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Fwd: [afnog] Application for fellowship- 2019 Hackathon@AIS
by Barrack Otieno 25 Apr '19

25 Apr '19

Listers, Might be of interest. Regards ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Betel Hailu <hailu(a)isoc.org> Date: Tue, Apr 23, 2019 at 9:50 AM Subject: [afnog] Application for fellowship- 2019 Hackathon@AIS To: afnog(a)afnog.org <afnog(a)afnog.org> ============ FRANCAIS PLUS BAS ============ Hello everyone, The Hackathon@AIS is an event aimed at exposing engineers from the African region to Open Internet Standards development and is co-organized by the Internet Society and AFRINIC. This will be the third event in the series following successful events held in Nairobi (2017) and Dakar (2018). Please look at https://bit.ly/2Gp8uMa to see the topics that will be covered this year. Network/System engineers, software developers, and or computer science students are encouraged to apply as engagement in open Internet standards development can help further their careers. *The event will be held on the 19th and 20th of June 2019 in Kampala, Uganda*. If you are interested in participating AND can commit to being available over the 2 days, please fill the application form. Space is limited and successful applicants will be notified and then be enrolled in various online training sessions in the build up of the event. Fellowships will be awarded to strong applicants where possible. Click here to apply: https://internetsociety.wufoo.com/forms/sspq7xj1p17m0n/ *Applications close on the 19th of May 2019.* ====================================================== Bonjour à tous, Le Hackathon@AIS est un événement visant à exposer les ingénieurs de la région africaine au développement des standards Internet ouverts et est co-organisé par Internet Society et AFRINIC. Ce sera le troisième événement du genre après les événements réussis de Nairobi (2017) et de Dakar (2018). Veuillez regardez https://bit.ly/2Gp8uMa afin de voir les sujets qui seront couverts cette année. Ingénieurs Systèmes / Réseaux, développeur d'applications, et ou étudiants en informatique sont encouragés à postuler étant donné que l'engagement dans le développement des standards ouvert de l'Internet peut aider au futur de leur carrière. *L'événement aura lieu le 19 et 20 juin 2019 à Kampala, Uganda*. Si vous êtes intéressé à participer ET que vous pouvez vous engager à être disponible pendant les 2 jours, veuillez remplir le formulaire. Les places sont limité et les candidats retenus seront informés et seront ensuite inscrits à diverses sessions de formation en ligne en vue de l'événement. Des bourses de participations seront accordées aux meilleurs candidats dans la mesure du possible. *Important : Les documents et travaux de l’IETF étant exclusivement en anglais, une bonne compréhension de la langue est essentielle. * Cliquez ici pour postuler: https://internetsociety.wufoo.com/forms/sspq7xj1p17m0n/ *La date limite pour les candidatures est le 19 mai 2019.* Thank you, *Betel Hailu *| *Communications Coordinator – Africa Regional Bureau *|* Internet Society* skype: betty.hailu | www.InternetSociety.org | *Follow Us * [image: iption: Macintosh HD:Users:betelhailu:Desktop:facebook.png] <https://www.facebook.com/ISOCAfrica>[image: iption: Macintosh HD:Users:betelhailu:Desktop:twitter.png] <https://twitter.com/ISOC_Africa> _______________________________________________ afnog mailing list https://www.afnog.org/mailman/listinfo/afnog -- Barrack O. Otieno +254721325277 +254733206359 Skype: barrack.otieno PGP ID: 0x2611D86A

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What ALA's “The Young Entrepreneurs Fund” means for African entrepreneurship
by Eric M K Osiakwan 24 Apr '19

24 Apr '19

https://digestafrica.com/young-entrepreneurs-fund-african Eric here Sent from my iPad

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Online discussion on social-economic impact of broadband in Kenya
by Mwendwa Kivuva 18 Apr '19

18 Apr '19

Dear Listers, IDC is conducting an assessment on the state of play and impact of broadband in Kenya, broadly looking at the socio-economic impact on consumers, businesses and various sectors like agriculture, education, healthcare, finance and government. This assessment has been commissioned by Huawei in collaboration with Ministry of ICT and the Communications Authority. It has the overarching objective of supporting the policy making process to develop broadband services and infrastructure throughout Kenya and achieve substantial economic impact in the economy. Other partners in the study include the ICT Authority and the National Communications Secretariat. The assessment will involve a review of the current state of play in the sector as well as gaining insights from a wide range of stakeholders on the barriers and recommendations to increasing the impact of broadband. Among the key stakeholders identified include KICTANET, from whose members IDC will seek to gain civil society and other stakeholder perspectives including real life examples of impact of broadband, challenges we face in increasing impact of broadband and recommendations on interventions needed to address the challenges identified. This will be conducted as an online debate facilitated and moderated by KICTANET from 23rd to 26th April 2019. Through the online discussion, we will also seek to understand the current state of play of broadband in Kenya, including: 1. What barriers are there in increasing impact of broadband? 2. What recommendations can counter the barriers in increasing impact of broadband? 3. How is the sector regulated and what policies are in place? How is the business environment for those who want to venture into provision of broadband services? 4. How do we create the skills and demand and use cases for broadband? 5. What local content is there and is it having an impact or not? What type of local content are we lacking? 6. How are users and businesses benefiting from broadband? 7. Any other issues. Please note that lister may add any other issue on broadband that come to mind. After the discussion, a summary report will be developed by KICTANET which will subsequently be validated during a face to face meeting. IDC will incorporate relevant findings into the broadband market assessment. Sincerely, ______________________ Mwendwa Kivuva.

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Invitation to Ai Kenya Show and tell event : Building Secure Voice Biometrics with Ryan Roberts
by alfred＠kenya.ai 18 Apr '19

18 Apr '19

Dear Kictanet members! On Behalf of the Ai Kenya Events team, I would like to invite you for the following event happening on Saturday 27th April from 9.30 am to 12.30pm: "My Voice is my password" is a term that you might be familiar with. Voice biometrics adoption is experiencing strong growth, driven by the need for foolproof security methods for technology-driven systems and the popularity of voice assistants such as Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri. In the second Ai Kenya Show and tell event, we will be hosting Ryan Roberts, Principal Software Engineer at <https://www.cirrus.com/> Cirrus Logic, who will provide insight into the approach used to systematically train and test voice biometrics, one of the forms of Narrow AI(Artificial Intelligence). Join is for a session of discovery, demos and Q&A. Is your company offering services powered by Voice Biometrics? Are you curious to find out more on how voice biometrics algorithms work? Book your free ticket and check the full event details on <http://bit.ly/voiceAIK> http://bit.ly/voiceAIK About Ai Kenya Ai Kenya is a community of enthusiasts and practitioners in the field of machine learning and data science. We invite you to come to some of our events and see the work that we are doing. To understand us better, please have a look at this <https://drive.google.com/open?id=1BvGr3dSsshV50YxCZbnDwXUpD1s9y-Io> introduction deck that details our origin, objectives and previous work. We are fully open to any collaborative efforts that can help us achieve our goal of democratizing artificial intelligence in the East African Ecosystem. Looking forward to seeing you at at the event! Kind regards, Alfred Ongere +254705882004 Team lead, Founder www.kenya.ai <http://bit.ly/AIKPODYTB> Watch Ai Kenya Podcast <https://t.sidekickopen75.com/s1t/o/5/f18dQhb0S7kC8dDMPbW2n0x6l2B9gXrN7sKj6v 46g14W56Dx2l7fcxHKW16gGz793K_hD101?si=8000000000133214&pi=f0ec6675-7afc-4d37 -9def-1e621c6c596e>

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Dialogue on Digital Cooperation in Africa Dialogue Series
by Bob Ochieng 17 Apr '19

17 Apr '19

Dear All, As part of its global engagement process, the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation, will work with partners to hold a series of in-person and online dialogues aimed at addressing African priorities in digital cooperation in the Spring of 2019. The public dialogues will be conducted through a multi-stakeholder collaboration of organizations including the African Union Commission, the UN Economic Commission for Africa, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Internet Governance Forum, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the Association for Progressive Communication (APC), and Diplo Foundation. https://digitalcooperation.org/regionaldialogues/ [digitalcooperation.org] <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__digitalcooperation.org…> The dialogue series includes: an in-person session with members of the Policy and Regulation Initiative for Digital Africa (PRIDA) on March 29th, an in-person session at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum on April 10th, and two online sessions on April 18th and April 25th. Please register for the online sessions via the following links: Thursday 18 April [intgovforum.webex.com] <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__intgovforum.webex.com_…> (14-15:30h West Africa, GMT+01:00) Thursday 25 April [intgovforum.webex.com] <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__intgovforum.webex.com_…> (14-15:30h West Africa, GMT+01:00) Thanks and regards B.

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Vodacom, Tala bosses charged with economic sabotage in Dar
by Barrack Otieno 15 Apr '19

15 Apr '19

Listers, seems as a region we still have a long way to go doing Tech business across the borders. I hope the Kenyan High Commissioner in Tanzania who is a techie intervenes since i can see one of our home grown techies in the thick of things. Let us not wait for a repeat of what happened in Ethiopia. https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/business/Vodacom-tanzania-tala-bosses-char… In summary - The companies and their staff face 10 charges of contravening the Economic and Organised Crime Control Act, 2002. - They were remanded, as the crimes they are accused of are not bailable. Best Regards -- Barrack O. Otieno +254721325277 +254733206359 Skype: barrack.otieno PGP ID: 0x2611D86A

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UN IGF Best Practice Forum on IoT, Big Data and AI - Virtual Meeting Today 15 April 12:00 UTC
by Alex Comninos 15 Apr '19

15 Apr '19

Dear All, I would like to urge you all to take part in the Internet Governance Forum IoT, Big Data, and AI Virtual Meeting (webinar) today the 15th of April at 12:00 UTC. The Virtual Meeting link is here: https://intgovforum.webex.com/intgovforum/j.php?MTID=m8018d13f801dfcb5ef0ce… We would love to multistakeholderise participation from diverse communities outside of the traditional IGF community. If you have no ideas what a BPF is or what the IGF is - thats completely understandable, and we aim to rectify that! More info can be found here https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/bpf-internet-of-things-iot… The 2019 edition of the Best Practice Forum on IoT, Big Data and AI will focus on trust in these concepts and their utilization for addressing identified societal challenges. Within the IGF’s remit, the BPF intends to continue to limit its scope to the growing area where IoT, Big Data and AI meet in an Internet context. Building on this BPF’s 2018 work as a starting point, the BPF proposes for 2019 to: * Challenge and review the identified best practices and complete the report with concrete and practical examples. (e.g. in the field of healthcare, environmental protection, e-commerce, public safety, cybersecurity, and infrastructure; * Identify existing and new ways to enhance trust in IoT, Big Data, AI applications and technologies in an Internet context; * Identify how AI can affect outcomes both in terms of social justice and in terms of the allocation of societal resources; * Identify how AI can complement or pose challenges to privacy and data protection as well as transparency and good governance; * Identify how IoT, Big Data, AI can contribute to achieving the UN SDGs and * Identify the impact on policies and regulations, including policy making processes of the application of IoT, Big Data, AI applications. The Virtual Meeting will require WebEX software which can be downloaded at https://www.webex.com/downloads.html. It should work on all Desktops (Mac, Windows, and Linux with some luck) as well as on mobile phones. One should also be able to phone into the meeting with a phone and the info provided here: https://intgovforum.webex.com/intgovforum/j.php?MTID=m8018d13f801dfcb5ef0ce…. If any of you have any questions about what the IGF is, what BPFs are, or how to use WebEx, please do not hesitate to contact me. Best, Alex -- Alex Comninos http://alex.africa -- Alex Comninos http://alex.africa I am transitioning to a new email address: hello(a)alex.africa -- Alex Comninos http://alex.africa I am transitioning to a new email address: hello(a)alex.africa

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Fwd: [Internet Policy] Evangelical view on artificial intelligence
by Barrack Otieno 15 Apr '19

15 Apr '19

Listers, Might be of interest to some. Regards ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Ayden Férdeline <ayden(a)ferdeline.com> Date: Sat, Apr 13, 2019 at 10:56 PM Subject: [Internet Policy] Evangelical view on artificial intelligence To: ISOC INTERNETPOLICY <internetpolicy(a)elists.isoc.org> The Southern Baptist Convention has released a policy paper and a statement of principles on the ethics of Artificial Intelligence. I found it an interesting read, which, of course, is not to say I agree with all of it ;-) But as many of us are grappling with what AI is and how it will change our world, I found it fascinating to see how a religious organization is trying to proactively address some of these concerns before AI has an even broader social impact. I am not sure if other religions are engaging on this topic too, but if so, I would be curious to read their thoughts as well. You can read their statement here: https://erlc.com/resource-library/statements/artificial-intelligence-an-eva… Ayden Férdeline _______________________________________________ To manage your Internet Society subscriptions or unsubscribe, log into the Member Portal at https://admin.internetsociety.org/622619/User/Login and go to the Interests tab within your profile. -- Barrack O. Otieno +254721325277 +254733206359 Skype: barrack.otieno PGP ID: 0x2611D86A

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Re: [kictanet] [SST whitelist considerations] It will be hard to access Government services without a Huduma Namba, Matiang'i says
by Patrick A. M. Maina 11 Apr '19

11 Apr '19

Huduma number is a great idea that can unlock many benefits for Kenyans. I would really wish for it to succeed. However I fear that the current state of runaway corruption puts the entire project at risk. A Single Source of Truth (SST) acts as a citizen whitelist which can help speed up service delivery and make things more efficient (e.g. by removing the need for ID cross-checks). This strength is also a weakness, unfortunately. Anyone with an SST ID (and "valid fingerprint") is presumed to be a bona fide citizen - but such a conclusion can only be sensibly relied on in an environment with negligible/immaterial levels of corruption. National scale SST whitelist systems are heavily reliant on human factors (e.g. human integrity, personal values, and patriotism) at their points of highest vulnerability. So hackers will likely target the weakest link i.e. gov employees (e.g. via huge bribes or blackmail or workforce infiltration via recruitment process) in order to get to the system. Researchers (link below) have shown that fingerprints can be easily stolen by tech-savvy criminals to facilitate illegal access e.g. via affordable 3D printing technology. Fake fingerprints (and fingers) can also be manufactured to create fictitious persons (e.g. ghost workers or organized criminals). Case in point is India's Aadhaar... just prior to the attack that almost triggered a war with Pakistan, there had been media reports of terrorists being caught in posession of Aadhaar cards. How did they get the cards? Did the "whitelist effect" of Aaadhaar facilitate their movements or planning? The possibility cannot be discounted. Human flaws are the weakest link in any technology solution. What about laws? Surely strict / harsh laws will "protect" the data by deterring illegal activity? 1. Local laws do not deal with or deter international (or state sponsored) perpetrators with high budgets, sophisticated hacking technology and ability to evade acountability (geopolitical powers). 2. Attribution challenges (hackers often leave spoofed breadcrumbs (fake trails) to mislead investigators... so innocent people or even countries can be framed for things they did not do, triggering unjust arrests/convictions or costly and potentially destabilising geopolitical hostilities). Sometimes backdoors are disguised as innocent acts of user or supplier incompetence (e.g. via deliberate insecure design). Sometimes they are a result of genuinely innocent incompetence or accidental oversight. How will Government know which is which? 3. Reactive laws (as opposed to strategic or tactical laws which consider the holistic contextualized picture) only increase compliance costs for law abiding citizens but do not guarantee deterrence for criminals who don't care about laws. Cybercrime laws don't stop or deter sophisticated cybercriminals (e.g. due to atrribution & jurisdictional challenges). 4. Unlike property theft, data can be stolen without the owner's knowledge. By the time the loss is detected (e.g. via numerous incidents of actual unlawful use) it is too late to do anything. It is often impossible to establish the extent by which a honeypot system has been compromised, how the breach happened, who did it and for how long it has been compromised. 5. Massive resources will have to be expended to perform an impossible task of protecting Kenya's most sensitive (and most valuable) data. As security experts keep reminding us, it is not a question of whether a system, any system, can be hacked, it's a question of when - and what will be the consequences. 6. Once biometric data has been stolen, the loss is permanent and irreversible. You cannot issue new fingerprints. So what happens next? 7. As soon as the credibility of the data is in material doubt, we will have to revert to the old system of manual cross checking and all the envisaged benefits will dissapear (as well as the 6B investment). Whether the perpetrators are caught / jailed or not, does not make a difference. To help put things in context, consider this: Government has been unable to secure IFMIS (which was supposed to help eliminate corruption - but became an enabler), TIMS (we still have fake number plates and vehicle duty evasion), SIMBA (we still have massive levels of duty evasion at ports), the IEBC Election System (we had to do two costly elections - leading to a massive waste of funds and an increase of perceived political risks, which also hit the economy very hard adding billions in hidden costs).. even eCitizen has reportedly not been spared, going by media reports. These challenges point to a pattern where we fail to deliberately contextualize solutions and come up with holistic approaches. We put too much trust in silo solutions and reactive laws but we have repeatedly ignored the HUMAN ASPECTS leading to repeated failure to realize envisaged benefits. Any system implemented within a corrupt culture will, more likely than not, end up facilitating (and worsening the cost and scale of) corruption. Guaranteed. This is our reality. Can corruption be solved in Kenya in a sustainable way (without risking stability)? Perhaps government can run a global competition for innovative ideas on how to solve corruption in Kenya. The public can watch high profile debates by local and foreign experts, as part of sensitization/education, and then vote on the top five ideas in every major economic sector, which would then be piloted at designated institutions or counties. Prize for the winning idea in every sector (say USD 1Million) can be linked to results, say after 10-15 years, once the idea is fully implemented and proven to have significantly met the ToR targets in an independently verifiable way (and backed by public perceptions). Good evening. Brgds, Patrick. Patrick A. M. Maina[Cross-domain Innovator | Independent Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations] On Thursday, April 11, 2019, 2:25:32 PM GMT+3, Eshuchi Richard via kictanet <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote: Just to put CS's full remarks into context and an illustration on why accessing services would be harder in comparison, Ministry of Interior posted the audio through: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/662150267181777/posts/2305403209523133?sfns=mo Twitter: https://twitter.com/InteriorKE/status/1116221458966044673?s=19 On Thu, Apr 11, 2019, 13:10 Wamathai (HapaKenya) via kictanet <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote: Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i has said that it will be very hard for those who will not have registered for the Huduma Namba to access Government services. https://hapakenya.com/2019/04/11/it-will-hard-to-access-government-services… _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/eshuchi.richard%40gma… 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 Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/pmaina2000%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.

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It will be hard to access Government services without a Huduma Namba, Matiang'i says
by Wamathai (HapaKenya) 11 Apr '19

11 Apr '19

Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i has said that it will be very hard for those who will not have registered for the Huduma Namba to access Government services. https://hapakenya.com/2019/04/11/it-will-hard-to-access-government-services…

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Fwd: [AfrICANN-discuss] Reminder: ICANN66 Fellowship Application round closes on April 11.
by Barrack Otieno 10 Apr '19

10 Apr '19

Listers, This might be of interest to you. Regards ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Yaovi Atohoun <yaovi.atohoun(a)icann.org> Date: Wed, Apr 10, 2019 at 9:05 AM Subject: [AfrICANN-discuss] Reminder: ICANN66 Fellowship Application round closes on April 11. To: AfrICANN Community List <africann(a)afrinic.net> Hello Everyone / Bonjour à tous EN: ICANN66 will take place from 2-7 November 2019 in Montreal, Canada. The deadline to apply is 11 April 2019, 23:59 UTC. More information at https://www.icann.org/fellowshipprogram FR : La réunion ICANN66 aura lieu du 2 au 7 novembre 2019 à Montréal (Canada). La date limite de réception des candidatures est le 11 avril 2019 à 23h59 UTC. Plus d’information à https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-55-2019-03-11-fr Thanks/Merci -- Yaovi Atohoun Stakeholder Engagement and Operations Manager- Africa; ICANN Tel. +229 66015649/65209067 www.icann.org _______________________________________________ AfrICANN mailing list AfrICANN(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/africann -- Barrack O. Otieno +254721325277 +254733206359 Skype: barrack.otieno PGP ID: 0x2611D86A

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Re: [kictanet] [labor issues] why Kenya should urgently BAN unpaid
by Jimmy Gitonga 08 Apr '19

08 Apr '19

I think Ali is being “clever” like the proverbial hare. Honestly, we need to stop looking at everything the West, including their vile practices, as gospel truth. Taking on interns, with the sole intention of getting unpaid labour, even if it is the "sneaker network" that gets you coffee is despicable. The intern, no matter how enterprising, will be used and dumped. "Why would a rational employer - whose goal is to maximise margins (within a very difficult / hostile business environment) - be interested in paying an experienced ex-intern, when they can simply get a fresh unpaid intern for free, train them within hours or a couple of days, even as other unpaids hold the temporary slack? This where we are headed - if not there already. The youth are "working" but they are still technically unemployed because they are not earning a living." If getting “ahead" means bowing down to the "scacity mentality” idol and the stepping on people is one’s business success mantra, may that business perish and it’s “rational” employer perish. Please note, we are not talking about the graduate who feels entitled to get paid internship, no. Those kinds of people will always be weeded out by the system. Their attitude alone is their undoing. We are talking about the ones with little to no social advantage of networks of family or friends who can supoort unpaid internship. This is where our Africans, “Utu ni watu”, “Ubuntu” and “I am because we are” comes in. Best Regards, Jimmy Gitonga Web Software Design and Development LinkedIn: Jimmy Gitonga | Twitter: @Afrowave ______________________________________ Web: afroshok.com <http://afroshok.com/> > On 3 Apr 2019, at 3:15 PM, kictanet-request(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke wrote: > > Many thanks for your thoughts Ali.? > Indeed, words in most languages can have multiple, totally unrelated, meanings (e.g. "saw" the noun/hardware, "saw" the verb/cutting, and "saw" the past tense of "see"... or in Swahili "paka" the cat vs "paka" as in to paint) so in this case the appropriate focus would be on the vocation-oriented definition of "intern" (though I can see material for contextual innuendo in the two meanings hehe). > Some well known intellectuals on twitter are getting stuck on written definitions and relying on logical fallacies which is not intellectually sincere. Are definitions cast in stone? Can they have a shelf-life? Don't they change with time?? > Fact: Definitions only document meaning as it evolves over time; they are not the source of meaning. The general rule of thumb is that Informality precedes formality. > Thankfully the etymology (origin of a word and the historical development of its meaning) of "intern" shows that the meaning and usage, in professional context, has indeed been evolving. > > According to an online source (link below), the term is believed to have been documented as a noun circa 1879 for the teaching and medical professions, and then extended to other profesions around 1963. It was formally recognize as a verb circa 1933 within the medical field. > Prior to that, and going back as far as medieval times (in western cultures), people learned through apprenticeships and although you did not get "paid" in the narrow sense of the term, your boss provided you with free *accommodation* and *food*. Such contextual nuances around the apprenticeship system are (conveniently) ignored by advocates of unpaid internships. > In African culture (link below), apprenticeship was a very POSITIVE community experience. People had EMPATHY for one another and collective gains were favored over individual gains. Not caring whether someone had food or a safe place to sleep was unheard of. Lets face it, cold blooded, greed motivated exploitation of the youth within a community is an alien concept in most (if not all) of pre-colonial Africa.? > In traditional China and (I believe) India the apprentice is technically "adopted" and the relationship is parent - child, but in vocational context. There is mutual love, concern and caring even if the apprentice is treated harshly. It never crosses over to predation. > We are Africans. Unless we want to give up our core identity, the quest for meaning in everything we do (and the policies we support) has to be done within the context of our Africanness. Even as we adopt poitive aspects of foreign cultures in a cosmopolitan world, we can strive to retain the best aspects of our indigenous cultures. For example if the industrialized world had emulated positive African philosophies like simple contented living in harmony with nature, we would not have existential problems like climate change, WMDs, world wars, economic inequality and so on.? > Imported meanings are not rules cast in stone. We can, if we want to, define our own modern, African, definition of the word "intern" in a way that that protects our youth from abuse and exploitation.? > The youth are our children and our future. Let us not raise a generation of bitter, angry and resentful people. It's not a smart thing to do. > Thanks & have a great day! > Patrick. > Patrick A. M. Maina[Cross Domain Innovator | Independent Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations] > Links: > 1. Etymology of the word "intern":https://www.etymonline.com/word/intern <https://www.etymonline.com/word/intern> > > 2. Traditional apprenticeship in Africahttps://www.academia.edu/11682853/Revisiting_the_role_of_traditional_… <africahttps://www.academia.edu/11682853/Revisiting_the_role_of_traditional_…> > > 3. Weird history of internshiphttps://www.businessinsider.com/the-weird-history-of-how-internsh… <internshiphttps://www.businessinsider.com/the-weird-history-of-how-internsh…> >

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Breaching the Access to Information Act, 2016
by S.M. Muraya 08 Apr '19

08 Apr '19

Dear Listers, Today, there is a "Daily Nation" article about MP's going after another MP for irregularly acquiring information, quoting Section 22 (1) of the Leadership and Integrity Act provides that a state > officer shall not directly or indirectly use or allow any person under the > officer’s authority to use any information obtained through or in > connection with the office, which is not available in the public domain, > for the furthering of any private interest, whether financial or otherwise. http://www.parliament.go.ke/sites/default/files/2018-04/32_Rules_Governing_… Question is where is the line drawn when information is illegally not just irregularly kept out of the public domain, breaching the Access to Information Act, 2016? Typically this would refer to information not compromising National Security but actually enhancing it (by safeguarding public resources). http://www.ombudsman.go.ke/index.php/access-to-information/access-to-inform…

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Fwd: [Internet Policy] The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
by Barrack Otieno 08 Apr '19

08 Apr '19

Patrick, This might be of interest :-) Regards ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Richard Hill <rhill(a)hill-a.ch> Date: Wed, 3 Apr 2019 15:35:00 +0200 Subject: [Internet Policy] The Age of Surveillance Capitalism To: "Internetpolicy@Elists. Isoc. Org" <internetpolicy(a)elists.isoc.org> I presume that most people on this list will have heard about a book by a Harvard professor that is highly critical of the current advertising-driven Internet business model. Here is a review: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/20/shoshana-zuboff-age-of-su rveillance-capitalism-google-facebook Best, Richard -- Barrack O. Otieno +254721325277 +254733206359 Skype: barrack.otieno PGP ID: 0x2611D86A

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Konza City is now 10 years old
by Odhiambo Washington 08 Apr '19

08 Apr '19

Hello listers, Does anyone know what activities are going on at the famed Konza City or it's one of those big white elephants?? Brian Gitonga Marete <https://www.facebook.com/marete?__tn__=%2CdlC-R-R&eid=ARDI1jSnyu5oBA5420Rmu…> shared a post <https://www.facebook.com/jaylaan11/posts/10219010532593216>. 12 hrs <https://www.facebook.com/marete/posts/10156427390174934> · It was obvious that Konza City was a con job from the get go. Concentrations of industrial excellence do not sprout up suddenly just because physical buildings and infrastructure are around. That is not the bottleneck, and anyone can provide that. The real battles of realizing something like the proposed Konza city are elsewhere. <https://www.facebook.com/jaylaan11/posts/10219010532593216?__tn__=%2CdH-R-R…> -- Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254 7 3200 0004/+254 7 2274 3223 "Oh, the cruft.", grep ^[^#] :-)

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Modernizing Tertiary Education - some ideas
by Jimmy Gitonga 05 Apr '19

05 Apr '19

Greetings Patrick, I saved this for the weekend so that I can reflect on it as I read it carefully. I almost shed tears at how good and elaborate the ideas you have proposed are. Thank you. Last week, I met a PhD holder who has lectured for more than a decade as a senior lecturer with no hope of progressing to professorship. Why? Today, to be considered for associate professorship in a Kenyan university, you must supervise two PhD seekers and four master’s degree students, working through their thesis. This was made necessary because oft times, a PhD candidate would submit his work to the supervisor who would then sit on it, since it did not affect the supervisor’s career prospects. However, now my “Dr.” friend is in a discipline that is not attracting a lot of research and thus PhD candidates. The few he has had to deal with try to push shoddy work, believing that he would stoop low and pass the work since he “needs” his professorship. He is resigned to the fact that though he is producing fresh knowledge that is being published outside the country, on the continent and beyond, he now seeks to retire from academia and pursue other literary interests. I contrasted his path with mine; non-stop learning, education delivered high speed on the Internet, designing and developing web software with no end in demand in sight. I just have to keep my mind sharp and eyes open for relevant technologies that are applicable in Kenya and Africa as a whole. My path was the non-standard one and for a long time my PhD friend use to worry for me. Now I am worried for him and for all the ones taking that “normal” path. Recently, I heard of a young “mechanic” who repairs the now electronic cars. Think of the latest Range Rovers. I was told that the cheapest he charges for a “look-see” of a car is 2,500/-. It hit me. That is what an chest specialist charges. TVET is going to be the way to go. Finland has the best offer in this area - http://www.euroeducation.net/prof/finco.htm <http://www.euroeducation.net/prof/finco.htm>. And I have not even discussed IoT. Best Regards, Jimmy Gitonga Lead, Design and Development at Afroshok LinkedIn: Jimmy Gitonga | Twitter: @Afrowave ______________________________________ > On 28 Mar 2019, at 11:05 PM, kictanet-request(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke wrote: > > Greetings Listers, > The world is changing very rapidly and things that the older generations took for granted no longer apply. There are no jobs waiting for students when they graduate - that era ended decades ago (I believe in the 70s and early 80s). Yet, for some reason, academia appears to be stuck in time, doing things that no longer make sense. > > Here are some thoughts / ideas on what can be done to reform and rescue our tertiary education sector. (PhD holders might be interested in debating point No. 6. - is it too harsh or the right approach in principle? HR Policy practitioners might be interested in point No. 5..): > > 1. There is need for Government to strategically position TVETs and Universities as direct implementers of Vision 2030 and Big 4 objectives. Example - academia role should include creating sustainable jobs directly, and taking measures to guarantee high employment of graduates; instead of mechanically preparing our young people for jobs that may, or may not exist, then leaving them trapped in debt. > > 2. Expand CUE mandate to cover TVETs (as Commission for Tertiary Education); and then Implement a Universal Credit Accumulation and Transfer System - that creates multiple pathways *of equal status* towards higher qualifications (i.e. including transferable credits for TVET education and/or credits for demonstrable on-the-job / startup experience). This calls for a national skills mapping database that is derived from, and/or supports strategic national objectives (as outlined in vision 2030 & Big 4 master-plans). Accelerate regional accreditation to leverage intra-Africa synergies in view of AfCFTA. > > 3. Require *all* form 4 / grade x leavers to first attend TVETs for at least 2 years to gain hands-on technical skills for real world self-sufficiency, before they (i.e. those who wish to do so) attend university. Rationale: We need to keep our eye on the goal. The goal of education, imo,is not to create "paper churning, hands-off, intellectual elites" who lack real-world-relevant skills, but to create a competent, grounded, hands-on, innovative and future-proofed workforce that is capable of applying knowledge by making or doing things that help solve, in tangible and measurable ways, very specific challenges faced by our country (primarily) or to help solve global problems in a way that primarily and tangibly benefits our country (enhancing our global brand / jobs creation / high-value exports / attracting high quality FDI etc). > > 4. De-eliticize university education by creating high-value technical specialist pathways via TVETs (for high paying jobs and societal status / recognition). This would temper the belief held by the general public that a university degree is the only path to success and social mobility / status. > > 5. Employers to emphasize and primarily rely on real-world achievements for competence signalling - rather than relying on academic papers. For example, job advertisements should stop asking for academic qualifications. This is a pointless, tick-box requirement that only creates a market for "River Road degrees". > > For regulated roles, like medicine or engineering, having a valid practicing license should be a sufficient indicator of academic achievement as the license (hopefully) cannot be issued without verification of the required academic background. > > We now have the indigenous capacity to implement competency-based hiring painlessly with technology (e.g. via ongoing programs of supervised, automated technical screening assessments to create a national pool of vetted job candidates - which incidentally would eliminate a lot of wastefully redundant HR activities - at macro level). Hopefully tenderpreneurs / MNC lobbyists will not hijack and subvert this idea. Shindwe! :-) > > Incidentally implementing the above suggestion will reduce incentives for cheating or cram & dump learning. > > 6. Using policy and regulation to strictly limit career pathways for PhD holders such that they primarily engage in research and academia. Government and corporations should stop hiring PhD holders for full-time administrative roles, for example. It is wasteful, short-sighted and counterproductive (considering the massive resources expended to educate people to that level, as well as the need to productively leverage the intellectual potential of earned PhD holders as a super-scarce resource in Africa). > > PhD holders should be primarily dedicated to pushing the boundaries of knowledge for the benefit of our country - and they should be rewarded very well for it and accorded top societal honors / as well as status (so they are not tempted to seek jobs that do not develop / challenge their intellectual abilities / potential). > > The only exception would be for very specific, short term, high-impact, research-reliant-projects or initiatives with very precise and highly specialized objectives, where exceptionally high levels of real expertise is needed. > > The PhD designation should have (3-5) designation levels that signify real-world achievement at post-doctorate level. PhD holders, other than retirees, who wish to permanently engage in non-research work (or work that can be done by Masters / Bachelors degree holders) should be required to permanently relinquish their PhD qualification and lose the "Dr." designation. > > There needs to be a distinctive high-status designation for non-academic honorary doctorates e.g. "Exceptional Life Achiever Degree" with the title "Lx." in recognition of non-academic transformational achievements with high societal impact. > > 7. Academic institutions should form corporations to engage in intellectual property businesses for profit (e.g. IP licensing / manufacturing & distribution) to raise research funds. This requires a pragmatic expansion of institutional mandate as well as strengthening and contextualizing the indigenous IP framework. > > 8. Pedagogy should be driven by a projects-based learning paradigm with deep integration of learning and real-world work. Removing artificial (and retrogressive) boundaries or demarcations between industry and academia: > > > a. Why should learners first graduate before they can start working? This is a mindset problem. Does it make sense to have schoolwork and employment / MSME startups kept separate (yet they are complementary and interdependent)? > > b. Why allow someone without real-world paid work (not industrial attachment, but a real job or real MSME startup experience) to graduate? > > c. Why can't students learn and gain academic credits on the job (doing real, paid work for someone or in their own startups)? > > d.? Why ask our children to choose the projects they want to work on without setting a strategic real-world context that is mapped to real world goals (e.g. Big 4) and real career prospects. Projects-based learning can solve this - with emphasis on projects that can create sustainable wealth for the country (sold to regional governments or the consumer public). > > > > We need to train a generation of self-starters who can survive by creating their own opportunities - irrespective of the economy or jobs market. > > Students should incorporate real startups (with seed funding from Government) during 2nd year - to make and sell products that solve real-world problems in our country / region - and then earn transferable academic credits for demonstrable experience. > > Employers like Government, MSMEs and corporations can embed academia into the workplace by adopting an apprenticeship approach in partnership with Universities and TVETs to hire 2nd year students and assign them to projects that enable them to earn "on-job learning credits". > > By the time they graduate, at least 99% ought to be gainfully employed (or running real businesses). This is how you tackle poverty and unemployment in a sustainable way. So what really prevents us from doing this - other than mindset? > > I know the above might read like heresy to traditionalists - but before you grab the pitchforks and light the torches, look around you... status quo is not working, that's the reality - and things will get worse as 4IR gradually kicks in - if we don't effect radical transformation. > > I'd be happy to have a round-table with the faculty of any tertiary institution that is interested in discussing / debating the above points. > > Have a great evening! > Patrick A. M. Maina[Cross Domain Innovator | Independent Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations]

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Blockchain Taskforce Report - Reminder No. 1
by Ali Hussein 05 Apr '19

05 Apr '19

Listers Has anyone perhaps have had a look at the above report? Shouldn't this report have been released by now? Almost 9 months later? Dr. Ndemo, as Chair of the Taskforce please give us an update? Regards Ali Hussein Principal AHK & Associates Tel: +254 713 601113 Twitter: @AliHKassim Skype: abu-jomo LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim 13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing, Chiromo Road, Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya. Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the organizations that I work with.

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DATA PROTECTION BILL PROPOSED AMENDMENTS
by Mutindi Muema 05 Apr '19

05 Apr '19

Dear Listers, Please note that the Hon Gideon Moi is proposing the attached amendments to the Data protection Bill. They are about 27. Also note, the proposal to amend scope under Clause 3 of the Bill amends the scope of the Act to exempt 'a public body responsible for national security the purpose of which is the prevention, detection, investigation or punishment of a crime.' as well as ' a person in the course of a personal or household activity.' Kind regards, Mutindi.

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Fwd: [AfrICANN-discuss] Take Part in ICANN's Age Diversity and Participation Survey
by Barrack Otieno 05 Apr '19

05 Apr '19

Listers, For those that participate in ICANN. Regards ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Bob Ochieng <omondibob(a)gmail.com> Date: Wed, 3 Apr 2019 12:47 Subject: [AfrICANN-discuss] Take Part in ICANN's Age Diversity and Participation Survey To: afrICANN Community List <africann(a)afrinic.net> How to Participate To participate, please visit http://go.icann.org/agesurvey by 19 April 2019. You can take the survey in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Please see full blog here: https://www.icann.org/news/blog/take-part-in-icann-s-age-diversity-and-part… Regards Bob. _______________________________________________ AfrICANN mailing list AfrICANN(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/africann

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[labor issues] why Kenya should urgently BAN unpaid internships
by Patrick A. M. Maina 04 Apr '19

04 Apr '19

Greetings Listers, There is a (misplaced) belief that unpaid internships are a "win-win" because they incentivize employers to create opportunities (and incur potentially unrecoverable costs) for on-the-job training of fresh graduates, who would otherwise not have a real-world platform for gaining experience. The argument often posited in support of unpaid internships is that the intern has more to gain, as it is unlikely that a fresh graduate will create more value for the employer than s/he draws from the internship. Further, it is assumed that once they have some real world experience, the graduates will have better chance at getting a paid job elsewhere. Here's the problem with that kind of thinking: 1. Phantom Jobs Paradox: A 3 month internship most likely involves entry level assignments with very limited bounds of autonomy or direct commercial impact (e.g. Web Dev, Gathering & Compiling, Graphics design, User support, Customer Service, Reception, Office admin, Project Assistants etc). Now, given the rigid way that the labor markets work, in order for a candidate to realistically leverage the experience earned during internship, s/he will have to apply for a paid job that is very similar to what s/he did during the internship.. but wait... those are the exact same jobs being offered to unpaid interns - so the ex-intern is locked-out and remains jobless because no paid jobs exist for the experience s/he gained while working for free! Why would a rational employer - whose goal is to maximize margins (within a very difficult / hostile business environment) - be interested in paying an experienced ex-intern, when they can simply get a fresh unpaid intern for free, train them within hours or a couple of days, even as other unpaids hold the temporary slack? This where we are headed - if not there already. The youth are "working" but they are still technically unemployed because they are not earning a living. The unintended consequence here is that employers have figured out (as they were bound to) that they can use unpaid interns to profit from free labor (with the "bonus" of dodging "headaches" like PAYE, NSSF, NHIF and Px filing), and this is incentivizing them to keep rotating unpaid interns - in perpetuity. It is even worse if Government subsidizes the stipend - creating an artificial band-aid relief that does not add sustainable value. Friends, that is not job creation. The risk here is that these policies are creating a growing, frustrated, resentful (and increasingly angry) pool of young, unemployed former interns - who feel used, and don't understand why their "investment" in work experience did not pay-off with a real job, as society had "promised". This is already being voiced on twitter (link below - #payinterns). While attempting to solve the youth-unemployment problem, in good faith, policy makers could be unintentionally creating a simmering political time bomb. Something to think about and address (urgently). 2. Sub-optimization problem: As stated in my article on Modernizing Tertiary Education, we have an obsolete education system which churns out graduates without taking ownership for jobs creation (comfortable in the outdated, buck-passing silo culture that believes jobs creation is someone else's i.e. private sector or government, problem / responsibility). 3. Demand vs Supply: The unpaid internship model requires a high-growth economy, which must create a greater demand for jobs each year than the available pool of candidates (>approx 800,000 - 1 Million new *real* vacancies for paid jobs annually). This incentivizes companies to compete for the experienced candidates. The fastest way to do this is to create a rapid growth environment for MSMEs and startups. But the approach should be intelligent and evidence driven. Data driven evidence (from the US, see link below - but relevant locally - which can be confirmed by analyzing performance of local youth entrepreneurship programs) shows that the older generation (age 36 - 69) are the best targets for MSME stimulus initiatives, with higher chances of sustainable success, whereas ages 18-29 have the worst rate of startup failures - which makes sense, because experience truly counts in business and - the learning curve in business is super-steep(!). Data clearly shows that it is wasteful to throw money at the youth when they don't have the skills to manage / multiply it; the grit to persevere; and broad experience to draw on - and these are not skills that can be taught in an entrepreneurship class. The smarter way is for Government to encourage *experienced* older founders to start businesses and get government funding + growth support on condition that they hire our youth for high quality paid apprenticeships. The minimum headcount and/or salaries can even be set by Government for those who receive funding. This should happen within a designed ecosystem framework (interested policy makers are welcome to contact me for more details on how to go about this). >From a root-cause perspective, what is lacking in youth-oriented programs is strategic design for sustainability. We need to move from NGO-style interventionist paradigms to evidence driven master-plan design paradigms. Youth-targeting programs should be compulsorily derived from the master-plan (Vision 2030 / Big 4) and have precise, meaningful and measurable traceability back to the master-plan, in terms of real contributions towards getting the country closer to the vision. The end game must be clear - what does the 2030 economy look like (e.g. in measurable terms such as % unemployment, median wage, GDP, sector contribution, Stock Markets, balance of trade etc)? Or will we just wake up in 2030 and find everything has magically fallen into place? How do we know where we are right now in terms of Vision 2030 overall (and this is not about project status but macro-level metrics)? Are we 10% there? 60%? 30%? How do we know the status is reliable (e.g. can things be seen, is there data, and does on-the-ground sentiment reflect it)? What is working? What is not? What are the lessons so far? How will we know we have arrived (e.g. if we get there early)? How do we know if we are off course? Is there a data driven dashboard tracking Vision 2030? Here's a quick recap of problems with unpaid internships: 1. It encourages exploitation of young people as free labor; 2. Creates a loophole for companies to dodge PAYE for certain types of jobs; 3. It creates phantom jobs - busy young people who are technically unemployed (not earning a living);4. It unfairly locks out the poor. Those who can't afford to work for free (where do they get fare? or food?); 5. Increases political risks by creating a pool of angry, disillusioned youth;6. It is evidence of poor economic policies (interventionist instead of evidence driven master-plan design). Brgds,Patrick Patrick A. M. Maina[Cross Domain Innovator | Independent Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations] Links: 1. European Parliament bans Unpaid Internships https://www.neweurope.eu/article/european-parliament-bans-unpaid-internship… 2. Older entrepreneurs more likely to succeed: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2018/08/05/proof-that-the-most-succ… 3. Does Kenya's Youth Enterprise Development Fund Serve Young People (Maurice Sikenyi) https://bulletin.ids.ac.uk/idsbo/article/view/2874/ONLINE%20ARTICLE 4. Worrying trend of gambling youth + 500,000 in CRB blacklisthttps://sokodirectory.com/2019/04/76-of-kenyan-youth-are-gamblers-… 5. Why youth and women enterprises fail in Africa (Prof Michael Chege) https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/business/Why-youth-and-women-enterprises-f… 6. Hashtag Payinterns (Kenya) on Twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/payinterns?src=hash

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Request for addition of new member - Peter Muchemi
by Denis G. Wahome 03 Apr '19

03 Apr '19

Hi Wash, Assist adding Peter to the list he is a 15+ year veteran in the industry - developer, lecturer and entrepreneur. Have a pleasant evening. Denis Wahome [image: Error Icon] Address not found Your message wasn't delivered to *kictane(a)gmail.com* because the address couldn't be found, or is unable to receive mail. LEARN MORE <https://support.google.com/mail/?p=NoSuchUser> The response was: The email account that you tried to reach does not exist. Please try double-checking the recipient's email address for typos or unnecessary spaces. Learn more at https://support.google.com/mail/?p=NoSuchUserz200sor1607336itb.10 - gsmtp Show quoted text

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Re: [kictanet] Blockchain Taskforce Report - Reminder No. 1
by Jimmy Gitonga 03 Apr '19

03 Apr '19

Hi Mwendwa, The Jadili <http://jadili.ictpolicy.org/> platform housed by Strathmore University has been working to be the portal for ICT based legislative bills in particular. Jadili has been relatively active in this area and we hope it does continue. However, Jadili is based on the Madison Project <https://github.com/opengovfoundation/madison/milestones> Sadly, the Madison Project, an open source project that Jadili is based on was abandoned after Obama left office and is likely to completely stall. In the meantime, Mzalendo Trust has been working hard on a platform named Dokeza <https://dokeza.mzalendo.com/>, a Swahili word largely meaning ‘Share your Idea’. Dokeza is being used to keep an eye on legislative bills going through the Kenyan Parliament with a mission to facilitate public participation in the Parliamentary processes. This platform should facilitate Information Sharing, Research and Networking, especially around our legislative bill development process. We are working to making Dokeza a repository of bills in particular before they become law and archive the process and the public participation that takes place to come to the bill that is signed into law. But most importantly, we are working to innovating around public participation in the legislative bill process and enabling relevant and adequate public participation. As part of the team, we would be very happy to get the Listers’ input on what and how we can make this platform the one-stop shop for our legislative bills, especially the ICT ones that govern the very platform. Power to the hijacking, Ali :-D Best Regards, Jimmy Gitonga Web Software Design and Development LinkedIn: Jimmy Gitonga | Twitter: @Afrowave ______________________________________ Web: afroshok.com <http://afroshok.com/> > On 2 Apr 2019, at 2:52 PM, kictanet-request(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke wrote: > > Message: 2 > Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2019 12:34:51 +0300 > From: Mwendwa Kivuva <Kivuva(a)transworldafrica.com <mailto:Kivuva@transworldafrica.com>> > > This reminds me of the reminders of the status of the implementation of the > draft ICT policy 2016. How did that go? > > Sorry Ali for hijacking your thread :-). > > Do we have a sort of portal on the status of bills, policy documents, and > strategies ... and the responsible departments? That would make our work > easy in following up. > > So here are the documents we are awaiting some action on. > 1. Draft ICT policy 2016 > 2. Draft National Broadband Strategy 2019 > 3. Draft Critical Infrastructure protection bill (or is it Public structure > and Safety bill?) > 4. National Cybersecurity strategy (What is the status in developing a new > strategy? Probably ICTA can give an update) > 5. Data protection bill > 6. Blockchain and AI task force report > > Regards > ______________________ > Mwendwa Kivuva, Nairobi, Kenya > > On Mon, 1 Apr 2019 at 15:49, Ali Hussein via kictanet < > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke <mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote: > >> Listers >> >> Has anyone perhaps have had a look at the above report? Shouldn't this >> report have been released by now? Almost 9 months later? >> >> Dr. Ndemo, as Chair of the Taskforce please give us an update? >> >> Regards >> >> *Ali Hussein* >> >> *Principal* >> >> *AHK & Associates* >> >> >> >> Tel: +254 713 601113 >> >> Twitter: @AliHKassim >> >> Skype: abu-jomo >> >> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim> >> <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim>> >> >> >> 13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing, >> >> Chiromo Road, Westlands, >> >> Nairobi, Kenya. >> > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2019 14:51:15 +0300 > From: Ali Hussein <ali(a)hussein.me.ke <mailto:ali@hussein.me.ke>> > To: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke <mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Blockchain Taskforce Report - Reminder No. 1 > > Mwendwa > > Thanks. Hijacking well accepted. We just need to have an efficient feedback loop for these initiatives. It?s not too much to ask. > > Ali Hussein > Principal > AHK & Associates > +254 0713 601113 > > Twitter: @AliHKassim > Skype: abu-jomo > LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim> > > "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit." ~ Aristotle

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Facebook External Oversight Board Workshop (podcast)
by Alex Comninos 02 Apr '19

02 Apr '19

Hi All On the 26-27 March I attended Facebook’s External Oversight Board Workshop in Nairobi. This is the third round in Facebook’s consultations regarding the setting up of an External Oversight Board, which is to provide oversight of Facebook’s decisions with regards to content. In the spirit of open consultation I made a podcast covering the workshop: https://cybernyama.net/2019/03/28/facebook-external-oversight-board-worksho… More information about the External Oversight Board can be found here: https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2019/01/oversight-board/ https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/a-blueprint-for-content-gove… https://fbnewsroomus.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/draft-charter-oversight-bo… https://fbnewsroomus.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/oversight-infographic.jpg What are your thoughts on the External Oversight Board? Sincerely, Alex

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Online "jobs?" Kenya identified as hotbed of academic writing for Cheating British PhD Students
by peres wamukhula were 01 Apr '19

01 Apr '19

Excerpt: "The industry is worth hundreds of millions of pounds globally, and tens of millions in Britain,’ says Dr Thomas Lancaster of Imperial College London. ‘Kenya is the hotbed where all the writing happens. There is high unemployment and a job working from home is coveted. They have good English and low overheads. ‘There are thousands of people in Kenya whose job is to write essays for cheating students. There are several writers in every apartment block." Here's the full article: Cheating students are paying companies to write PhD theses https://mol.im/a/6861373 via http://dailym.ai/android

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Webinar today: BPF on AI, Big Data and Internet of Things - 01 April 12:00 Noon UTC
by Alex Comninos 01 Apr '19

01 Apr '19

Dear All, the next virtual meeting of the next IGF BPF on Internet of Things, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (IoT-BD-AI) will be held Today on Monday April 1st at noon (12PM) UTC. At the first virtual meeting we defined a (working) title for the BPF: “ Justified Trust in IoT, Big Data, AI to stimulate their use to address societal challenges “, and provided a high level verbatim for this year’s work: ’The BPF as platform for multistakeholder deliberation to discuss best practices contributing to creating trusted systems and applications of IoT, Big Data and AI in an Internet context.’ https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/bpf-internet-of-things-iot… Meeting link: https://intgovforum.webex.com/webappng/sites/intgovforum/meeting/info/12363… I am looking forward to your participation, Kind regards, Alex Comninos

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