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26 March 2008: The world's first Document Freedom Day
by Dorcas Muthoni 26 Mar '08

26 Mar '08

Today is Document Freedom Day: Roughly 200 teams from more than 60 countries worldwide are organising local activities to raise awareness for Document Freedom and Open Standards. In a world where records are increasingly kept in electronic form, Open Standards are crucial for valuable information to outlive the application in which it was initially generated. The question of Document Freedom has severe repercussions for freedom of choice, competition, markets and the sovereignty of countries and their governments. More can be found at: http://www.documentfreedom.org/Open_Standards -- 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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[Fwd: [AfriNIC-rpd] AfriNIC-8/AfNOG2008: Registration is now open]
by alice 25 Mar '08

25 Mar '08

Dear all FYI -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [AfriNIC-rpd] AfriNIC-8/AfNOG2008: Registration is now open Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:37:30 +0200 From: radha(a)afrinic.net <radha(a)afrinic.net> Reply-To: AfriNIC Resource Policy Discussion List <rpd(a)afrinic.net> To: undisclosed-recipients:; [*Apologies for any duplicate mails*] Dear Colleagues, AfriNIC invites you to attend the 8th AfriNIC Open Policy Meeting which will be held in conjunction with AfNOG 2008 from 24 May to 06 June 2008 in Rabat, Morocco. AfriNIC Meetings are open to everyone and provide an excellent opportunity to take part in Internet policy discussions in the African region. Workshop and Meeting ----------------------- The Workshop and all Tutorials will be held at the EMI (Mohammadia Engineering Institute) from 24 May - 2 June 2008. All meetings from 3 - 6 June will be held at the Golden Tulip Farah Hotel. For more details, please see http://www.afrinic.net/meeting/afrinic-8/index.htm AfriNIC-8/AfNOG2008 Registration ----------------------------------- Online Meeting Registration is now open. Please visit: http://www.afrinic.net/meeting/afrinic-8/registration.htm AfriNIC fellowship --------------------- The fellowship programme is reserved for representatives from small organisations actively involved in Internet Operations or ICT Policies in their respective countries and the community and who can positively and actively contribute to IP address management awareness in the AfriNIC region of service. If you are interested in applying for an AfriNIC fellowship, please visit the fellowship section at http://www.afrinic.net/meeting/afrinic-8/index.htm The deadline for applications is 15 April, 2008. Sponsorship opportunities ---------------------------- Sponsoring an AfriNIC meeting will provide you with a range of opportunities to expose your organisation to the African Internet community. If your organisation is interested in participating in the sponsoring of AfriNIC-8, please visit the sponsorship section at http://www.afrinic.net/meeting/afrinic-8/index.htm Visa information ------------------- Some meeting attendees may require a visa to visit Morocco. For your invitation letter, please send the following details (name as on passport, passport no, date of issue and expiry, nationality) to invit-ltt(a)afrinic.net. Please feel free to contact our Meeting Team at meeting(a)afrinic.net for any query or assistance. We look forward to seeing you in Rabat. Regards, AfriNIC Meeting Team See you at AfriNIC-8, Rabat, Morocco, 31 May - 06 June, 2008 _______________________________________________ rpd mailing list rpd(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/rpd

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Looming opportunity for Learning / IT Professional
by Patrick Mburu 25 Mar '08

25 Mar '08

Dear Colleagues, There is an opportunity that is urgently required for those of us in the business of Learning + Development / E-Learning / IT Project Management arena; Unfortunately i am engaged in a similar activity and cannot take on the task; Do you know anyone who fits on the below profile? The assignment will be in Rome, Italy on a short term contract with one of the UN Bodies *Brief:* Project Management Experience with Training background, to work on Global Needs Assessment programme; Must have elearning content design / implementation experience and is familiar with Learning Management systems as this will be the platform that all of the above will be linked to. If you know of someone, please send CV's through to me; Thanks in advance. Patrick Mburu

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ATTN: ICT BOARD MEMBER/S IN THIS LIST( SayNo to OOXML)
by Judy Okite 25 Mar '08

25 Mar '08

Dear Colleagues, I have been deeply grieved by the silence that has surrounded,this matter...How do we talk about growth and development in ICT,if we do not talk about software? A few questions that I have for the Board and a response will be highly appreciated: 1.what steps have the ICT BOARD taken in regard to the matter,on the link below. http://www.noooxml.org/ having in mind that it is less than a week...to final decision 2.What is Kenya's,position? More voice to this reason http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080312151954507 Kind Regards, -- Judy Ann Okite, +254-721237507,+254-734252336 P.O. BOX 2228 00100, NAIROBI,KENYA. 'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. ' Martin Luther King, Jr.

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OOXML Meeting
by Dorcas Muthoni 25 Mar '08

25 Mar '08

*Date:* 27th March 2008 *Venue:* KEBS, Popo Road, Off Mombasa Road *Time:* 9.00am *Who can attend: *People concerned about the standard ( for or against, to understand) *Main events at the meeting: * The final position of Kenya with regard to the OOXML standard will be agreed. -- 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] OOXML: Why Kenya Should Vote NO
by Dorcas Muthoni 25 Mar '08

25 Mar '08

Thanks Eunice, Coming from the ICT Board, i believe it would be nice to share your comments with the list. On Tue, Mar 25, 2008 at 3:59 PM, Eunice Mueni Kariuki < eunicekariuki(a)ict.go.ke> wrote: > This is excellent interms of educating the public on matters of ICT > especially those that affect thier daily ICT lives directly or indirectly. > I am sure many will agree with you and is indeed inline with the mandate of the ICT Board. > However, in the last topic (Why Kenya should say No) > - point no. 3 - I am not convinced that microsoft has what it takes to do > what you say they did. I am also not convinced that those responsible for > forming that committee would fall for this implied trick. Indeed it would be > sad and they should not be in office. > I will refer you to the committee to investigate its composition. KEBS should give you a list of the membership. It was an issue then and it is till now. > > On point no. 4, it would have been helpful if you provided details of > actual propriatory rights. > There is lots of information on this; A quick reference is http://www.noooxml.org/patents. Otherwise I am confused because your email implies that Microsoft also > compromised the ISO body to approve OOXML as a parallel standard! > I just stated things as they are. Its many times that Microsoft has been found to go about things in a skewed manner. A case in point is for example the signing of MOUs with government ministries in pursuit of their business interests. This already happened in Kenya with th Ministry of Education and i hope the ICT board will objectively look at this matter. Muthoni If this were the case then that body does not deserve that office > Just Keeping an open mind.. > > > Eunice > On Tue, Mar 25, 2008 at 1:23 PM, Dorcas Muthoni <dmuthoni(a)gmail.com> > wrote: > > > *What is an Office Document Standard* > > > > A standard file format that would allow office documents such as > > spreadsheets and word processing files to be opened by applications from > > different vendors. > > > > *Why Open Standards > > > > *Creating an open office file format suggests that documents created in > > an application that supports that file format could be opened in other > > applications that support it as well. E.g. A document written using > > OpenOffice for example, could be opened in Ms Office without affecting the > > layout or formatting. > > > > With an open standard; > > > > - You can choose any operating system or application and still be > > able to read and edit all your old documents e.g. whether it is > > Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Unix. > > - You can collaborate with others regardless of which software > > they are using e.g. whether it is LotusNotes, OpenOffice, Ms > > Office, StarOffice, GoogleApps . > > - You can use any software of your choice to exchange documents > > within your organization, with your clients, partners, government and > > everyone else. > > > > The goal of an open standard is to free corporate data from proprietary > > file formats so they can be accessed for years to come no matter what office > > software a company or government is using. Companies and governments are > > currently saving data in proprietary file formats, such as those written in > > Microsoft's Office software (.doc, .xls, .ppt, and lately .docx, .xlsx, > > .pptx), and locking themselves into using that software indefinitely. > > > > A relative example is, we all develop our websites and expect to > > successfully access them using various browser software (Mozilla Firefox, > > Netscape, Safari, Internet Explorer etc). We successfully manage to do this > > because of HTML, XML and Browser open standardization. > > > > The same should happen for office documents and hence definition of open > > document standards. > > > > *What is ODF* > > > > ODF(OpenDocument Format) an ISO standard created with the aim to provide > > an open XML-based document file format for office applications to be used > > for documents containing text, spreadsheets, charts, and graphical elements. > > ODF is defined via an open and transparent process at OASIS ( The > > Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) > > and has been approved unanimously by the International Organization for > > Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission > > (IEC) as an international standard in May 2006. Instead of trying to > > reinvent the wheel ODF reuses established standards like HTML, SVG, XSL, > > SMIL, XLink, XForms, MathML, and Dublin Core. > > > > ODF leaves space for all present and future vendors do implement it and > > makes sure that end users won't suffer from any sort of vendor lock-in. In > > contrast to earlier used binary formats which were cryptic and difficult to > > process, ODF's use of XML makes accessing the document content simple. > > > > ODF guarantees long-term viability. The OASIS ODF TC, the OASIS ODF > > Adoption TC, and the ODF Alliance include members from Adobe, BBC, EDS, EMC, > > GNOME, Google, IBM, Intel, KDE, Novell, Oracle, Red Hat, Software AG and Sun > > Microsystems. Since June 2006 the ODF Alliance has already more than 300 > > members. > > > > *What is OOXML* > > > > A format proposed by Microsoft that comes closest to ODF in function, > > but it fails the test for an Open Standard in various ways, including an > > unclear legal status as well as inclusion of and reference to proprietary > > technologies. It has all signs of a vendor-specific format that only > > Microsoft will be able to implement completely. > > > > Microsoft, which dominates the office software market with its Office > > suite, is a member of OASIS and was fully aware of the technical > > committee that came up with ODF. However, they opted to make Ms Office 2007 heavily > > reliant on XML and also initiated a parallel technical committee to develop > > a standard file format the MS OOXML. > > > > Ms Office 2007 *does not* support ODF. What Microsoft has done is to > > push MS OOXML through a fast track process to have the standard certified by > > ISO. The standard is being reviewed by technical committees (TC) formed > > through national standards bodies. The TCs pass a vote through a ballot > > process. The ballot resolutions are then forwarded to ISO, if the outcome is > > greater support for MS OOXML, then the standard will be passed. > > > > > > *Why should we reject a proprietary standard like OOXML > > > > * > > > > 1. We live in a digital age where paper documents increasingly get > > replaced by electronic records. We may even see the day we no longer use > > paper and pen to keep records. In this situation long-term data becomes > > critical. This is especially the case for legal contracts and government > > documents which stay valid and relevant over decades, or even centuries. > > Just like there were many vendors supplying paper and pens through out the > > history, and not a single one, so do these formats and applications which > > are used to make them need to be vendor independent. That is the only > > guanrantee of long-term access to data, even if companies disappear, change > > their strategies or dramatically raise their prices. > > 2. The Kenyan technical committee (hosted by KEBS) reviewing the > > MS OOXML standard was inappropriately constituted and is highly imbalanced. > > Microsoft recommended business partners to this committee and the first vote > > returned a yes resolution because of this imbalance. On March 19th 2008, the > > committee passed an Abstain resolution which Microsoft is now strongly > > appealing against. > > 3. Further, the MS OOXML standard is defined in 6,000+ pages and > > with the fast track process, it is barely possible to review the standard > > comprehensively. This standard must be reviewed via the regular standard > > process. > > 4. MS OOXML is a proposed parallel standard without a > > justification. > > 5. *OOXML has patent issues* > > > > For all those with questions, feel free to ask. > > > > -- > > 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 > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > > > This message was sent to: eunicekariuki(a)ict.go.ke > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/eunicekariuki%40ict.go… > > > > > > > -- > We have moved to CCK. > > Eunice Mueni Kariuki > Kenya ICT Board > Nairobi, Kenya > > alternative address. eunice.kariuki(a)hotmail.go.ke -- 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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OOXML: Why Kenya Should Vote NO
by Dorcas Muthoni 25 Mar '08

25 Mar '08

*What is an Office Document Standard* A standard file format that would allow office documents such as spreadsheets and word processing files to be opened by applications from different vendors. *Why Open Standards * Creating an open office file format suggests that documents created in an application that supports that file format could be opened in other applications that support it as well. E.g. A document written using OpenOffice for example, could be opened in Ms Office without affecting the layout or formatting. With an open standard; - You can choose any operating system or application and still be able to read and edit all your old documents e.g. whether it is Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Unix. - You can collaborate with others regardless of which software they are using e.g. whether it is LotusNotes, OpenOffice, Ms Office, StarOffice, GoogleApps . - You can use any software of your choice to exchange documents within your organization, with your clients, partners, government and everyone else. The goal of an open standard is to free corporate data from proprietary file formats so they can be accessed for years to come no matter what office software a company or government is using. Companies and governments are currently saving data in proprietary file formats, such as those written in Microsoft's Office software (.doc, .xls, .ppt, and lately .docx, .xlsx, .pptx), and locking themselves into using that software indefinitely. A relative example is, we all develop our websites and expect to successfully access them using various browser software (Mozilla Firefox, Netscape, Safari, Internet Explorer etc). We successfully manage to do this because of HTML, XML and Browser open standardization. The same should happen for office documents and hence definition of open document standards. *What is ODF* ODF(OpenDocument Format) an ISO standard created with the aim to provide an open XML-based document file format for office applications to be used for documents containing text, spreadsheets, charts, and graphical elements. ODF is defined via an open and transparent process at OASIS ( The Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) and has been approved unanimously by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) as an international standard in May 2006. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel ODF reuses established standards like HTML, SVG, XSL, SMIL, XLink, XForms, MathML, and Dublin Core. ODF leaves space for all present and future vendors do implement it and makes sure that end users won't suffer from any sort of vendor lock-in. In contrast to earlier used binary formats which were cryptic and difficult to process, ODF's use of XML makes accessing the document content simple. ODF guarantees long-term viability. The OASIS ODF TC, the OASIS ODF Adoption TC, and the ODF Alliance include members from Adobe, BBC, EDS, EMC, GNOME, Google, IBM, Intel, KDE, Novell, Oracle, Red Hat, Software AG and Sun Microsystems. Since June 2006 the ODF Alliance has already more than 300 members. *What is OOXML* A format proposed by Microsoft that comes closest to ODF in function, but it fails the test for an Open Standard in various ways, including an unclear legal status as well as inclusion of and reference to proprietary technologies. It has all signs of a vendor-specific format that only Microsoft will be able to implement completely. Microsoft, which dominates the office software market with its Office suite, is a member of OASIS and was fully aware of the technical committee that came up with ODF. However, they opted to make Ms Office 2007 heavily reliant on XML and also initiated a parallel technical committee to develop a standard file format the MS OOXML. Ms Office 2007 *does not* support ODF. What Microsoft has done is to push MS OOXML through a fast track process to have the standard certified by ISO. The standard is being reviewed by technical committees (TC) formed through national standards bodies. The TCs pass a vote through a ballot process. The ballot resolutions are then forwarded to ISO, if the outcome is greater support for MS OOXML, then the standard will be passed. *Why should we reject a proprietary standard like OOXML * 1. We live in a digital age where paper documents increasingly get replaced by electronic records. We may even see the day we no longer use paper and pen to keep records. In this situation long-term data becomes critical. This is especially the case for legal contracts and government documents which stay valid and relevant over decades, or even centuries. Just like there were many vendors supplying paper and pens through out the history, and not a single one, so do these formats and applications which are used to make them need to be vendor independent. That is the only guanrantee of long-term access to data, even if companies disappear, change their strategies or dramatically raise their prices. 2. The Kenyan technical committee (hosted by KEBS) reviewing the MS OOXML standard was inappropriately constituted and is highly imbalanced. Microsoft recommended business partners to this committee and the first vote returned a yes resolution because of this imbalance. On March 19th 2008, the committee passed an Abstain resolution which Microsoft is now strongly appealing against. 3. Further, the MS OOXML standard is defined in 6,000+ pages and with the fast track process, it is barely possible to review the standard comprehensively. This standard must be reviewed via the regular standard process. 4. MS OOXML is a proposed parallel standard without a justification. 5. *OOXML has patent issues* For all those with questions, feel free to ask. -- 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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e-Learning Training opportunities
by Gakiria 25 Mar '08

25 Mar '08

Dear All, Attached is a call for nominations to inWEnt regional training courses on e-Learning organized by the Namibia Open Learning Network. Please circulate to your networks in East Africa. Regards Andrew

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Re: [kictanet] Just A Thought!
by David Makali 25 Mar '08

25 Mar '08

Folks, I think the person who offered that job of 8k should be congratulated. S/he is an entrepreneur. Jobs are offered to willing takers and i suppose as we go on an on here, there are already applicants or the slots have already been filled. I don't understand what this whole saga is about: how many of you ventilating on this offer pay your house helps that amount? Yet they most likely work more hours? And guards? Maurice is spot on: pay has to be relative to the income generated. Its take it or leave it. That is not to advocate prejudice or injustice; its being pragmatic in today's world. Lets move on. David --- Maurice Barasa <barazam(a)gmail.com> wrote: > The 8K/month is really low considering the high cost > of living we experience in Kenya. Maybe we can try > and advice the Cyber guy and others who may be in > this forum that have plans to start by considering > the numbers they operate on. > > As stated the Cyber has 8 computer and its open 12.5 > hours. This means that if the cyber has all the > eight computer being paid for at an average of 7 Hrs > a day coz not guaranteed that the computers will be > running all thro, then the computers will earn a > monthly average of KES 80640 (running for an average > of 24 days a month X 8 hrs/day * 60KES/hr since > assumed the Christian lady will be allowed a Sunday > off and they charge 1KES/Min.) and then assumed > there are other things like printing and > photocopying >KES10000 making it a total of 90K > Subtracting the costs before salary, say rent, ISP > charges.... assuming its 40K (advice if wrong), > meaning the net is around 50K, > > What would be the expected salary for the attendant > considering that the owner also needs to make some > profit? > > > Have a thoughtful day, > > Maurice > > > From: catherine ongoro > Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 10:29 AM > To: kaziafrika(a)googlegroups.com > Subject: Re: Just A Thought! > > > Hi all, > I disagree with Dan. The problem wasn't with the > phrase which in my view is very o.k. The problem is > with the specs that is christian (what about > qualified Kenyans from one of the very many > religious followings we have in Kenya?)and the 12.5 > working hrs for Kes. 8,000.00. > > Catherine. > > > dan chira <danchira2004(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Hello Wanakazi, > > If you read the original email, the guy's opening > remarks were: > > "sambaza the following slot. There are hundreds of > able people who qualify and yet they don't have > access to internet, so people should speak of this > vacancies with their friends who don't have access > to Internet. Most of the online applicants I have > come across are people who have options, either they > want to switch jobs etc and so the real needy person > is locked away. So guys be kind to involve those > guys who even can't access Kaziafrica... > > > I think most of the people who acted emotionally > didnt understand the phrase, and they went ahead to > "lock" other people a vancacy that can change their > lifes! > > Just a thought!!! > > Danny > > -- > Real Men Fear God! > See No Evil,Hear No Evil,Say No Evil. > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. > > > > > _______________ "If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster." -- Isaac Asimo, Columbian Author and Scientist _______________ PO Box 3234 00200 Nairobi, Kenya cell: +254 722 517 540 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ YOU ARE IN KAZI AFRIKA GROUP UNSUBSCRIBE: kaziafrika-unsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com http://groups.google.com/group/kaziafrika?hl=en www.kazi-africa.com FOR A VERY PEACEFUL KENYA -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---

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Kenya in dilemma over transfer of Teams shares to private investors
by Alex Gakuru 25 Mar '08

25 Mar '08

Smell something fishy.... <snip> The history of the opening up of the telecommunications sector is littered with cases of manipulation of privatisation to allow insiders and connected operatives to acquire shares they have not paid for. To date, the true owners of an entity by the name Mobitelea Ventures Ltd that indirectly owns a 10 per cent stake in the countrys first ever GSM mobile phone operator, Safaricom Ltd, remains unknown. The investor was procured under the old and opaque privatisation regime. In the case of Teams, the government last year procured 12 investors who will be allotted shares when the cable goes into operation. Although most of the companies allotted shares are well-known telecommunication companies, a number are nevertheless names that dont resonate. The lions share of the company has been allocated to Safaricom Ltd a 20 per cent stake. In the second category are Econet Wireless Kenya Ltd (10 per cent), France Telecom (10 per cent), Kenya Data Networks (10 per cent), Wananchi Telecom Ltd (10 per cent), Telkom Kenya (10 per cent), Jamii Telecom (3.75 per cent) and Gilat Satcom (1.25 per cent). The last category are names that are not too well-known, including an entity by the name Equip Ltd (1.25 per cent), Internet Research (1.25 per cent) and Inhand Ltd (1.25 per cent). The government will retain a 20 per cent stake in the company. Under the present arrangement, the chosen investors must pay 5 per cent of the projects funding requirement of $110 million, which will be put in an escrow account at Standard Chartered Bank of Kenya Ltd. The balance of what they are expected to pay is to be remitted when the parties consummate both a share-subscription agreement and a shareholders agreement in April. Contrary to the general impression, Etisalat of the UAE has no direct shareholding in Teams. What it has signed with the government is a construction and maintenance agreement and a supply contract. Whichever way one looks at it, these investors must be laughing all the way to the bank, having clinched a very sweet deal indeed. Major telecommunications operators and consumers of bandwidth whose names do not appear on the investors list may find it difficult to compete. The investors will be acquiring shares of the asset at the nominal value of $110 million, but its market price is bound to hit the roof once the company starts commercial operations. In a sense, the Teams model runs contrary to the conventional model of funding what is known as consortium cables where entities come together to fund a proportion of development cost and share the construction risk, and are allocated capacity depending on their commitment at all these stages. In this case, it is the Kenya government that has paid for the feasibility studies as well as the cost of the marine survey and engaging Standard Chartered Bank as the financial arrangers to the project. The government is the one carrying the construction risk of the project, meaning that if construction is delayed right now, it is the one that will bear the extra cost burden. With a new privatisation regime having taken effect in January, and the process of transferring the shares to private entities still outstanding, the Treasury must now make a decision on the route to take. According to the Act, all privatisation transactions must be handled according to the new law. Upon coming into operation of the Act, the commission shall take over the implementation and management of any ongoing process leading to a privatisation, says section 52 of the Privatisation Act. However, the same law also says that a privatisation process that is ongoing should not be reversed to the detriment of any party..... <http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/News/news170320081.htm> ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping

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Re: [kictanet] WHO OWNS MOBITELEA ?
by dmakali＠yahoo.com 24 Mar '08

24 Mar '08

Absolutely. We can't allow this to pass! No way. Gideon, moi, marsham and biwott must pay up or surrender mobitelea shares to the public. Even if the judiciary is weak, this grand fraud is too much. Nor shud it escape even with a grand coalition. David Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device -----Original Message----- From: "Robert Alai" <alai.robert(a)gmail.com> Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:16:01 To:"Kazi Africa" <Kaziafrika(a)googlegroups.com> Subject: WHO OWNS MOBITELEA ? Wanakazi The misterious Mobitelea owner is going to make a whooping 10 billion for just a corrupt deal they did with Moi. Now we must really know more about Mobitelea and not putting the matter in the open is just not going to work. Read more on http://www.wananchiforums.com/showthread.php?p=117&posted=1#post117 <http://www.wananchiforums.com/showthread.php?p=117&posted=1#post117> Robert --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ YOU ARE IN KAZI AFRIKA GROUP UNSUBSCRIBE: kaziafrika-unsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com http://groups.google.com/group/kaziafrika?hl=en www.kazi-africa.com FOR A VERY PEACEFUL KENYA -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---

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"The Conversation": Book-Video on HIV/AIDS Disclosure Seeks Feedback/Info
by Janet Feldman 23 Mar '08

23 Mar '08

Hello. I'm writing a book and doing a video documentary on the subject of "The Conversation" that everyone with HIV has when they disclose their HIV status. I'm looking for people from every race and background, including those that are HIV negative, but have had "The Conversation" with HIV positive people. Please let your voice be heard by visiting our website - www.theHIVconversation.com You can learn more about the book, the author, who benefits, read stories of others who have already become a part of the project, and obtain the Questionnaire. Thank you for your assistance and I look forward to hearing your voice in your story about disclosure. Sebastian TheHIVConversation(a)gmail.com --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ YOU ARE IN KAZI AFRIKA GROUP UNSUBSCRIBE: kaziafrika-unsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com http://groups.google.com/group/kaziafrika?hl=en www.kazi-africa.com FOR A VERY PEACEFUL KENYA -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---

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Fwd: [Idlelo2] FOSS & Business
by Judy Okite 22 Mar '08

22 Mar '08

FYI Kind Regards, ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Dapo Ladimeji <dapo(a)ladimeji.co.uk> Date: Mar 22, 2008 3:04 AM Subject: [Idlelo2] FOSS & Business To: council(a)fossfa.net Cc: IDLELO <idlelo2(a)fossfa.net>, Fossfa <council(a)fossfa.net> Hi Folks Two matters: Firstly - hope you guys who went to Idlelo3 had a good time. (I would have loved to come but no ticket!.) Secondly - I have been researching FOSS in business and the market has really changed from the last time I looked. There are now several production ready FOSS erp solutions suitable for small and medium sized businesses. This could be real boon both for medium sized African businesses and for local African developers/consultants. I attach a review article from University of Vienna (2006) - only that I should add that much has even improved since its publication. The quality is such that I can readily recommend these solutions to my clients in the UK. (What a difference a few years can make!) If anyone has any comments let me know. regards Dapo

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Ghetto FM (Nairobi Kenya): Voice for Peace Needs Help to Spread its Messages
by Janet Feldman 21 Mar '08

21 Mar '08

Dear Friends, Last fall, a letter circulated asking for donations (funds and equipment) for Ghetto FM, a project of the development nonprofit, SIDAREC (www.sidarec.org) which works with youth and adults in depressed areas of Nairobi. Since that time, Ghetto FM has been an invaluable ally of the peace process in Kenya. Below please note some of their outstanding activities. Ghetto FM is still very much in need of funds, equipment, training, and other resources in kind, in fact anything helpful to advance the peace process. If anyone can donate, please contact George Onyango at geogias(a)yahoo.com or george(a)sidarec.or.ke. With greatest thanks and all best wishes, Janet Feldman (KAIPPG International, kaippg(a)earthlink.net) Ghetto FM (SIDAREC's radio project): What we did is to use Ghetto FM to gauge the mood of the people and at the same time asking well-wishers to contribute. People have managed to contribute various items like clothes and food, while SIDAREC has donated drugs and asked for help from volunteer doctors for treating people. We have been having peace meetings within the affected slums. We have had them since the violence erupted. These meetings have been successful because of Ghetto FM. Through the station, we have been able to mobilize assistance to the displaced, coordinated meetings between various communities, and preached peace and reconciliation. What has excited me most is the fact that we have our own people, from the areas where we operate, as presenters. These are people who have never went to college to learn journalism. What we did is just to give them an in-house training for a month, and that was it. Looking at some of the programs that they came up with, one will be tempted to think you are dealing with professionals. Therefore any support to help improve Ghetto FM will be a boost to the youth working with the station. In one meeting, we managed to bring in the Provincial Administration. One of our suggestions to the Provincial administration is to help integrate people. This means that any group who wants assistance from the government must show that other community members are involved. In other words, it must show diversity. George Onyango Project Administrator Slums Information Development & Resource Centres (SIDAREC) P.O.BOX 9687 00300 TEL.+254-20-246961/247356 MOBILE:+254-721986320 NAIROBI,KENYA. E-mail: george(a)sidarec.or.ke Website: www.sidarec.org Skype: george.onyango --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ YOU ARE IN KAZI AFRIKA GROUP UNSUBSCRIBE: kaziafrika-unsubscribe(a)googlegroups.com http://groups.google.com/group/kaziafrika?hl=en www.kazi-africa.com FOR A VERY PEACEFUL KENYA -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---

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Ghetto FM (Nairobi Kenya): Voice for Peace Needs Help to Spread its Messages
by Janet Feldman 21 Mar '08

21 Mar '08

Dear Friends, Last fall, a letter circulated asking for donations (funds and equipment) for Ghetto FM, a project of the development nonprofit, SIDAREC (www.sidarec.org) which works with youth and adults in depressed areas of Nairobi. Since that time, Ghetto FM has been an invaluable ally of the peace process in Kenya. Below please note some of their outstanding activities. Ghetto FM is still very much in need of funds, equipment, training, and other resources in kind, in fact anything helpful to advance the peace process. If anyone can donate, please contact George Onyango at geogias(a)yahoo.com or george(a)sidarec.or.ke. With greatest thanks and all best wishes, Janet Feldman (KAIPPG International, kaippg(a)earthlink.net) Ghetto FM (SIDAREC's radio project): What we did is to use Ghetto FM to gauge the mood of the people and at the same time asking well-wishers to contribute. People have managed to contribute various items like clothes and food, while SIDAREC has donated drugs and asked for help from volunteer doctors for treating people. We have been having peace meetings within the affected slums. We have had them since the violence erupted. These meetings have been successful because of Ghetto FM. Through the station, we have been able to mobilize assistance to the displaced, coordinated meetings between various communities, and preached peace and reconciliation. What has excited me most is the fact that we have our own people, from the areas where we operate, as presenters. These are people who have never went to college to learn journalism. What we did is just to give them an in-house training for a month, and that was it. Looking at some of the programs that they came up with, one will be tempted to think you are dealing with professionals. Therefore any support to help improve Ghetto FM will be a boost to the youth working with the station. In one meeting, we managed to bring in the Provincial Administration. One of our suggestions to the Provincial administration is to help integrate people. This means that any group who wants assistance from the government must show that other community members are involved. In other words, it must show diversity. George Onyango Project Administrator Slums Information Development & Resource Centres (SIDAREC) P.O.BOX 9687 00300 TEL.+254-20-246961/247356 MOBILE:+254-721986320 NAIROBI,KENYA. E-mail: george(a)sidarec.or.ke Website: www.sidarec.org Skype: george.onyango

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Fwd: [Idlelo2] Urgent Release - FOSSFA urges African governments to paticipate more effectively in Open Standards Debate
by Judy Okite 21 Mar '08

21 Mar '08

FYI Kind Regards, ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Nnenna <nne75(a)yahoo.com> Date: Mar 21, 2008 4:50 AM Subject: [Idlelo2] Urgent Release - FOSSFA urges African governments to paticipate more effectively in Open Standards Debate To: Fossfa <council(a)fossfa.net>, FAYE Ibrahima <fayiboul(a)yahoo.fr>, fsylla(a)gmail.com, Ken Lohento <klohento(a)panos-ao.org> Cc: ACSIS <africa(a)wsis-cs.org>, IDLELO <idlelo2(a)fossfa.net>, Edward Yeboah < edwardy(a)aiti-kace.com.gh>, Samer Azmy <samer.azmy(a)gmail.com> Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOSSFA URGES AFRICAN GOVERNMENTS TO PARTICIPATE MORE EFFECTIVELY IN THE DEBATE ON OPEN STANDARDS FOSSFA calls on African governments and Standards bodies to participate more effectively in the global debate on Open Standards by encouraging public involvement in the debate at the national level. DAKAR, SENEGAL – (March 20, 2008) The Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA) today called on African governments and Standards bodies to participate more effectively in the global debate on Open Standards, especially the Open Office Extended Markup Language (OOXML) standard. Following a five-day conference in Dakar, Senegal, with a theme, "Making the Knowledge Economy Work for Africa", participants agreed that open standards allow for interoperability (e.g. software packages from various sources can work together), promote innovation and economic growth, and help users avoid being locked-in to proprietary solutions. FOSSFA encourages African governments to facilitate the debate on Open Standards, and involve national experts in decisions regarding technology standards. The organization also urged African governments to seek a collective African voice prior to taking positions on Open Standards issues. Recalling that the last Ballot Re-count Meeting had very little representation from Africa, and that African countries voted in the affirmative without thorough and more inclusive discussions on the issues, FOSSFA strongly calls for more active public engagement of the issues in the future. Further, FOSSFA believes that governments should pay particular attention to procurement practices, especially software agreements between it and software companies. In this regard, FOSSFA noted that the practice of binding a sovereign country to agreements based on non-disclosable memorandums of understanding is not open, contravenes the principles and values of transparency in public procurement, and must be stopped. FOSSFA is closely following the open standards debate in Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, South Africa, Tunisia, and Zimbabwe which have the right to vote in a decision on OOXML on March 29, 2008. FOSSFA strongly urges those of them that voted "YES" in the past to abstain in the next voting session to allow for greater national and continent-wide debate on the issue. ABOUT FOSSFA FOSSFA is the premier African FOSS organization, and was founded under the auspices of the Bamako Bureau of the African Information Society Initiative within the mandate given by African Governments in 1995 to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The Vision of FOSSFA is to promote the use of FOSS and the FOSS model in African development, and the organization supports the integration of FOSS in national policies. FOSSFA also coordinates, promotes, and adds value to African FOSS initiatives, creativity, industry, expertise, efforts and activities at all levels. FOSSFA partners with development organizations who share these goals towards a participatory and gender-mainstreamed sustainable development and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals in Africa. FOSSFA is governed by a Council elected during Idlelo, from which the Executive is chosen. FOSSFA members may be individuals, organizations, development agencies or government FOSS bureaus. The South African Minister of Public Service and Administration, Ms Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi is a FOSSFA present Patron. CONTACT: secretariat(a)fossfa.net nnenna(a)opensource.org www.fossfa.net www.idlelo.org ### ------------------------------ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51438/*http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs> _______________________________________________ Idlelo2 mailing list Idlelo2(a)fossfa.net http://mailman.dst.gov.za/mailman/listinfo/idlelo2 -- Judy Ann Okite, +254-721237507,+254-734252336 P.O. BOX 2228 00100, NAIROBI,KENYA. 'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. ' Martin Luther King, Jr.

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COPYRIGHTS (AND WRONGS)]
by alice 21 Mar '08

21 Mar '08

Dear All Re-thinking copy right laws....interesting developments. best alice http://www.physorg.com/news125154432.html #PhysOrg News search COPYRIGHTS (AND WRONGS) Some of the most important copyright documents ever written are being made available online for the first time, reflecting growing public interest in authorial rights in the wake of the internet revolution. Original papers charting the contributions of thinkers such as Machiavelli, Martin Luther, John Locke, Daniel Defoe, Immanuel Kant, Wordsworth, Balzac and Victor Hugo to the development of copyright law will be available through the Primary Sources on Copyright History Project, which is being launched in London this week. The website, http://www.copyrighthistory.org <http://www.copyrighthistory.org/> , will offer users anywhere in the world the chance to examine more than 10,000 pages of rare legal papers, some of which date back to the invention of the printing press itself. It has been compiled by an international team of lawyers and historians, led by experts from the University of Cambridge and Bournemouth University. Many of the documents, which include writings by some of the greatest scholars of the past 500 years, have until now been stashed away in obscure libraries all over the world. The new digital resource will mean that for the first time anyone who wants to read them can do so at the click of a button. The website's creators say the resource reflects growing public concern about copyright issues raised, in particular, by the advent of the internet revolution. "Copyright law used to be a topic that only affected authors and the industries that exploited their works," Professor Lionel Bently, from the University Cambridge and one of the project's general editors, said. "Today, everyone who uses a computer, operates a web page, accesses online materials, or downloads music from the internet needs to be wary of copyright rules. While in the past copies were made by the exploiters - publishers, broadcasters or the film and record industries - now they are being made by individuals on computers, in their offices or at home." The documents in the collection will be available both as facsimile images and in transcribed and translated formats. The earliest is Johannes of Speyer's monopoly, awarded to the German craftsman by the Venetian Signoria in 1469, and the first known record of a printing privilege granted by a European government. From there, the history of copyright law in Britain, France, Italy, Germany and the United States is traced up to the 1886 Berne Convention - which broke through the national boundaries restricting copyright law. Notable among the British papers is the original parchment copy of the Statute of Anne of 1710, the world's first general copyright law, and a model for much subsequent legislation. The Statute granted authors and their publishers an exclusive term of 14 years (today the duration of copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years). In order to receive copyright protection, all books had to be registered at Stationers' Hall, London, the livery hall of the ancient guild of printers where the digital archive will be formally opened on Wednesday (19 March). Users can also examine Martin Luther's indignant Admonition To The Printers, written in 1525 after one of his manuscripts was stolen by a typesetter, who then reaped the profit of having it printed overseas. The father of Protestantism compares his actions to those of "highwaymen and thieves", adding: "God will see to it that the profit you make on this will just suffice for you to smear your shoes with it!" The archive also features prints and privileges by the German Renaissance artist Albrecht Drer, William Hogarth's intervention that led to the 1735 Engraver's Copyright Act, the philosopher Denis Diderot's letter on behalf of the Paris book trade (1763), and the constitutional clause of the United States (1789) that gave Congress the power to legislate in the fields of patents and copyright in order "to promote the progress of science and the useful arts". The editors hope the digital archive will not just prove useful to scholars and legal historians, but inform legislative debates, such as the Government's current review of exceptions to copyright law, and the push by record company executives to extend the European copyright term in sound recordings from 50 to 95 years. History suggests that legislators should be wary when industrial interests become concerned with the "natural right of authors over the products of their mental labour", as the publishers expressed their argument for the 1710 Statute, and in the subsequent "Battle of the Booksellers". More often than not, this argument has been shown to be a smokescreen for market control. "History provides useful insights into why copyright was thought to be desirable and how it has expanded," said general editor Professor Martin Kretschmer of Bournemouth University. "The primary sources in this collection show that there are many more ways to reconfigure copyright norms than surface in current debate. The regulation of an information society quite urgently needs a wider perspective." The archive can be pre-viewed at http://copyright-project.law.cam.ac.uk <http://copyright-project.law.cam.ac.uk/> . Its permanent web address is: http://www.copyrighthistory.org <http://www.copyrighthistory.org/> . ############################################### Corvallis Action on Globalization (CAG) has been formed to carry forward the energy generated in Seattle at the end of 1999 to generate a grassroots movement. It is our purpose to educate the local and regional community about trade globalization, and, in so doing, to provide a reasoned response to its governmental and business supporters. This list is not moderated, subscription is open, and anything posted by subscribers is mailed to the whole list. Posting is restricted to subscribers. - To SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE to the cag list send email to - majordomo(a)maillist.peak.org <mailto:majordomo@maillist.peak.org> - with the message - subscribe/unsubscribe cag - [No subject is needed.] ======================================= APC Forum is a meeting place for the APC community - people and institutions who are or have been involved in collaboration with APC, and share the APC vision - a world in which all people have easy, equal and affordable access to the creative potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to improve their lives and create more democratic and egalitarian societies. _______________________________________________ apc.forum mailing list apc.forum(a)lists.apc.org http://lists.apc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/apc.forum

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[Fwd: [AfrICANN-discuss] Fellowship Opportunities: AFTLD 2nd African ccTLDs Event, Johannesburg - AfriNIC Community invited ..]
by alice 21 Mar '08

21 Mar '08

AfTLD would like to announce availability of fellowship opportunities to attend AfTLD 2nd African ccTLD event which will be held in Johannesburg from 7th-11th April 200h. Register and apply now : www.aftld.org . ------- About AfTLD 2008 : AfTLD in cooperation with South Africa's Department of Communications “DOC”, AfTLD is organizing the Second African ccTLD event ( Workshops, Training and AfTLD General Assembly meeting in Cape Town, South Africa from7th to 11th of April 2008. AFTLD workshops main objective is to offer advanced DNS training and exchange of best practices between African Country Code Top Level Domain operators/managers. Telecom, ISPs and Governments ICT Agencies, are invited to participate in AfTLD events inorder to be contribute to the process of developing and enhancing a national Internet infrastructure and provide assistance in building a strong local Internet services by promoting and utilizing country’s top level domain . Event Programme : http://www.aftld.org/SA2008/programme.html Previous AfTLD Events : Visit AfTLD 2007 Cairo Page ( materials, AGM Report, Photo Gallery, ..ect ) .. http://www.aftld.org/cairo2007/index.html Best Regards, Mohamed El Bashir VP Communications & Out-Reach AFTLD _______________________________________________ AfrICANN mailing list AfrICANN(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/africann

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Fwd: WCIT 2008 Enewsletter Issue # 5
by waudo siganga 20 Mar '08

20 Mar '08

Some colleagues may be interested in attending the upcoming World Congres s on IT: If you cannot view the newsletter page properly, kindly click on [1]http://data.wcit2008.org/wcitdata/newsletter_mar/Newsletter_5_wcit08_s hort.html [2][nl_email_080319_01.jpg] [nl_email_080319_02.jpg] [nl_email_080319_03.jpg] [nl_email_080319_04.jpg] [3][USEMAP:nl_email_080319_05.jpg] [nl_email_080319_06.jpg] [4][USEMAP:nl_email_080319_07.jpg] [5][USEMAP:nl_email_080319_08.jpg] [6][USEMAP:nl_email_080319_09.jpg] [7][USEMAP:nl_email_080319_10.jpg] [8][USEMAP:nl_email_080319_11.jpg] [9][USEMAP:nl_email_080319_12.jpg] [nl_email_080319_13.jpg] [10][USEMAP:nl_email_080319_14.jpg] [11][USEMAP:nl_email_080319_15.jpg] [12][USEMAP:nl_email_080319_16.jpg] [nl_email_080319_17.jpg] [13][USEMAP:nl_email_080319_18.jpg] [nl_email_080319_19.jpg] [14][USEMAP:nl_email_080319_20.jpg] [nl_email_080319_21.jpg] [nl_email_080319_22.jpg] [15][USEMAP:nl_email_080319_23.jpg] [16][USEMAP:nl_email_080319_24.jpg] If you cannot view this page properly, kindly click on [17]http://data.wcit2008.org/wcitdata/newsletter_mar/Newsletter_5 _wcit08_short.html You are receiving this email from the newsletter subscription at www.wcit2008.org If you would like to discontinue receiving emails from WCIT 2008 simply reply to this email with the word unsubscribe in the subject line References 1. http://data.wcit2008.org/wcitdata/newsletter_mar/Newsletter_5_wcit08_short.… 2. http://www.wcit2008.org/ 3. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap0 4. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap1 5. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap5 6. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap2 7. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap3 8. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap10 9. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap4 10. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap6 11. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap11 12. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap7 13. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap8 14. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap9 15. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap13 16. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap12 17. http://data.wcit2008.org/wcitdata/newsletter_mar/Newsletter_5_wcit08_short.… [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap12 1. http://www.msc.com.my/ 2. http://www.mosti.gov.my/ [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap13 1. http://www.wcit2008.org/ [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap9 1. http://m1e.net/c?78111151-MjnTBO6zBYOpE%403175854-tOuigjBTj7RWY [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap8 1. http://m1e.net/c?78111151-0V1fctuqMpczg%403175854-7X5yaOGA34Lj2 2. http://www.kioskmedia.com.my/ 3. http://www.freenet.com.my/ 4. http://www.sarawak.gov.my/ [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap7 1. http://m1e.net/c?78111151-0V1fctuqMpczg%403175854-7X5yaOGA34Lj2 [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap11 1. http://www.witsa.org/ [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap6 1. http://m1e.net/c?78111151-0V1fctuqMpczg%403175854-7X5yaOGA34Lj2 [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap4 1. http://m1e.net/c?78111151-MjnTBO6zBYOpE%403175854-tOuigjBTj7RWY [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap10 1. http://travel.tourism.gov.my/consumer/about/default.asp 2. http://www.tourism.gov.my/ [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap3 1. http://m1e.net/c?78111151-MjnTBO6zBYOpE%403175854-tOuigjBTj7RWY [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap2 1. http://m1e.net/c?78111151-VCdzRv1eTdhhs%403175853-a73GqCEzaN3Gc 2. http://m1e.net/c?78111151-SlK1ZH7jWanVY%403175852-Z8P3YUhPZyAu%2e [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap5 1. http://m1e.net/c?78111151-MjnTBO6zBYOpE%403175854-tOuigjBTj7RWY [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap1 1. http://m1e.net/c?78111151-C6tKTwa6jL/0E%403175851-wMz.4A62x/B52 2. http://m1e.net/c?78111151-VCdzRv1eTdhhs%403175853-a73GqCEzaN3Gc [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/9TOxlZ2Ayd#FPMap0 1. http://m1e.net/c?78111151-aaUOWXvJ9WCxs%403175850-YGOvnEO3vNZU6 -- waudo siganga emailsignet(a)mailcan.com

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Public Servants and blogging
by Al Kags 20 Mar '08

20 Mar '08

http://davepress.net/2008/03/10/public-servants-must-blog/ I just came across the above article and I wonder what the thoughts of this groups. One would imagine beyond the official policy and regulations there is a social impediment to public servants blogging. What would need to happen to get us to a point where we have official public blogs? I also am reminded of an interesting article (below) by the CEO of Sun Microsystems that was published in a Havard Business Review a while back - If you want to Lead, Blog. If You Want to Lead, Blog *by* *Jonathan Schwartz<http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/hbrol/en/includes/sasearch.jh…> * Many senior executives at Sun, including me, have blogs that can be read by anyone, anywhere in the world. We discuss everything from business strategy to product development to company values. We host open letters from the outside, and we openly respond to them. We talk about our successes—and our mistakes. (If you don't believe me, go to www.blogs.sun.com/roller/page/jonathan?entry=dear_john.) That may seem risky. But it's riskier not to have a blog. Remember when, not long ago, CEOs would ask their assistants to print out their e-mails for them, and they'd dictate responses to be typewritten and sent via snail mail? Where are those leaders now? (The last of my contacts of that breed just retired.) In ten years, most of us will communicate directly with customers, employees, and the broader business community through blogs. For executives, having a blog is not going to be a matter of choice, any more than using e-mail is today. If you're not part of the conversation, others will speak on your behalf—and I'm not talking about your employees. Blogging lets you participate in communities you want to cultivate—whether it's your employees, potential employees, customers, or anyone else—and leverage your corporate culture competitively. Here's a good example: Sun, like every organization, receives e-mails from happy customers lauding one employee or another for good work. The idea came up that we should post these e-mails on a "wall of fame" on our intranet. But we realized that this venue would profoundly limit the number of readers, so someone suggested putting the wall of fame up on my external blog. Immediately, people raised the concern that by identifying our best employees, we'd make them recruitment targets. Well, of course that could happen. But it cuts both ways. The upside is the positive ripple effect on workers' morale and on the public's perception of the company. What's more, my competitors' employees could see what I'm saying about my team and could decide whether I'm more compelling than their own leaders. So rather than being a threat to Sun, blogging about my best employees can build loyalty and be a recruitment tool to boot. How do you get started on a blog? I suggest clearly defining a bloggingstrategy and guidelines. ( Or go ahead and use ours at www.sun.com/aboutsun/media/blogs/policy.html. Just make sure to change the company name.) Then find your voice. Be honest and open. Be respectful of your audiences. Don't treat blogging like advertising—it's not. Use humor. Link to those who interest and influence you. Once you get going, don't micromanage the process. Your legal and corporate communications teams do not have to be involved in every post—after all, they're not involved in every e-mail you send or telephone call you make. Once in a while, you may need to add some clarifying language. (For example, a 14A filing was required for my blog posting about acquisition intentions, just as it would be for many other forms of communication.) But the rule of thumb is simple: Know the guidelines, then let loose. If you 're unclear about your company's policy on something, ask around. Maybe it needs to be more carefully defined. Be sure to listen to feedback and respond to legitimate ideas—from inside and outside. And, most important, write the blog yourself. Authenticity is paramount. Some senior executives hire people to write their blogs. Don'tbother. It's like hiring someone to write your e-mail. It's not going to work. Trust me, your market and your employees are clamoring for executive engagement and insight. They will value and remember your candor. And you'll be surprised by how much you learn from them. Reprint: F0511J

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Malaysia to migrate to the OpenOffice.org open source productivity suite
by Dorcas Muthoni 20 Mar '08

20 Mar '08

Many countries are now saving lots of money and improving balance of trade by adopting Open Source software.. Brazil, Malaysia, South Africa. With the infrastructure/connectivity getting more under control and hardware prices going down tremendously, software will be the next frontier. What is the ICT Board strategy around software issues? I believe this would be a good time for us to begin working out clear strategies around software sub sector. I am curious to know how for example the ICT board will guide a ministry such as the Ministry of Education which apparently has an MOU with Microsoft, the Digital Villages project, Software Development Industry with relation to the outsourcing business opportunities.. Muthoni FYI, URL: http://www.oscc.org.my/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=189&Itemid… Putrajaya, 19th March 2008 - The Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU), today officially adopts a policy to migrate to the OpenOffice.org open source productivity suite. This is in line with the Malaysian Public Sector Open Source Master Plan, which calls for government agencies to reduce costs, increase freedom of choice and interoperability. >From April 1st, MAMPU will start adopting the OpenDocument Format (ODF), standard for all new documents created. ODF the ISO open standard for electronic documents is also the default format for OpenOffice.org. The agency will also uninstall all copies of Microsoft Office by end of 2008. To ensure a smooth migration, presently over 80 agency staff have been trained by the Open Source Competency Centre (OSCC). Additional staff will then be trained internally by the IT department, which will also provide support for OpenOffice.org. Related Documents: * Polisi Penggunaan OpenOffice.org MAMPU (in Malay) * Mengapa Bertukar Kepada OpenOffice.org (in Malay) -- 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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Fwd: Crime rate up with cheap telephony in Uganda
by Mike Theuri 20 Mar '08

20 Mar '08

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Chifu <chifu2222(a)gmail.com> Date: Sun, Mar 16, 2008 at 2:01 AM Subject: [DigAfrica] Crime rate up with cheap telephony in Uganda To: DigAfrica(a)yahoogroups.com Crime rate up with cheap telephony Friday, 14th March, 2008 By Arthur Baguma IN Kampala it is easier to buy a mobile phone sim card than to buy chocolate. Sim cards are sold everywhere, even on streets and in taxi parks, and they cost as little as sh1,500, the price of a pineapple. On Thursday, a Saturday Vision reporter was able to buy sim cards from street vendors, alongside other vendors of items such socks, hankies, underwear and roasted coffee beans. The Police say this has led to an increase in phone-mediated crimes such as conning, threatening lives and insulting, which are committed using phones. "A person can buy a sim card just to abuse someone and after that they throw it away," says Simeo Nsubuga, Police spokesman for Kampala. In Kampala alone, Police records about 10 such cases every week, a sharp increase from 2-3 cases a week two years ago. But the majority are not reported. A makerere Uniiversity lecturer received a phone call from someone claiming to be his former student. The caller introduced a `juicy deal', namely an opportunity to sell machine bearings to a mzungu representative of a big oil company. He arranged a meeting between the mzungu and the lecturer, near Entebbe international airport. The mzungu came carrying a huge bag stuffed with cash bundles. He asked for samples of the bearings, which the lecturer brought and he endorsed. Meanwhile, in Kampala Industrial Area, someone was waiting to sell the bearings to the lecturer so he could sell it to the mzungu at 100% profit. But alas, after borrowing millions of shillings and buying the bearings, the lecturer returned to find both the mzungu and the broker gone and their phones switched off. Charity (not real name) almost walked out of her marital home over an anonymous text message. The message alleged that her husband of 10 years was involved in an extra marital affair. The sender signed off as a concerned friend. But when Charity tried to call the number of the `Good Samaritan', most times it was off and when it rang, she would not answer. The sender always claimed Charity's husband was with another woman, until one day, he made the same claim when Charity was with her husband at home. This is when Charity knew it was a hoax. This is just the tip of the iceberg. According to the Police, crimes committed using mobile phones have more than doubled in just two years. In Kampala alone, Police registers 10 such cases every week, yet a bigger number of incidents are not reported. This is an increase from 2-3 cases a week two years ago. These crimes include conning, threatening lives, insulting and blackmail. "A person can buy a SIM card just to abuse someone else and after that, they throw it away," says Simeo Nsubuga, Police spokesman for Kampala. Moreover, because they do not put the SIM card in their day-to-day phones, the Police find it hard to trace them. In some downtown areas, phones cost as little as sh20,000 and SIM cards cost a measly sh1,500. The conmen can, therefore, afford to throw away the phone with its SIM card to avoid being tracked. Worse still, SIM cards can be obtained just anywhere, even in taxi parks, without anyone keeping the buyer's details. This, says the Police, has been one of the main reasons for the increased phone-mediated crime. Many countries, including Germany, Switzerland and the US have legislation that requires pre-paid phone card users to register their identities when purchasing the SIM card. The law requires that telephone operators keep customer identity data and are required by law to make this data available under court order to authorised law enforcement and National Intelligence Center personnel in the respective countries. Phone Companies speak out Mobile phone companies claim that their subscribers are registered, but even under normal registration, the process has flaws which can be beaten. A subscriber is simply told to fill a form with their particulars. One is not asked to produce any identification to cross check the information they avail, after all, it is assumed that one is buying a personal belonging and would want a receipt in his or her genuine names. But Mark Kaheru, utl's public relation's officer, says even when customers are asked to register, some can use fictitious names. Kaheru says utl has received complaints from people with cases related to SIM card abuse. For example, some one getting a message that you have won a prize in a promotion. The message will proceed to indicate that if you are to redeem your prize, send air time to a certain number. "These are conmen men and we always put adverts in papers to warn the public over such cases," says Kaheru. Sheila Kangwagye the MTN Public relations officer says, all their SIM cards have registration forms including those sold on the streets by vendors. A SIM pack usually comes with a registration form. However, Saturday Vision was able to buy and activate a SIM card off the street without registration. Both utl and MTN receive complaints from subscribers who have been victims of phone-mediated crime such as threatening and black mail. But Kangwagye says they help only on court order. "We don't give out details for such queries to our sub-scribers. We only aid in police investigations if the case is of criminal nature." Police Advice The Police advises that any victim of a crime committed through a phone should report the case. Numbers that start with four and five after the first three digits are the most commonly used by con-men. The Police warns the public to be on the look out for anonymous calls and text messages from such numbers. In some cases the Police has foiled attempts to con people through mobile phones and arrested the culprits. According to Nsubuga, the conmen carry out thorough research about your personal life. Some one will call and accurately say things that are relevant to your life. They may mention names of your children or wife before duping you into the transactions. Government policy Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), the telecommunications regulatory body says there is no policy per se in respect to regulation and acquisition of SIM cards. UCC says that in countries where acquisition of SIM cards is regulated; it's facilitated by the National identity cards. However, Uganda has no national identity cards. "A national ID is the only reference number that is pegged to a person and all the transactions they operate can be traced through that reference number. It is easy to trace a person," Fred Otunnu, the UCC Corporate Boss says. He adds that in Uganda, the process of regulating SIM cards is hard because it is easy for someone to use multiple IDs in the absence of a national ID. He says Uganda requires a national ID as a starting point with a reference number attached to each person. David Bahati, MP Ndorwa West county in Kabale, calls for urgent legislation. "We have a whole lot of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) bills pending. The Government should come out as soon as possible and make into law the current body of bills on ICT regulations which have not yet been passed," he said. It turns out that in Uganda, the telecommunications sector has grown rapidly without proper legislation. Whereas it is clear that phone companies should have records of their subscribers, there appears to be no law compelling them to do so. In the meantime, phone-mediated crime continues to grow rapidly. http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/616655

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Postel Network Operator's Scholarship 2008
by alice wanjira 19 Mar '08

19 Mar '08

<http://www.nanog.org/postel-scholarship.html> <http://www.nanog.org/postel-scholarship.html> Overview NANOG and ARIN have been been unique and successful cooperative fora for Internet builders in North America and other parts of the world. Senior practitioners from around the world contribute their time to NANOG and ARIN as presenters, teachers and trainers, to produce consistent non-commercial conferences of high-quality. Since 2007, the generosity of an anonymous donor and the administration of the Internet Society, have allowed NANOG and ARIN to provide financial support to a person from a developing country to participate in the October joint NANOG/ARIN meeting. The Postel Network Operator's Scholarship Committee cordially invite suitable applicants to apply for fellowship funding to participate in the October 2008 joint NANOG/ARIN meeting. Target Audience The Postel Network Operator's Scholarship targets personnel from developing countries who are actively involved in Internet development, in any of the following roles: * Engineers (Network Builders) * Operational and Infrastructure Support Personnel * Educators, Teachers, and Trainers Award Package Successful applicants will be provided with transportation to and from the meetings and a reasonable (local host standard) allowance for food and accommodation. In addition all fees for participation in the conferences, tutorials, and social events will be waived. The final grant size is determined according to final costs and available funding, and will be advised to successful applicants. Criteria for Selection The Postel Network Operator's Scholarship Committee will select the fellow according to following criteria. * Membership in the Target Audience listed above * Residency in a developing country * Demonstrated ability to utilize the experiences gained from NANOG/ARIN within their country, region, ... * Evaluation of an abstract of a presentation to be given at the meeting. Applicants from any part of the world will be considered. Fellowship Selection Committee The Fellowship Section Committee is a joint activity of the Steering Committee of NANOG and the Board of Trustees of ARIN. Application for Fellowships The deadline for application is 1 June 2008, and the awardee will be informed by 1 July 2008. To apply for the fellowship please read <http://www.nanog.org/postel-scholarship.html> <http://www.nanog.org/postel-scholarship.html> and submit your application via email to <PostelNOS(a)nanog.org> <PostelNOS(a)nanog.org>. Please be sure to include an abstract, and even possibly some slides, from the presentation you would give at the meetings. Thank you. randy, for the Fellowship Section Committee

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SME-Symposium set for this weekend-Route map
by Jose' 19 Mar '08

19 Mar '08

Hi Florence, I hereby attach the directions to the symposium. Regards, Jose' Florence Etta <feanywhere(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote: Hi Jose, Can you please give us directions for the place. Cheers, FE Florence Etta PhD P.O. Box 14285,00800 Westlands-Nairobi, Kenya Tel: Mobile + 254-733-621851 Terrestrial: + 254-20-7121506 Fax/Phone: + 254-20-7125723 Alternative Email:florence.etta@gmail.com ----- Original Message ---- From: Jose' <ngunjirijnr(a)yahoo.com> To: feanywhere(a)yahoo.co.uk Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Tuesday, 18 March, 2008 12:12:13 PM Subject: [kictanet] SME-Symposium set for this weekend Greetings all, just a quick reminder to those who are planning to come to the entrepreneurship symposium set for this Saturday 22,March 2008. Venue: Kenya assemblies of God-Bahati Estate Time:from 0800hrs to 1700hrs. Charges:150ksh-(Drinks included) Kentel,I am counting on you!! I see representatives from Ugabytes, Telecentre.org,Google(Brian and Joe),ICT Board,Ministry of Youth and Ministry of Communication,CFSK the list is endless........ Come see how youth are being exposed to loan granters and business consultants. regards, Jose' 0728878744 --------------------------------- Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. --------------------------------- Rise to the challenge for Sport Relief with Yahoo! for Good Best Regards, Jose' Njuki-Imwe Ngunjiri || +254 722 336754 || --------------------------------- Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.

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TEAMs to switch into Private Hands
by John Walubengo 19 Mar '08

19 Mar '08

The current issue of The EastAfrican claims that the government submarine fiber project is to be transferred to the initial co-financiers : Safaricom, KDN, Jamii, amongst others. Will the eventual majority shareholders - essentially the private sector - operate the cable on Open Access principles? Specifically, the following questions arise. 1. Will the cable be open for direct connectivity (at the source in MSA) to other future telco players? 2. Will the price of connecting to the international fiber be driven by profit-motives or will it be based on the 'cost-of-operating-the-fiber' basis. 3. What modalities exist for future investors who may wish to own part of the fiber maybe 2 or 5years after the cable is operational- or will this thing be a closed-club to the original financiers once the cable becomes operational? (remember the consortium approach of EASSy?) 4. What are the steps involved in transparently transferring this public resource into private sector? just wondering... walu. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

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Re: [kictanet] TEAMs to switch into Private Hands
by Florence Etta 19 Mar '08

19 Mar '08

Sorry to be picking up on this one now. If I am repeating what someone has already said do forgive me and ignore this post but here goes. Good question Paul. And if this important information is not available how about commissioning a study on "bandwidth utilization by sector" or model something close to it from actual current use so as to project future trends? This could be something the ICT Board might want to pursue? Cheers, FE ----- Original Message ---- From: Paul Kukubo <pkukubo(a)ict.go.ke> To: feanywhere(a)yahoo.co.uk Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Monday, 17 March, 2008 10:46:09 AM Subject: Re: [kictanet] TEAMs to switch into Private Hands Kai Is there any public analysis or research on actual bandwidth utilization by sector? i.e.. Agriculture vs say Banking? And web browsing vs. Infrastructure facilitation. Who is using what bandwidth and for what? As we promote outsourcing and ICT industries, the conversation will shift from bandwidth availability to its exploitation by the common mwananchi The ICT board is spending time in many forums explaining this exciting opportunity to ICT business and entrepreuners as it unfolds. We must spread the message that business and entreprenuers must be ready when the cable lands. Regards Paul Kukubo ICT Board Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone provided by Celtel Kenya -----Original Message----- From: "Kai Wulff" <kai.wulff(a)kdn.co.ke> Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 10:09:27 To:pkukubo@ict.go.ke Cc:KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Subject: Re: [kictanet] TEAMs to switch into Private Hands Walu, like all other initiatives we have supported, KDN is seeing it as an enabler for the market and our approach is not profit driven (of course we want to recover the investment). There will be more than enough capacity on this cable as on Seacom, so fully redundant connectivity for the market will be the rule! Kai ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Walubengo" <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> To: <kai.wulff(a)kdn.co.ke> Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 09:07 Subject: [kictanet] TEAMs to switch into Private Hands > The current issue of The EastAfrican claims that the > government submarine fiber project is to be transferred to > the initial co-financiers : Safaricom, KDN, Jamii, amongst > others. > > Will the eventual majority shareholders - essentially the > private sector - operate the cable on Open Access > principles? Specifically, the following questions arise. > > > 1. Will the cable be open for direct connectivity (at the > source in MSA) to other future telco players? > > 2. Will the price of connecting to the international fiber > be driven by profit-motives or will it be based on the > 'cost-of-operating-the-fiber' basis. > > 3. What modalities exist for future investors who may wish > to own part of the fiber maybe 2 or 5years after the cable > is operational- or will this thing be a closed-club to the > original financiers once the cable becomes operational? > (remember the consortium approach of EASSy?) > > 4. What are the steps involved in transparently > transferring this public resource into private sector? > > just wondering... > > walu. > > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ > Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. > http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: kai.wulff(a)kdn.co.ke > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/kai.wulff%40kdn.co.ke > > -- > This message has been scanned for viruses and > dangerous content by MailScanner, and is > believed to be clean. > > -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: pkukubo(a)ict.go.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/pkukubo%40ict.go.ke _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: feanywhere(a)yahoo.co.uk Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/feanywhere%40yahoo.co.… ___________________________________________________________ Rise to the challenge for Sport Relief with Yahoo! For Good http://uk.promotions.yahoo.com/forgood/

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SME-Symposium set for this weekend
by Jose' 18 Mar '08

18 Mar '08

Greetings all, just a quick reminder to those who are planning to come to the entrepreneurship symposium set for this Saturday 22,March 2008. Venue: Kenya assemblies of God-Bahati Estate Time:from 0800hrs to 1700hrs. Charges:150ksh-(Drinks included) Kentel,I am counting on you!! I see representatives from Ugabytes, Telecentre.org,Google(Brian and Joe),ICT Board,Ministry of Youth and Ministry of Communication,CFSK the list is endless........ Come see how youth are being exposed to loan granters and business consultants. regards, Jose' 0728878744 --------------------------------- Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.

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Teams vs Flag (KDN?)
by Rebecca Wanjiku 18 Mar '08

18 Mar '08

Sometimes back, KDN was fronting for FLAG. Does it mean that KDN is no longer interested in FLAG? Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ ----- Original Message ---- From: John Walubengo <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> To: rebeccawanjiku(a)yahoo.com Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 5:20:45 PM Subject: Re: [kictanet] Local Content vs Submarine Cable. --- robert yawe <robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote: >>>As I keep saying the solution is to concentrate on creating local content and keeping local traffic local, let the rest of the world beat a path to us and not the reverse. >>cut>> Yawe, I hear you. Infact 2years ago I was involved in some research that settled almost on your point of view http://www.diplomacy.edu/poolbin.asp?IDPool=127 But with the slight variation that we need BOTH the local content and the submarine cable. Its sort of a chicken and egg problem. Rather than expect one to precede the other, why not initiate both? walu. --- robert yawe <robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > Hi, > > Welcome to the beginning of the end, the cable is going > private and it will remain private exactly as happened in > West Africa. > > Can those of you who where changing your business plans > to reflect lower internet access instead increase the > cost of that component. > > As I keep saying the solution is to concentrate on > creating local content and keeping local traffic local, > let the rest of the world beat a path to us and not the > reverse. > > The article in the Nation last week about outsourcing > confirmed my fears our outsourcing model is a reverse > pyramid as opposed to the rest of the world. Our > outsourcing companies have 30% local provision and 70% > off shore yet the countries we are competing against have > the reverse. > > Time reveals all. > > Robert Yawe > KAY System Technologies Ltd > Phoenix House, 6th Floor > P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 > Kenya > > Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696 > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: "bitange(a)jambo.co.ke" <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> > To: robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions > <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Sent: Monday, 17 March, 2008 11:00:02 AM > Subject: [kictanet] TEAMs to switch into Private Hands > > Dear Walubengo, > > > Q: Will the eventual majority shareholders - essentially > the private > sector - operate the cable on Open Access principles? > Specifically, the > following questions arise. > > A: Competition alone will drive the cost low and if that > fails, Government > can intervene using the capacity it holds and if that > fails, the regulator > will have to intervene. > > Q: 1. Will the cable be open for direct connectivity (at > thesource in MSA) > to other future telco players? > > A: Yes indeed. See Q3 responses below. > > Q: 2. Will the price of connecting to the international > fiber be driven by > profit-motives or will it be based on the > 'cost-of-operating-the-fiber' > basis. > > A: Price of connecting to the International fibre remaims > cost of > operating the fibre but retail price will have an element > of profit. What > we shall guard agaist is exploitative prices. > > Q: 3. What modalities exist for future investors who may > wish to own part > of the fiber maybe 2 or 5years after the cable is > operational- or will > this thing be a closed-club to the original financiers > once the cable > becomes operational?(remember the consortium approach of > EASSy?) > > A: The Government of Kenya would continue to dilute its > shares in order to > ensure healthy competion exist. The model therefore is > not a closed shop. > > Q: 4. What are the steps involved in transparently > transferring this > public resource into private sector? > > A: You cannot force anyone to buy into Teams. There are > clear deadlines > by the financial arranger for making commitments. The > Standard Chatered > Bank were procured to make financial arrangements for the > cable. Although > sometimes Media misses the point here and there, it has > done a wonderful > job keeping us on our toes. > > Ndemo. > > > ---------------------------------------------- > This message has been scanned for viruses and > dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is > believed to be clean. > --------------------------------------------- > "easy access to the world" > > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/robertyawe%40yahoo.co.… > > > > > > > > > ___________________________________________________________ > > Rise to the challenge for Sport Relief with Yahoo! For > Good > > http://uk.promotions.yahoo.com/forgood/> _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: jwalu(a)yahoo.com > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jwalu%40yahoo.com > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: rebeccawanjiku(a)yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/rebeccawanjiku%40yahoo… ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

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The Googlization of Everything ... by Siva Vidyanathan]
by alice wanjira 17 Mar '08

17 Mar '08

How one company is disrupting culture, commerce and commerce ... and why we should worry! This blog, the result of a collaboration between myself and the Institute for the Future of the Book, is dedicated to exploring the process of writing a critical interpretation of the actions and intentions behind the cultural behemoth that is Google, Inc. The book will answer three key questions: What does the world look like through the lens of Google?; How is Google's ubiquity affecting the production and dissemination of knowledge?; and how has the corporation altered the rules and practices that govern other companies, institutions, and states? [more] * * * Hi. Welcome to my book. Hi. Welcome to my new book. Well, it's not a book yet. In fact, it will not be a real book for a long time. As you can tell from the title of this blog, the book will be about Google and all they ways that Google is shaking up the world. Google is a transformative and revolutionary company. I hesitate to use terms like that. We live in an era of hyperbole. So I try my best to discount claims of historical transformation or communicative revolutions. But in the case of Google, I am confident it is both. Now, I am approaching this book as both a fan and a critic. I am in awe of all that Google has done and all it hopes to do. I am also wary of its ambition and power. As I use this site to compose the manuscript (an archaic word that I love too much to discard) for the book The Googlization of Everything, I hope to do so with your help. This is the latest in a series of "open book" experiments hosted and guided by The Institute for the Future of the Book. The Institute has been supportive of my work for years -- long before I became affiliated with it as a fellow and certainly long before we thought up this project together. As with the other projects by Ken Wark and Mitch Stephens, this one will depend on reader criticism and feedback to work right. So this is an appeal for help. If you know something about Google, hip me to it. If you have an observation about how it works or how it affects our lives, write to me about it. On occasion, I will post an open question on this blog. Please help me answer it. I have never tried to write a book this way. Few have. Writing has been a lonely, selfish pursuit for me so far. I tend to wall myself off from the world (and my loved ones) for days at a time in fits and spurts when I get into a writing groove. I don't shave. I order pizza. I grumble. I ignore emails from my mother. I tend to comb through and revise every sentence five or six times (although I am not sure that actually shows up in the quality of my prose). Only when I am sure that I have not embarrassed myself (or when the editor calls to threaten me with a canceled contract – whichever comes first) do I show anyone what I have written. Now, this is not an uncommon process. Closed composition is the default among writers. We go to great lengths to develop trusted networks of readers and other writers with whom we can workshop – or as I prefer to call it because it's what the jazz musicians do, woodshed our work. Well, I am going to do my best to woodshed in public. As I compose bits and pieces of work, I will post them here. They might be very brief bits. They might never make it into the manuscript. But they will be up here for you to rip up or smooth over. That's the thing. For a number of years now I have made my bones in the intellectual world trumpeting the virtues of openness and the values of connectivity. I was an early proponent of applying "open source" models to scholarship, journalism, and lots of other things. And, more to the point: One of my key concerns with Google is that it is a black box. Something that means so much to us reveals so little of itself. So I would be a hypocrite if I wrote this book any other way. This book will not be a black box. Of course, it could get ugly in here. I could make tremendous mistakes. I could shoot something out there that shuts all doors at Google. I could undermine my ultimate market (but I seriously doubt that I could). I could just write myself into a corner. In my next post I will share a rough chapter outline. And I will give some sense of the basic questions and major issues that I hope to tackle in this work. Ok. As Sgt. Phil used to say, "Let's roll. And let's be careful out there." Send me links, questions and ideas: siva [at] googlizationofeverything [dot] com http://www.googlizationofeverything.com/2007/09/hi_welcome_to_my_book.php * * * Like the Mind of God (6 posts) All the World's Information (5 posts) What If Big Ads Don't Work (4 posts) Don't Be Evil (3 posts) Is Google a Library? (15 posts) Challenging Big Media (11 posts) The Dossier (3 posts) Global Google (1 post) Google Earth (no posts) A Public Utility? (7 posts) About this Book (7 post Siva Vaidhyanathan (how do you pronounce that?) Siva Vaidhyanathan I am a cultural historian and media scholar at the University of Virginia. I have written two previous books: Copyrights and Copywrongs: The Rise of Intellectual Property and How it Threatens Creativity (New York University Press, 2001) and The Anarchist in the Library: How the Clash between Freedom and Control is Hacking the Real World and Crashing the System (Basic Books, 2004). Most recently I edited (with Carolyn de la Pena) the collection, Rewiring the Nation: The Place of Technology in American Studies (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007). I've written for many periodicals, including American Scholar, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The New York Times Magazine, MSNBC.COM, Salon.com, openDemocracy.net, Columbia Journalism Review, and The Nation. I also blog at SIVACRACY.NET. After five years as a professional journalist, I earned a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. I've taught at Wesleyan University, the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Columbia University, New York University, and is this fall began as an associate professor of Media Studies and Law at the University of Virginia. I'm also a fellow at the New York Institute for the Humanities and the Institute for the Future of the Book.

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[Fwd: Balancing Act: African Broadcast and Film Markets Report is out now]
by alice 17 Mar '08

17 Mar '08

Dear all Interesting report but for a whopping GBP500/US$1,000....making it out of reach for most. Affordable local content? And it is indeed encouraging that organizations like IDRC taking up the challenge to narrow the knowledge/information gap with initiatives like the BPO Research study. best alice African Broadcast and Film Markets Report's content <http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/927/235533/131/0/> Other reports <http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/927/235533/2/0/> Consultancy <http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/927/235533/58/0/> In a world of converging media, telcos and ISPs are increasingly having to pay attention to what their counterparts in the broadcast and film industry are doing. Africas first genuine triple play offers will be launched shortly and mobile operators and broadcasters are trialling mobile TV. Therefore the world of programme rights and production costs may be a mystery that you will need to know more about. Increasingly, SMS and the Internet are being used as media. To reverse Marshall McLuhans well known phrase: the message is now the medium. There were 4.5 million downloads from Africa of material from the second series of Big Brother. Increasingly, SMS and the Internet are becoming media and will compete for advertising with the broadcast industry: there are shifting patterns for advertising in different media. For anyone interested in how the broadcast and film industry has and will develop and its converge with the telecoms industry, there has been a frustrating lack of data up until now. Balancing Acts African Broadcast and Film Markets, published in association with Intermedia, is over 340 pages long and has 132 charts, 41 tables of statistical data and 12 graphic maps. It is probably the most detailed data source on both industry and audience information for the sector in Africa. The report includes: *Part 1 *provides an analysis of the developing industry (based on a survey of 40 countries) and has the following sections: African industry overview Slow but steady liberalisation: This looks at the state of liberalisation, for radio and TV; the international players in the market; the scale of broadcast advertising; and the battle for Pay-TV subscribers. The beginning of the end for Mr President TV looks at the difficult commercial position of public broadcasters and ways they might get out the trap they are in. Other areas covered include: The costs of local and international programming; Digitilisation and High Definition Slow progress but it is on its way; Africas film industry Low output but big changes afoot; Africa goes triple-play the early pioneers roll-out; The potential market size for Pay Television; Reaching African diaspora audiences competing for eyeballs away from home; and Mobile TV a technology for Africa? *Part 2* looks at Africas rapidly shifting landscape through audience research from 17 key markets: Algeria, Angola, Burundi, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Each survey involves a large sample size, and is conducted through face-to-face interview, usually in the home of the respondent. The result is an unusually rich, single source for data on how Africans are interacting with traditional and emerging broadcasters and platforms, new technologies and modes of mass and inter-personal communication. It is sufficiently standardised to allow cross-comparison between countries and trend analysis across the timeframe data has been collected. For the first time, there is now data on SMS and Internet use that enables a sizing of the current market and the basic socio-demographic data to allow a serious examination of the potential future markets. For a full list of the contents: http://www.balancingact-africa.com/broadcast_markets.html <http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/927/235533/131/0/> The report is priced as follows: Full price (Africa) GBP500/US$1,000; Full price (Rest of the World) GBP750/US$1,500; Reduced price for universities and NGOs GBP375/US$700. Click below to order: http://www.balancingact-africa.com/profiles/order/order_form.php <http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/927/235533/226/0/> You may also want to order one of the following: African Telecoms and Internet Markets Part 1: West Africa African Voice and Data Bandwidth Forecasts (2006-2011) CLICK HERE TO ORDER <http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/927/235533/2/0/> M-Money - Finances, Banking and Payments through mobile phones African VoIP Markets * Contact one of our analysts <mailto:info@balancingact-africa.com> Graphic maps showing significant patterns at a glance The report contains essential socio-demographic data with clear metrics for defining levels of affordability. The graphic map above shows the percentage of people able to afford certain kinds of high-value consumer goods in each of the 17 countries covered. The report also includes comparisons of levels of people defined as middle class against levels of television and PC ownership. Tables with up-to-date key industry data The tables and boxes provide data on: satellite, IP-TV and cable subscribers; advertising spend in selected African countries as a percentage of GDP; Top 15 African countries by ad spend and radio and TV ownership; Government broadcasting sources of financing; advertising spend by TV channel in Kenya and Tanzania; outdoor mobile cinema attendance in Kenya, box office and audience attendance for 100 South African films; the DVD and Video market in South Africa by value; diaspora populations and subscriber levels to diaspora services; and countries offering 3G services. Charts illustrating listening viewing habits for leading TV and radio broadcasters The report includes audience data for all 17 countries on: daily audiences for leading TV and radio broadcasters; viewing and listening levels at different times of the day; trust in information provided by leading broadcaster, both radio and television; interest in different types of programming (news, sports, fashion, etc); newspaper readership; media equipment ownership (radio, TV, satellite, PC and mobile); and media equipment used yesterday. All data is cross-comparable across countries and the report contains a pan-African summary and individual sub-regional summaries for East, North, South and West Africa. Use of convergence media (SMS, Mobile TV, IP-TV and Internet) For the first time, the report provides detailed use figures for converged media, both in terms of equipment ownership and use yesterday. Although Internet figures remain low in some countries, a critical mass of users clearly exists in other countries. It tracks the percentage of respondents who use SMS as a source of information and the figures are consistently higher than might be expected. Key statistics overview Each of the 17 audience country profiles has a detailed summary panel providing: socio-demographics; media ownership and daily use; top radio and TV channel by listening or viewing daily and daily Internet use; regulatory bodies; and the approximate number of domestic TV and radio channels.

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Re: [kictanet] TEAMs to switch into Private Hands
by robert yawe 17 Mar '08

17 Mar '08

Hi, Welcome to the beginning of the end, the cable is going private and it will remain private exactly as happened in West Africa. Can those of you who where changing your business plans to reflect lower internet access instead increase the cost of that component. As I keep saying the solution is to concentrate on creating local content and keeping local traffic local, let the rest of the world beat a path to us and not the reverse. The article in the Nation last week about outsourcing confirmed my fears our outsourcing model is a reverse pyramid as opposed to the rest of the world. Our outsourcing companies have 30% local provision and 70% off shore yet the countries we are competing against have the reverse. Time reveals all. Robert Yawe KAY System Technologies Ltd Phoenix House, 6th Floor P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200 Kenya Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696 ----- Original Message ---- From: "bitange(a)jambo.co.ke" <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> To: robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Monday, 17 March, 2008 11:00:02 AM Subject: [kictanet] TEAMs to switch into Private Hands Dear Walubengo, Q: Will the eventual majority shareholders - essentially the private sector - operate the cable on Open Access principles? Specifically, the following questions arise. A: Competition alone will drive the cost low and if that fails, Government can intervene using the capacity it holds and if that fails, the regulator will have to intervene. Q: 1. Will the cable be open for direct connectivity (at thesource in MSA) to other future telco players? A: Yes indeed. See Q3 responses below. Q: 2. Will the price of connecting to the international fiber be driven by profit-motives or will it be based on the 'cost-of-operating-the-fiber' basis. A: Price of connecting to the International fibre remaims cost of operating the fibre but retail price will have an element of profit. What we shall guard agaist is exploitative prices. Q: 3. What modalities exist for future investors who may wish to own part of the fiber maybe 2 or 5years after the cable is operational- or will this thing be a closed-club to the original financiers once the cable becomes operational?(remember the consortium approach of EASSy?) A: The Government of Kenya would continue to dilute its shares in order to ensure healthy competion exist. The model therefore is not a closed shop. Q: 4. What are the steps involved in transparently transferring this public resource into private sector? A: You cannot force anyone to buy into Teams. There are clear deadlines by the financial arranger for making commitments. The Standard Chatered Bank were procured to make financial arrangements for the cable. Although sometimes Media misses the point here and there, it has done a wonderful job keeping us on our toes. Ndemo. ---------------------------------------------- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. --------------------------------------------- "easy access to the world" _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: robertyawe(a)yahoo.co.uk Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/robertyawe%40yahoo.co.… ___________________________________________________________ Rise to the challenge for Sport Relief with Yahoo! For Good http://uk.promotions.yahoo.com/forgood/

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Re: [kictanet] kictanet Digest, Vol 10, Issue 12
by godera＠skyweb.co.ke 17 Mar '08

17 Mar '08

Ndegwa and All, I believe some of you may have heard that IDRC here in Nairobi is embarking on a market study that is not limited to Kenyan operations. Edith if you are reading this, can you shed any light on this at this moment or is it premature to talk about it? Gilda Quoting kictanet-request(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke: > Send kictanet mailing list submissions to > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://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: South African Intelligence Networking on Kenyan BPOSector > (MediaSpeak Africa) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2008 15:50:47 +0300 > From: "MediaSpeak Africa" <mesafric(a)gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] South African Intelligence Networking on > Kenyan BPOSector > To: "Eric Osiakwan" <eric(a)afrispa.org> > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Message-ID: > <9007a8bd0803090550k48b2010en75a9f33245c41c50(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > Good people, > > Sure we are now talking big like we are supposed to. First, I wish to > support the suggestion that we should involve local players in such > initiatives. At least at the level of partnership so that we can have skills > transfer. > > But we also have to be serious so that what we do not tell the market out > there that we have lions in the parks only for them to come and see domestic > cats. We need to back strategy with infrastructure - which simply means that > we have to invest in the sector if we really want to be in the big league. > Ama? > > Ndegwa > > > On 07/03/2008, Eric Osiakwan <eric(a)afrispa.org> wrote: > > > > Peres, > > > > Better still there are good enough kenyan research enterprises who can do > > this so can we consider giving them a chance. This is with nothing against > > Frost and Sullivan but if u can get the expertise here then give it a > > chance, is the principle. > > > > Eric here > > > > > > On 6 Mar 2008, at 20:22, Peres Were wrote: > > > > > > > > Peres Were > > Dr Ndemo, > > > > Kenya can do this. It is just a matter of obtaining the necessary budget > > to > > engage companies such as Frost and Sullivan, to conduct a Competitor > > Analysis for us. > > > > We at the Kenya BPO & Contact Centre Society are currently working with > > development partners in order to engage reputable international > > organisations that are specialists in research, to carry out such > > intelligence and research that can assist in the growth and development > > of > > the BPO Sector in Kenya. > > > > Regards > > > > Peres Were > > Kenya BPO & Contact Centre Society > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: kictanet-bounces+pwere=cascadegl.com(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > [mailto:kictanet-bounces <kictanet-bounces>+pwere= > > cascadegl.com(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf > > Of bitange(a)jambo.co.ke > > Sent: 06 March 2008 19:25 > > To: pwere(a)cascadegl.com > > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions > > Subject: [kictanet] South African Intelligence Networking on Kenyan > > BPOSector > > > > Dear All, > > The article below was picked from Business Wire in SA. My wish is that we > > could one day start such intelligence networking on countries we perceive > > as competitors. > > > > Regards > > > > Ndemo. > > > > > > > > Kenya Calling - The Rise of the Kenyan Call Centre Market > > 372 words > > 5 March 2008 > > 02:38 AM > > Business Wire > > English > > (c) 2008 Business Wire. All Rights Reserved. > > > > > > CAPE TOWN, South Africa - (BUSINESS WIRE) - The ICT group at Frost & > > Sullivan ( http://www.ict.frost.com/ ) is pleased to announce that it will > > be hosting its first quarter analyst briefing on the Kenyan call centre > > market on 13 March 2008 at 2pm GMT / 4pm CAT. > > Kenya is a late-comer to offering call centre services in Africa, however > > the market is set to experience significant growth in the next seven > > years. > > "Kenya is well positioned to become a noteworthy call centre market," > > notes Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Spiwe Chireka. "The country has > > implemented unique initiatives that, together with the cost attractiveness > > of the market, are likely to see Kenya becoming a formidable participant > > in the global call centre outsourcing arena." > > Highlights of this briefing will include an analysis of the current status > > of the market and the factors expected to fuel growth. The briefing will > > also offer a discussion on the opportunities available to equipment > > vendors and investors. > > The briefing will benefit current and potential market participants, BPO > > industry organisations and call centre equipment and technology suppliers. > > Operators in other markets will also be able to benchmark their market's > > performance and practices against those of the Kenyan market. > > Those interested in participating in this interactive teleconference > > should send an email to Patrick Cairns - Corporate Communications at > > patrick.cairns(a)frost.com with the following information: full name, > > company name, title, telephone number, e-mail address, city, state and > > country. The registration details will be emailed to you upon receipt of > > the above information. > > Frost & Sullivan, the Global Growth Consulting Company, partners with > > clients to accelerate their growth. The company's Growth Partnership > > Services, Growth Consulting and Career Best Practices empower clients to > > create a growth focused culture that generates, evaluates and implements > > effective growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan employs over 45 years of > > experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses > > and the investment community from more than 30 offices on six continents. > > For more information about Frost & Sullivan's Growth Partnerships, visit > > http://www.frost.com . > > Frost & Sullivan Corporate Communications - Africa: Patrick Cairns, +27 83 > > 258 4219 patrick.cairns(a)frost.com > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------- > > This message has been scanned for viruses and > > dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is > > believed to be clean. > > --------------------------------------------- > > "easy access to the world" > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > kictanet mailing list > > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > > > This message was sent to: pwere(a)cascadegl.com > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/pwere%40cascadegl.com > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > kictanet mailing list > > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > > > This message was sent to: eric(a)afrispa.org > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/eric%40afrispa.org > > > > > > Eric M.K Osiakwan > > Executive Secretary > > AfrISPA (www.afrispa.org) > > Tel: + 233.21.258800 ext 2031 > > Fax: + 233.21.258811 > > Cell: + 233.244.386792 > > Handle: eosiakwan > > Snail Mail: Pmb 208, Accra-North > > Office: BusyInternet - 42 Ring Road Central, Accra-North > > Blog: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/eric/ > > Slang: "Tomorrow Now" > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > kictanet mailing list > > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > > > This message was sent to: mesafric(a)gmail.com > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mesafric%40gmail.com > > > > > > > -- > Stephen Ndegwa Mwangi > Executive Director > MediaSpeak Africa > P. O. Box 18154-00100 > Nairobi GPO > Tel.: +254-20-2098 548 > Cell: +254-724-376 883 > Kenya. >

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TEAMs to switch into Private Hands
by bitange＠jambo.co.ke 17 Mar '08

17 Mar '08

Dear Walubengo, Q: Will the eventual majority shareholders - essentially the private sector - operate the cable on Open Access principles? Specifically, the following questions arise. A: Competition alone will drive the cost low and if that fails, Government can intervene using the capacity it holds and if that fails, the regulator will have to intervene. Q: 1. Will the cable be open for direct connectivity (at thesource in MSA) to other future telco players? A: Yes indeed. See Q3 responses below. Q: 2. Will the price of connecting to the international fiber be driven by profit-motives or will it be based on the 'cost-of-operating-the-fiber' basis. A: Price of connecting to the International fibre remaims cost of operating the fibre but retail price will have an element of profit. What we shall guard agaist is exploitative prices. Q: 3. What modalities exist for future investors who may wish to own part of the fiber maybe 2 or 5years after the cable is operational- or will this thing be a closed-club to the original financiers once the cable becomes operational?(remember the consortium approach of EASSy?) A: The Government of Kenya would continue to dilute its shares in order to ensure healthy competion exist. The model therefore is not a closed shop. Q: 4. What are the steps involved in transparently transferring this public resource into private sector? A: You cannot force anyone to buy into Teams. There are clear deadlines by the financial arranger for making commitments. The Standard Chatered Bank were procured to make financial arrangements for the cable. Although sometimes Media misses the point here and there, it has done a wonderful job keeping us on our toes. Ndemo. ---------------------------------------------- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. --------------------------------------------- "easy access to the world"

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Why Microsoft Swahili Version Failed
by alice 15 Mar '08

15 Mar '08

Kenya: Why Microsoft Swahili Version Failed Business Daily (Nairobi) http://www.bdafrica.com/ <http://www.bdafrica.com/> OPINION 11 March 2008 Posted to the web 11 March 2008 Beatrice Gachenge When Microsoft announced in 2003 that it had launched a Kiswahili version of their Microsoft Office applications, linguists saw it as a big triumph for the language - and a chance to make its speakers have a feel of the emerging technology and in their own language. However, five years later, the roar has turned into a whimper. Microsoft is not forthcoming with answers, but a debate is shaping up on what may have gone wrong. "It failed miserably on the roll out process because Microsoft never pushed the product," says Mr Patrick Opiyo, managing director of Rivotex Kenya, a consulting dealer for Microsoft Technologies, who was then Microsoft's localisation manager. Mr Isaiah Okoth, who was at the time the general manager of Microsoft East Africa, said the new Kiswahili office application, if marketed well, would have allowed many Kiswahili speakers to experience personal computing in their home language. It had taken close to two years to develop the programme at a cost of Sh8 million, drawing linguistic experts from East and Central Africa. The programme was headed by Prof Kulikoyela Kahigi of the University of Dar- es- Salaam. Kiswahili experts translated over 700,000 words in Windows and Office software while close to 70,000 words were translated in the help manuals. The final product was targeted at about 150 million speakers of the language in the world. But three years down the line, analysts now deem the product a major letdown. "Technology should find itself into the language. Microsoft invented words that did not exist to fit the technology, and the problem with this is that people don't understand the Kiswahili used in the Microsoft Office applications, " explains Mr Alex Gakuru, director of ICT Consumer Association. Mr Gakuru told the Business Daily that technology is all about the people and not the gizmos or software; a concept Microsoft failed to consider. Another major issue was the methodology used to develop the application. Peter Mugambi, Dean of Humanities at Kenyatta University, says the project was more of a 'private affair' than an institutional one. In his view, the project did not integrate the wider community and also failed to educate people on the usage of the product either through seminars and workshops. Although the process of changing to Kiswahili version is simple , the software has not been utilised in Kiswahili departments in major universities including Kenyatta University and the University of Nairobi. By simply downloading a Language Interface Pack ( LIP), from the Internet, free of charge, users of genuine versions of Microsoft Office 2003, can localize their interface by installing the LIP. It then turns Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint from English into Kiswahili. The beauty of the product is that one can switch back to the language of choice with ease. "With the Kiswahili LIP, computer users are able to instal a Kiswahili desktop version as a 'skin' on top of existing installations of Windows and standard Microsoft Office applications," said the consulting dealer for Microsoft Technologies. Currently, the Kiswahili LIP is also available to Windows XP. Analysts say the biggest issue that made the hefty exercise a major fiasco was the lack of promotion for the product. University of Nairobi linguist and prolific author, Prof Kithaka wa Mberia, doubts whether he would have known about the project had he not been part of it; casting more doubt if the programme was marketed well. There was also a conflict of policy between open source and proprietorship. Mr Gakuru says the approach Microsoft took was academic instead of looking at the programme as a community based issue, a move that would have resulted to community ownership of the product. "If the company considered making it a community project where the East Africans who were the recipients of the product, then fund it, the ownership aspect would automatically lead to identifying with the product," said the IT analyst. "What is the essence of a good product that people don't know about? At the end of the day, who will use it?" The idea could have been a turning point not only for the East African region but other parts of the world because several years back, it was unthinkable that computer software products and solutions could be made in local languages, of which some risk extinction due to dominance of English and other European languages. There are 100 million Kiswahili-speakers in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and parts of the Horn of Africa, Great Lakes, Malawi, Mozambique and the Indian Ocean islands. Dr Clare Momanyi, a Kiswahili lecturer at Kenyatta University, who was also part of the task force that created the Kiswahili version, blames deep rooted problems and negative attitude of Kenyans towards the language, which they consider inferior to the English language. "Language is developed through communication as well as through the education system. The syllabus does not favour Kiswahili. Little has been done since it was made an examinable subject in 1995 to help Kenyans tie economic gains to Kiswahili," said Dr Momanyi. English, she added was the preferred language to enhance economic activities while Kiswahili on the other hand was viewed as a language for the masses, or the poor. "Kenyans need to wake up and smell the coffee. Kiswahili is gaining international acceptance, with more than 70 universities teaching it in the United States alone. If we do not change our attitude, we shall not go far," says Dr Momanyi. But still, one of the programmes that would have connected people failed to gain foothold in its own turf. She explained that the Kenyans historic background also played a major part in degenerating the liking of the language among Kenyans. While it is the national language, Dr. Momanyi said that there lacked any functions, institutions or policies attached to the growth of Kiswahili. The localization programme is a project under the Microsoft's Local language Program (LLP), which was formally launched by the company in 2004. Copyright C 2008 Business Daily. All rights reserved. **************************** Disclaimer ****************************** Copyright: In accordance with Title 17, United States Code Section 107, this material is distributed without profit for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material posted to this list for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Content: The sender does not vouch for the veracity nor the accuracy of the contents of this message, which are the sole responsibility of the copyright owner. Also, the sender does not necessarily agree or disagree with any opinions that are expressed in this message. ********************************************************************** __._,_.___ Messages in this topic <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/message/6806;_ylc=X3oDMTM0ODc3NGJ1B…> (1) Reply (via web post) <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJwc2RkZWczBF9TAzk3M…> | Start a new topic <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJlM29uZzZvBF9TAzk3M…> Messages <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/messages;_ylc=X3oDMTJlZWhsY2FtBF9TA…> | Links <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/links;_ylc=X3oDMTJmZjBvc3ZoBF9TAzk3…> | Polls <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica/polls;_ylc=X3oDMTJmdXFuMG4zBF9TAzk3…> Dig Africa site welcomes you to join us at

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eDiscussion Report:-Impact of Post-election Violence on ICT organisations
by John Walubengo 14 Mar '08

14 Mar '08

The dawn of the Year 2008 caught many Kenyan organisations unprepared for the unprecedented post-election violence. As the chaos escalated beyond their original domains, KICTAnet felt duty bound to get involved in a small way in the search for peace and mitigating interventions. This Online Discussion was therefore commissioned with the dual purpose of kickstarting positive dialogue about the crisis while sharing experiences and intervention methods being employed by members. The discussion had three key themes:- establishing the challenges posed by the Post-election violence, exploring various mitigating interventions and Quantifying the Impact of the Post-election violence. >>>>snip>>>> The story continues in the attached report. walu. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

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Re: [kictanet] [AfrISPA.Discuss] Head of WTO's oped on telecom in Africa
by Eric Osiakwan 13 Mar '08

13 Mar '08

Dear William, Thanks for bringing this to the fore as it is a welcome development for Lamy to recognise the strides being made in Africa. Haven said that i think it is important for the WTO to reckon that the conditions and terms underwhich the GATS was negotiated and establish have changed, so given that Africa has grown despite the fact that the detailing of the GATS was not favourable to us, can one argue support Lamy's call for "Committing to further open trade in these sectors will be investing in the future". I think it is fair to argue that though the GATS terms has not favoured Africa, some sectors have grown and could do far better if the terms were favourable (or at worse be revisted) and here i dont blame anybody but we as Africans must be better prepared and go to these negotiations to gain more mileage that we have done in the past. Am not a trade expert and i dont profess to be one but i think our country trade negotiators must engage internally with some of the sectoral business fronts and work with them in some of the far reaching negotiations that turn in some ways to undo the efforts of the private sector. Eric here On 12 Mar 2008, at 22:28, William Foster wrote: > by Pascal Lamy, WTO > In the last 10 years Internet use has increased by 1,500 per cent. > Mobile phone subscribers have increased 20 fold and world > teledensity has moved from below 15 per cent to over 60 per cent. > The rapid evolution of the telecommunication sector, both from > regulatory and technological perspective, has brought about lasting > changes to our economies and societies at large and is one reason > that this sector merits our special attention today. > > The dedicated negotiations on basic telecommunications - whose 10th > anniversary we had last month - were born out of an initiative > taken during the final year of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral > Trade Negotiations. > At the time, there was a very real prospect that basic > telecommunications might be carved out of the new agreement then > taking shape, the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). > Very few governments had offered commitments on these services, > deterred by what appeared to be a yawning gap between the openness > of some markets and long-entrenched restrictions to trade in many > others. Though a number of major players were contemplating opening > trade in this sector at the time, these were still surrounded by a > considerable degree of uncertainty. > The momentum has continued since. At present, over 100 WTO Members > have commitments to open markets in some or all telecommunication > services. The commitments normally entitle new entrants to supply > the most essential services, such as fixed and mobile telephony, > Internet and leased-line capacity. > A great many Members have also committed to telecom-specific > regulatory obligations. These market access and regulatory > commitments permit global networks and facilitate the emergence of > global markets for the benefit of all WTO Members, and their > businesses and consumers alike. > Telecommunications are emblematic of the highly integrated nature > of modern economies: while the sector's own economic momentum > depends on the existence of dynamic user industries, world-class > communication links are today a sine qua non for a wide range of > economic activities within services and beyond. > The benefits from opening trade in telecoms cuts across developed > and developing countries. > Relevant Links > Economy, Business and Finance > Capital Flows > ICT and Telecom > Industry and Infrastructure > International Organizations and Africa > Sustainable Development > Trade > Urban Issues and Habitation > In recent years, information and communication technologies have > enabled economies from India to Ireland to develop and rapidly > expand international outsourcing. > Committing to further open trade in these sectors will be investing > in the future. > Lamy is director general, WTO. > > > William Foster, PhD > Faculty Associate > Social and Behavioral Sciences > Arizona State University Polytechnic > http://www.FosterandBrahm.com > 520-440-0807 > wfoster8560 (Skype) > blog: www.oresearch.net > > Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. Eric M.K Osiakwan Executive Secretary AfrISPA (www.afrispa.org) Tel: + 233.21.258800 ext 2031 Fax: + 233.21.258811 Cell: + 233.244.386792 Handle: eosiakwan Snail Mail: Pmb 208, Accra-North Office: BusyInternet - 42 Ring Road Central, Accra-North Blog: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/eric/ Slang: "Tomorrow Now"

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Road Map to SME Symposium, March 22, 2008
by carthy 13 Mar '08

13 Mar '08

Dear All, Please find attached road map to SME symposium courtesy of Kimathi Information Centre. Carthy --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.

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Writing for Change
by Edith Adera 13 Mar '08

13 Mar '08

This resource may be of interest to you and your partners. "Writing for Change" is an interactive, self-learning tool (guide) to effective writing, writing for science and writing for advocacy. It was developed, designed, and published by Fahamu, in collaboration with Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC). The CD is freely available online at http://www.idrc.ca/IMAGES/books/WFC_English/WFC_English/ In Writing for Change, you will learn the core skills of effective writing, how to write for scientific publication, and how to write for advocacy. Writing for Change will enhance your capacity to write in ways that promote action from your target audience. It is full of practical exercises and examples from the field of international development. A resource centre contains training materials and links to many useful websites. Site maps and a printed users' guide make it simple to follow. Writing for Change will prove useful to researchers, campaigners, scientists, fundraisers, project managers, social activists, and especially trainers in writing and communication skills. Edith

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KENYA ICT FEDERATION - KENYA ICT BOARD LUNCHEON 18/03/2008
by nancy bosire 12 Mar '08

12 Mar '08

Kenya ICT Federation * * 12th March 2008 Dear Members and Partners, RE: KENYA ICT FEDERATION - KENYA ICT BOARD LUNCHEON 18/03/2008 This is to invite you to the second of a series of luncheons that KIF will be organizing in partnership with The Kenya ICT Board. The Luncheon will take place next week on Tuesday, 18th of March 2008. The venue is *THE NAIROBI SAFARI CLUB, LILIAN TOWERS, on University Way *from 12.30pm to 2.30pm. Charges: Ksh. 2,000 for Members and Ksh.3, 000 for non-members. We will have a session on Progress made by KICTB in their strategic plan implementation process (part of the PowerPoint presentation at the first luncheon by Mr. Paul Kukubo) and an update on CEBIT (World´s largest Annual trade show for information and telecommunications technology). The final agenda will be distributed by Thursday end of business. Book early to avoid disappointment (seats will remain reserved for those who had made early bookings and paid in advance). Contact details are below for early reservations and any queries. PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY. Sincerely yours, Nancy Bosire *Secretariat Manager* *Kenya** ICT Federation * *Tel: 020 4440102* *Mobile**: 0721907995* *secretariat(a)kif.or.ke, info(a)kif.or.ke* *http://www.kif.or.ke* <http://www.kif.or.ke/>** "Whatever your mind expects and demands, it will find a way to produce it." - Napoleon Hill

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Yet another chance to have your say: Say No to OOXML
by Judy Okite 11 Mar '08

11 Mar '08

Check out the latest development as concerns this matter.....You have yet another chance...Use it wisely. http://www.noooxml.org/start Kind Regards, -- Judy Ann Okite, +254-721237507,+254-734252336 P.O. BOX 2228 00100, NAIROBI,KENYA. 'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. ' Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Verisign's Domain names brief report
by alice 11 Mar '08

11 Mar '08

Dear all Attached Domain Name industry brief from VeriSign best alice _______________________________________________ AfrICANN mailing list AfrICANN(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/africann

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[Fwd: [AfriNIC-rpd] Call for Volunteer: 2008 Board election Nomination Committee AFRINIC
by alice 11 Mar '08

11 Mar '08

Dear colleagues, This year, during the upcoming Members Meeting in Morocco, 4th June 2008, we will have the renewal of seats 5 (Central Africa sub-region) and 6 (Indian Ocean sub-region) of the AfriNIC board of Directors. According to our election policy, the election process must be supervised by an Election/nomination committee composed of: o 1 Member appointed by the board (the CEO or one elected from the board - From an non-open seat) o 2 Member volunteers from the community (from two different sub-regions other than the opened seat's one). We are hereby calling for two volunteers to seat on the 2008 nomination committee. If you are interested, please send your details with the following information: Full Name: Full Address: e-mail: to members-contact(a)afrinic.net by 13th March 2008 at 18:00 UTC. Kind regards. ______________________________________________________________________ Adiel A. Akplogan Tel. +230 466 66 16 Chief Executive Officer, AfriNIC Fax: +230 466 67 58 adiel(a)afrinic.net - www.afrinic.net sip: adiel(a)voip.afrinic.net _______________________________________________ rpd mailing list rpd(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/rpd

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FW: search for new Executive Director, Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative (GeSCI)
by Edith Adera 11 Mar '08

11 Mar '08

In case it might be of interest to you or someone you know ... (See attached file: ED profile.doc)

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Re: [kictanet] Fears About Safaricom (was M-PESA for E-Commerce)
by Michael Joseph 09 Mar '08

09 Mar '08

One very important correction - I am apparently a Board Member of the KCCT not CCK. Please correct this. I did not ask for this. We are helping with the ICT development and I guess this is why I was appointed.. It is most unfair to continue to bring up the sms and sms connection to TKL. We refunded all who we charged incorrectly and we explained the lack of connectivity. I think debating issues this way when one can blatantly say things which are misleading does not encourage real debate about real issues. I will say no more on this list Michael Joseph CEO Safaricom Limited BlackBerry powered by Safaricom ----- Original Message ----- From: kictanet-bounces+mjoseph=safaricom.co.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke <kictanet-bounces+mjoseph=safaricom.co.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> To: Michael Joseph Cc: skunkworks(a)my.co.ke <skunkworks(a)my.co.ke>; kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke>; ke-users <ke-internetusers(a)bdix.net> Sent: Fri Mar 07 12:17:13 2008 Subject: [kictanet] Fears About Safaricom (was M-PESA for E-Commerce) Indeed Washington you listened and captured my response correctly. However, Michael Joseph has asked a new very worthy question to respond to "Alex: Why are you afraid?" 1. Michael Joseph, among other big Telco faces successfully made baby steps into government and so you will now be getting income and emoluments from taxpayers kitty! Nation cartoonist last year had an "MJ for President" cartoon and in retrospect I wonder how much of a joke that really was. You are now Board member appointed under State Corporations Act through Kenya of Gazette dated Friday, 29 February, 2008. He will be a colleague serving in a Board chaired by his "independent" market regulator CCK. Should not any right thinking person have reasons to be afraid? 2. Today, CCK in Kenya Gazette of 7th March 2008 notice, publishes by two companies ( Cykim Limited and Intelligent Contacts Solutions) applying for the protested VAS license. Why did CCK not wait for the issue to be first resolved before publishing this notice, unless it had already been decided? 3. Current CCK annual report says that the commission received just 17 consumer complaints in their last reporting year of which they were able to resolve only four. Perhaps its only me but, I find 17 complaints statistically abnormal considering the industry had over 10 million mobile phone users and 2.7 million internet users. Would anyone know if CCK were ISO 10002 compliant? I would appreciate that information very much. > > Why is everything we do bad? Just because we are big? We got that way by > > listening to our customers and delivering products and services that > > they wanted and would use. > > 4. There have been very dark clouds over your past path. These include Mobitelea (and others whose fate now hangs in the balance without an opposition and now you in government now...), charging for undelivered services (such as sms) blocking access to other networks' services etc.. I have a couple... The problem is that Safaricom morphed into a scary uncaring giant fish swallowing anything on its way and CCK sits watching. Proposed solution: The continued loss of faith and now confidence in CCK demonstrated through above few examples is sufficiently compelling to warrant its disbandment and to be replaced by another Board made up of persons with consumer, public, wider industry, business, and particularly encouraging to SMEs. A new board that will prove beyond a shadow of doubt that they represent the new Kenya we need where genuine Fair Play is practiced, everyone small and big have access to prosperity. The current CCK Board endorsed Michael Joseph to serve with them.... i.e. Regulator and regulated merged. I shall not be afraid for consumers and myself thereafter. Alex On Fri, Mar 7, 2008 at 8:19 AM, Odhiambo Washington <odhiambo(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > > On Fri, Mar 7, 2008 at 6:46 AM, Michael Joseph <MJoseph(a)safaricom.co.ke> > wrote: > > Alex: > > > > Why are you afraid? Bill asked a question and we answered it. We could > > have ignored it but we felt it was good to contribute. We are continuing > > to develop M-Pesa and this functionality has been in development for > > some time. We even see a direct connection to the internet for customers > > to pay on-line just by clicking a link to M-Pesa. > > > > Why is everything we do bad? Just because we are big? We got that way by > > listening to our customers and delivering products and services that > > they wanted and would use. > > > > Regards, > > > > Michael > > > > CEO > > Safaricom Limited > > > > > > > > > > Hello MJ, > > I think you slightly missed the point there. Gakuru is obviously right. It's > only you who may not admit the facts regarding his fears, but I want to > believe his fears are well founded. > I am not playing Alex Gakuru's advocate but what I believe he meant to say > was the fact that Safaricom would not be willing to let entities like the > original poster of this thread to take advantage of a service like M-PESA in > a way that Safaricom would feel is in direct competition with it. > When I initially responded to Harrison Karanja Kairo, the OP, and mentioned > that he could consult with the product's R&D team at Safaricom, I did say, > in my initial response something like "I am not sure they are > allowed/willing to work with you on this as I already see securityissues > coming up". I was expressing the same fears as Alex in a "diplomatic" > manner. Perhaps you can prove me wrong, but what Harrison Karanja had wanted > was something akin to grabbing that magic code that accompies an M-PESA > transaction and use it to validate a transaction. So, if only to prove > Gakuru wrong, could you kindly ask Pauline Vaughan to help the OP (one, > Harrison Karanja) with the necessary advise regarding his query? I don't > think that will be easy for you, as you are likely to let go of something > you see already as a great business product, no? > > Gakuru did not at all say Safaricom is bad. Well, Safaricom is big, for sure > as you say, and since you know it, let me also tell you that it's so big > that it's getting out of control as you are no longer quite capable of > efficiently "listening to the large number of clientele whenever they have > problems". This has come up before during a discussion on outsourcing. So > when you talk of "big", please also consider being "big" in serving the > customers, and potential competitors like Harrison. > > Just my 2 cents, which you can credit to my M-PESA account below:-) > > > > > -- > Best regards, > Odhiambo WASHINGTON, > Nairobi,KE > +254733744121/+254722743223 > _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ > > "Oh My God! They killed init! You Bastards!" > --from a /. post > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: alexgakuru.lists(a)gmail.com > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/alexgakuru.lists%40gma… > > _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: mjoseph(a)safaricom.co.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mjoseph%40safaricom.co… The information in this email and any attachments is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended only for the use of the named addressee. Emails are susceptible to alteration and their integrity cannot be guaranteed. Safaricom Limited does not accept legal responsibility for the contents of this email if the same is found to have been altered or manipulated. The contents and opinions expressed in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Safaricom Limited. Safaricom Limited disclaims any liability to the fullest extent permissible by law for any consequences that may arise from the contents of this email including but not limited to personal opinions, malicious and/or defamatory information and data/codes that may compromise or damage the integrity of the recipient's information technology systems. If you are not the intended recipient please notify the sender and immediately delete this email from your system.

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M-PESA for E-Commerce
by H. Karanja Kairo 09 Mar '08

09 Mar '08

I'm trying to use M-PESA for settling online purchases but I haven't yet found a way to do it through a one-step process. My best attempt so far is to: 1. Have someone M-PESA a certain amount to my phone. 2. Ask them to SMS the first 7 characters of the response they receive from M-PESA for verification (this is to get their phone number as M-PESA does not provide this) 3. Credit their online account (identified through their phone number) with the funds. With Kind Regards, Harrison Karanja Kairo * Director * SoftLaw Limited * Genius Executive Centre * 15th Floor View Park Towers * Utalii Lane * Nairobi CBD * Tel: +254-20-342225 This email (including any attachments) is confidential and intended only for the use of the addressee. It may contain information covered by legal, professional or other privilege, which privilege is not lost or waived by reason of mistaken transmission thereof. Any representation or opinions expressed are those of the individual sender and not necessarily those of SoftLaw Limited. If you are not the addressee, please inform the sender immediately and destroy this e-mail

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Fears About Safaricom (was M-PESA for E-Commerce)
by Alex Gakuru 08 Mar '08

08 Mar '08

Indeed Washington you listened and captured my response correctly. However, Michael Joseph has asked a new very worthy question to respond to "Alex: Why are you afraid?" 1. Michael Joseph, among other big Telco faces successfully made baby steps into government and so you will now be getting income and emoluments from taxpayers kitty! Nation cartoonist last year had an "MJ for President" cartoon and in retrospect I wonder how much of a joke that really was. You are now Board member appointed under State Corporations Act through Kenya of Gazette dated Friday, 29 February, 2008. He will be a colleague serving in a Board chaired by his "independent" market regulator CCK. Should not any right thinking person have reasons to be afraid? 2. Today, CCK in Kenya Gazette of 7th March 2008 notice, publishes by two companies ( Cykim Limited and Intelligent Contacts Solutions) applying for the protested VAS license. Why did CCK not wait for the issue to be first resolved before publishing this notice, unless it had already been decided? 3. Current CCK annual report says that the commission received just 17 consumer complaints in their last reporting year of which they were able to resolve only four. Perhaps its only me but, I find 17 complaints statistically abnormal considering the industry had over 10 million mobile phone users and 2.7 million internet users. Would anyone know if CCK were ISO 10002 compliant? I would appreciate that information very much. > > Why is everything we do bad? Just because we are big? We got that way by > > listening to our customers and delivering products and services that > > they wanted and would use. > > 4. There have been very dark clouds over your past path. These include Mobitelea (and others whose fate now hangs in the balance without an opposition and now you in government now...), charging for undelivered services (such as sms) blocking access to other networks' services etc.. I have a couple... The problem is that Safaricom morphed into a scary uncaring giant fish swallowing anything on its way and CCK sits watching. Proposed solution: The continued loss of faith and now confidence in CCK demonstrated through above few examples is sufficiently compelling to warrant its disbandment and to be replaced by another Board made up of persons with consumer, public, wider industry, business, and particularly encouraging to SMEs. A new board that will prove beyond a shadow of doubt that they represent the new Kenya we need where genuine Fair Play is practiced, everyone small and big have access to prosperity. The current CCK Board endorsed Michael Joseph to serve with them.... i.e. Regulator and regulated merged. I shall not be afraid for consumers and myself thereafter. Alex On Fri, Mar 7, 2008 at 8:19 AM, Odhiambo Washington <odhiambo(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > > On Fri, Mar 7, 2008 at 6:46 AM, Michael Joseph <MJoseph(a)safaricom.co.ke> > wrote: > > Alex: > > > > Why are you afraid? Bill asked a question and we answered it. We could > > have ignored it but we felt it was good to contribute. We are continuing > > to develop M-Pesa and this functionality has been in development for > > some time. We even see a direct connection to the internet for customers > > to pay on-line just by clicking a link to M-Pesa. > > > > Why is everything we do bad? Just because we are big? We got that way by > > listening to our customers and delivering products and services that > > they wanted and would use. > > > > Regards, > > > > Michael > > > > CEO > > Safaricom Limited > > > > > > > > > > Hello MJ, > > I think you slightly missed the point there. Gakuru is obviously right. It's > only you who may not admit the facts regarding his fears, but I want to > believe his fears are well founded. > I am not playing Alex Gakuru's advocate but what I believe he meant to say > was the fact that Safaricom would not be willing to let entities like the > original poster of this thread to take advantage of a service like M-PESA in > a way that Safaricom would feel is in direct competition with it. > When I initially responded to Harrison Karanja Kairo, the OP, and mentioned > that he could consult with the product's R&D team at Safaricom, I did say, > in my initial response something like "I am not sure they are > allowed/willing to work with you on this as I already see securityissues > coming up". I was expressing the same fears as Alex in a "diplomatic" > manner. Perhaps you can prove me wrong, but what Harrison Karanja had wanted > was something akin to grabbing that magic code that accompies an M-PESA > transaction and use it to validate a transaction. So, if only to prove > Gakuru wrong, could you kindly ask Pauline Vaughan to help the OP (one, > Harrison Karanja) with the necessary advise regarding his query? I don't > think that will be easy for you, as you are likely to let go of something > you see already as a great business product, no? > > Gakuru did not at all say Safaricom is bad. Well, Safaricom is big, for sure > as you say, and since you know it, let me also tell you that it's so big > that it's getting out of control as you are no longer quite capable of > efficiently "listening to the large number of clientele whenever they have > problems". This has come up before during a discussion on outsourcing. So > when you talk of "big", please also consider being "big" in serving the > customers, and potential competitors like Harrison. > > Just my 2 cents, which you can credit to my M-PESA account below:-) > > > > > -- > Best regards, > Odhiambo WASHINGTON, > Nairobi,KE > +254733744121/+254722743223 > _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ > > "Oh My God! They killed init! You Bastards!" > --from a /. post > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: alexgakuru.lists(a)gmail.com > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/alexgakuru.lists%40gma… > >

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application developers.
by Moses Kemibaro 06 Mar '08

06 Mar '08

Dotsavvy is looking for Application Developers with the following competencies: i. 2+ years experience in internet application development. ii. A portfolio of functional personal work that includes the following examples: a. Web sites/pages that utilize database-driven concepts. b. Web sites/pages that demonstrate the ability to work from a project specification. c. Web sites/pages that show implementation of a standardized user interface. iii. Experience with Macromedia, Java, CSS, PERL, Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP (LAMP) is required. iv. Additional experience with AJAX, Ruby on Rails, .NET and others would be a bonus. If you meet these criteria, or know someone who does, please send CVs to jobs(a)dotsavvyafrica.com by the 15th March 2008. Thanks, Moses

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Scholarships for ICT4D Masters in Manchester
by alice 05 Mar '08

05 Mar '08

The one-year MSc ICTs for Development degree focuses on effective > application of ICTs within poor communities. It aims to > create "ICT4D champions" who combine technical competencies in > information systems and project management with an understanding of > development context and practice: > http://www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught/courses/06237/in > d > ex.asp > > Applicants who have applied, received and accepted a formal offer > by 30 June 2008 will be considered for two scholarship > opportunities. One of these is a full scholarship of £21,000 > available on a competitive basis for applicants from developing > countries to any of IDPM's Masters degrees. One is a partial > fee-waiver scholarship worth £5,500, available exclusively for > developing country applicants to the MSc ICT4D programme. > > Details on other funding sources and on part-time employment > opportunities while studying in Manchester can be found at: > http://www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/idpm/postgraduate/taught/funding/ > > Richard Heeks (richard.heeks(a)manchester.ac.uk) > Development Informatics Group, IDPM, SED, University of Manchester, > UK _______________________________________________ incom-l mailing list incom-l(a)incommunicado.info http://mail.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/incom-l ------- End of forwarded message ------- _______________________________________________ AAW-Network mailing list AAW-Network(a)lists.apcwomen.org http://lists.apcwomen.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/aaw-network

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KDN new partner to inject Sh1.4bn for expansion
by Eric Osiakwan 05 Mar '08

05 Mar '08

http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php? option=com_content&task=view&id=6232&Itemid=5847 Eric M.K Osiakwan Executive Secretary AfrISPA (www.afrispa.org) Tel: + 233.21.258800 ext 2031 Fax: + 233.21.258811 Cell: + 233.244.386792 Handle: eosiakwan Snail Mail: Pmb 208, Accra-North Office: BusyInternet - 42 Ring Road Central, Accra-North Blog: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/eric/ Slang: "Tomorrow Now"

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proposed new license fees for Application/Content Service Providers
by Marcel Werner 04 Mar '08

04 Mar '08

Attention Colleagues, Are you aware that the Communications Commission of Kenya has issued an important consultative document on the proposed Unified License framework? Comments are welcomed by CCK, due by deadline of 29 February 2008 at close of business. The market segments categorised in the CCK paper Applications Service Providers (ASPs) and Content Service Providers (CSP) (include all Value Added Service (VAS) Providers and Web-based Public Commercial Information Service Providers can provide economic opportunities to Micro and Small Enterprises (SME) as well as Small and Medium Sized companies (MSE). Note that all these services proposedly attract a KES100,000 registration fee + KES100,000 or 0.5% of turn-over charge. That will keep many players out of the market. How many higher education graduates are working to create a niche for themselves in the market? They should be encouraged and supported! The new regulatory framework should not place any obstacles to new investors and market entrants, especially not to SME's. Therefore, the proposedlicense fees for these two categories should be replaced by a general license. Normally, such licensees does not pay license fees but register with the regulatory body and subsequently receive a certificate endorsing their operations in the sector. MARCEL WERNER Kenya ICT Federation

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