 on Policy Development Process (PDP)* * * This document will walk you through the steps via which proposals for number resource management policies are submitted, considered, debated and adopted by AFRINIC. Important to know, policies are developed by a member or the broader Internet community through a bottom-up process of consultation and consensus. You may want to implement a new policy or change and existing one; to do so the PDP must be respected. You can refer to the PDP blueprint here <http://www.afrinic.net/en/community/policy-development> for the detailed process. The forums for policy development are our bi-annual AFRINIC Public Policy meetings and discussions on the rpd(a)afrinic.net mailing list. Our meetings are open to all and anyone may participate in discussions and decision making. The PDP is a well elaborated sinequanone of steps leading to the implementation or rejection of any policy. *So what are Policy Proposals?** * Policy proposals are basically any new, innovative idea that would ultimately simplify or enhance Internet Number Resource management. They are officially submitted for discussion by members of the community. They propose either a new policy or changes to an existing policy. Upon adoption, these policies will apply directly to the way AFRINIC manages and distributes Internet number resources to all AFRINIC current and prospective members. *And why do we need them?* Policies are implemented to guide AFRINIC towards managing Internet Number Resources for the community in a transparent, fair and neutral way for the proper usage of these resources. Policies serve this purpose as all issued Internet number resource allocations and assignments must match and comply with their content. *So, what we must remember is that the PDP is above all:* **- Open - Transparent - Bottom-up *6. You still with me? Here are some proposals currently under discussion ** * With this proposal, SM’s idea is to attempt to update the existing IPv4 Address Allocation Policy (AFPUB-2005-v4-001) <http://www.afrinic.net/en/library/policies/126-afpub-2005-v4-001> by introducing and incorporating changes that will enhance IPv4 address allocations based on the experience acquired since 2006 when AFRINIC started registry operations. a. IPv4 Address Allocation and Assignment AFPUB-2013-V4-002-DRAFT-01 Author: S. Moonesamy, sm+afrinic(a)elandsys.com In a nutshell, this proposal aims at improving IPv4 allocations by putting into practice all the know-how accumulated. “There have been complaints on the rpd mailing lists about the time it takes to process an IPv4 allocation or the amount of information that needs to be provided. So the aim of this proposal would be to address such issues”, says S. Moonesamy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Andrew and Sunday bring us a proposal defining a process that will guide AFRINIC while evaluating IPv4 address requests from higher education institutions (HEIs). Their proposal wants to define concurrency usage limits that will count towards calculating the maximum prefix size to be issued to the HEI. The main motivation is getting rid of NAT and consequently renumbering out of any NAT’ted networks at the HEI. Oh and Ernest has it at his fingertips if you are lost. b. Academic IPv4 Allocation AFPUB-2013-GEN-001-DRAFT-01 Authors: Andrew Alston, aa(a)alstonnetworks.net Sunday Folayan, sfolayan(a)skannet.com.ng ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This proposal sets the procedures for transferring IPv4 address space from AFRINIC to out-of-region organisations (and vice versa). According to Chad Abizeid, after the proposal is ratified, African companies will be able to participate in an IPv4 address transfer market already available to ARIN and APNIC LIRs by allowing them to transfer their excess or unneeded IPv4 addresses to companies in other RIR regions. This type of policy actually exists at ARIN <https://www.arin.net/resources/request/transfers_8_4.html> and APNIC <http://www.apnic.net/policy/transfer-policy#rir-transfer>. c. Inter RIR IPv4 address Transfers AFPUB-2013-V4-001-DRAFT-01 Author: Chad Abizeid, chad(a)logicweb.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Our very own Jean Robert likes things tidy, and his proposal calls for AFRINIC to maintain accuracy of WHOIS data through periodical and routine clean-up of the WHOIS database. The data needing to be “cleaned-up” mainly concerns contact information that is no longer accurate or up-to-date. d. AFRINIC WHOIS Database Clean-up AFPUB-2012-GEN-001-DRAFT-02 Author: Jean Robert Hountomey, jrhountomey(a)gmail.com With the advent of cybercrime and related misdemeanours, Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) constantly want to identify the origin (and location) of cybercriminals, and their first stop (after identify an abusive IP address) is the WHOIS database so as to know which company was issued that IP address. When the information therein is not accurate and credible, LEAs will not find it easy to look up these offenders. Apart from combating cybercrime, many businesses and services depend on the WHOIS database for services targeted for different countries, like iTunes. This is called IP address geo-location, and it depends heavily on accuracy of WHOIS data. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In a nutshell, the team of authors, McTim, Mark and Mauritz are requesting that any organisation may obtain a /24 IPv4 prefix for anycast or GRX (exchange points for Internet and mobile networks respectively), from AFRINIC or from the organisation they get their IP addresses from. In case of the latter, and upon adoption of the proposal, such a /24 is considered by AFRINIC as "fully utilised" when auditing the LIR’s utilisation of previous allocations. e. Anycast Assignments in the AFRINIC region. AFPUB-2012-V4-001-DRAFT-01 Authors: Tim McGinnis, dogwallah(a)gmail.com Mark J Elkins, mje(a)posix.co.za Mauritz Lewies, mauritz(a)three6five.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This proposal, brought to you by McTim is very straightforward. Basically, he is suggesting that we should limit LIRs from obtaining reverse delegation (rDNS) unless the LIR has properly registered all assignments and sub-allocations from its allocations for its customers, end-sites and own network infrastructure. e. AFPUB-2012-DNS-001-DRAFT-02 AFPUB-2012-V4-001-DRAFT-01 Author: Tim McGinnis (McTim), mctimconsulting(a)gmail.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Before I pen off, I would strongly recommend that all of you go through the full policy proposals on the policy page <http://www.afrinic.net/en/community/policy-development> of our website. As ambassadors of AFRINIC, we ought to know what we are working on to better represent ourselves in the community. Stay tuned for more... -- Ms. Babusha Radhakissoon Tel: +230 403 51 00 Social Media/Online Engagement Officer Fax: +230 466 67 58 babusha(a)afrinic.net - www.afrinic.net ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Join us at the Africa Internet Summit'13 for our Public Policy Meeting in Lusaka, Zambia on 9 – 21 June 2013 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Fastest way to get to Silicon Savannah
by Mark Mwangi 07 Apr '13

07 Apr '13

Dear Listers, The notion that grand ideas need grand schemes and subsequently grand mega projects may be what confuses us and the resultant complications grind the idea to a stop. We are all shouting ourselves hoarse about how digital the new establishment is and the associated mega projects such as Konza that have been both shot at and polished in equal stride. I think the solution to achieving first world tech hub status is very basic indeed and can be done now without the need of building a gleaming new city. I remember meeting Chrystal Watley Kigoni when she was embarking on putting an internet connected computer in remote villages. I remember her being asked why she would take inernet to people who weren't even literate and what she hoped to achieve with it. Her answer was that not having the connection was not helping them either. Prof. Mitra has demonstrated what access to resources with no training can enable children to teach themselves. http://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_the_child_driven_education.html In light of this maybe the fastest way to attain our tech-literate goals is to get everyone an internet connection and see what happens. In my opinion the easiest way to do this is to get KPLC to do it. Make it a requirement to drop dark or live fiber to each and every premises that they supply power to. If the power distribution gets devolved in future then compel the new players to do the same. In short get every single building that is connected to the national power grid be connected to a parallel national fiber grid. Leaving matters of internet connectivity to market forces have gotten us to where we are now. Multiple fibers at the coast, insignificant drop in prices or increased access to the public. Arguments about cost will always arise but what is the cost of not doing it? Do we want to be a nation that only knows of internet through the lens of mobile network dongles and bundles? Using radio spectrum to deliver high quality internet is not sustainable and we know it. Besides downloading and uploading terabytes of data will clog up the spectrum. The telcos will have the most to gain. They do not need to worry about cable cuts and just pay KPLC a fee to use their capacity. Consumers choose their preferred provider and the internet companies finally settle down to core business. This would also create one of the biggest national networks and should be an interesting case study. Ofcourse privacy and democracy advocates could argue that this also affords a totalitarian government an easy plug to pull to shutdown everyones internet but we can find ways around this in the law or in its design. -- Regards, Mark Mwangi markmwangi.me.ke

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Re: [kictanet] Expensive Airtel?
by Caroline Michuki 07 Apr '13

07 Apr '13

Sent from Samsung Mobile "Song, Stephen" <stephen.song(a)gmail.com> wrote: An interesting aside from the Canadian telecommunications sector. In 2009, Industry Canada (the ministry responsible for telecommunications) spent tens of thousands of dollars developing a mobile plan comparison tool to assist frustrated consumers in choosing the right plan/service/operator. It was well-designed and had received praise from the focus groups it was tested on. Despite this the project was killed weeks before it was due to launch. Why? Lobbying and threats of lawsuits from mobile operators. http://www.thestar.com/business/2009/08/31/ottawa_killed_cellphone_cost_cal… Complex pricing tariffs only serve the operators not the customers. The mobile operators clearly feared people actually being able to properly compare tarifs. IMO, the problem is not whether or not to have a plan comparison tool. The problem is that the mobile operators are allowed to use such perniciously complex plans. Some supermarkets post the price/100g of products on their shelves to stop companies from altering sizes slightly to create the appearance but not the reality of a discount. Perhaps operators should be obliged to post the average cost of a plan according to a standard OECD price basket. Free telecom disrupted the entire telecom industry in France in part by coming up with a 1 price approach to their service. http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/03/how-the-telecom-company-free-disrupted-the… If the CCK ought to do anything at all, perhaps it should be in the realm of enforcing simplicity and comparability of plans rather than trying to develop complex tools to analyse complex plans. -Steve Song On 5 April 2013 12:39, Mark Mwangi <mwangy(a)gmail.com> wrote: I do not think it is the CCK's Job to tell you the cheapest/most affordable/the most understanding telco. We may be over stretching the bodies responsibilities while not giving it more funding. If you find them too expensive there are other options. I for instance keep most of my traffic on Orange and only keep Safaricom for the M-pesa. There are choices. On Fri, Apr 5, 2013 at 5:11 PM, Odhiambo Washington <odhiambo(a)gmail.com> wrote: The regulator: 1. Issues Licenses 2. Determines Interconnection fees 3. Lords over the Telcos stopping them from "tabia mbaya" - like unfair competition There is nowhere where the consumer surfaces in the mind of the regulator, if you ask me. On 5 April 2013 16:28, Edith Adera <eadera(a)idrc.ca> wrote: Great idea! However, my question would then be what’s the role of the Regulator – CCK? This information, processed in this manner should be in the public domain and comparable across operators as one of CCK’s roles is to check not only on quality of service, but also price of service. Edith From: Odhiambo Washington [mailto:odhiambo@gmail.com] Sent: April 5, 2013 2:52 PM To: Edith Adera Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] Expensive Airtel? Hi Edith, Do it like a Standard 1 kid would: 1. Load 50bob airtime 2. Set phone to show phone duration 3. Make a call lasting N minutes 4. Check airtime balance after the call. Do the same on your Safaricom/Yu/Orange Tarrif. Show the comparison. Ditto for data. Buy bundle. Download the same file on 3 different networks. Check bundle balance. Tabulate and show us how they compare:-) On 5 April 2013 13:29, Edith Adera <eadera(a)idrc.ca> wrote: Listers, It has taken me months wondering if it’s real or imaginary that Airtel has become very expensive! Whether it’s for calls or Internet (spectacularly expensive especially for this service). It dawned on me as I was writing this message that indeed I’ve not seen their aggressive adverts on favourable tarrifs etc for a while now (nor from other providers as it was a while back). Has the telecom market ceased to be competitive given our peculiar Kenyan behaviour (“sticky” consumers who do not respond to number portability, poor quality of service, high price of service etc etc). Am I alone? Wondering Edith _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/odhiambo%40gmail.com The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. -- Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254733744121/+254722743223 "I can't hear you -- I'm using the scrambler." -- Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254733744121/+254722743223 "I can't hear you -- I'm using the scrambler." _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mwangy%40gmail.com The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. -- Regards, Mark Mwangi markmwangi.me.ke _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/stephen.song%40gmail.… The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. -- Steve Song +1 902 529 0046 http://manypossibilities.net http://villagetelco.org

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Expensive Airtel?
by Edith Adera 06 Apr '13

06 Apr '13

Listers, It has taken me months wondering if it's real or imaginary that Airtel has become very expensive! Whether it's for calls or Internet (spectacularly expensive especially for this service). It dawned on me as I was writing this message that indeed I've not seen their aggressive adverts on favourable tarrifs etc for a while now (nor from other providers as it was a while back). Has the telecom market ceased to be competitive given our peculiar Kenyan behaviour ("sticky" consumers who do not respond to number portability, poor quality of service, high price of service etc etc). Am I alone? Wondering Edith

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Why Orange-Telkom are struggling
by robert yawe 05 Apr '13

05 Apr '13

Hi, Early this morning I contacted Orange-telkom to inquire about domains that they have been hosting for over 5 years and here is the response; "Since nowadays we do not register/host .com domains. You should arrange to move the sites to some other servers" This clearly explains why Orange-Telkom will keep struggling to remain relevant. Regards Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 Kenya Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696

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Land Deals and Accountability in Africa
by Edith Adera 05 Apr '13

05 Apr '13

Listers, This may be of wider interest: News [Description: http://www.idrc.ca/EN/PublishingImages/LandSeries-Accountability-in-Africas…] Report sheds light on demands for accountability, transparency for large-scale land deals in Africa 05/04/2013 In Africa, large-scale land deals can bring benefits such as jobs, market access, and infrastructure, but they can also dispossess people of land and other resources and spark conflict over economic benefits. Part of the problem is that land deals are rarely transparent, with limited accountability on the part of the public authorities that decide them. People who feel wronged by such large-scale land deals in Africa are taking a variety of steps to seek justice, according to new research published by IDRC and the International Institute for Environment and Development <http://www.iied.org/> (IIED). The report, Accountability in Africa's land rush: what role for legal empowerment, is authored by Emily Polack, Lorenzo Cotula, and Muriel Côté of IIED. It examines the accountability of public authorities that preside over such deals. Asking whether legal empowerment offers citizens scope to expect fairer outcomes, the report shows that too few legal options are in fact available to local groups. This report builds on, and contributes to, a decade’s worth of research that IDRC has supported on access to land rights globally, especially for women<http://www.idrc.ca/EN/Programs/Social_and_Economic_Policy/Governance_Securi…>. Read the report<http://www.idrc.ca/EN/Documents/LandSeries-IDRC-English-web.pdf>. http://www.idrc.ca/EN/Misc/Pages/NewsDetails.aspx?NewsID=532 http://www.idrc.ca/FR/Misc/Pages/NewsDetails.aspx?NewsID=493

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Another wave of cyber attacks against Kenya?
by Brian Munyao Longwe 05 Apr '13

05 Apr '13

Yesterday the website of a legal firm specializing in intellectual property that belongs to a friend was hacked and defaced. I discovered when going to look up some materials on copyright and immediately alerted him, he has since mobilized his web designer/hosting company to deal with the issue. I managed to take a screenshot of the homepage in it's "hacked" state. As you can see the "hackers" claim to be from Saudi Arabia and (as can be expected) are very proud that they have compromised this site. In the background is the logo of Backtrack, which could is a linux distribution designed for information security that consists of a wide range of "hacker" tools. [image: Inline image 1] This incident could be evidence of the beginning of another wave of attacks against Kenyan systems on the Internet. We desperately need an awareness campaign that will alert website owners/operators to the dangers and prompt them to get themselves checked (like the HIV campaign). Best regards, Brian

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Fwd: [ISOC_KE] TechPresident on Kenyan elections
by Ali Hussein 05 Apr '13

05 Apr '13

Ali Hussein CEO | 3mice interactive media Ltd Principal | Telemedia Africa Ltd +254 773/713 601113 "The future belongs to him who knows how to wait." - Russian Proverb Sent from my iPad Begin forwarded message: > From: Joly MacFie <joly(a)punkcast.com> > Date: April 5, 2013, 5:09:33 AM GMT+03:00 > To: "isoc(a)orion.my.co.ke" <isoc(a)orion.my.co.ke> > Subject: [ISOC_KE] TechPresident on Kenyan elections > Reply-To: joly(a)punkcast.com > > http://techpresident.com/news/wegov/23691/kenya-technology-proved-useful-to… > > Why Were Kenya's Elections Peaceful? Technology Provides Only a Partial Explanation > BY KELLY GILBLOM | Thursday, April 4 2013 > > > Screenshot of the Uchaguzi map of election day events. > When Kenyan presidential candidate Raila Odinga graciously conceded to his opponent, incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta, during a Saturday television broadcast that followed a long court battle, the country breathed a sigh of relief. Fears that Kenya would spiral into crisis, as it did after the 2007 presidential elections, had not materialized. In marked contrast to the terrible violence of the last time, this post-electoral transfer of power was, with the exception of isolated incidents, peaceful. > > In the headquarters of non-profit tech company Ushahidi's Nairobi headquarters, a group of volunteers and tech professionals congratulated themselves. They had spent years working on software that would track incidences of crimes and unrest that occurred as a result of the election — and forming partnerships to get that information into the right hands. > > They believe that their efforts provided Kenyans with an important tool that helped realize their wish for peaceful elections. > > But technology alone was not the reason for peaceful elections in Kenya. "Kenyans wanted peace," said Elliott Wilkes, Kenya technical adviser at Mercy Corps, who worked with Ushahidi to monitor the 2013 elections. > > The technological tools created by Ushahidi and its partners, explained Wilkes, helped them achieve the goal of peaceful elections — but they were not necessarily the deciding factor. > > Significant role of community engagement > > Technology played a minor role in the 2007 and 2008 elections, when claims of vote-rigging stirred old tribal rivalries and led to widespread violence. This year, however, it was a hallmark of the democratic process. > > Private sector initiatives like Ushahidi's 2013 election-monitoring process, Uchaguzi (Swahili for "choice" or "elections"), involved a large network of groups reporting crime and other election-related hang-ups, mapping them online using Ushahidi software and then reporting them to the proper authorities. > > According to Daudi Were, Ushahidi's lead on the Uchaguzi project, there was a significant increase in community engagement this time around, compared to 2007. While he did not cite specific numbers, Were said, "We are happy that people were engaged. I'm not sure if we were surprised about it, we expected a lot of engagement and you know the good thing about Uchaguzi is it meets you where you are." > > Meanwhile, the government created the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to implement a raft of new technologies aimed at ensuring vote counts were legitimate. > > The IEBC introduced a biometric data system that kept track of voter ID photos and other individualized information. The goal was to prevent people from voting twice or from using the names of deceased or non-existent people to cast a ballot, as some claimed happened in 2007. It also planned to have constituencies submit votes electronically for the first time this year. > > Technology played an important role this election, and Kenya, once again, showed itself to be a leader in tech promotion, said Wilkes. > > Uchaguzi is probably the most important case study of a technology platform that made grassroots efforts more efficient and effective. In the weeks and months heading into the elections, the staff established partnerships with the IEBC, the Red Cross, the police and various first responders. By the time election season began, they were a known entity with high credibility. Rather than have ordinary citizens try to contact the authorities themselves to lodge complaints, Uchaguzi provided them with a single contact point for all issues, ranging from outbreaks of violence to polling booth irregularities. Complaints and concerns were submitted via the website, SMS, phone or email, with Uchaguzi's volunteers trained in the methodology of verifying complaints and then referring them to the appropriate authorities. Thus the NGO workers helped prevent the overload and chaos that stymied emergency response to the 2007-8 violence. > > "Uchaguzi tries to collect as much data from as many people as possible," explained Duade Were. "Once you establish the information as credible, then you escalate to the organization you know that’s responsible for that response. If it’s a law enforcement issue, we take it to the police, if it’s an electoral issue, we take it to the IEBC. If it’s something that requires first responders, we take it to a partner such as the Red Cross." > > Marrying technology to grassroots engagement > > Amongst the experts interviewed for this article, there is wide agreement that by mapping the verified complaints, Uchaguzi was able to pre-empt those who might have made exaggerated claims in order to stir up trouble, as happened in 2007-8. This time, more people were aware there was visual proof of what was going on. And since mobile and Internet access is quite widespread in Kenya, it was easy to share the map, which also provided a forum for constructive engagement. Thus the Internet went a long way toward increasing transparency, which in turn played an important role in preventing a recurrence of violence. > > Mercy Corps and others confirm that old-fashioned grassroots efforts are what provided the groundwork for a peaceful outcome, while technology was a useful tool that helped further that goal. Grassroots initiatives included face-to-face engagement with community leaders and the deployment of volunteer monitors to be physically present in voting constituencies on the day of the elections. The NGOs also invested effort in nurturing long-standing partnerships with a large cross-section of groups. But the IEBC electronic poll books that housed voters' biometric data suffered widespread technical failures on election day, leading the commission to ditch them altogether. > > The failure of the biometric voter identification system did provide Odinga with credible reason tochallenge the results, but the IEBC insisted the system was always intended to supplement old-fashioned vote counts, rather than replacing them. While some Kenyans said they were left feeling disillusioned with the electoral process, nearly everyone interviewed for this article, including Odinga supporters, seemed to believe the voting results were credible. Since Kenyatta received more than 50 percent of the vote, the country was able to avoid a potentially divisive runoff election. Perhaps most importantly, Odinga challenged the results in the court system, rather than on the street, and heaccepted the court's decision calmly. > > Grassroots efforts also proved valuable when Ushahidi had to shut down an alert system, when a glitch caused it to send and resend similar alerts. > > Because people knew about the scope and scale of the Uchaguzi project ahead of time, this one technical failure did not cause citizens to lose faith in the platform altogether, according to its founders. And while election day saw about 15 people killed in isolated skirmishes on the coast, there were no other major violent events. > > "They say that technology is only 10 percent of the story — a very important 10 percent — yet if all these other things are required for proper deployment, that's what we've been working on," said Daudi Were. > > As Sara Jerving reported for techPresident in February, technology was supplemented by creative engagement projects, such as street theater aimed at raising awareness about violence and its causes in Kibera, a sprawling Nairobi slum that was a hotbed of internecine violence in 2007-8. > > Streamlining communication > > In 2007-8 the government did deploy security forces to quell criminal activity, even as neighborhood watch groups formed to supplement police efforts. But back then there was little cohesion or coordination between the putative peace makers. Meanwhile tech platforms like Ushahidi's crowd-mapping efforts were disorganized and still in their most nascent stages. > > "One of the key challenges in 2007 was that everything was so fragmented. Everyone was doing their own thing, there weren't really any collective efforts taking place," said Were. > > He said that Ushahidi's goal during these elections was to correct the big gaps in communication and bring all interested parties together on one platform so they could benefit from one another's efforts. > > Were said: "It's always hard to measure something that didn't happen, but the fact that we didn't have a big humanitarian, a big security crisis this time I think speaks to the partnerships that were developed and how effective they were in working together." > > A report by a research team at Nairobi's iHub showed just how much Ushahidi used scale to its advantage this time around. It contacted at least half a dozen aid agencies and NGOs ahead of time to serve as on-the-ground foot soldiers during the elections. > > Aid and NGO workers sent in reports to a team of more than 200 trained volunteers at the Uchaguzi situation room in Nairobi and also served as eyewitnesses to verify almost 5,000 reports sent in by regular citizens via SMS or email. Complaints ran the gamut from logistical problems at polling stations to concerns about potential outbreaks of violence. > > Another group was deployed to geo-locate the report and map it, while a team of translators ensured that those who could not speak English were heard, too. A technology team kept the servers from crashing and fixed unexpected glitches when they occurred. An analysis and research team then filtered the raw data into a visually appealing and useful form and other volunteers reported violence, crime, hate speech and logistical issues to authorities as needed. > > "Civil society enlightens citizen(s) on their rights and responsibilities while the technology community develops tools to ease daily life processes. Bringing the two together for an election-monitoring project amplified citizens' voices, enabling the world to gauge the Kenyan election atmosphere and mood of the nation," the report said. > > Increased credibility of government institutions > > But private-sector efforts, such as Uchaguzi, are not the only ways technology was used to advance Kenya's election process. > > While it is unclear exactly why the IEBC's technology efforts failed during the elections, experts say the fact that Kenya invested significant effort in modernizing its election process is a big deal. For ordinary citizens, seeing that their government was committed to transparency went a long way toward increasing the trust they placed in their institutions. > > The government also invested major effort over the past few years in restoring the credibility of the courts and police. The payoff was illustrated on March 30, when the Supreme Court handed down its decision about the election results. On Twitter, Kenyan 'netizens talked about remaining peaceful, with many saying they had voted for Odinga, but now supported Kenyatta because he had legitimately been elected president. > > "Only five years ago, Raila and many Kenyans rightly regarded the courts as corrupt. The courts were also regarded as handmaidens of the government of the day," said James Gathii, a law professor at Loyola University, who is writing a book on the Kenyan judiciary and is also a native Kenyan. > > Gathii added, "Today, the progress made in transforming the judiciary is paying tangible dividends. Violence has been avoided." > > Kelly Gilblom is an American freelance journalist based in Nairobi. > > > > > -- > --------------------------------------------------------------- > Joly MacFie 218 565 9365 Skype:punkcast > WWWhatsup NYC - http://wwwhatsup.com > http://pinstand.com - http://punkcast.com > VP (Admin) - ISOC-NY - http://isoc-ny.org > -------------------------------------------------------------- > - > _______________________________________________ > isoc mailing list > isoc(a)orion.my.co.ke > http://orion.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/isoc

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Re: [kictanet] Opinion Technology, transparency, and the Kenyan general election of 2013
by Dick Omondi 05 Apr '13

05 Apr '13

Now that we have a court decision that clears the matter of the presidency, perhaps it is now time to remove the emotions of the decision, turn away from politics and get down to the core issues in real institutional management and those surrounding the processes and the people around the IEBC lest we sit back and get through another four years and put together another unit in the last year of the 5 and go back to the same merry go round. ________________________________ From: kictanet To: Dick Omondi Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Sent: Sat Mar 30 21:40:14 2013 Subject: Re: [kictanet] Opinion Technology, transparency, and the Kenyan general election of 2013 Thank you Ali. I appreciate your comments. Shukran. On Sat, Mar 30, 2013 at 1:38 PM, Ali Hussein <ali(a)hussein.me.ke> wrote: Wariga Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed the read. I want to however object to the words:- '...the election results show that technology has failed them.' I humbly submit that what failed us in this case is a mix of partisan politicking, a knack for jostling to see how each proponent could manipulate the process for their own benefit and lastly the failure of the IEBC leadership to accept and tell Kenyans to our faces that the most expensive technology ever bought for elections in Kenya (and Probably Africa) was designed to fail before it landed in the country. I would replace the sentence '...the election results show that technology has failed them.' with the sentence '...the election results show that leadership has failed them.' The saving grace is that we have a sober Supreme Court and we thank God for them. Ali Hussein CEO | 3mice interactive media Ltd Principal | Telemedia Africa Ltd +254 773/713 601113 "The future belongs to him who knows how to wait." - Russian Proverb Sent from my iPad On Mar 29, 2013, at 11:05 PM, Warigia Bowman <warigia(a)gmail.com> wrote: I thought you guys might enjoy this piece. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/03/2013329135519365308.html Take a look, and tell me what you think. :-) Warigia _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/info%40alyhussein.com The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. -- Dr. Warigia Bowman Assistant Professor Clinton School of Public Service University of Arkansas wbowman(a)clintonschool.uasys.edu ------------------------------------------------- View my research on my SSRN Author page: http://ssrn.com/author=1479660 -------------------------------------------------- This email and any file(s) transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. Unauthorised distribution, copying, use or disclosure of the contents to any other person is prohibited. Airtel Networks Kenya Limited does not accept any legal liability for the contents of this message. If you have received this email in error please notify the Systems Administrator, mailadmin(a)ke.airtel.com. This email and any file(s) transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. Unauthorised distribution, copying, use or disclosure of the contents to any other person is prohibited. Airtel Networks Kenya Limited does not accept any legal liability for the contents of this message. If you have received this email in error please notify the Systems Administrator, mailadmin(a)ke.airtel.com.

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Measurement lab in Kenya
by Ory Okolloh 04 Apr '13

04 Apr '13

* Dear listers, A few weeks ago, Measurement Lab Research Consortium (M-Lab) launched one of its first locations in Africa, in partnership with KENET Kenya, Google Africa, and many other industry and academic partners. M-Lab is a collaborative effort working to provide an open, global, publicly available source of data on network performance. To accomplish this M-Lab takes a completely open approach, managing a purpose-built global server platform designed specifically for network measurement. Researchers deploy open-source measurement tools on this platform, and each time a test is run using one of these tools, data is collected. Currently M-Lab makes over 700 terabytes of raw, rich measurement data available to anyone who’s interested. M-Lab’s presence in Kenya (and also South Africa) mean that this data is now being collected on African networks, giving a new and valuable source of information about the health and performance of African infrastructure. A more public launch will happen in a few weeks, for now I'm hoping to drive some initial research ahead of that and invite you to look into<http://measurementlab.net/data>the data, and to access it here <https://storage.cloud.google.com/?arg=m-lab&pli=1#m-lab>. If you’re interested in learning more about M-Lab, please visit measurementlab.net. Finally, M-Lab has a full time staff dedicated to answering questions and promoting research. Please don’t hesitate to contact them with any questions: http://measurementlab.net/contact Best, Ory *

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Internet - Slow
by Edith Adera 04 Apr '13

04 Apr '13

Listers, I wonder if I'm the only one who's experiencing slow Internet since yesterday - both official and personal connection. Anyone knows what's going on? Edith

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Lots of buzz as mobile phone in Kenya turns 40 years
by Grace Mutung'u (Bomu) 04 Apr '13

04 Apr '13

See attached picture. -- Grace L.N. Mutung'u (Bomu) Kenya Skype: gracebomu Twitter: @Bomu Website: http://www.diplointernetgovernance.org/profile/GraceMutungu

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