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[Fwd: [APC Forum] Wireless Technology for Social Change: Trends in NGO Mobile Use]
by alice 30 Apr '08

30 Apr '08

Apologies for cross-posting! We are pleased to announce the release of a new report on Wireless Technology for Social Change: Trends in NGO Mobile Use - http://mobileactive.org/wireless-technology-social-change-trends-ngo-mobile… Mobile technology is transforming the way advocacy, development and relief organizations accomplish their institutional missions. This is nothing news to readers of MobileActive.org, of course! The recent report Wireless Technology for Social Change: Trends in NGO Mobile Use, released today by the United Nations Foundation and The Vodafone Group Foundation, brings this point home. Wireless Technology for Social Change: Trends in NGO Mobile Use was written by Sheila Kinkade (ShareIdea.org) and myself, and commissioned by the United Nations Foundation-Vodafone Group Foundation Technology Partnership. The report examines emerging trends in “mobile activism” by looking at 11 case studies of groups active in the areas of public health, humanitarian assistance and environmental conservation. The link again: http://mobileactive.org/wireless-technology-social-change-trends-ngo-mobile…. Please feel free to pass on to other interested parties, and thanks! Best, Katrin Katrin Verclas Co-Founder and Editor MobileActive.org katrin(a)mobileactive.org <mailto:[email protected]> + 1 413 687 9877 MobileActive.org: A global resource for people using mobile phones for social impact. ======================================= 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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Kenya works on training information security managers
by Rebecca Wanjiku 29 Apr '08

29 Apr '08

Kenya works on training information security managers Lack of training institutions for information security management has made IT investment expensive for many organizations in Kenya. http://computerworld.co.ke/articles/2008/04/28/kenya-works-training-informa… Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.

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[Fwd: [Fibre-for-africa] As SAT-3 Opens Up, Neotel Makes Its Move]
by alice 28 Apr '08

28 Apr '08

Michael Malakata , IDG News Service Wednesday, April 23, 2008 2:10 PM PDT Now that the SAT-3 undersea cable has opened up to competition, with South African communications network operator Neotel gaining access to the network, industry insiders hope that prices will come down. Neotel's access to the cable means that consumers have a wider choice of operators, which could lead to lower prices for international calls. Since 2002, cable consortium members with landing points had an effective monopoly on providing cable bandwidth in their own countries and to countries without landing points. As a result, the cost of bandwidth remained high. Neotel, however, will be offering bandwidth between South Africa and the U.K., without having to touch the Telkom S.A. network. Local landing rights to the cable were held exclusively by Telkom, a South African government-owned provider, allowing the company to operate the cable as a monopoly. The South African government and other African countries where the cable had landing points had control over who got direct access to SAT-3 cable system. Neotel Chief Technology Officer Angus Hay said Neotel gained access to the cable last week, enabling the company to carry international voice and data traffic to London at competitive prices and giving consumers a choice of operators. SAT-3 cable links South Africa to Portugal, Spain, India, Malaysia, and West Africa including Nigeria, Cameroon, Angola and Senegal. South African Minister of Communication Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri declared last year the termination of all exclusive provisions contained in SAT-3 agreements. Neotel's Hay said, meanwhile, that the company has deployed its own equipment at the Melkbosstrand and Mtunzini landing stations of the SAT-3 cable system, connected directly over its own high availability fiber-optic network. "Neotel is now able to obtain international capacity on the cable and is able to pass the cost benefits to customers," Hay said via e-mail. African policymakers, nongovernmental organizations and consumers had been pushing for SAT-3 to include more operators to make the market more competitive and bring down telecom costs. The end of the SAT-3 monopoly over access will now subject the cable to international bandwidth business competition and is likely to bring down the cost of telecommunication in the region. Already, Telkom has announced it is considering bandwidth price reductions for the second time this year. There are fears, however, that a bandwidth rush may occur among African countries following the opening of the cable, causing it to run out of capacity. Source: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/145021/as_sat3_opens_up_neote… _______________________________________________ Fibre-for-africa mailing list Fibre-for-africa(a)lists.apc.org http://lists.apc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fibre-for-africa

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Outsourcing is a huge opportunity: example Acturial Services outsourcing india
by Paul Kukubo 27 Apr '08

27 Apr '08

I got this article from the Times of India online. Actural outsourcing is catching up. 24 Apr 2008 They are the professionals who design our insurance policies. Their job is to assess the financial implications of unforeseen events and the money needed to cover the risks. As the global insurance market hots up, actuaries have become hot property. And ever since actural process outsourcing (APO) has caught up, KPOs especially in India are wooing actuaries with lucrative packages. Experts say the estimated revenue from Indian offshore insurance BPO services are expected to rise from $790 million in 2007 to about $2 billion by 2010. However, as the market matures , Indian IT companies, who till now provided only back office insurance services like claims processing and others, are now moving to doing the more complex actuarial valuations jobs as well. While APO is fast emerging as a niche KPO segment, there are no official studies to forecast the market yet. ‘‘ The global insurance KPO market is estimated to be around $430 million in 2007 and India’s share is expected to be about 70 per cent at about $300 million by 2010,’’ says Mohit Thukral, senior VP, Genpact. According to Sanjiv Kapur, Senior VP Head, Patni BPO, ‘‘Various sources of market research predict the KPO industry to be anywhere between $10 billion to $17 billion by the year 2010. Going by the indication and the response we are seeing from the global market, India has the potential to become actuarial back office of the world.’’ Patni BPO has almost 120 actuarial workers in India. Kapur feels, considering, APO is not driven by volumes, growing to 125 FTEs in itself is considered significant. So what is driving this market? Apart from significant cost savings and improved productivity, India provides global companies access to skilled resources. End..... Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone provided by Celtel Kenya

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Nominations Sought for Technical Women from Developing Countries - Anita Borg Change Agent Awards]
by alice 26 Apr '08

26 Apr '08

fyi Begin forwarded message: > *From: *"Richard Heeks" <richard.heeks(a)manchester.ac.uk > <mailto:[email protected]>> > *Date: *April 25, 2008 4:38:57 PM EDT > *To: *"ICT-Based Enterprise for Women" <womenictenterprise(a)dgroups.org > <mailto:[email protected]>> > *Subject: **[womenictenterprise] Nominations Sought for Technical > Women from Developing Countries - Anita Borg Change Agent Awards* > *Reply-To: *"ICT-Based Enterprise for Women" > <womenictenterprise(a)dgroups.org <mailto:[email protected]>> > > > From: SRSterling [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2008 4:37 PM > > Hello - I'm chairing the upcoming Anita Borg Change Agent Awards, to > be given at the October 2008 Grace Hopper's Conference. Could you > please pass this around your contacts and distributions lists? We are > looking for applicaitons from technical women from developing regions > who are making a difference in the lives and livelihoods of those > around them. Transportation to the event is covered; winners will be > featured on a panel and during the awards ceremony. Criteria and more > info at this link; intersted folks can contact me with any specific > quesitons. Thank you! > > http://anitaborg.org/initiatives/awards/change-agent-awards/ > > Many thanks, > Revi > srsterling(a)gmail.com > > > Dgroups is a joint initiative of Bellanet, DFID, Hivos, ICA, IICD, > OneWorld, UNAIDS > --- You are currently subscribed to womenictenterprise as: sjorge(a)att.net > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > leave-womenictenterprise-1157412F(a)dgroups.org ======================================= 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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Re: [kictanet] ICT Authority?
by Leonard Mware 24 Apr '08

24 Apr '08

I agree with Monica. Perhaps change KICTB to KICTA? Then make e-gov a department of KICTA? This would be better than creating a new outfit. Expand scope of existing Board. L ----- Original Message ---- From: Monica Kerretts-Makau <mkmakau(a)yahoo.co.uk> To: mleonardo(a)yahoo.com Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2008 2:51:23 PM Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT Authority? Waudo, While I agree that there needs to be coordination, should there not be a review of existing agencies : for scope and mandate and see if these agencies can be realigned to meet the gaps as raised rather than creating a new body? In doing so we may end up with even lesser institutions if some are merged etc? Dr. Monica Kerretts-Makau On 24/4/08 2:26 PM, "waudo siganga" <emailsignet(a)mailcan.com> wrote: > Alex - actually the KEPSA proposal is not at a stage of detail. I think > the first stage is for all to determine and agree, as KEPSA has done, > that there is a problem of "coordination and coherence" with regard to > ICT and Government. We can use a forum like this one to share > experiences to determine this. For me the reality is that ICT is > cross-cutting and horizontal to the Government structure while most > Ministries appear structured to operate in a vertical format. The > Ministry of trade will tell you that OOXML (and ICT standards in > general) is their baby; so is the yet to be attended to WTO Information > Technology Act; so is signing (WTO) commitments to liberalize ICT > services sector. Finance will claim GITS; Immigration want to > unilaterally control the entry of ICT experts into the country, etc. > There is no-one stop-shop to manage or even act as an interface. In this > connection an ICT Authority is just one proposal but the flesh of it > would have to come from wider consultation and input of all > stakeholders. > > Waudo > > On Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:03:05 -0700 (PDT), "Alex Gakuru" > <alex.gakuru(a)yahoo.com> said: >> >> --- Edith Adera <eadera(a)idrc.or.ke> wrote: >>> >>> Can the proposal be shared in this list? >>> >> >> I have refrained from commenting without seeing and >> understanding what the said proposal contains. >> >> Alex >> >> >> >> _____________________________________________________________________________ >> _______ >> 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: emailsignet(a)mailcan.com >> Unsubscribe or change your options at >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/emailsignet%40mailcan.…>> m .............................. ³As we look ahead into the future, Leaders will be those who empower others² Bill Gates _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: mleonardo(a)yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mleonardo%40yahoo.com ____________________________________________________________________________________ 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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Fwd: More on ICT Authority?
by John Walubengo 24 Apr '08

24 Apr '08

Something I couldnt help floating on the list...ofcourse with permission... walu. --- amugambi(a)jambo.co.ke further wrote: I have been following the ongoing online melodrama debate of the ICT Authority with keen interest. Here are my thoughts.. It is important to note that the issue of centralised ICT services provision to GOK has not been addressed or fully understood as this has been handled from time to time on project by project basis (e.g. the Metronet) or subject (e.g. e-Gov)depending on the flavor of the month. You see E-gov, GITS, GCCN, CCK, ICT Board, KCCT, KEPSA et al, they are all behemoths, but we should look in totality at GOK ICT Operation and Strategy Implementation within the wider context of the GOK 'ICT Management Strategy'. This would ensure that going forward and for ever that interests are managed and people only lobby those they need to. Look at this Scenario - u want to sell software/hardware to GOK ...,1. Visit CCK for authority to sell... 2. Move to ICT board for strategy and selling / budgets et al ... 3. Go to Govt GITS for implementation. It is lenghty and chaotic... No wonder nothing really gets done!! The only way you will have a clear helicopter view of the sector and be able to draw on synergies such as combined trunks, data centres, fail over and disaster recovery strategy, is to have an implementation company run and manage vendors as well as shortlist/blacklist vendors for all Governmet ICT services. And this is exactly what the ICT Authority would be doing amongst others! --- amugambi(a)jambo.co.ke further wrote: Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:28:41 +0300 (EAT) Subject: More on ICT Authority? From: amugambi(a)jambo.co.ke To: "John Walubengo" <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> Walu, Further to my mail this morning, i wish to add the following. There is need for a body to manage and coordinate the management and Maintainance ICT aspects of govt (the non-exciting and zero-money stuff) as vendors have interest in all the money minting aspects above anything else. Others are being driven by the potential of creating monster projects that can be funded by the WorldBank as well as other bilateral and multilateral partners. Each player (GITS, Egov, ICT Board, CCK et al) seems to have all components of a complete self contained ICT business/market by themselves. They can and do buy, fund, implement, and use ICT products and services, so to them their systems and ICT use encompasses all aspects from design, funding, procurement,implementation, management and Maintainance with the last 2 as most neglected. The two most neglected items (ICT Management and Maintenace) could be addressed if we could take the approach where the Policy Maker becomes a Rejigged CCK (technology), ICT Board does the commercial/environment), KEBS(Standards), and Implementer could be a New Entity or Rejigged GITS (same name or a different monster and could comprise of E-gov, et al) The User would be the Government of Kenya with a Usergroup Board made of other ICT players including major GOK CITOs Other grey areas can be run by committees ... Easier to constitute, don't have to be employees of GOK and can be funded by MOIC. What do you think?? Kinoti Mugambi > > By the way I have no objection to an ICT Authority....I > think such an > > agency (RITA) has done wonders for Rwanda, founded by > none other than Dr. > > J Oketch the current boss at eGovt. But such a body > must come in to play > > an over-arching role over the others rather than focus > on a sub-theme as > > it were...maybe i will take a look at the KEPSA > proposal. > > > > walu. > > > > > > ----- Original Message ---- > > From: "MEldon(a)symphony.co.ke" <MEldon(a)symphony.co.ke> > > To: jwalu(a)yahoo.com > > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions > <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke>; > > > kictanet-bounces+meldon=symphony.co.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 9:13:04 AM > > Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT Authority? > > > > First, it's a shame that e-Gov and GITS have not > merged. They should, and > > in a 'neutral' ministry like OP. > > > > Then, as far as the coordination need is concerned I > see a number of > > options: > > - have one of the bodies convene the others to handle > issues where more > > than one is involved > > - expand the mandate of one of the existing ones to > cover the need > > identified by Waudo > > - the option mooted by Waudo > > > > Mike Eldon > > > > > > > > From: "waudo siganga" <emailsignet(a)mailcan.com> > > > > To: meldon(a)symphony.co.ke > > > > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions > > <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > > > > Date: 04/22/2008 05:56 PM > > > > Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT Authority? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I would not see any overlap Walu as the bodies you have > mentioned have > > their specific mandates which are not encompassing the > ICT universe. > > Roughly I think ICT Board is for marketing (Min. of > INFOCOM), GITS to > > run Gov. ICT services (Min. of Finance) and the > e-Secretariat to > > implement the e-Gov. strategy (Office of Pres.). I am > always open to > > correction but meantime I am endorsing the KEPSA > proposal. > > Waudo > > > > On Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:23:50 -0700 (PDT), "John > Walubengo" > > <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> said: > >> Waudo, > >> > >> jst wondering if we dont already have enough overlaps > >> between ICT Board, eGovt Secretariate, Government > >> Info-Technology Services (GITS) and now you (KEPSA?) > want > >> to add on an ICT authority? > >> > >> walu. > >> > >> --- waudo siganga <emailsignet(a)mailcan.com> wrote: > >> All this ultimately suggests the necessity for the > >> establishment of an oversight statutory > >> ICT Authority as is being proposed by KEPSA to the > ongoing > >> Government harmonization Committee. > >> > >> > >> > >> --- waudo siganga <emailsignet(a)mailcan.com> wrote: > >> > >> > Actually the Government never voted and was never > called > >> > upon to > >> > vote on this issue. The Government only facilitated > the > >> > stakeholder committee at KEBS and national voting > was > >> > done by > >> > members of that committee. The overall issue however > >> > reiterates > >> > what I see as a persistent problem regarding ICT and > >> > Government: > >> > ICT is wide and diverse, as well as being horizontal > to > >> > the > >> > Governm > >> ent structure. This sometimes leads to matters > >> > that are > >> > considered "ICT" not revolving around a central > spoke in > >> > the > >> > Governemnt structure. So for example KEBS (and by > >> > extension > >> > issues of ICT standards) falls under the Ministry of > >> > trade. In > >> > the committee that handled OOXML there was no > >> > representative from > >> > the Ministry of Info and Comm., which was a mistake > >> > because the > >> > Government was a Stakeholder. All this ultimately > >> > suggests the > >> > necessity for the establishment of an oversight > statutory > >> > ICT > >> > Authority as is being proposed by KEPSA to the > ongoing > >> > Government > >> > harmonization Committee. > >> > > >> > Waudo > >> > > >> > > >> > On Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:14:43 -0700 (PDT), "Rebecca > >> > Wanjiku" <rebeccawanji > >> > ku(a)yahoo.com> said: > >> > > >> > Microsoft denies threatening to withdraw > >> > funding > >> > > >> > Microsoft East Africa has dismissed allegations that > it > >> > threatened to withdraw funding to Kenya if the > government > >> > did not > >> > vote "yes" on OOXML. > >> > > >> > Louis Otieno, Microsoft general manager in East and > >> > Southern > >> > Africa denied the allegations, saying that Microsoft > EA > >> > acted > >> > appropriately. > >> > > >> > "We've acted appropriately in all instances. And we > are > >> > grateful > >> > that the National Body members engaged in this > process > >> > collaboratively and constructively," Otieno said. > >> > > >> > > >> > http://computerworld.co.ke/articles/2008/04/21/microsoft-denies-t > >> > hreatening-withdraw-funding > >> > > >> > Tel. 254 720 318 925 > >> > blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ > >> > > >> > > _________________________________________________________ > >> > > >> > Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all > with > >> > Yahoo! > >> > Mobile. [1]Try it now. > >> > > >> > References > >> > > >> > 1. > >> > > >> > > > http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51733/*http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8… > > > >> > -- > >> > waudo siganga > >> > emailsignet(a)mailcan.com > >> > > >> > > _______________________________________________ > >> > 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 > > -- > > waudo siganga > > emailsignet(a)mailcan.com > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > kictanet mailing list > > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > > > This message was sent to: meldon(a)symphony.co.ke > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/meldon%40symphony.co.ke > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > 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: amugambi(a)jambo.co.ke > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/amugambi%40jambo.co.ke > > > > ---------------------------------------------- > > This message has been scanned for viruses and > > dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is > > believed to be clean. > > --------------------------------------------- > > "easy access to the world" > > > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------- > This message has been scanned for viruses and > dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is > believed to be clean. > --------------------------------------------- > "easy access to the world" > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ 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] ICT Authority?
by John Walubengo 24 Apr '08

24 Apr '08

By the way I have no objection to an ICT Authority....I think such an agency (RITA) has done wonders for Rwanda, founded by none other than Dr. J Oketch the current boss at eGovt. But such a body must come in to play an over-arching role over the others rather than focus on a sub-theme as it were...maybe i will take a look at the KEPSA proposal. walu. ----- Original Message ---- From: "MEldon(a)symphony.co.ke" <MEldon(a)symphony.co.ke> To: jwalu(a)yahoo.com Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke>; kictanet-bounces+meldon=symphony.co.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 9:13:04 AM Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT Authority? First, it's a shame that e-Gov and GITS have not merged. They should, and in a 'neutral' ministry like OP. Then, as far as the coordination need is concerned I see a number of options: - have one of the bodies convene the others to handle issues where more than one is involved - expand the mandate of one of the existing ones to cover the need identified by Waudo - the option mooted by Waudo Mike Eldon From: "waudo siganga" <emailsignet(a)mailcan.com> To: meldon(a)symphony.co.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: 04/22/2008 05:56 PM Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT Authority? I would not see any overlap Walu as the bodies you have mentioned have their specific mandates which are not encompassing the ICT universe. Roughly I think ICT Board is for marketing (Min. of INFOCOM), GITS to run Gov. ICT services (Min. of Finance) and the e-Secretariat to implement the e-Gov. strategy (Office of Pres.). I am always open to correction but meantime I am endorsing the KEPSA proposal. Waudo On Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:23:50 -0700 (PDT), "John Walubengo" <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> said: > Waudo, > > jst wondering if we dont already have enough overlaps > between ICT Board, eGovt Secretariate, Government > Info-Technology Services (GITS) and now you (KEPSA?) want > to add on an ICT authority? > > walu. > > --- waudo siganga <emailsignet(a)mailcan.com> wrote: > All this ultimately suggests the necessity for the > establishment of an oversight statutory > ICT Authority as is being proposed by KEPSA to the ongoing > Government harmonization Committee. > > > > --- waudo siganga <emailsignet(a)mailcan.com> wrote: > > > Actually the Government never voted and was never called > > upon to > > vote on this issue. The Government only facilitated the > > stakeholder committee at KEBS and national voting was > > done by > > members of that committee. The overall issue however > > reiterates > > what I see as a persistent problem regarding ICT and > > Government: > > ICT is wide and diverse, as well as being horizontal to > > the > > Governm > ent structure. This sometimes leads to matters > > that are > > considered "ICT" not revolving around a central spoke in > > the > > Governemnt structure. So for example KEBS (and by > > extension > > issues of ICT standards) falls under the Ministry of > > trade. In > > the committee that handled OOXML there was no > > representative from > > the Ministry of Info and Comm., which was a mistake > > because the > > Government was a Stakeholder. All this ultimately > > suggests the > > necessity for the establishment of an oversight statutory > > ICT > > Authority as is being proposed by KEPSA to the ongoing > > Government > > harmonization Committee. > > > > Waudo > > > > > > On Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:14:43 -0700 (PDT), "Rebecca > > Wanjiku" <rebeccawanji > > ku(a)yahoo.com> said: > > > > Microsoft denies threatening to withdraw > > funding > > > > Microsoft East Africa has dismissed allegations that it > > threatened to withdraw funding to Kenya if the government > > did not > > vote "yes" on OOXML. > > > > Louis Otieno, Microsoft general manager in East and > > Southern > > Africa denied the allegations, saying that Microsoft EA > > acted > > appropriately. > > > > "We've acted appropriately in all instances. And we are > > grateful > > that the National Body members engaged in this process > > collaboratively and constructively," Otieno said. > > > > > http://computerworld.co.ke/articles/2008/04/21/microsoft-denies-t > > hreatening-withdraw-funding > > > > Tel. 254 720 318 925 > > blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ > > > > _________________________________________________________ > > > > Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with > > Yahoo! > > Mobile. [1]Try it now. > > > > References > > > > 1. > > > http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51733/*http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8… > > -- > > waudo siganga > > emailsignet(a)mailcan.com > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > 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 -- waudo siganga emailsignet(a)mailcan.com _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: meldon(a)symphony.co.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/meldon%40symphony.co.ke _______________________________________________ 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

5 5

Chocolate.com -- this is fun and yummy]
by alice 24 Apr '08

24 Apr '08

Technology start-ups Chocolate.com Apr 17th 2008 | SAN FRANCISCO From /The Economist/ print edition A start-up innovates in an unexpected field TCHO, a small company based in a warehouse in San Francisco, sounds like a typical high-tech start-up. The brainchild of an engineer who previously worked on computer-vision systems for the space shuttle, the firm is developing "beta" versions of its new product. Volunteer testers are invited to submit feedback via the web. Louis Rossetto, the co-founder of /Wired/, a technology magazine, is on board as chief executive. All the employees have stock options. But Tcho is not about to launch a new website or mobile device; it is a technology firm that makes chocolate. Its founders believe there is vast scope for innovation in the way chocolate is made and sold. Most cocoa farmers have never tasted chocolate, and produce cocoa beans without any idea of how they will be used, says Timothy Childs, Tcho's founder. The resulting chocolate is classified and sold in a very unsophisticated way, labelled at best by country of origin and percentage cocoa solids. (It is rather like labelling a wine "France, 13% alcohol".) So Mr Childs wants to put things on a more technical footing—just as Americans formalised techniques for winemaking in the 1970s. He has developed ways to analyse and grade beans, and a six-segment "flavour wheel" to map out their natural aromas. Using a variety of jury-rigged spice grinders, heaters and temperature sensors, he has worked out how to get cocoa beans to reveal their complex flavours and to get chocolate to solidify evenly. Tcho is also working with cocoa growers, in conjunction with two research groups it has equipped with satellite-internet connections, to help them improve the quality and consistency of their beans. Tcho hopes that the most effective techniques will then spread in an "open source" fashion to other growers. Beans will be turned into chocolate on Tcho's elaborate production line, which is being used as a test-bed for remote video-monitoring of industrial processes by researchers at Fuji Xerox in Palo Alto. The firm will sell much of its chocolate to other food companies, for use in other products. Such customers, says Mr Rossetto, like the idea of buying chocolate based on a consistent flavour profile; Tcho's flavour wheel could become a de facto industry standard, he suggests, as IBM's PC did in the computer industry. Tcho will also sell chocolate using its website <http://www.tcho.com/>, and through a shop and visitors' centre due to open in the summer. San Francisco, a capital of food culture as well as technology, is the logical place to produce a high-tech chocolate. John Kehoe, Tcho's sourcing director, says chocolate is going down the trail blazed by speciality coffee, as consumers become more discerning. Chocolate today, he says, is where coffee was five years ago. Having been ahead of the curve with /Wired/, which launched just as the web was emerging, Mr Rossetto seems to have spotted another trend. _______________________________________________ AfrICANN mailing list AfrICANN(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/africann

1 0

Competition could lower mobile-phone costs in Kenya
by Rebecca Wanjiku 24 Apr '08

24 Apr '08

Competition could lower mobile-phone costs in Kenya Kenyan mobile-phone users are hoping the entry of a new company, Econet Wireless, and consolidation of services by Telkom Kenya will offer competition and decreased prices for phone calls. The current GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) service providers, Safaricom and Celtel, are demonstrating duopolistic tendencies, with each refusing to lower cross-network call charges. Calls within the networks remain relatively cheap compared to calls from one network to the other. http://computerworld.co.ke/articles/2008/04/23/competition-could-lower-mobi… Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.

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Uganda Deal for Up to 300, 000 Laptops to Aid Civil Services
by Dorcas Muthoni 24 Apr '08

24 Apr '08

.........Learning from our neighbors ??? Uganda Deal for Up to 300,000 Laptops to Aid Civil Services By Edris Kisambira April 23, 2008 — IDG News Service — An agreement with an international joint venture to supply up to 300,000 laptops mainly to civil-service employees will help the Ugandan government make its workers more efficient and facilitate the delivery of services, officials say. The venture, Tropix/Founder Computer Co., has supplied a first batch of 3,000 laptops to the Civil and Corporate Employees Computer Ownership Programme (CICOCO), a US$106 million project intended to help the government jump-start its e-government program. The thinking behind the laptop project, according to government officials, is to get the civil service as competitive in the delivery of services as private sector. The adoption of ICT is expected to change the way government officials handle public affairs and speed service delivery. "I think the civil service will be improved greatly now that we will be able to continue with our work even when we are not in the formal office environment," said David Arinaitwe, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "I think that on a larger scale, it is going to change the way the civil service works government will work better, more transparent, and [it] reduces cost providing services," Arinaitwe said. Tropix/Founder is a joint venture involving investors from the U.S., Australia and China, with the laptops themselves manufactured in China. Uganda's ICT Ministry is monitoring the project, which is funded by the Chinese government through grants from a Chinese development bank, Exim. Each laptop will cost $699 through a loan scheme from a local bank, Stanbic Bank. The bank will offer loans for the purchase of the laptops in repayment packages over 12 months, 24 months or 36 months. A special 48-month package will be reserved exclusively for civil servants who hold accounts with Stanbic Bank. The computers come with a 120G-byte SATA hard disk; 1G byte of RAM; a 14.1-inch WXGA LCD screen; and a 1.6GHz Pentium dual-core T2330 processor. They also come with a DVD writer, USB ports, integrated graphics, wireless Internet card, independent web camera, a TV card and the home edition of Windows XP operating system, among other specifications. Civil servants' children can also purchase the computers under the same arrangements, but need approval from their parents. The government also plans to pursue a computer scheme for students in the next phase of its e-government program. Such a scheme will be aimed at covering the needs of students from secondary school-level to university. The laptops are part of a public-sector reform program created to improve delivery of services, according to Nicholas Sunday Olwor, the senior assistant secretary to the minister of state for ICT. --- End forwarded message --- __

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[Fwd: can the cellphone end poverty article]]
by alice 23 Apr '08

23 Apr '08

Hi all, and another article that makes the case for mobile phone's. Thank you Amy alice ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Mobile the 7th Mass Media is to internet like TV is to radio* http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2007/02/mobile_the_7th_.html _________________________________ Amy Mahan, LIRNE.NET Coordinator Montevideo, Uruguay Tel: +598.2.410 2979 Fax: +44.870.759 8283 Skype ID: amahan (GMT -3) Learning Initiatives on Reforms for Network Economies *www.LIRNE.net* Comunica *www.comunica.org * ________________________________________________ _______________________________________________ secretariat mailing list secretariat(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/secretariat This message was sent to: alice(a)apc.org Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/secretariat/alice%40apc.org

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Can the Cellphone Help End Global Poverty?
by alice 23 Apr '08

23 Apr '08

* * *Can the Cellphone Help End Global Poverty?* By SARA CORBETT. If you need to reach Jan Chipchase, the best, and sometimes only, way to get him is on his cellphone. The first time I spoke to him last fall, he was at home in his apartment in Tokyo. The next time, he was in Accra, the capital of Ghana, in West Africa. Several weeks after that, he was in Uzbekistan, by way of Tajikistan and China, and in short order he and his phone visited Helsinki, London and Los Angeles. If you decide not to call Jan Chipchase but rather to send e-mail, the odds are fairly good that you'll get an ''out of office'' reply redirecting you back to his cellphone, with a notation about his current time zone -- ''GMT +9'' or ''GMT -8'' -- so that when you do call, you may do so at a courteous hour. Keep in mind, though, that Jan Chipchase will probably be too busy with his job to talk much anyway. He could be bowling in Tupelo, Miss., or he could be rummaging through a woman's purse in Shanghai. He might be busy examining the advertisements for prostitutes stuck up in a Sao Paulo phone booth, or maybe getting his ear hairs razored off at a barber shop in Vietnam. It really depends on the moment. Chipchase is 38, a rangy native of Britain whose broad forehead and high-slung brows combine to give him the air of someone who is quick to be amazed, which in his line of work is something of an asset. For the last seven years, he has worked for the Finnish cellphone company Nokia as a ''human-behavior researcher.'' He's also sometimes referred to as a ''user anthropologist.'' To an outsider, the job can seem decidedly oblique. His mission, broadly defined, is to peer into the lives of other people, accumulating as much knowledge as possible about human behavior so that he can feed helpful bits of information back to the company -- to the squads of designers and technologists and marketing people who may never have set foot in a Vietnamese barbershop but who would appreciate it greatly if that barber someday were to buy a Nokia. What amazes Chipchase is not the standard stuff that amazes big multinational corporations looking to turn an ever-bigger profit. Pretty much wherever he goes, he lugs a big-bodied digital Nikon camera with a couple of soup-can-size lenses so that he can take pictures of things that might be even remotely instructive back in Finland or at any of Nokia's nine design studios around the world. Almost always, some explanation is necessary. A Mississippi bowling alley, he will say, is a social hub, a place rife with nuggets of information about how people communicate. A photograph of the contents of a woman's handbag is more than that; it's a window on her identity, what she considers essential, the weight she is willing to bear. The prostitute ads in the Brazilian phone booth? Those are just names, probably fake names, coupled with real cellphone numbers -- lending to Chipchase's theory that in an increasingly transitory world, the cellphone is becoming the one fixed piece of our identity. Last summer, Chipchase sat through a monsoon-season downpour inside the one-room home of a shoe salesman and his family, who live in the sprawling Dharavi slum of Mumbai. Using an interpreter who spoke Tamil, he quizzed them about the food they ate, the money they had, where they got their water and their power and whom they kept in touch with and why. He was particularly interested in the fact that the family owned a cellphone, purchased several months earlier so that the father, who made the equivalent of $88 a month, could run errands more efficiently for his boss at the shoe shop. The father also occasionally called his wife, ringing her at a pay phone that sat 15 yards from their house. Chipchase noted that not only did the father carry his phone inside a plastic bag to keep it safe in the pummeling seasonal rains but that they also had to hang their belongings on the wall in part because of a lack of floor space and to protect them from the monsoon water and raw sewage that sometimes got tracked inside. He took some 800 photographs of the salesman and his family over about eight hours and later, back at his hotel, dumped them all onto a hard drive for use back inside the corporate mother ship. Maybe the family's next cellphone, he mused, should have some sort of hook as an accessory so it, like everything else in the home, could be suspended above the floor. This sort of on-the-ground intelligence-gathering is central to what's known as human-centered design, a business-world niche that has become especially important to ultracompetitive high-tech companies trying to figure out how to write software, design laptops or build cellphones that people find useful and unintimidating and will thus spend money on. Several companies, including Intel, Motorola and Microsoft, employ trained anthropologists to study potential customers, while Nokia's researchers, including Chipchase, more often have degrees in design. Rather than sending someone like Chipchase to Vietnam or India as an emissary for the company -- loaded with products and pitch lines, as a marketer might be -- the idea is to reverse it, to have Chipchase, a patently good listener, act as an emissary for people like the barber or the shoe-shop owner's wife, enlightening the company through written reports and PowerPoint presentations on how they live and what they're likely to need from a cellphone, allowing that to inform its design. The premise of the work is simple -- get to know your potential customers as well as possible before you make a product for them. But when those customers live, say, in a mud hut in Zambia or in a tin-roofed hutong dwelling in China, when you are trying -- as Nokia and just about every one of its competitors is -- to design a cellphone that will sell to essentially the only people left on earth who don't yet have one, which is to say people who are illiterate, making $4 per day or less and have no easy access to electricity, the challenges are considerable. One morning last fall, I arranged to meet Chipchase in a neighborhood in Accra where he and a few other Nokia people were doing research. At his suggestion, I took a taxi to the general area and then called him on his cellphone. This part of the city, called Nima, was a jumble of narrow alleyways hemmed in by a few major thoroughfares and anchored by a teeming marketplace. The homes in Nima were small, low-roofed and usually one or two rooms made from concrete or crumbling mud bricks, often set back behind a homegrown business -- someone's peanut stand or a shack selling dust-coated secondhand stereos and television sets. The streets around the market were swollen with a slow-moving river of people. On their heads, Ghanaian women toted pyramids of pomegranates, bagged loaves of fresh bread, baskets of live chickens. Trucks belched diesel exhaust; men pushed carts full of sugar cane and fat, purplish bulbs of garlic. From an unseen distance, Chipchase used his phone to pilot me through the unfamiliar chaos, allowing us to have what he calls a ''just in time'' moment. ''Just in time'' is a manufacturing concept that was popularized by the Japanese carmaker Toyota when, beginning in the late 1930s, it radically revamped its production system, virtually eliminating warehouses stocked with big loads of car parts and instead encouraging its assembly plants to order parts directly from the factory only as they were needed. The process became less centralized, more incremental. Car parts were manufactured swiftly and in small batches, which helped to cut waste, improve efficiency and more easily correct manufacturing defects. As Toyota became, in essence, lighter on its feet, the company's productivity rose, and so did its profits. There are a growing number of economists who maintain that cellphones can restructure developing countries in a similar way. Cellphones, after all, have an economizing effect. My ''just in time'' meeting with Chipchase required little in the way of advance planning and was more efficient than the oft-imperfect practice of designating a specific time and a place to rendezvous. He didn't have to leave his work until he knew I was in the vicinity. Knowing that he wasn't waiting for me, I didn't fret about the extra 15 minutes my taxi driver sat blaring his horn in Accra's unpredictable traffic. And now, on foot, if I moved in the wrong direction, it could be quickly corrected. Using mobile phones, we were able to coordinate incrementally. ''Do you see the footbridge?'' Chipchase was saying over the phone. ''No? O.K., do you see the giant green sign that says 'Believe in God'? Yes? I'm down to the left of that.'' To someone who has spent years using a mobile phone, these moments are common enough to feel banal, but for people living in a shantytown like Nima -- and by extension in similar places across Africa and beyond -- the possibilities afforded by a proliferation of cellphones are potentially revolutionary. Today, there are more than 3.3 billion mobile-phone subscriptions worldwide, which means that there are at least three billion people who don't own cellphones, the bulk of them to be found in Africa and Asia. Even the smallest improvements in efficiency, amplified across those additional three billion people, could reshape the global economy in ways that we are just beginning to understand. This is part of what Chipchase was eager to show me, if only I could spot him. ''I'm by the hair-salon stall,'' he was saying into his phone. ''Next to that goat. Do you see it? See me? Ah, yes,'' he said brightly, ''there you are.'' And then, face to face and sweating in the climbing equatorial sun, we hung up. To get a sense of how rapidly cellphones are penetrating the global marketplace, you need only to look at the sales figures. According to statistics from the market database Wireless Intelligence, it took about 20 years for the first billion mobile phones to sell worldwide. The second billion sold in four years, and the third billion sold in two. Eighty percent of the world's population now lives within range of a cellular network, which is double the level in 2000. And figures from the International Telecommunications Union show that by the end of 2006, 68 percent of the world's mobile subscriptions were in developing countries. As more and more countries abandon government-run telecom systems, offering cellular network licenses to the highest-bidding private investors and without the burden of navigating pre-established bureaucratic chains, new towers are going up at a furious pace. Unlike fixed-line phone networks, which are expensive to build and maintain and require customers to have both a permanent address and the ability to pay a monthly bill, or personal computers, which are not just costly but demand literacy as well, the cellphone is more egalitarian, at least to a point. ''You don't even need to own a cellphone to benefit from one,'' says Paul Polak, author of ''Out of Poverty: What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail'' and former president of International Development Enterprises, a nonprofit company specializing in training and technology for small-plot farmers in developing countries. Part of I.D.E.'s work included setting up farm cooperatives in Nepal, where farmers would bring their vegetables to a local person with a mobile phone, who then acted as a commissioned sales agent, using the phone to check market prices and arranging for the most profitable sale. ''People making a dollar a day can't afford a cellphone, but if they start making more profit in their farming, you can bet they'll buy a phone as a next step,'' Polak says. Last year, the World Resources Institute, a Washington-based environmental research group, published a report with the International Finance Corporation entitled ''The Next Four Billion,'' an economic study that looked at, among other things, how poor people living in developing countries spent their money. One of the most remarkable findings was that even very poor families invested a significant amount of money in the I.C.T. category -- information-communication technology, which, according to Al Hammond, the study's principal author, can include money spent on computers or land-line phones, but in this segment of the population that's almost never the case. What they're buying, he says, are cellphones and airtime, usually in the form of prepaid cards. Even more telling is the finding that as a family's income grows -- from $1 per day to $4, for example -- their spending on I.C.T. increases faster than spending in any other category, including health, education and housing. ''It's really quite striking,'' Hammond says. ''What people are voting for with their pocketbooks, as soon as they have more money and even before their basic needs are met, is telecommunications.'' There are clear reasons for this, but understanding them requires forgetting for a moment about your own love-hate relationship with your cellphone, or iPhone, or BlackBerry. Something that's mostly a convenience booster for those of us with a full complement of technology at our disposal -- land-lines, Internet connections, TVs, cars -- can be a life-saver to someone with fewer ways to access information. A ''just in time'' moment afforded by a cellphone looks a lot different to a mother in Uganda who needs to carry a child with malaria three hours to visit the nearest doctor but who would like to know first whether that doctor is even in town. It looks different, too, to the rural Ugandan doctor who, faced with an emergency, is able to request information via text message from a hospital in Kampala. Jan Chipchase and his user-research colleagues at Nokia can rattle off example upon example of the cellphone's ability to increase people's productivity and well-being, mostly because of the simple fact that they can be reached. There's the live-in housekeeper in China who was more or less an indentured servant until she got a cellphone so that new customers could call and book her services. Or the porter who spent his days hanging around outside of department stores and construction sites hoping to be hired to carry other people's loads but now, with a cellphone, can go only where the jobs are. Having a call-back number, Chipchase likes to say, is having a fixed identity point, which, inside of populations that are constantly on the move -- displaced by war, floods, drought or faltering economies -- can be immensely valuable both as a means of keeping in touch with home communities and as a business tool. Over several years, his research team has spoken to rickshaw drivers, prostitutes, shopkeepers, day laborers and farmers, and all of them say more or less the same thing: their income gets a big boost when they have access to a cellphone. It may sound like corporate jingoism, but this sort of economic promise has also caught the eye of development specialists and business scholars around the world. Robert Jensen, an economics professor at Harvard University, tracked fishermen off the coast of Kerala in southern India, finding that when they invested in cellphones and started using them to call around to prospective buyers before they'd even got their catch to shore, their profits went up by an average of 8 percent while consumer prices in the local marketplace went down by 4 percent. A 2005 London Business School study extrapolated the effect even further, concluding that for every additional 10 mobile phones per 100 people, a country's G.D.P. rises 0.5 percent. Text messaging, or S.M.S. (short message service), turns out to be a particularly cost-effective way to connect with otherwise unreachable people privately and across great distances. Public health workers in South Africa now send text messages to tuberculosis patients with reminders to take their medication. In Kenya, people can use S.M.S. to ask anonymous questions about culturally taboo subjects like AIDS, breast cancer and sexually transmitted diseases, receiving prompt answers from health experts for no charge. Some of the mobile phone's biggest boosters are those who believe that pumping international aid money into poor countries is less effective than encouraging economic growth through commerce, also called ''inclusive capitalism.'' A cellphone in the hands of an Indian fisherman who uses it to grow his business -- which presumably gives him more resources to feed, clothe, educate and safeguard his family -- represents a textbook case of bottom-up economic development, a way of empowering individuals by encouraging entrepreneurship as opposed to more traditional top-down approaches in which aid money must filter through a bureaucratic chain before reaching its beneficiaries, who by virtue of the process are rendered passive recipients. For this reason, the cellphone has become a darling of the microfinance movement. After Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel-winning founder of Grameen Bank, began making microloans to women in poor countries so that they could buy revenue-producing assets like cows and goats, he was approached by a Bangladeshi expat living in the U.S. named Iqbal Quadir. Quadir posed a simple question to Yunus -- If a woman can invest in a cow, why can't she invest in a phone? -- that led to the 1996 creation of Grameen Phone Ltd. and has since started the careers of more than 250,000 ''phone ladies'' in Bangladesh, which is considered one of the world's poorest countries. Women use microcredit to buy specially designed cellphone kits costing about $150, each equipped with a long-lasting battery. They then set up shop as their village phone operator, charging a small commission for people to make and receive calls. The endeavor has not only revolutionized communications in Bangladesh but also has proved to be wildly profitable: Grameen Phone is now Bangladesh's largest telecom provider, with annual revenues of about $1 billion. Similar village-phone programs have sprung up in Rwanda, Uganda, Cameroon and Indonesia, among other places. ''Poor countries are poor because they are wasting their resources,'' says Quadir, who is now the director of the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at M.I.T. ''One resource is time, another is opportunity. Let's say you can walk over to five people who live in your immediate vicinity, that's one thing. But if you're connected to one million people, your possibilities are endless.'' During a 2006 field study in Uganda, Chipchase and his colleagues stumbled upon an innovative use of the shared village phone, a practice called sente. Ugandans are using prepaid airtime as a way of transferring money from place to place, something that's especially important to those who do not use banks. Someone working in Kampala, for instance, who wishes to send the equivalent of $5 back to his mother in a village will buy a $5 prepaid airtime card, but rather than entering the code into his own phone, he will call the village phone operator (''phone ladies'' often run their businesses from small kiosks) and read the code to her. She then uses the airtime for her phone and completes the transaction by giving the man's mother the money, minus a small commission. ''It's a rather ingenious practice,'' Chipchase says, ''an example of grass-roots innovation, in which people create new uses for technology based on need.'' It's also the precursor to a potentially widespread formalized system of mobile banking. Already companies like Wizzit, in South Africa, and GCash, in the Philippines, have started programs that allow customers to use their phones to store cash credits transferred from another phone or purchased through a post office, phone-kiosk operator or other licensed operator. With their phones, they can then make purchases and payments or withdraw cash as needed. Hammond of the World Resources Institute predicts that mobile banking will bring huge numbers of previously excluded people into the formal economy quickly, simply because the latent demand for such services is so great, especially among the rural poor. This bodes well for cellphone companies, he says, since owning a phone will suddenly have more value than sharing a village phone. ''If you're in Hanoi after midnight,'' Hammond says, ''the streets are absolutely clogged with motorbikes piled with produce. They give their produce to the guy who runs a vegetable stall, and they go home. How do they get paid? They get paid the next time they come to town, which could be a month or two later. You have to hope you can find the stall guy again and that he remembers what he sold. But what if you could get paid the next day on your mobile phone? Would you care what that mobile costs? I don't think so.'' In February of last year, when Vodafone rolled out its M-Pesa mobile-banking program in Kenya, it aimed to add 200,000 new customers in the first year but got them within a month. One year later, M-Pesa has 1.6 million subscribers, and Vodafone is now set to open mobile-banking enterprises in a number of other countries, including Tanzania and India. ''Look, microfinance is great; Yunus deserves his sainthood,'' Hammond says. ''But after 30 years, there are only 90 million microfinance customers. I'm predicting that mobile-phone banking will add a billion banking customers to the system in five years. That's how big it is.'' When he is not doing his field work, Jan Chipchase goes to a lot of design conferences, where he gives talks with titles like ''Connecting the Unconnected.'' He also writes a popular blog called Future Perfect, on which he posts photographs of some of the things that amaze him along with a little bit of explanatory text. ''Pushing technologies on society without thinking through their consequences is at least naive, at worst dangerous . . . and IMHO the people that do it are just boring,'' he writes on his blog's description page. ''Future Perfect is a pause for reflection in our planet's seemingly headlong rush to churn out more, faster, smaller and cheaper.'' Clearly, though, Chipchase's work puts him smack in the middle of this rush, and no company churns out phones like Nokia, which manufactures 1.3 million products daily. Forty percent of the mobile phones sold last year were made by Nokia, and the company's $8.4 billion profit in 2007 reflects as much. Chipchase seems distinctly uncomfortable talking about his part as a corporate rainmaker, preferring to see himself as a mostly dispassionate ethnographer, albeit one with Nokia stock options. The only time I saw him get even slightly prickly -- or indeed behave like anything but a mild-mannered guy who is wholly absorbed by the small, arcane things that serve as clues to bigger patterns of communication -- was when I happened to muse that maybe there were still places in the world where technology might not be so vital. We were sitting under a slow-revolving ceiling fan in a small restaurant in Accra, eating bowls of piquant Ghanaian peanut-and-chicken stew. Chipchase told a story about meeting some monk disciples at a temple in Ulan Bator, when he vacationed in Mongolia a few Decembers ago. (Most of Chipchase's vacation stories, it turns out, take place in less-developed countries, often in forbidding weather and frequently relating back to cellphone use.) Despite their red robes and shaved heads and the fact they were spending their days in a giant monastery at the top of a windy hill where they were meant to be in dialogue with God, some of the 15 monk disciples had cellphones -- Nokia cellphones -- and most were fancier models than the one Chipchase was carrying. One of the disciples asked to look at Chipchase's phone. ''So he's got my phone and his phone,'' Chipchase told me. ''And as we're talking, he's switching on the Bluetooth. And he then data-mines my phone for all its content, all my photographs and so on, which is absolutely fine, but it's kind of a scene where you think, I'm here, I'm so away from everything and yet they're so technically literate. . . . '' This is when I voiced a careless thought about whether there might be something negative about the lightning spread of technology, whether its convenience was somehow supplanting traditional values or practices. Chipchase raised his eyebrows and laid down his spoon. He sighed, making it clear that responding to me was going to require patience. ''People can think, yeah, monks with cellphones, and tsk, tsk, and what is the world coming to?'' he said. ''But if you wanted to take phones away from anybody in this world who has them, they'd probably say: 'You're going to have to fight me for it. Are you going to take my sewer and water away too?' And maybe you can't put communication on the same level as running water, but some people would. And I think in some contexts, it's quite viable as a fundamental right.'' He paused a beat to let this sink in, then added, with just a touch of edge, ''People once believed that people in other cultures might not benefit from having books either.'' For the last year, Chipchase has been working on a project he calls Future Urban, the goal of which is to explore what the cities of tomorrow will be like. Which is why one afternoon in Ghana he provided me with minute-to-minute cellphone instructions (''Do you see the sewing stall? O.K., now look to the right'') for finding him at the outskirts of Buduburam, a densely populated refugee settlement about an hour's drive west of Accra. For the previous 11 days, Chipchase, two of his female colleagues from Tokyo -- Indri Tulusan and Younghee Jung -- and a small group of hired Ghanaians had been running what they called an ''open design studio'' in the heart of Buduburam, which is home to approximately 40,000 people, most of whom had fled from the civil wars in neighboring Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast. Nokia's temporary design studio sat in a rented two-room concrete hut at the intersection of two busy dirt lanes, across from a woman selling chunks of watermelon and peeled lemons and next to a large water tank labeled ''Church of God.'' There was a sheet of fabric strung up in front, with neat painted lettering that read: ''Your Dream Phone. Share it with the world.'' It went on to describe how the community was invited to come share ideas and drawings for the ideal mobile phone. Prizes were offered. So far, 140 people had shown up to sketch their dream phone. ''For the first time, there are more people living in urban centers than in rural settings,'' Chipchase explained as we sat in the shade outside the studio. ''And in the next years, millions more will move to these places.'' At current rates of migration, the United Nations Human Settlements Program has projected that one-quarter of the earth's population will live in so-called slums by the year 2020. Slums, by sheer virtue of the numbers, are going to start mattering more and more, Chipchase postulated. In the name of preparing Nokia for this shift, he, Jung and Tulusan, along with a small group of others, spent several weeks in various shantytowns -- in Mumbai, in Rio, in western China and now here in Ghana. People in the mobile-handset business talk about adding customers not by the millions but by the billions, if only they could get the details right. How do you make a phone that can be repaired by a streetside repairman who may not have access to new parts? How do you build a phone that won't die a quick death in a monsoon or by falling off the back of a motorbike on a dusty road? Or a phone that picks up distant signals in a rural place, holds a charge off a car battery longer or that can double as a flashlight during power cuts? Influenced by Chipchase's study on the practice of sharing cellphones inside of families or neighborhoods, Nokia has started producing phones with multiple address books for as many as seven users per phone. To enhance the phone's usefulness to illiterate customers, the company has designed software that cues users with icons in addition to words. The biggest question remains one of price: Nokia's entry-level phones run about $45; Vodafone offers models that are closer to $25; and in a move that generated headlines around the world, the Indian manufacturer Spice Limited recently announced plans to sell a $20 ''people's phone.'' Even as sales continue to grow, it is yet to be seen whether the mobile phone will play a significant, sustained role in alleviating poverty in the developing world. In Africa, it's still only a relatively small percentage of the population that owns cellphones. Network towers are not particularly cost-effective in remote areas, where power is supplied by diesel fuel. ''I don't see cellphones as a magic bullet per se, though they're obviously very helpful,'' says Ken Banks, founder of kiwanja.net, a nonprofit entity that provides free text-messaging software and information-technology support to grass-roots enterprises, mostly in Africa. ''Many people in the developing world don't yet have a phone -- not because they don't want one but because there are barriers. And the only way companies are going to sell phones is to understand what those barriers are.'' He cites access to reliable electricity as a major barrier, noting that Motorola now provides free solar-powered charging kiosks to female entrepreneurs in Uganda, who use them to sell airtime. The company is also testing wind- and solar-powered base stations in Namibia, which could bring down the cost of connecting remote areas to cellular networks. ''Originally mobile-phone companies weren't interested in power because it's not their business,'' Banks says. ''But if a few hundred million people could buy their phones once they had it, they're suddenly interested in power.'' Many of the people in Buduburam who came to sketch their ideas for a perfect phone at the Nokia studio did not actually own one. The community's power grid had been down for the last month, so those who did have one had been paying to have their phones charged at a local shop with a diesel-run generator. But when I paged through the fat three-ring binders where the Nokia team was storing those sketches, it was evident that the future, or at least some vision of it, had already arrived. Some of the drawings were basic pencil sketches; others were strikingly elaborate, with arrows pointing to different dream features, which were really just a way of pointing -- I realized then -- to the dreams themselves. Jung and Tulusan said they'd found this everywhere, the phone representing what people are aspiring to. ''It's an easy way to see what's important to them, what their challenges are,'' Jung said. One Liberian refugee wanted to outfit a phone with a land-mine detector so that he could more safely return to his home village. In the Dharavi slum of Mumbai, people sketched phones that could forecast the weather since they had no access to TV or radio. Muslims wanted G.P.S. devices to orient their prayers toward Mecca. Someone else drew a phone shaped like a water bottle, explaining that it could store precious drinking water and also float on the monsoon waters. In Jacarezinho, a bustling favela in Rio, one designer drew a phone with an air-quality monitor. Several women sketched phones that would monitor cheating boyfriends and husbands. Another designed a ''peace button'' that would halt gunfire in the neighborhood with a single touch. Interestingly, the recent post-election violence in Kenya provided a remarkable case study for the cellphone as an instrument of both war and peace. After the government imposed a media blackout in late December last year, Kenyans sought news and information via S.M.S. messages on their phones and used them to track down friends and family who'd fled their homes. Many also reported receiving unsolicited text messages to take up arms. The government responded with an admonition, sent, of course, via S.M.S.: ''The Ministry of Internal Security urges you to please desist from sending or forwarding any S.M.S. that may cause public unrest. This may lead to your prosecution.'' As a joke, Chipchase sometimes pulls out his cellphone and pretends to shave his face with it, using a buzzing ring tone for comic effect. But there's a deeper truth embedded here, not just for people in places like Kenya or Buduburam but for all of us. As cellphone technology grows increasingly sophisticated, it has cannibalized -- for better or worse -- the technologies that have come before it. Carrying a full-featured cellphone lessens your needs for other things, including a watch, an alarm clock, a camera, video camera, home stereo, television, computer or, for that matter, a newspaper. With the advent of mobile banking, cellphones have begun to replace wallets as well. That a phone might someday offer a nice close shave suddenly seems not so ridiculous after all. One morning I followed Chipchase as he waded deep into the Nima market, a hodgepodge of vegetable stalls and phone-booth-size stores selling sundries like candles and palm oil. He was accompanied by a Ghanaian interpreter and two Nokia designers who had flown in from California to test the cultural waters for a phone that -- if everything played out perfectly -- could cost as little as $5. The $5 phone was still a pie-in-the-sky concept, explained Duncan Burns, one of the designers, something they were fiddling with to see if it might be possible someday probably years from now. Each time the group stopped to chat with someone, Burns pulled out several prototypes -- or ''physical sketches,'' as he called them -- for potential phones, handing them over one by one for examination. These were elegant, futuristic-looking things, just odd enough to seem as if they'd arrived not from California but from outer space. One was long and wandlike, looking something like an aluminum version of a thick vanilla bean. Another was a slimmer rendering of an everyday phone but with no keypad and no screen, just a single unmarked button. A third did not look at all like a phone but rather like a credit card. There were a couple of small digital photos of people's faces stuck to the front of the card, and it came with a small stylus that could be used, Burns said, to touch a face on the card, which would then dial that person's number -- a pictorial address book for someone who was illiterate. A fourth had a camera that took pictures and deposited them right into the phone's address book. A young man selling beans stared at each of the pretend phones uncomfortably, as if he mistrusted the devices or perhaps the small crowd of sweat-soaked foreigners suddenly leaning in close to see how he handled them. ''How would you use that?'' Chipchase asked through the interpreter, using a dialect called Twi and pointing to the wand phone. The bean seller tentatively lifted it to his ear. ''Where would you keep it?'' The young man gestured to his neck. ''On a rope?'' Chipchase said. The man, still looking bewildered, nodded yes. Moments later, we came upon an ample-bodied woman dressed in a bright gold wrapper and matching head scarf, sifting rocks and twigs out of scoopfuls of corn beneath an umbrella in a quiet corner of the market. ''Hellllloooooo,'' Chipchase said, smiling broadly. ''Helllllooooo, Brudda,'' she said back in English. ''We work for Nokia. You know Nokia?'' The woman said nothing, but reached down and from the folds of her wrapper produced a Nokia phone. ''Not good,'' she said, shaking her head disparagingly. ''You call. It switches off.'' Chipchase enlisted the interpreter to explain that her problem sounded like a network problem and not a Nokia problem. Shrugging, the woman went on to inspect the prototype phones, testing their weight in her palm, pressing them against her cheek, punching buttons. She pooh-poohed the stylus phone but said she liked the one-button model if it meant she didn't need to use a lot of numbers. ''Brudda, how do you charge it?'' she asked. From his bag, Burns pulled another still-conceptual design, this one a thin metal cylinder with a whirlybird antenna on top. He showed the corn seller how to rotate the cylinder in small circles, causing the antenna to swing, which, he explained, in 15 minutes or so would generate enough power to charge her phone battery. The woman picked up the futuristic gizmo and began to swing it; the antenna whipped around and around. She let out an enthusiastic whoop. Then a friend of hers who'd been sitting in the shadow of her umbrella started to laugh. Another woman, a spice seller perched on a stool next to small mountains of turmeric and cumin heaped on canvas cloths, began to laugh also. ''Very nice,'' the corn seller said to Burns and Chipchase, swinging the antenna like a toy. ''It's good!'' Then, after a moment, she gathered her composure and handed the charger off to her son, a heavy-lidded teenager who was lounging on a sack of corn nearby. ''Doing that,'' she said blithely as she returned to picking through her kernels of corn, ''can be his job.'' -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Fwd: NSE - Market Halt
by Bill Kagai 23 Apr '08

23 Apr '08

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: MediaCorp StockDetective <mediacorp.stockdetective(a)gmail.com> Date: Wed, Apr 23, 2008 at 12:12 PM Subject: NSE - Market Halt To: mediacorp.research(a)mediacorp.co.ke NSE wish to inform you that a market halt has been called at 11.04 AM following a system hitch where twelve members were unable to access the ATS from remote site due to breakdown with the fiber link. The halt has been called in accordance with Trading Rule 9.4.1 (i) and (ii). The Exchange is working towards resolving the issue and trading shall resume as soon as the problem is fixed. [Signed - Chris Mwebesa - Chief Executive]

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Re: [kictanet] kictanet Digest, Vol 11, Issue 33
by Gilda Odera 23 Apr '08

23 Apr '08

I would like to agree with Harry and Waudo. There is dire need of one body to harmonise all the ICT activities being handled by the different ICT bodies. I believe KEPSA is on the right track on this one. Gilda Odera ----- Original Message ----- From: <kictanet-request(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> To: "Gilda Odera" <godera(a)skyweb.co.ke> Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 9:13 AM Subject: kictanet Digest, Vol 11, Issue 33 > 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: ICT Authority? (waudo siganga) > 2. Re: ICT Authority? (MEldon(a)symphony.co.ke) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 21:08:56 +0300 > From: "waudo siganga" <emailsignet(a)mailcan.com> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT Authority? > To: "Harry Hare" <harry(a)africanedevelopment.org> > Cc: 'KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions' <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Message-ID: <1208887736.25105.1249288513(a)webmail.messagingengine.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > You are right Harry. All these bodies should be brought under an > umbrella Authority. Yet another function that could fall under > the Authority > would be one regulating ICT educational and training standards, > certification and professionalism. This is an area the Government > is not > taking seriously and it is not clear which Ministry to deal with > at the > moment. An ICT Authority may be better placed to actualize this > by > bringing together the stakeholders and various Ministries such as > education, Infocom, labour, > Science & Tech, etc. We need to have in mind that we have big ICT > plans for the country and these can only be achieved by having > proper and structured capacity > building and professionalism. (KEPSA is advocating for enactment > of IT Practioners > Management Act). > > If you are interested, you can become acquainted with the KEPSA > proposals by clicking [1]here. > > Waudo > On Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:02:26 +0300, [2]"Harry Hare" > <harry(a)africanedevelopment.org> said: >> Dear Walu and Waudo, >> >> You may all be right in your positions, but structurally > speaking, all >> the >> agencies mentioned by Waudo ought to be under one > administrative unit for >> effective management of the sector. Here I have in mind an ICT > Authority, >> with functional boards/departments/agencies whatever we may > want to call >> them, that may include; >> >> - GITS - Government ICT Implementation and Technical Support > function >> - eGov - eGov Policy and Strategic function >> - ICT Board - Marketing and Promotion function >> - CCK - Regulatory function >> - NCS - National ICT Policy Advisory function >> >> Of course the mandate, functions and the legality of the > institutions may >> have to be revisited and probably aligned and sharpened for > effective >> operations. So the proposed authority can be used to converge > the sector >> for >> and building synergies across the said institutions for > effective >> management >> and service delivery. >> >> Regards >> Harry >> >> African eDevelopment Resource Centre >> 3rd Floor, Nelleon Place >> Raphta Road, Westlands >> PO Box 49475 00100 >> Nairobi, Kenya >> Cel +254 725 650044 >> Land +254 20 4453445 >> www.africanedevelopment.org >> My Blogg >> >> *********************************************************** >> April/May 2008 Training Opportunities >> >> GIS 16-18 April >> Records Management 28-30 April >> Web Applications Security 28-30 April >> Certified Fiber Optic Technician 6-9 May >> e-Marketing 27-30 May >> >> Book Now, Limited spaces available >> P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: > [3]kictanet-bounces+harry=africanedevelopment.org(a)lists.kictanet. > or.ke >> > [mailto:[email protected] > anet.or.ke] >> On Behalf Of waudo siganga >> Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 3:59 PM >> To: [4]harry(a)africanedevelopment.org >> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions >> Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT Authority? >> >> I would not see any overlap Walu as the bodies you have > mentioned have >> their specific mandates which are not encompassing the ICT > universe. >> Roughly I think ICT Board is for marketing (Min. of INFOCOM), > GITS to >> run Gov. ICT services (Min. of Finance) and the e-Secretariat > to >> implement the e-Gov. strategy (Office of Pres.). I am always > open to >> correction but meantime I am endorsing the KEPSA proposal. >> Waudo >> >> On Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:23:50 -0700 (PDT), "John Walubengo" >> <[5]jwalu(a)yahoo.com> said: >> > Waudo, >> > >> > jst wondering if we dont already have enough overlaps >> > between ICT Board, eGovt Secretariate, Government >> > Info-Technology Services (GITS) and now you (KEPSA?) want >> > to add on an ICT authority? >> > >> > walu. >> > >> > --- waudo [6]siganga <emailsignet(a)mailcan.com> wrote: >> > All this ultimately suggests the necessity for the >> > establishment of an oversight statutory >> > ICT Authority as is being proposed by KEPSA to the ongoing >> > Government harmonization Committee. >> > >> > >> > >> > --- waudo [7]siganga <emailsignet(a)mailcan.com> wrote: >> > >> > > Actually the Government never voted and was never called >> > > upon to >> > > vote on this issue. The Government only facilitated the >> > > stakeholder committee at KEBS and national voting was >> > > done by >> > > members of that committee. The overall issue however >> > > reiterates >> > > what I see as a persistent problem regarding ICT and >> > > Government: >> > > ICT is wide and diverse, as well as being horizontal to >> > > the >> > > Governm >> > ent structure. This sometimes leads to matters >> > > that are >> > > considered "ICT" not revolving around a central spoke in >> > > the >> > > Governemnt structure. So for example KEBS (and by >> > > extension >> > > issues of ICT standards) falls under the Ministry of >> > > trade. In >> > > the committee that handled OOXML there was no >> > > representative from >> > > the Ministry of Info and Comm., which was a mistake >> > > because the >> > > Government was a Stakeholder. All this ultimately >> > > suggests the >> > > necessity for the establishment of an oversight statutory >> > > ICT >> > > Authority as is being proposed by KEPSA to the ongoing >> > > Government >> > > harmonization Committee. >> > > >> > > Waudo >> > > >> > > >> > > On Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:14:43 -0700 (PDT), "Rebecca >> > > Wanjiku" <rebeccawanji >> > > [8]ku(a)yahoo.com> said: >> > > >> > > Microsoft denies threatening to withdraw >> > > funding >> > > >> > > Microsoft East Africa has dismissed allegations that it >> > > threatened to withdraw funding to Kenya if the government >> > > did not >> > > vote "yes" on OOXML. >> > > >> > > Louis Otieno, Microsoft general manager in East and >> > > Southern >> > > Africa denied the allegations, saying that Microsoft EA >> > > acted >> > > appropriately. >> > > >> > > "We've acted appropriately in all instances. And we are >> > > grateful >> > > that the National Body members engaged in this process >> > > collaboratively and constructively," Otieno said. >> > > >> > > >> > [9]computerworld.co.ke/articles/2008/04/21/microsoft-denies-t >> > > hreatening-withdraw-funding >> > > >> > > Tel. 254 720 318 925 >> > > blog:[10]beckyit.blogspot.com/ >> > > >> > > _________________________________________________________ >> > > >> > > Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with >> > > Yahoo! >> > > Mobile. [1]Try it now. >> > > >> > > References >> > > >> > > 1. >> > > >> > >> > [11]us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51733/*http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu0 > 6i62sR8H >> DtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ >> > > -- >> > > waudo siganga >> > > [12]emailsignet(a)mailcan.com >> > > >> > > > _______________________________________________ >> > > kictanet mailing list >> > > [13]kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >> > > [14]lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet >> > > >> > > This message was sent to: [15]jwalu(a)yahoo.com >> > > Unsubscribe or change your options at >> > > >> > > [16]lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jwalu%40yahoo.c > om >> > > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > _________________________________________________________________ > ___________ >> ________ >> > Be a better friend, newshound, and >> > know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. >> > [17]mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ >> -- >> waudo siganga >> [18]emailsignet(a)mailcan.com >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> kictanet mailing list >> [19]kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >> [20]lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet >> >> This message was sent to: [21]harry(a)africanedevelopment.org >> Unsubscribe or change your options at >> > [22]lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/harry%40african > edevelop >> ment.org >> > > References > > 1. http://www.cskonline.org/downloads/kepsa_proposals.doc > 2. mailto:[email protected] > 3. > mailto:kictanet-bounces+harry=africanedevelopment.org@lists.kictanet.or.ke > 4. mailto:[email protected] > 5. mailto:[email protected] > 6. mailto:[email protected] > 7. mailto:[email protected] > 8. mailto:[email protected] > 9. > file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/computerworld.co.ke/articles/2008/04/21/microsoft > 10. file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/beckyit.blogspot.com/ > 11. file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51733/*http > 12. mailto:[email protected] > 13. mailto:[email protected] > 14. > file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > 15. mailto:[email protected] > 16. > file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet… > 17. file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/mobile.yahoo.com/ > 18. mailto:[email protected] > 19. mailto:[email protected] > 20. > file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > 21. mailto:[email protected] > 22. > file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/harry%40africanedevelop > -- > waudo siganga > emailsignet(a)mailcan.com > >

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Africa to benefit from IDRC outsourcing study
by Rebecca Wanjiku 23 Apr '08

23 Apr '08

Africa to benefit from IDRC outsourcing study Africa is set to benefit from a comparative study on the BPO (business process outsourcing) industry. Research for the study, commissioned by the International Development Research Council (IDRC), will begin next month with the aim of bridging the gap of insufficient data and statistics on BPO in many African countries. http://computerworld.co.ke/articles/2008/04/22/africa-benefit-idrc-outsourc… Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.

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Kenya to issue infrastructure licenses
by Rebecca Wanjiku 23 Apr '08

23 Apr '08

Kenya to issue infrastructure licenses Faced with rising infrastructure costs, the Kenyan government is set to issue licenses to companies dedicated to building telecom infrastructure. Bitange Ndemo, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information and Communication, said the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) will issue the licenses in six months. The move is expected to lower the infrastructure costs for telecom operators. The government will also unveil new guidelines on sharing such facilities, including transmission systems and cables. http://computerworld.co.ke/articles/2008/04/22/kenya-issue-infrastructure-l… Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.

2 1

Microsoft denies threatening to withdraw funding
by Rebecca Wanjiku 23 Apr '08

23 Apr '08

Microsoft denies threatening to withdraw funding Microsoft East Africa has dismissed allegations that it threatened to withdraw funding to Kenya if the government did not vote "yes" on OOXML. Louis Otieno, Microsoft general manager in East and Southern Africa denied the allegations, saying that Microsoft EA acted appropriately. "We've acted appropriately in all instances. And we are grateful that the National Body members engaged in this process collaboratively and constructively," Otieno said. http://computerworld.co.ke/articles/2008/04/21/microsoft-denies-threatening… Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.

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Government to use technology to deal with violent youth
by Rebecca Wanjiku 22 Apr '08

22 Apr '08

Government to use technology to deal with violent youth The Kenyan government has developed a plan to use technology to tackle the problem of recruitment of young people into the illegal Mungiki sect. The sect members paralyzed the public transport system in Kenya from April 14 to 17, demanding the release of their jailed leader, Maina Njenga. The sect recruits young men who do not make it to high school. The youths recruited into the violent movement are usually considered societal rejects because they cannot get employment apart from manual jobs. The sect recruits them and provides daily stipends. http://computerworld.co.ke/articles/2008/04/21/government-use-technology-de… Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.

2 1

Kenyan techies to monitor quality of service by ISPs
by Rebecca Wanjiku 22 Apr '08

22 Apr '08

Kenyan techies to monitor quality of service by ISPs Kenya's technology experts are developing a community Web site to monitor quality of service by ISPs. According to Michuki Mwangi, one of the leaders in the project, it will be Kenya's largest technology-related online community-based initiative, where all members are expected to come up with a solution that will make the project work better. http://computerworld.co.ke/articles/2008/04/21/kenyan-techies-monitor-quali… Tel. 254 720 318 925 blog:http://beckyit.blogspot.com/ --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.

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KCSE
by bitange＠jambo.co.ke 21 Apr '08

21 Apr '08

Dear All, My earlier e-mail to Aduda has elisted direct questions as to how the programing error could have occured. Usually errors such as the one explained by the Minister occur during Data Mining. Researchers generally define data mining (sometimes called data or knowledge discovery) as the process of analyzing data from different perspectives and summarizing it into useful information - information that can be used to increase revenue, cuts costs, or both. Data mining software is one of a number of analytical tools for analyzing data. It allows users to analyze data from many different dimensions or angles, categorize it, and summarize the relationships identified. Technically, data mining is the process of finding correlations or patterns among dozens of fields in large relational databases like KCSE. Data does not automatically become information unless it is mined properly. 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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KenBlogs...
by Michael Kipsang Bullut 20 Apr '08

20 Apr '08

Greetings, I hope this reaches you in the best of health & highest of spirits. I'd like to introduce all to a mailing list I created for Kenyan Bloggers: KenBlogs (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ken-blogs/) I firmly believe this is a field which can be developed into a leading division in the Information Technology industry. I'm an amateur blogger & my blog is called The 411... (http://kipsang.wordpress.com/) Check it out & feel free to leave a comment... My dream is to create a large virtual community that can be felt both locally & globally. Looking forward to all of you joining! Kind regards,Michael.---"The computer programmer...is a creator of universes for which he alone is the lawgiver...No playwright, no stage director, no emperor, however powerful, has ever exercised such absolute authority to arrange a stage or a field of battle and to command such unswervingly dutiful actors or troops."Joseph Weizenbaum,Computer Power & Human Reason.--- _______________________________________________ Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web!

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FW: LINK CENTRE: TPRM 2008: Certificate in Telecomms Policy, Regulation & Management - places filling up fast
by Edith Adera 18 Apr '08

18 Apr '08

This may be of interest - it's an excellent course. _____ From: link-info-bounces(a)lists.wits.ac.za [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Charley Lewis Sent: 18 April 2008 10:53 To: link-info(a)lists.wits.ac.za Cc: Tennyson Mashiloane Subject: LINK CENTRE: TPRM 2008: Certificate in Telecomms Policy,Regulation & Management - places filling up fast I believe this course is filling up rapidly. Register today, or pass this information on to others who you know can benefit from the course. Your registration and payment secures your place on this valuable programme. ================================================== Certificate in Telecomms Policy, Regulation and Management ================================================== The Certificate in Telecommunications Policy, Regulation and Management is offered by the LINK Centre, School of Public and Development Management, University of the Witwatersrand - Southern Africa's leading research and training body in the field of information and communications technology policy, regulation and management. It provides an essential background to the understanding the regulatory and policy issues and challenges in the rapidly changing telecommunications and broadcasting sector. Spread over three week-long sessions between May and July 2008, skilled and experienced staff at the LINK Centre, School of Public & Development Management, University of Witwatersrand, supported by an extensive panel of guest lecturers, each an expert in their field, will help you map the telecommunications landscape. Significance The course is designed to address the constantly evolving issues and concerns inherent in the dynamic and fast-paced nature of the telecommunications sector in South Africa. These changes - driven by rapidly developing technologies, by the evolving legal and regulatory environment and by the emergence of new markets, services and applications - give rise to increased demands for training and information. The advent of convergence and globalisation intensifies the ongoing challenge on people in these sectors to remain informed of local developments and international trends and practices. Who should attend? Decision-makers and senior policy-makers in the Department of Communications, ICASA and the USA, managers and regulatory staff in industry (manufacturers, service providers and fixed and mobile operators), bidders for PSTN licences, broadcasters, lawyers, consultants, journalists, union officials and NGOs involved in the sector. Objectives By the end of the course, the successful student will be able to: * demonstrate an understanding of the policy and regulatory environment for the telecommunications and broadcasting industries in South Africa; * demonstrate an understanding of information and communications technologies and the policy implications of these technologies; * describe the structure and process of policy formulation, regulatory oversight and licensing procedures in South Africa; * critically compare the South African telecommunications environment with international models and best practice benchmarks; * explain the approaches to telecommunications policy and regulation adopted in SADC, Africa and globally; * demonstrate an understanding of telecommunications reform and its implications for South Africa; * understand the essential drivers of reform locally and internationally, including the impact of globalisation and convergence. Content Overview A Certificate in Telecommunications Policy, Regulation and Management is awarded to candidates who attend the following three modules (120 hours) and who successfully complete the required individual and syndicate assignments. Module 1: ICT Technologies and Markets * Basic concepts of telecommunications networks: the PSTN and its underlying technologies, digitisation, transmission, switching; * Wireless communications: WLL, satellite, mobile wireless, GSM, 3G; * Call traffic and its implications; * Spectrum, its planning and management, and the assignment of frequency; * Numbering and numbering plans, number portability, carrier pre-select, eNum; * The telecommunications market in SA: status, performance and trends; * Signal distribution, and broadcasting technologies; * The broadcasting market and the impact of digital broadcasting; * The Internet, VoIP, VANS and VPNs; * Convergence, broadband, multimedia and the future. Module 2: International ICT Trends, Organisations & Developments * Globalisation and the information age; * Global trends in regulatory reform: liberalisation, privatisation, regulation in a converging environment; * Global e-governance: structures, institutions and global obligations (ITU, WTO, GATS, ICANN); * Regional developments in telecommunications regulation: SATCC, CRASA, ATU, NEPAD; * National responses to the global information economy: e-commerce in South Africa; * ICT and labour; * ICT and gender; * Information and communications technologies and development (the digital divide, ISAD, GK, dotForce, UN ICT TT, WSIS); * Universal access and universal service. Module 3: Telecommunications and Broadcasting Policy, Law and Regulation * The SA Constitution and administrative law; * Telecommunications sector regulation: rationales, principles and practices; * Competition law, and the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors in SA; * ICT sector reform in SA: overview; * Legislative, regulatory and licensing framework for telecommunications in SA: agencies, structure and procedures; * Policy and legislative reform, the regulatory and licensing framework for broadcasting in SA; * Interconnection and facilities sharing: principles, law and regulation; * Licensing: the objectives, typology, procedures, content and monitoring of licences; * Pricing and tariffs; * Quality of service and consumer protection. About LINK The LINK Centre is the leading public policy, regulation and management educational body in the area of information and communication in Southern Africa. LINK focuses on capacity building in the public sector and development arenas through quality training, applied research and consultancy services necessary to maximise the benefits of the Information Society and the Knowledge Economy. Methodology An interactive and intensive teaching methodology is used, comprised of several learning methods, including lectures, syndicate work, case studies, structured learning group discussions and presentations from local and international experts in the field. In this way participants will develop a strong practical focus directly applicable to their own organisations. The course is evaluated via one individual and two syndicate assignments. Syndicate assignments are professionally presented to the group and external examiners drawn from government, industry or academia. Schedule 2008 TPRM 2008 is a block release course divided into three modules, each running for one week per month. Participants may attend individual modules as stand-alone executive courses. Certificate in Telecommunications Policy, Regulation & Management Module Title Dates Module 1 ICT Technologies and Markets 12 - 16 May, 08:30 - 17:00 Module 2 International ICT Trends, Organisations & Developments 23 - 27 June, 08:30 - 17:00 Module 3 Telecommunications and Broadcasting Policy, Law and Regulation 21 - 25 July, 08:30 - 17:00 Fees R 17 250 (plus VAT) per participant for the full three-week course. Individual modules may be taken on their own as executive courses (for which a certificate of attendance is issued) at a fee of R 7 500 (plus VAT) per participant. A small fee discount is available for bulk enrolments. Venue All lectures are held at the Graduate School of Public and Development Management campus, 2 St David's Place, Parktown. Lectures run daily from 08:30 to 17:00 with breaks for lunch and teas. Convenor Charley Lewis + 27 + 11 + 717-3784 or charley.lewis(a)wits.ac.za Information The course web page is available at <http://link.wits.ac.za/training/tc1.html> http://link.wits.ac.za/training/tc1.html. Registration can be done online, using the course code WE/TPRMGM/07/01, via <http://www.wits.ac.za/enterprise/courses/register.html> http://www.wits.ac.za/enterprise/courses/register.html. Contact Tennyson Mashiloane + 27 + 11 + 717-4595 or via Tennyson.Mashiloane(a)wits.ac.za for more information or to enrol. - - - ends - - - Charley Lewis Senior Lecturer, LINK Centre Tel: + 27 11-717-3784 Fax: + 27 11-717-3910 Mobile: + 27 83-539-5242 Post (personal): Box 81185, Parkhurst, 2120, SOUTH AFRICA Skype: charley.lewis URL: http://link.wits.ac.za Mwalimu House, School of Public & Development Management, University of the Witwatersrand 2 St David's Place, Parktown, 2193, SOUTH AFRICA ==> Master of Management in ICT Policy & Regulation: <blocked::http://link.wits.ac.za/training/training4.html> http://link.wits.ac.za/training/training4.html ==> Certificate in Telecomms Policy, Regulation & Management: http://link.wits.ac.za/training/tc1.html This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is confidential. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and destroy the original message. You may not copy or disseminate this communication without the permission of the University. Only authorized signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf of the University and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message may not be legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All agreements between the University and outsiders are subject to South African Law unless the University agrees in writing to the contrary. This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is confidential. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and destroy the original message. You may not copy or disseminate this communication without the permission of the University. Only authorized signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf of the University and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message may not be legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All agreements between the University and outsiders are subject to South African Law unless the University agrees in writing to the contrary.

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animated indicators: how we were then, how we are now...
by saidimu apale 16 Apr '08

16 Apr '08

[My apologies for cross-posting.] http://www.gapminder.org/world A useful site loaded with statistical and historical data about the development of the countries of the world. A few things to try out: - visually compare growth trends between Africa and the rest of the world, in particular S.E Asia - narrow down to Kenya's stats: visualize growth/shrinkage trends for some key indicators: for this list, probably: income per person, urban pop. as a % of total pop., female labour force, mobile phone + internet per 100 people, primary school completion of boys + girls etc etc - play around with the X- and Y- axes, plot the data against each other, and against time. Then correlate with significant events in Kenya's history. What stood out for me (caveat: I'm no economist/statistician) 1) the number of medical doctors per 1,000 people has pretty much stayed constant since independence 2) where are the youth in Kenya? (the number of children and elderly per 100 is still quite high. Compare with Japan's figures - they have the opposite problem). 3) (female labor force as a % of total) vs (income per person): female workforce has been declining while income p.p has been more or less the same. 4) ... a lot more for your slicing and dicing. Regards, saidi

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Telecoms firms grapple with talent search
by wesley kiriinya 16 Apr '08

16 Apr '08

Read: http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6886&Item… The last line says: "...Networking, customer support, security, database application development, and programming skills are the high demand areas..." The KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions probably contains senior management/CEOs of Telecoms companies. Is the above article true? If it is there's good talent at the Skunkworks mail list. For guys in Skunkworks: >From previous posts, we have talked a lot about these stuff. I feel there should be some sort of bridge between these 2 mail lists. If the article is true and managers in kictanet lists are looking for talent, well the skunkworks list seems to have skilled, passionate and talented people. It is very likely true there is competition for talent. I've talked to the CEO of Meltwater Group (an international group of companies), and the former head of IBM and they are very talent focused. Meltwater group has started an institution called MEST (Meltwater Enterprenueral School of Technology) in Ghana. They get talented guys in Ghana, train them and provide to them whatever they need (food, transport, monthly stipend, etc). What I saw there was excellent, and that's building the future! What is Kenya waiting for?

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Re: [kictanet] [Skunkworks] Telecoms firms grapple with talent search
by wesley kiriinya 16 Apr '08

16 Apr '08

I think it's simple how these 2 parties can be linked together. The companies can host techie meetings in their premises. Skunkworks already has weekly meetings thanks to Riyaz, Mugambi and the team's great efforts (A round of applause). The companies can invite people to come and give free seminars and training camps to techies. If it's too expensive the companies can collaborate. In the example about MEST in my original post, they even go further to bring CEOs and other heads of international companies to train/talk these guys in Ghana every quater of the year. If that article is true and CEOs can't sleep at night coz of talent and talent is 3rd on the list of $afcom's worries then it's relatively easy to fix this. Talent doesn't grow on trees, it's natured! On the other hand if both parties aren't committed to this then CEOs can brace themselves for longer nights and techies will struggle harder to polish their skills and outsource them to foreign companies. Alex Gakuru <alexgakuru.lists(a)gmail.com> wrote: This is partly why I planned the business (kictanet), skunkworks and CS for next month. Unfortunately, the guys who responded wanted attendance sponsorship despite it not being a donor-driven meeting. Please suggest to me how technical persons and business could be linked better in a self-sustaining manner. Thxs On Wed, Apr 16, 2008 at 12:13 AM, Josiah Mugambi <jmugambi(a)gmail.com> wrote: I think the argument that the article is attempting to bring out is that there's not enough talent to match the demand. That said, I agree with Wesley's suggestion of bridging the 'two lists' together - there's such a wealth of talent and skill on the skunkworks list. On Tue, Apr 15, 2008 at 11:55 PM, Paul Roy <roykoikai(a)gmail.com> wrote: Guys nothing compares to talent, youve got it or you simply dont have it...the only sad part is that our employers dont know how to do a talent search they think the best papers are the most talented...pole sana! Let them look at how global software giants hire and they will never complain about luck of talent in this market. BTW: global software companies come to africa to source for talent guess what, kenya dominates the list. cheers! On Tue, Apr 15, 2008 at 7:31 PM, Athar Ahmad Bhatti <atharab(a)gmail.com> wrote: Hi It is an interesting article. The dilemma is as good as putting the cart before the horse and expecting things to work out. How many of these firms have a CIO/CTO ? Most Kenyan businesses have an IT Manager reporting to an Accountant or Finance person. I do not know the case with the mentioned companies. Technology is the bridge between a company's Strategic Objectives and their Operational implemention on the ground. If you want to retain staff give them a career plan and have the good manners of living up to promises. How many of us have heard the story,"We will start you on "x" and then later on after probation give "y". Many don' even get confirmation letters. HR is a rubber stamp. It all boils down to integrity. I would feel its not too much to say that the overall integrity of a company is determined by the retention of its staff.... Athar On 4/15/08, wesley kiriinya <kiriinya2000(a)yahoo.com> wrote: I can't blame those who try to do a lot and end up becoming a jack of trades and a master of none. I think people feel insecure about jobs. There's not enough info out there about jobs e.g: 1. What are the job statistics in Kenya? I think the bureau of statistics has them but are they made public well? 2. Which areas have future potential and how many people are likely to be absorbed? 3. What is the growth and direction in current industries so that Kenyans can arm themselves with the specific skills and tools? The education system sadly encourages this lack of specialization. Why should I do English and Kiswahili as a must? They are both languages and they follow the same structure. To be a specialist I think one has to UNDERSTAND the subject matter and not cram as what the education system makes students do. Understanding requires a lot more effort and time! I think if one tries to quickly train someone in order to take up a job that requires certain skills then it will be expensive. Training and experience is a gradual process, and thus can be cheaper in the long run. If a company takes someone at 20 years s/he will not have a lot of experience but the company can gradually train and when that person is 30 then they have a lot more experience. It surely beats getting a 29 year old who has been jobless from the time they were 20 and train them quickly. How much does CCNA and all these other certifications cost? I'm sure it ain't cheap and I don't think someone would just do them with little chance of getting a job, it might be a wasted investment. If companies want skilled people they should be ready to train and treat them well. Because this doesn't seem to be happening as it should employees are insecure, and companies loose skilled people. In the long run both parties suffer. Ochieng Maxwell <maxwell(a)barua.co.ke> wrote: ashok+skunkworks(a)parliaments.info wrote: >On Tue, Apr 15, 2008 at 3:02 PM, Gituma Nturibi wrote: > > >>there is no shortage of the skilled manpower just people with the >> requisite experience as training new personnel costs a lot, >> >> > >I think this question of there being a shortage / no shortage depends on what >kind of skills you are looking for. > >Sometime ago i had repeatedly posted for an open vacancy in our organization >and gotten a very low response. > > the problem is Kenyans almost try and do everything just to land a job and in the process being good at nothing and therefore the shortage of skills, the few who are there getting them is another story. Maxwell >ashok > > >_______________________________________________ >skunkworks mailing list >skunkworks(a)my.co.ke >http://ole.kenic.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks >Blog http://skunkworks-ke.blogspot.com >Beta Blog http://blog.my.co.ke > > > > _______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks(a)my.co.ke http://ole.kenic.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks Blog http://skunkworks-ke.blogspot.com Beta Blog http://blog.my.co.ke between 0000-00-00 and 9999-99-99 _______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks(a)my.co.ke http://ole.kenic.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks Blog http://skunkworks-ke.blogspot.com Beta Blog http://blog.my.co.ke _______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks(a)my.co.ke http://ole.kenic.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks Blog http://skunkworks-ke.blogspot.com Beta Blog http://blog.my.co.ke -- "Change is slow and gradual. It requires hardwork, a bit of luck, a fair amount of self-sacrifice and a lot of patience." Roy. _______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks(a)my.co.ke http://ole.kenic.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks Blog http://skunkworks-ke.blogspot.com Beta Blog http://blog.my.co.ke -- Josiah Mugambi +254 738 504418 Blog: http://blog.josiahmugambi.com _______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks(a)my.co.ke http://ole.kenic.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks Blog http://skunkworks-ke.blogspot.com Beta Blog http://blog.my.co.ke _______________________________________________ skunkworks mailing list skunkworks(a)my.co.ke http://ole.kenic.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks Blog http://skunkworks-ke.blogspot.com Beta Blog http://blog.my.co.ke --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.

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Fwd: WCIT 2008 eNewsletter Vol 6
by waudo siganga 16 Apr '08

16 Apr '08

Dear Colleagues - find latest newsletter for those wishing to attend the World Congress on IT next month. Please contact me to consolidate the Kenya group who are so far numbering 10. Kind Regards, Waudo [nl_email_080411_01.jpg] [spacer.gif] [nl_email_080411_02.jpg] [spacer.gif] [nl_email_080411_03.jpg] [nl_email_080411_04.jpg] [spacer.gif] [1][USEMAP:nl_email_080411_05.jpg] [spacer.gif] [nl_email_080411_06.jpg] [spacer.gif] [2][USEMAP:nl_email_080411_07.jpg] [3][USEMAP:nl_email_080411_08.jpg] [spacer.gif] [4][USEMAP:nl_email_080411_09.jpg] [nl_email_080411_10.jpg] [spacer.gif] [nl_email_080411_11.jpg] [spacer.gif] [5][USEMAP:nl_email_080411_12.jpg] [spacer.gif] [6][USEMAP:nl_email_080411_13.jpg] [spacer.gif] [nl_email_080411_14.jpg] [spacer.gif] [7][USEMAP:nl_email_080411_15.jpg] [nl_email_080411_16.jpg] [spacer.gif] [8][USEMAP:nl_email_080411_17.jpg] [spacer.gif] [9][USEMAP:nl_email_080411_18.jpg] [spacer.gif] [10][USEMAP:nl_email_080411_19.jpg] [spacer.gif] [11][nl_email_080411_20.jpg] [spacer.gif] [spacer.gif] [spacer.gif] [spacer.gif] [spacer.gif] [spacer.gif] References 1. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/7vREl3L0G9#FPMap0 2. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/7vREl3L0G9#FPMap1 3. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/7vREl3L0G9#FPMap4 4. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/7vREl3L0G9#FPMap5 5. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/7vREl3L0G9#FPMap2 6. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/7vREl3L0G9#FPMap6 7. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/7vREl3L0G9#FPMap7 8. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/7vREl3L0G9#FPMap3 9. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/7vREl3L0G9#FPMap8 10. LYNXIMGMAP:file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/7vREl3L0G9#FPMap9 11. http://www.wcit2008.org/ [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/7vREl3L0G9#FPMap9 1. http://m1e.net/c?78111151-U/Gna98sHaUoQ%403249921-4qjVLdZkd6jqI [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/7vREl3L0G9#FPMap8 1. http://myunos.com/ 2. http://www.scan-associates.net/ 3. http://www.nclsolutions.com/ [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/7vREl3L0G9#FPMap3 1. http://www.witsa.org/ [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/7vREl3L0G9#FPMap7 1. http://m1e.net/c?78111151-F2k8XSSUE6Owo%403249921-ZRrSSoNnNN1lw [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/7vREl3L0G9#FPMap6 1. http://m1e.net/c?78111151-U/Gna98sHaUoQ%403249921-4qjVLdZkd6jqI 2. http://m1e.net/c?78111151-F2k8XSSUE6Owo%403249921-ZRrSSoNnNN1lw [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/7vREl3L0G9#FPMap2 1. http://m1e.net/c?78111151-vj8j5E1bscKHc%403249919-PNGdMNrVrhcyo 2. http://www.tourism.gov.my/ [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/7vREl3L0G9#FPMap5 1. http://m1e.net/c?78111151-U/Gna98sHaUoQ%403249921-4qjVLdZkd6jqI [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/7vREl3L0G9#FPMap4 1. http://m1e.net/c?78111151-U/Gna98sHaUoQ%403249921-4qjVLdZkd6jqI [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/7vREl3L0G9#FPMap1 1. http://m1e.net/c?78111151-EQV7VkIpi73cc%403249918-ior4vs6vo0O9k 2. http://m1e.net/c?78111151-k6QIX4FQE/kDc%403249920-irKYFA8WVcVvY [USEMAP] file://localhost/tmp/linkstmp/7vREl3L0G9#FPMap0 1. http://m1e.net/c?78111151-THypaCnJA0rAU%403249917-Y7w2HAYEwoBxY -- waudo siganga emailsignet(a)mailcan.com

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junior application developer / intern.
by Moses Kemibaro 15 Apr '08

15 Apr '08

Dotsavvy is looking for a Junior Application Developer/ Intern 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 30th April 2008. Thanks, Moses

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Opportunity: Business Development Lead
by Dorcas Muthoni 15 Apr '08

15 Apr '08

Job Specification: Business Development Lead This is an excellent opportunity to join a young dynamic company in the software sub-sector. You will help define and manage a wide range of marketing campaigns focused on businesses and government establishments across the Kenya and the region. Working closely with our partners you will be responsible for leading the sales and business development teams develop our exciting range of customer solutions. You should have a degree in marketing, business studies or a related subject and/or at least one year experience working in a marketing or sales department. This is a superb opportunity to build an excellent career in a fast growth market. Based at: Nairobi Job purpose: Responsible for supporting the development and implementation of the marketing strategy, product marketing and lead generation of our software services. Key Responsibilities: Marketing Strategy and Lead Generation will include: * Promotion of our software services. * Generating leads through industry research and outreach. * Development and implementation of marketing campaigns that deliver quality leads for our sales and partner channels. * Manage the Customer Relationship Management system to track lead generation and progress. * Develop and manage the corporate brand across all channels and partner organisations. * Define, develop and implement strategic marketing campaigns focused on businesses and government establishments * Produce client testimonials and partner references. * Organise and manage corporate events and exhibitions. Key Skills: Must Have: * Educated to degree level * IT literate * Self starter * Team Player * Strong writing skills and phone manner Nice to have: * Recognised marketing qualification( held or training for) * B2B marketing experience * Public sector knowledge * Procurement knowledge/ experience * Strong secondary research skills * Experience with the IT industry Compensation: * Salaries are based on success in meeting targets. * Base plus commissions Application Process: * Send your application by *25th April 2008* to: info(a)openworld.co.ke

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junior application developer / intern.
by Moses Kemibaro 15 Apr '08

15 Apr '08

Dotsavvy is looking for a Junior Application Developer/ Intern 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 30th April 2008. Thanks, Moses --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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: [Council] Vacancy announcement: FOSSFA Secretariat Coordinator
by Dorcas Muthoni 15 Apr '08

15 Apr '08

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Milton Aineruhanga <milton(a)wougnet.org> Date: Mon, Apr 14, 2008 at 8:10 PM Subject: [Council] Vacancy announcement: FOSSFA Secretariat Coordinator To: council(a)fossfa.net POSITION: FOSSFA Secretariat Coordinator LOCATION: The Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa is a not-for-profit Pan-African organization registered in Mauritius with secretariat in the Ghana-India Koffi Annan Center of Excellence in ICT, Accra, Ghana. FOSSFA is annoucing its FOSSFA Secretariat Coordinator vacancy, to be based at the FOSSFA Secretariat in Accra, Ghana. TERM: Two years of Initial Contract. Renewable APPLICATION: Applications and remuneration preferences may be sent through any FOSSFA executive member, dorothyg(a)aiti-kace.com.gh or to nnenna(a)opensource.org COMMENCEMENT DATE: As soon as possible. ORGANIZATION: The mission of FOSSFA is the promotion of FOSS and the FOSS development model in Africa . OVERVIEW: FOSSFA is seeking an individual that has the passion and dedication to provide hands-on management for its planned expansion of activities. He/She should be motivated by FOSSFA's potential to connect people, spread FOSS, technology, and social possibilities in Africa and beyond. RESPONSIBILITIES: Leadership • Represent FOSSFA and the Africa FOSS community officially • Provide needed management for all FOSSFA projects • Coordinate smooth day to day activities of FOSSFA Secretariat • Support administrative and logistical preparations towards Idlelo 4. • Ensure that meaningful benchmarks are established, tracked, and revised as appropriate • Implement and evaluate an action plan based on the approved strategic goals and opportunities. Management/Program • Implement programs to fulfill the overall mission of FOSSFA. • Nurture FOSSFA's relationships with members, the general public, and funders. • Partner with appropriate organizations/people to increase awareness FOSSFA and its activities • Draft and present financial reports of FOSSFA projects and all received monies • Cultivate ongoing relationships with supporters to ensure a reliable source of funding for immediate operations, as well as to expand FOSSFA's asset and donor base. Community and Council Development • Ensure management of membership within FOSSFA • Ensure consistent and transparent communication with any and all FOSSFA council members, the general public, and sponsors. • Provide avenues for full and open communication and collaboration with the community at large and promote an awareness of the diverse and changing needs of the community. • Collaborate with the Council and members in the development of all actions of the Foundation. • Facilitate collaboration and cooperation between FOSSFA and other organizations and leaders, to build a shared vision of how to address and solve issues related to FOSS in Africa . QUALIFICATIONS: Background: • Project Management experience in either the non-profit or technology sectors • Well-known and respected within at least one Open Source community • Experienced in raising funds for non-profit organizations • Effectively organized, highly-independent and self-motivated. Characteristics: • Highly-organized self-starter with the ability to set, manage, and implement priorities. • High level of comfort with and passion for technology and Open Source • Able to listen well and build consensus from public discussions • Ability to understand and adapt to diverse African cultural backgrounds • Excellent oral and written English communication skills, with a working knowledge of French. Education: Bachelor's degree or the equivalent in experience is required. COMPENSATION: A salary commensurate with Ghana national standards for not-for-profit organisations. _______________________________________________ Council mailing list Council(a)fossfa.net http://fossfa.net/mailman/listinfo/council_fossfa.net -- 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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{Spam?} FW: ACHIEVERS NOMINATE NOW
by Fiona Asonga 14 Apr '08

14 Apr '08

Hallo All, As industry stakeholders we are being called upon to once again nominate outstanding ICT personalities. Kindly find the nomination details below. Regards, Fiona Asonga Administrator TESPOK ----- Forwarded message from Shirley Jacobs <shirley(a)forgeahead.co.za> ----- Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:03:23 +0200 From: Shirley Jacobs <shirley(a)forgeahead.co.za> Reply-To: Shirley Jacobs <shirley(a)forgeahead.co.za> Subject: ACHIEVERS NOMINATE NOW To: 'Shirley Jacobs' <shirley(a)forgeahead.co.za> http://www.forgeahead.co.za/Achievers/images/top.jpg NOMINATE NOW Do you know of someone who has done tremendous work in ICT's but has not received their just recognition ? This is the opportunity to reward those individuals and organisations who have achieved in the information and communications technology sector. All Africans across the continent are invited to nominate those individuals and organisations whom they believe are worthy of recognition for their ICT achievements. _____ To nominate visit http://www.forgeahead.co.za/achievers/noms_form.asp www.forgeahead.co.za/achievers/noms_form.asp OR Contact Shirley Jacobs "mailto:[email protected]" shirley(a)forgeahead.co.za 011 603 1645 _____ http://www.forgeahead.co.za/Achievers/images/todays.gif http://www.forgeahead.co.za/Achievers/images/0logos_08.jpg http://www.forgeahead.co.za/Achievers/images/todays_bottom.gif http://www.forgeahead.co.za/Achievers/images/Bottom_new.jpg Please pass on this email to your colleagues and clients across Africa. No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.22.10/1366 - Release Date: 4/8/2008 5:03 PM ----- End forwarded message ----- ------------------------------------------------- This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/ -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.22.12/1373 - Release Date: 4/11/2008 9:17 AM No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.22.13/1376 - Release Date: 4/13/2008 1:45 PM -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.

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Re: [kictanet] Can Software Engineering Principles resolve Political Stalemate?
by John Walubengo 14 Apr '08

14 Apr '08

Amazing similarity b/w Computer Software and Political Deadlocks.... I was struck by the similarities between what is transpiring in our political arena and what happens in software engineering (in particular Operating System Software design) Wikepedia defines a deadlock as <<...a situation wherein two or more competing actions are waiting for the other to finish, and thus neither ever does. It is often seen in a paradox like 'the chicken or the egg'>>. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadlocks. The same wikipedia page goes on to say that in Operating Systems, a deadlock occurs only when all of the following four conditions prevail: 1. Mutual Exclusion condition: a resource is either assigned to one process or it is available 2. Hold and Wait condition: processes already holding resources may request new resources 3. No Pre-emption condition: only a process holding a resource may release it 4. Circular Wait condition: two or more processes form a circular chain where each process waits for a resource that the next process in the chain holds. This transposes perfectly onto our political deadlock as described below (I just replaced the items 'Resource' with Ministry and 'Process' with Politician to understand prevailing conditions within the political context). So rephrasing the above:- Political deadlocks will occur when all of the following four conditions prevail: 1. Mutual Exclusion:-a Ministry can only be occupied by one Politician. The occupant automatically excludes the others. 2. Hold and Wait: -a Politician/Party holding some ministries may want to request for more. 3. No Preemption:-only the Politician holding the ministry can release it. (No external force can pre-empt or release that ministry). 4. Circular Wait: Politician-1 may release a Ministry 'A' - BUT only after recieving a Ministry 'B' from the other Politician-2. Unfortunately Politician-2 cannot realease Ministry 'B' because (s)he is awaiting for Politician-1 to release his Ministry 'A' first. So how do computers or Operating systems deal or resolve deadlocks? Three approaches have existed since 1960s and are described on the same wikipedia page. Basically they include: Option1: Deadlock Prevention, Option 2: Deadlock Avoidance and Option 3: Deadlock Detection. In more simplistic terms, Deadlock Prevention simply aims at ensuring that one or more of the above four conditions for deadlocks DO NOT hold. E.g most Operating Systems would therefore be pre-emptive (thus addressing condition 3) by retaining and exercising the right to terminate the offending processes (Politicians?). Operating Systems are careful not to allow one process to hoard resources at the expense of the other Processes. In the Deadlock Avoidance approach, Operating Systems try to make sure that they do not enter into a state that can lead to deadlocks. Basically, the competing processes are expected to declare in advance their maximum request levels for resources. Thereafter the Operating System polices their subsequent request granting or denying them accordingly. (All cards must be on the table in advance?) Finally, in Deadlock Detection, the Operating System may opt for the lazier but more expensive option- institute mechanisms that inform it that a deadlock has occured e.g. when the computer freezes (or the country?). Thereafter, it would need a manual reboot. Switch off and restart the machine, losing all your data (life?) in the process. I just hope we are not headed for Option 3. walu. --- Michuki Mwangi <michuki(a)swiftkenya.com> wrote: > > > Willem de Groot wrote: > > > > * Remove some of the URLs in the footer > > * Run the mailinglist on another server to see whether > my.co.ke IPs > > are somehow blacklisted/penalized > > > > > > The my.co.ke mx IP is clean and not blacklisted unless > someone wants to > verify that with other spots. > > Am monitoring the emails still and so far i dont seem to > any landing > into the spam folder since the very first one. > > I have no problem with my normal mail and using a mail > client which has > flags to read spamassassain spam counts and flag as spam. > No problems > with that so far. Considering that it goes through > spamassassin and a > barracuda box :) > > Regards, > > Michuki > _______________________________________________ > skunkworks mailing list > skunkworks(a)my.co.ke > http://ole.kenic.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks > Blog http://skunkworks-ke.blogspot.com > Beta Blog http://blog.my.co.ke > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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ACHIEVERS NOMINATE NOW
by Dorcas Muthoni 14 Apr '08

14 Apr '08

*[image: http://www.forgeahead.co.za/Achievers/images/top.jpg]* NOMINATE NOW Do you know of someone who has done tremendous work in ICT's but has not received their just recognition ? This is the opportunity to reward those individuals and organisations who have achieved in the information and communications technology sector. All Africans across the continent are invited to nominate those individuals and organisations whom they believe are worthy of recognition for their ICT achievements. ------------------------------ To nominate visit www.forgeahead.co.za/achievers/noms_form.asp *OR * Contact Shirley Jacobs * * shirley(a)forgeahead.co.za 011 603 1645 ------------------------------ [image: http://www.forgeahead.co.za/Achievers/images/todays.gif] [image: http://www.forgeahead.co.za/Achievers/images/0logos_08.jpg] [image: http://www.forgeahead.co.za/Achievers/images/todays_bottom.gif] [image: http://www.forgeahead.co.za/Achievers/images/Bottom_new.jpg] *Please pass on this email to your colleagues and clients across Africa.*

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M- money services – The rise and rise of Africa’ s “killer-app” for 2008
by alice 11 Apr '08

11 Apr '08

M- money services – The rise and rise of Africa’ s “killer-app” for 2008 In the first four months of operation, from March to June 2007, M-Pesa, the mobile phone enabled payment system set up by Safaricom in Kenya, gained 150,000 customers. By December 2007, just before conflict erupted over the elections in December 2007, it had achieved 1 million customers who had made US$7 million in transactions. By January 2008, it had gained 1.6 million customers. This is the breakthrough moment for mobile-enabled cash transaction services, writes Russell Southwood. Strangely, the tragic circumstances of post-election violence in Kenya seemed to encourage the use of the service as ATMs ran out of cash and travelling across town to a bank became a riskier proposition. But as Kenya returns to normality, it will be the payments made in more normal times - things like wages to casual staff - that will begin to weigh in the balance. But Vodafone’s plans to roll-out M-Pesa in neighbouring Tanzania were pipped at the post this week by Zantel. Vodafone’s service is already also available in Afghanistan under the slightly amended name of M-Peisa. To be launched next week, Zantel’s money transfer service is to be called Z-Cash. Orascom’s Naguib Sawiris – never a man slow to spot an opportunity – this week announced that his company would offer Internet banking services to its 70 million customers: "It's not something that I'm starting from scratch. I have the subscribers. They were just doing e-mail, [text message] and voice. Now I'm going to tell them you can use this for banking." Perhaps less original and life-changing than M-Pesa but nevertheless a shift in how money transactions get done. This week sees the publication of “M-Money – Finances, Banking and Payments through Mobile Phones” , a 100+ page report which has some of the first detailed market research into the attitudes of potential African customers and how they handle both national and international remittances. The report includes: • Case studies of the pioneering services: The report provides full case studies of four fully operational M-money services: Globe Telecom’s G-Cash and Smart Communications’ Smart Money, both in the Philippines; Wizzit in South Africa; and M-Pesa in Kenya. In addition, there are many smaller mini-case studies of services that have been launched in Africa and elsewhere in the world. • User research findings: The report provides national sample surveys for three major markets – Ghana, Kenya and South Africa – which provide remarkably consistent findings in key areas. A key element of the research looks at how national and international remittances are made and how many people receive them. There is also additional research from a range of other African countries that help pin down the likely potential of M-money services. • User experience and customer business model interface: The report looks in detail at: how M-money services of different kinds can be delivered; different approaches to delivery (partners vs go-it-alone); different technologies that might underpin its development (for example, near field communications); and the business models and market segments. • How regulatory issues can be tackled: When banking meets the mobile world, two different sets of regulatory environments collide. The report provides a detailed section on how banking and financial requirements can be met and the implications for both the operator and consumer of these kinds of transactions. Balancing Act’s M-Money – Finances, Banking and Payments through Mobile Phones, is over 100 pages long and has 7 charts, 16 tables of statistical data, 2 graphic maps and 12 illustrations. If you’ve not worked out how to do M-Money services this year, you may be the one who’s missing out next year. For details, go to: http://www.balancingact-africa.com/publications.html <http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/1115/235533/2/0/> For an extract that contains a detailed table of contents with a full list of the charts, tables and maps, send an e-mail to: editorial(a)balancingact-africa.com <mailto:[email protected]> The report is priced as follows: Full price (Africa) – /GBP290/US$580; Full price (Rest of the World) – GBP350/US$700; Reduced price for universities and NGOs – GBP250/US$500. Click below to order:/ http://www.balancingact-africa.com/profiles/order/order_form.php <http://lists.balancingact-africa.com/t/1115/235533/226/0/>

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Swedish start-up TerraNet claims peer-to-peer mobile will increase phone penetration in developing countries
by alice 11 Apr '08

11 Apr '08

Swedish start-up TerraNet claims peer-to-peer mobile will increase phone penetration in developing countries Swedish start-up TerraNet has revealed further detail of its ‘peer-to-peer’ mobile phone technology that it claims could play a big role in increasing phone penetration in developing countries. According to TerraNet CEO and founder, Anders Carlius the company is working on what he calls ‘ad hoc’ networking Terranet’s peer-to-peer technology turns each handset into a switching node, passing on calls from other handsets within a 1 kilometre range. Each handset can simultaneously transit 7 calls and each call can make 7 hops before the switching delay starts to make conversation difficult. This peer-to-peer hopping communications has been done before in military applications, although expensively, and in the Tetra emergency communications system, but this is the first time anyone has tackled the mass market in this way. But isn’t the seven kilometre limit a real drawback? “It only seems so because we, us rich people in the west, are all used to zooming around the country or around the world. The other 4 billion don’t travel more than a few kilometres in a typical working day”. And most of the people they know spend all their time within the those few kilometers too.” Carlius is concerned to overcome the barrier to phone use from illiteracy. “I remember talking to a Pakistani telco who told me there was no way he could ever get beyond 40% penetration,” said Carlius. “‘Never? I asked.’ No,’ he said, ‘because 60% of our population is illiterate and innumerate and they therefore can’t use a phone.’ And he was right,” says Carlius. “If you think about it you can’t use a phone if you can’t read or manipulate numbers.” So Carlius’s next rethink was around the three button phone concept. An ad hoc networking phone might use people’s pictures instead of their names and numbers, he says. But perhaps the most important, and most re-thought, part of the model is Carlius’s ideas around distribution. Instead of a telecom network, TerraNet (or whoever had licensed the technology) would build a network of agents to push the phones, collect the monies and, most important, load up the appropriate photos for the illiterate customers. The technology still has to journey into final product. Journalists were shown a large circuit board working prototype but TerraNet says it has advance orders and expects to be manufacturing in bulk soonish. (Source: TelecomTV)

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Positive energy and the KCSE
by bitange＠jambo.co.ke 11 Apr '08

11 Apr '08

Dear All, As we discussed the the KCSE error, Eric Aligula sent the quotations below and I think they capture the spirit in which we should approach such problems. Often we spend more time to criticise yet this forum has some of the best minds in ICT. "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke "Far better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory, nor defeat." Theodore Roosevelt In the past we have spent our collective negative energy to kill projects that could have uplifted this country out of poverty. For example, the Nyayo car. Although there was evidence of corruption it is common knowledge that cost of any protype is usually high. Our learned good men and women did not come out to explain the behaviour of variable and fixed costs. The Malaysians if you read about their Proton were experiencing the same. What saved their project was the benevolent dictatorship of their leadership. Today the Proton is as good a car as any and Kenyans are importing it. You learn the history of motor industry, Kenyan technicians were taken to India, Zechoslovakia and South Africa to teach them on motor assembly. There are many projects that have come and gone because the good men that Edmund Burke is referring to are doing nothining. Indeed even those in public offices wanting to do good for the country fear taking any risk because there is no legal insurance. Therefore, the public had a responsibility to develop a common culture whose focus is to build rather than condem and destroy. Regards 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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Invitation to all Local Software Developers
by nancy bosire 11 Apr '08

11 Apr '08

*Dear ALL,* * * *Invitation to all Local Software Developers*** This is to invite you to a consultative meeting on Friday the 18th April 2008 at Centurion Systems Ltd, from 2.15pm to 4. 00 pm. The venue is New Rehema House, 2nd floor Centurion Systems Rhapta Road (Westlands). The objective of the meeting is to promote the local software development industry with all relevant government agencies. Issues for discussion include: - Identify hurdles that cripple local software development - The need for a Committee of KIF to address software development industry issues, and if need exists, terms of reference. Invite and circulate this email to other software developers so that we can have different points of view, contributions and suggestions to be able to start the journey towards advocating for the local software development industry. Please confirm attendance ahead of time, as we have limited accommodation. This is an initiative of Kevit Desai and Marcel Werner. -- 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 "When you learn to love what you strive for, then it ceases to be an effort" Napoleon Hill "Whatever your mind expects and demands, it will find a way to produce it." Mahatma Gandhi First they ignore you, Then they laugh at you, Then they fight you, AND THEN YOU WIN!!!

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Re: [kictanet] kictanet Digest, Vol 11, Issue 17
by godera＠skyweb.co.ke 11 Apr '08

11 Apr '08

Dear Citizens, I am simply perplexed at how an "outdated computer programming language" can be blamed for such a fiasco. With all due respect, SOMEONE is responsible for ensuring that no "outdated programs" are used, assuming that the report is really true.There is absolutely no room for such complacency, not when you are talking about the future of these children. We surely cannot simply blame a machine that requires instruction then say the machine let the country down. We are talking about the credibility of the Kenyan education system here! We have for years read such bizzare stories happening in other "banana" republics and it appears we spent so much time laughing we forgot to look at ourselves and continued living in "past glory". Such things were unheard of in Kenya then. These days we are simply a laughing stock of the so called "banana" republics! Can someone stand up and take responsibility please! Gilda Odera 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: KCSE results fiasco explained? (bitange(a)jambo.co.ke) > 2. KCSE (bitange(a)jambo.co.ke) > 3. Re: KCSE results fiasco explained? (Frank Ojiambo) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:53:29 +0300 (EAT) > From: bitange(a)jambo.co.ke > Subject: Re: [kictanet] KCSE results fiasco explained? > To: "David Aduda" <daduda(a)nation.co.ke> > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Message-ID: <50958.213.42.2.22.1207828409.squirrel(a)mail.jambo.co.ke> > Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1 > > Dear Aduda, > You are dealing with multiple errors here. The first error was created by > a computer programmer. The second error was created by either the > reporter or the messenger who tried to correct error number one. Errors > of omission are common when fundermentals are not observed. We need to > examine the software since Hardware (the computer) does nothing unless > instructed to do so. > > Regards > > > Ndemo. > > > > > > Colleagues, > > > > I would be excited to get someone who can explain how the so-called > > computer error just happened this year and how a body (KNEC) entrusted > > with the noble task of setting, administering, marking and grading marks > > for our children could not detect the problem upfront. Is computer > > becoming the latter day punching bag for grave human mistakes? And does > > the computer generate its own data or fit's ed by human beings? > > > > If there is nay error here, blame my computer? > > > > Aduda > > > >> ---------- > >> From: kictanet-bounces+daduda=nation.co.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke on > >> behalf of Leonard Mware > >> Sent: Wednesday, April 9, 2008 1:29 PM > >> To: David Aduda > >> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions > >> Subject: Re: [kictanet] KCSE results fiasco explained? > >> > >> <<File: ATT5157354.txt>> > >> 'Outdated' as in fashion or not just not able to crunch figures due to > >> 'uzee"? > >> > >> > >> > >> ----- Original Message ---- > >> From: John Walubengo <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> > >> To: mleonardo(a)yahoo.com > >> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > >> Sent: Wednesday, April 9, 2008 10:11:36 AM > >> Subject: [kictanet] KCSE results fiasco explained? > >> > >> >>>Daily Nation, 9th April. > >> A programming error is to blame for last year?s KCSE > >> results fiasco in which the error led to the adjustment of > >> mean grades for some students. > >> > >> Education Minister Sam Ongeri said when he released a > >> report on last year?s Form Four examinations fiasco > >> yesterday. The report blamed outdated computer programming > >> language for the error which led to the adjustment of mean > >> grades for nearly 40,000 candidates. It arose from the use > >> of an outdated version of a programming language at Kenya > >> National Examinations Council. > >> >>>rest of story @ > >> > http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp? category_id=1&newsid=120791 > >> > >> I found it quite difficult to understand how an 'outdated' > >> programming language that has been working well over the > >> years suddenly begins to lose memory (its mind?) due to the > >> 'ageing' process...ama are we experiencing Y2K bug ver 2 > >> remixed here? > >> > >> ...and now that the report is public, could Barnabas (ICT > >> Mnger, Education) shed some more technical light on what > >> could have transpired? Or maybe Prof. Kashorda who sat on > >> the Investigation committee? Because technically I still > >> dont get it... > >> > >> walu. > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > ________________________________________________________________________________ ____ > >> You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster > >> Total Access, No Cost. > >> http://tc.deals.yahoo.com/tc/blockbuster/text5.com > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> kictanet mailing list > >> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > >> > >> This message was sent to: mleonardo(a)yahoo.com > >> Unsubscribe or change your options at > >> > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mleonardo%40yahoo.com > >> > >> > >> _____ > >> > >> You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster > >> Total Access, No Cost. > >> > > > > DISCLAIMER: The information contained in or accompanying this e-mail is > > intended for the use of the stated recipient only. It may contain > > confidential, proprietary or legally privileged information. No > > confidentiality or privilege is waived or lost by any mistransmission. If > > you receive this message in error, please immediately delete it and all > > copies of it from your system, destroy any hard copies of it and notify > > the sender. You must not, directly or indirectly, use, disclose, > > distribute, print, or copy any part of this message if you are not the > > intended recipient. > > > > Any views or opinions presented herein are solely those of the author and > > do not necessarily represent those of the Nation Media Group. > > > > ?To get all breaking news alerts send the word BREAK to 6667 or visit > > http://www.nationmedia.com/wap to read news on your mobile phone.? > > > > ---------------------------------------------- > > 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: bitange(a)jambo.co.ke > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/bitange%40jambo.co.ke > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------- > This message has been scanned for viruses and > dangerous content by Jambo MailScanner, and is > believed to be clean. > --------------------------------------------- > "easy access to the world" > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:34:11 +0300 (EAT) > From: bitange(a)jambo.co.ke > Subject: [kictanet] KCSE > To: kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > Cc: 'Catherine Ngahu' <cngahu(a)sboresearch.com>, KICTAnet ICT Policy > Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke>, vkyalo(a)ict.go.ke > Message-ID: <16784.213.42.2.22.1207834451.squirrel(a)mail.jambo.co.ke> > Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1 > > Dear All, > My earlier e-mail to Aduda has elisted direct questions as to how the > programing error could have occured. Usually errors such as the one > explained by the Minister occur during Data Mining. > > Researchers generally define data mining (sometimes called data or > knowledge discovery) as the process of analyzing data from different > perspectives and summarizing it into useful information - information that > can be used to increase revenue, cuts costs, or both. Data mining software > is one of a number of analytical tools for analyzing data. It allows users > to analyze data from many different dimensions or angles, categorize it, > and summarize the relationships identified. Technically, data mining is > the process of finding correlations or patterns among dozens of fields in > large relational databases like KCSE. > > Data does not automatically become information unless it is mined properly. > > > 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" > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:22:21 +0300 > From: "Frank Ojiambo" <wanyama(a)nation.co.ke> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] KCSE results fiasco explained? > To: <bitange(a)jambo.co.ke> > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Message-ID: > <61CFDAF4B595904B9156E157C2D9D44C0A395006(a)NATIONMAIL.nation.co.ke> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > > Bitange, > > > Perhaps the likes of our Minister for Education, the KNEC Secretary and > others that choose to call a spade by any other name should submit to your > wise counsel. > > And it's not just the software that needs examination. The KNEC Secretary > and his officers should be placed under a microscope considering plethora > problems that have perennially afflicted national examinations. > > The abnormally high levels tolerance/impotence among Kenyans is perhaps to > blame. > > It's for this reason that ECK Chairman Samuel Kivuitu and his team of zombies > are, bizzaringly still in office. > > What of the top political leaders currently playing a dangerous chess game, > with the 35 million Kenyans relegated to mere pawns? > > It's an insult that Prof Ongeri, Mr Wasanga and his team of goofers at KNEC > are still in office. > > I long for the day when lynch mobs shall pay courtesy calls on such people > and do what they do best. > > > Frank > > > > > > > ---------- > > From: kictanet-bounces+wanyama=nation.co.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke on behalf > of bitange(a)jambo.co.ke > > Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2008 2:53 PM > > To: Frank Ojiambo > > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions > > Subject: Re: [kictanet] KCSE results fiasco explained? > > > > Dear Aduda, > > You are dealing with multiple errors here. The first error was created by > > a computer programmer. The second error was created by either the > > reporter or the messenger who tried to correct error number one. Errors > > of omission are common when fundermentals are not observed. We need to > > examine the software since Hardware (the computer) does nothing unless > > instructed to do so. > > > > Regards > > > > > > Ndemo. > > > > > > > > > > > Colleagues, > > > > > > I would be excited to get someone who can explain how the so-called > > > computer error just happened this year and how a body (KNEC) entrusted > > > with the noble task of setting, administering, marking and grading marks > > > for our children could not detect the problem upfront. Is computer > > > becoming the latter day punching bag for grave human mistakes? And does > > > the computer generate its own data or fit's ed by human beings? > > > > > > If there is nay error here, blame my computer? > > > > > > Aduda > > > > > >> ---------- > > >> From: kictanet-bounces+daduda=nation.co.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke on > > >> behalf of Leonard Mware > > >> Sent: Wednesday, April 9, 2008 1:29 PM > > >> To: David Aduda > > >> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions > > >> Subject: Re: [kictanet] KCSE results fiasco explained? > > >> > > >> <<File: ATT5157354.txt>> > > >> 'Outdated' as in fashion or not just not able to crunch figures due to > > >> 'uzee"? > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> ----- Original Message ---- > > >> From: John Walubengo <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> > > >> To: mleonardo(a)yahoo.com > > >> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > > >> Sent: Wednesday, April 9, 2008 10:11:36 AM > > >> Subject: [kictanet] KCSE results fiasco explained? > > >> > > >> >>>Daily Nation, 9th April. > > >> A programming error is to blame for last year?s KCSE > > >> results fiasco in which the error led to the adjustment of > > >> mean grades for some students. > > >> > > >> Education Minister Sam Ongeri said when he released a > > >> report on last year?s Form Four examinations fiasco > > >> yesterday. The report blamed outdated computer programming > > >> language for the error which led to the adjustment of mean > > >> grades for nearly 40,000 candidates. It arose from the use > > >> of an outdated version of a programming language at Kenya > > >> National Examinations Council. > > >> >>>rest of story @ > > >> > http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp? category_id=1&newsid=120791 > > >> > > >> I found it quite difficult to understand how an 'outdated' > > >> programming language that has been working well over the > > >> years suddenly begins to lose memory (its mind?) due to the > > >> 'ageing' process...ama are we experiencing Y2K bug ver 2 > > >> remixed here? > > >> > > >> ...and now that the report is public, could Barnabas (ICT > > >> Mnger, Education) shed some more technical light on what > > >> could have transpired? Or maybe Prof. Kashorda who sat on > > >> the Investigation committee? Because technically I still > > >> dont get it... > > >> > > >> walu. > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > ________________________________________________________________________________ ____ > > >> You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of > Blockbuster > > >> Total Access, No Cost. > > >> http://tc.deals.yahoo.com/tc/blockbuster/text5.com > > >> > > >> _______________________________________________ > > >> kictanet mailing list > > >> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > >> > > >> This message was sent to: mleonardo(a)yahoo.com > > >> Unsubscribe or change your options at > > >> > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mleonardo%40yahoo.com > > >> > > >> > > >> _____ > > >> > > >> You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of > Blockbuster > > >> Total Access, No Cost. > > >> > > > > > > DISCLAIMER: The information contained in or accompanying this e-mail is > > > intended for the use of the stated recipient only. It may contain > > > confidential, proprietary or legally privileged information. No > > > confidentiality or privilege is waived or lost by any mistransmission. > If > > > you receive this message in error, please immediately delete it and all > > > copies of it from your system, destroy any hard copies of it and notify > > > the sender. You must not, directly or indirectly, use, disclose, > > > distribute, print, or copy any part of this message if you are not the > > > intended recipient. > > > > > > Any views or opinions presented herein are solely those of the author > and > > > do not necessarily represent those of the Nation Media Group. > > > > > > > '> To get all breaking news alerts send the word BREAK to 6667 or > visit > > > http://www.nationmedia.com/wap to read news on your mobile phone.> '> > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------- > > > 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: bitange(a)jambo.co.ke > > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > > > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/bitange%40jambo.co.ke > > > > > > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------- > > 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: wanyama(a)nation.co.ke > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/wanyama%40nation.co.ke > > > > > > DISCLAIMER: The information contained in or accompanying this e-mail is > intended for the use of the stated recipient only. It may contain > confidential, proprietary or legally privileged information. No > confidentiality or privilege is waived or lost by any mistransmission. If > you receive this message in error, please immediately delete it and all > copies of it from your system, destroy any hard copies of it and notify the > sender. You must not, directly or indirectly, use, disclose, distribute, > print, or copy any part of this message if you are not the intended > recipient. > > Any views or opinions presented herein are solely those of the author and do > not necessarily represent those of the Nation Media Group. > > ?To get all breaking news alerts send the word BREAK to 6667 or visit > http://www.nationmedia.com/wap to read news on your mobile phone.? >

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Re: [kictanet] KCSE results fiasco explained?
by Frank Ojiambo 10 Apr '08

10 Apr '08

Bitange, Perhaps the likes of our Minister for Education, the KNEC Secretary and others that choose to call a spade by any other name should submit to your wise counsel. And it's not just the software that needs examination. The KNEC Secretary and his officers should be placed under a microscope considering plethora problems that have perennially afflicted national examinations. The abnormally high levels tolerance/impotence among Kenyans is perhaps to blame. It's for this reason that ECK Chairman Samuel Kivuitu and his team of zombies are, bizzaringly still in office. What of the top political leaders currently playing a dangerous chess game, with the 35 million Kenyans relegated to mere pawns? It's an insult that Prof Ongeri, Mr Wasanga and his team of goofers at KNEC are still in office. I long for the day when lynch mobs shall pay courtesy calls on such people and do what they do best. Frank > ---------- > From: kictanet-bounces+wanyama=nation.co.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke on behalf of bitange(a)jambo.co.ke > Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2008 2:53 PM > To: Frank Ojiambo > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions > Subject: Re: [kictanet] KCSE results fiasco explained? > > Dear Aduda, > You are dealing with multiple errors here. The first error was created by > a computer programmer. The second error was created by either the > reporter or the messenger who tried to correct error number one. Errors > of omission are common when fundermentals are not observed. We need to > examine the software since Hardware (the computer) does nothing unless > instructed to do so. > > Regards > > > Ndemo. > > > > > > Colleagues, > > > > I would be excited to get someone who can explain how the so-called > > computer error just happened this year and how a body (KNEC) entrusted > > with the noble task of setting, administering, marking and grading marks > > for our children could not detect the problem upfront. Is computer > > becoming the latter day punching bag for grave human mistakes? And does > > the computer generate its own data or fit's ed by human beings? > > > > If there is nay error here, blame my computer? > > > > Aduda > > > >> ---------- > >> From: kictanet-bounces+daduda=nation.co.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke on > >> behalf of Leonard Mware > >> Sent: Wednesday, April 9, 2008 1:29 PM > >> To: David Aduda > >> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions > >> Subject: Re: [kictanet] KCSE results fiasco explained? > >> > >> <<File: ATT5157354.txt>> > >> 'Outdated' as in fashion or not just not able to crunch figures due to > >> 'uzee"? > >> > >> > >> > >> ----- Original Message ---- > >> From: John Walubengo <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> > >> To: mleonardo(a)yahoo.com > >> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > >> Sent: Wednesday, April 9, 2008 10:11:36 AM > >> Subject: [kictanet] KCSE results fiasco explained? > >> > >> >>>Daily Nation, 9th April. > >> A programming error is to blame for last year?s KCSE > >> results fiasco in which the error led to the adjustment of > >> mean grades for some students. > >> > >> Education Minister Sam Ongeri said when he released a > >> report on last year?s Form Four examinations fiasco > >> yesterday. The report blamed outdated computer programming > >> language for the error which led to the adjustment of mean > >> grades for nearly 40,000 candidates. It arose from the use > >> of an outdated version of a programming language at Kenya > >> National Examinations Council. > >> >>>rest of story @ > >> http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&ne… > >> > >> I found it quite difficult to understand how an 'outdated' > >> programming language that has been working well over the > >> years suddenly begins to lose memory (its mind?) due to the > >> 'ageing' process...ama are we experiencing Y2K bug ver 2 > >> remixed here? > >> > >> ...and now that the report is public, could Barnabas (ICT > >> Mnger, Education) shed some more technical light on what > >> could have transpired? Or maybe Prof. Kashorda who sat on > >> the Investigation committee? Because technically I still > >> dont get it... > >> > >> walu. > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> ____________________________________________________________________________________ > >> You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster > >> Total Access, No Cost. > >> http://tc.deals.yahoo.com/tc/blockbuster/text5.com > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> kictanet mailing list > >> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > >> > >> This message was sent to: mleonardo(a)yahoo.com > >> Unsubscribe or change your options at > >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mleonardo%40yahoo.com > >> > >> > >> _____ > >> > >> You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster > >> Total Access, No Cost. > >> > > > > DISCLAIMER: The information contained in or accompanying this e-mail is > > intended for the use of the stated recipient only. It may contain > > confidential, proprietary or legally privileged information. No > > confidentiality or privilege is waived or lost by any mistransmission. If > > you receive this message in error, please immediately delete it and all > > copies of it from your system, destroy any hard copies of it and notify > > the sender. You must not, directly or indirectly, use, disclose, > > distribute, print, or copy any part of this message if you are not the > > intended recipient. > > > > Any views or opinions presented herein are solely those of the author and > > do not necessarily represent those of the Nation Media Group. > > > > > '> To get all breaking news alerts send the word BREAK to 6667 or visit > > http://www.nationmedia.com/wap to read news on your mobile phone.> '> > > > > ---------------------------------------------- > > 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: bitange(a)jambo.co.ke > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/bitange%40jambo.co.ke > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------- > 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: wanyama(a)nation.co.ke > Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/wanyama%40nation.co.ke > > DISCLAIMER: The information contained in or accompanying this e-mail is intended for the use of the stated recipient only. It may contain confidential, proprietary or legally privileged information. No confidentiality or privilege is waived or lost by any mistransmission. If you receive this message in error, please immediately delete it and all copies of it from your system, destroy any hard copies of it and notify the sender. You must not, directly or indirectly, use, disclose, distribute, print, or copy any part of this message if you are not the intended recipient. Any views or opinions presented herein are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Nation Media Group. To get all breaking news alerts send the word BREAK to 6667 or visit http://www.nationmedia.com/wap to read news on your mobile phone.

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Re: [kictanet] KCSE results fiasco explained?
by David Aduda 10 Apr '08

10 Apr '08

Colleagues, I would be excited to get someone who can explain how the so-called computer error just happened this year and how a body (KNEC) entrusted with the noble task of setting, administering, marking and grading marks for our children could not detect the problem upfront. Is computer becoming the latter day punching bag for grave human mistakes? And does the computer generate its own data or fit's ed by human beings? If there is nay error here, blame my computer? Aduda > ---------- > From: kictanet-bounces+daduda=nation.co.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke on behalf of Leonard Mware > Sent: Wednesday, April 9, 2008 1:29 PM > To: David Aduda > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions > Subject: Re: [kictanet] KCSE results fiasco explained? > > <<File: ATT5157354.txt>> > 'Outdated' as in fashion or not just not able to crunch figures due to 'uzee"? > > > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: John Walubengo <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> > To: mleonardo(a)yahoo.com > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Sent: Wednesday, April 9, 2008 10:11:36 AM > Subject: [kictanet] KCSE results fiasco explained? > > >>>Daily Nation, 9th April. > A programming error is to blame for last year?s KCSE > results fiasco in which the error led to the adjustment of > mean grades for some students. > > Education Minister Sam Ongeri said when he released a > report on last year?s Form Four examinations fiasco > yesterday. The report blamed outdated computer programming > language for the error which led to the adjustment of mean > grades for nearly 40,000 candidates. It arose from the use > of an outdated version of a programming language at Kenya > National Examinations Council. > >>>rest of story @ > http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&ne… > > I found it quite difficult to understand how an 'outdated' > programming language that has been working well over the > years suddenly begins to lose memory (its mind?) due to the > 'ageing' process...ama are we experiencing Y2K bug ver 2 > remixed here? > > ...and now that the report is public, could Barnabas (ICT > Mnger, Education) shed some more technical light on what > could have transpired? Or maybe Prof. Kashorda who sat on > the Investigation committee? Because technically I still > dont get it... > > walu. > > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ > You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost. > http://tc.deals.yahoo.com/tc/blockbuster/text5.com > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: mleonardo(a)yahoo.com > Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mleonardo%40yahoo.com > > > _____ > > You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost. > DISCLAIMER: The information contained in or accompanying this e-mail is intended for the use of the stated recipient only. It may contain confidential, proprietary or legally privileged information. No confidentiality or privilege is waived or lost by any mistransmission. If you receive this message in error, please immediately delete it and all copies of it from your system, destroy any hard copies of it and notify the sender. You must not, directly or indirectly, use, disclose, distribute, print, or copy any part of this message if you are not the intended recipient. Any views or opinions presented herein are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Nation Media Group. To get all breaking news alerts send the word BREAK to 6667 or visit http://www.nationmedia.com/wap to read news on your mobile phone.

4 3

FW: ANSA-Africa: FInal conference participation call
by Eric Aligula 10 Apr '08

10 Apr '08

Any interested parties? Papers on ICTs and Social Accountability - Kenyan Perspective would be interesting. Forward as appropriate. Kind regards Eric Aligula Magolo Senior Policy Analyst Infrastructure and Economic Services Division Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis P.O. Box 56445, 00200 Nairobi, Kenya Telephone: +254-20-2719933/4 Fax: +254-20-2719951 E-mail: jairah(a)kippra.or.ke <mailto:[email protected]> URL: www.kippra.org <http://www.kippra.org/> Proudly Kenyan "In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility..........I welcome it." John F. Kennedy "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke "Far better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory, nor defeat." Theodore Roosevelt "Ex Africa semper aliquid novi" From: rhumphries(a)hsrc.ac.za [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, April 07, 2008 4:07 PM Subject: ANSA-Africa: FInal conference participation call Dear Colleagues You should have received earlier notifications of ANSA-Africa's forthcoming stakeholder conference - to be held in Addis Ababa on the 19th and 20th of May 2008. Our website's home page contains the conference announcement. More details will be posted later this week. With the conference just over one month away, this e-mail is a final call for both abstracts and intention to participate as a delegate. We have some places left for sponsored delegates. Persons wishing to be considered for these places must fill in the delegate application form and submit it to Mrs Ingrid du Toit at the ANSA-Africa secretariat (Ingrid.dutoit(a)mweb.co.za) The form is attached for ease of access. Many thanks indeed. richard h Richard Humphries Affiliated Network for Social Accountability (Africa) www.ansa-africa.net Human Sciences Research Council Pretoria www.hsrc.ac.za

1 0

MPesa - Whose brand is it? Safaricom or Vodafone?
by Harry Hare 10 Apr '08

10 Apr '08

Dear Colleagues, Just saw this story on CNNMoney and started wondering whose product M-Pesa is.I always thought M-Pesa was a local invention of the creative minds at Safaricom but looks like Vodafone is claiming ownership of the brand. It would probably be good to start documenting the origins of M-Pesa as I see this brand across Africa. Regards Harry http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013-24343341.htm Vodafone's jv to launch mobile money transfer service in Tanzania April 08, 2008: 08:40 AM EST Apr. 8, 2008 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) -- - Vodafone (NYSE:VOD) Group Plc. said its joint-venture, Vodacom Group plans to launch its M-Pesa mobile money transfer service to its 4.1 mln customers in Tanzania at the end of the month. Vodacom, which has operations in South Africa, Tanzania, Lesotho, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is a joint venture between Vodafone and Telkom South Africa. The launch of Vodafone M-PESA in Tanzania will see Vodafone's award-winning mobile money transfer service available in a second African market. African eDevelopment Resource Centre 3rd Floor, Nelleon Place Raphta Road, Westlands PO Box 49475 00100 Nairobi, Kenya Cel +254 725 650044 Land +254 20 4453445 www.africanedevelopment.org <http://www.africanedevelopment.org/> My Blogg <http://egov-notes.blogspot.com/> *********************************************************** April/May 2008 Training Opportunities GIS 16-18 April Records Management 28-30 April Web Applications Security 28-30 April Certified Fiber Optic Technician 6-9 May e-Marketing 27-30 May Book Now, Limited spaces available P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

2 1

Re: [kictanet] KCSE results fiasco explained?
by Leonard Mware 09 Apr '08

09 Apr '08

'Outdated' as in fashion or not just not able to crunch figures due to 'uzee"? ----- Original Message ---- From: John Walubengo <jwalu(a)yahoo.com> To: mleonardo(a)yahoo.com Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Wednesday, April 9, 2008 10:11:36 AM Subject: [kictanet] KCSE results fiasco explained? >>>Daily Nation, 9th April. A programming error is to blame for last year’s KCSE results fiasco in which the error led to the adjustment of mean grades for some students. Education Minister Sam Ongeri said when he released a report on last year’s Form Four examinations fiasco yesterday. The report blamed outdated computer programming language for the error which led to the adjustment of mean grades for nearly 40,000 candidates. It arose from the use of an outdated version of a programming language at Kenya National Examinations Council. >>>rest of story @ http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&ne… I found it quite difficult to understand how an 'outdated' programming language that has been working well over the years suddenly begins to lose memory (its mind?) due to the 'ageing' process...ama are we experiencing Y2K bug ver 2 remixed here? ...and now that the report is public, could Barnabas (ICT Mnger, Education) shed some more technical light on what could have transpired? Or maybe Prof. Kashorda who sat on the Investigation committee? Because technically I still dont get it... walu. ____________________________________________________________________________________ You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost. http://tc.deals.yahoo.com/tc/blockbuster/text5.com _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: mleonardo(a)yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mleonardo%40yahoo.com ____________________________________________________________________________________ You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost. http://tc.deals.yahoo.com/tc/blockbuster/text5.com

1 0

KCSE results fiasco explained?
by John Walubengo 09 Apr '08

09 Apr '08

>>>Daily Nation, 9th April. A programming error is to blame for last years KCSE results fiasco in which the error led to the adjustment of mean grades for some students. Education Minister Sam Ongeri said when he released a report on last years Form Four examinations fiasco yesterday. The report blamed outdated computer programming language for the error which led to the adjustment of mean grades for nearly 40,000 candidates. It arose from the use of an outdated version of a programming language at Kenya National Examinations Council. >>>rest of story @ http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&ne… I found it quite difficult to understand how an 'outdated' programming language that has been working well over the years suddenly begins to lose memory (its mind?) due to the 'ageing' process...ama are we experiencing Y2K bug ver 2 remixed here? ...and now that the report is public, could Barnabas (ICT Mnger, Education) shed some more technical light on what could have transpired? Or maybe Prof. Kashorda who sat on the Investigation committee? Because technically I still dont get it... walu. ____________________________________________________________________________________ You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost. http://tc.deals.yahoo.com/tc/blockbuster/text5.com

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Digital Villages
by Edith Adera 08 Apr '08

08 Apr '08

Dr Ndemo, It's good to learn of this new development and to know that things are moving towards implementation. Kudos to the ICT Board! May I ask whether there is any plan to share with stakeholders (and the public) the DV Program implementation model that is envisaged for discussion and feedback? Has there been some in-country background research to determine the needs and potential areas for locating the DVs? Having been funders of similar telecentres and community-owned networks for the last decade across Africa, there are some hard lessons worth sharing (some of which have already been shared directly with the Board), but I believe others have invaluable lessons and experiences to share. An opportunity to publicly discuss the model will be useful. Edith -----Original Message----- From: kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of bitange(a)jambo.co.ke Sent: 02 April 2008 21:07 To: eadera(a)idrc.or.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: [kictanet] Digital Villages Dear All, In today's Daily Nation, the ICT Board advertised (p 18) for Digital Village Entrepreneurs. This is very significant in the sense that we are now very close to involving our rural folks in creating wealth through ICT enterprise. In the past few months since the idea of DVs was mooted, we have learnt a great deal and new rural technologies have emerged. Private sector is beginning to see opportunities in our rural areas. Similar programs elsewhere have often been taken up by the private sector and escalated Broadband penetration. In Slovakia for example Government direct subsidies to rural areas has helped the country achieve the greatest broadband density in Europe. The subsidy drove demand for broadband beyond any estimates. In Chile direct subsidy, intense government local content coupled with tax incentives for rural infrastructure helped the country take broadband to the even sparsely populated Tundra regions of the Andes. Farmers in the region have as much as 11 MB broadband to homes. Operators are happy and productively utilizing rural Base Stations without additional subsidies. Although in our case we have managed some sort of subsidy, we need more especially tax incentives on rural infrastructure. With incentives, it will be attractive for operators to take up rural connectivity on commercial basis. We shall be through with the supply side of ICTs when the undersea, the terrestrial fibre, data centers, disaster recovery centers and network operation centers are ready in the next few months. Some of these projects are being undertaken by the private sector and where necessary the Government may intervene marginally. The challenge now lies on the Demand side. The risk is that operators may concentrate to provide for the bent up demand in urban areas forgetting rural areas. Yet Mpesa shows us that the money is in rural areas. The purpose of this e-mail therefore, is to seek for your support in identifying youth from your rural areas (that is if you come from a village like me) and recommend them to Victor at the ICT Board. I know there are other private initiatives outside of operators intending to support the DV project but we are still grabbling with how this can be distinctively done without causing confusion. Knowing that we have a great resource in you (Kictanet) I am confident that your contribution would enhance the efforts to scale up ICTs in our country. Asante. Bitange 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: eadera(a)idrc.or.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/eadera%40idrc.or.ke

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Fwd: Gender Specialist
by Florence Etta 05 Apr '08

05 Apr '08

FYI Sorry for crossposting! Good luck, FE Jonathan Edmonds <Jonathan(a)iod.uk.com> wrote: Subject: Gender Specialist Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2008 11:25:19 +0100 From: "Jonathan Edmonds" <Jonathan(a)iod.uk.com> To: "Florence Etta" <feanywhere(a)yahoo.co.uk>, "Amal Kunna" <amalkunna(a)yahoo.co.uk>, "Olaronke Ladipo" <oladipo(a)sfhnigeria.org>, "Olaronke Ladipo" <arikeladipo(a)yahoo.com> v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);} st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) } Dear Florence, Amal and Olaronke, I found the following advertisement in the National newspaper and thought the AGDEN members might be interested in it. I use to work for TechnoServe Tanzania and believe the Regional Gender Advisor will be working on a large regional coffee programme funded by Gates. Regards, Jonathan Operations & Finance Manager Monitoring, Impact Assessment & Learning RIU Programme __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ *: International Organisation Development Ltd 16-26 Forth Street Edinburgh EH1 3LH 7: jonathan(a)iod.uk.com 8: www.iod.uk.com / www.parcinfo.org (: +254 (0) 711 590 085 (: +44 (0) 131 270 4718 Confidentiality notice: The information contained in this email is for the intended recipient(s) alone. It may contain privileged and confidential information that is exempt from disclosure under English law and if you are not the intended recipient, you must not copy, distribute or take action in reliance on it. If you have received this email in error, please notify us immediately by using the reply facility on your email system or to the numbers above. Thank you. No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.22.5/1358 - Release Date: 03/04/2008 18:36 Florence Etta PhD Africa Gender & Development Evaluators Network (AGDEN), P.O. Box 14285,00800 Westlands-Nairobi, Kenya Tel: Mobile + 254-733-621851 Terrestrial: + 254-20-7121506 Fax/Phone: + 254-20-7125723 Alternative Email:[email protected] --------------------------------- Yahoo! for Good helps you make a difference

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Re: [kictanet] Digital Villages
by Edith Adera 05 Apr '08

05 Apr '08

Absolutely Mucheru, I do hope this opportunity will be availed soon by the Board. regards -----Original Message----- From: Joseph Mucheru [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 04 April 2008 02:09 To: Edith Adera Cc: mucheru(a)google.com; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] Digital Villages Hi Edith, I do agree with you about the discussion. It is truly great that we are finally at this stage. I do have several people that want to take advantage of the opportunity and could benefit immensely from yours and others experiences. Also I note some of the network operators have some very interesting and innovative proposals and solutions that they should also share so that we all make well informed decisions Bwans PS and the ICT Board, this is a great start! -- Joe Mucheru +254722522135 Google Sent from my iPhone On Apr 3, 2008, at 15:49, "Edith Adera" <eadera(a)idrc.or.ke> wrote: > > Dr Ndemo, > > It's good to learn of this new development and to know that things are > moving towards implementation. Kudos to the ICT Board! > > May I ask whether there is any plan to share with stakeholders (and > the > public) the DV Program implementation model that is envisaged for > discussion > and feedback? Has there been some in-country background research to > determine the needs and potential areas for locating the DVs? > > Having been funders of similar telecentres and community-owned > networks for > the last decade across Africa, there are some hard lessons worth > sharing > (some of which have already been shared directly with the Board), > but I > believe others have invaluable lessons and experiences to share. > > An opportunity to publicly discuss the model will be useful. > > Edith > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf > Of bitange(a)jambo.co.ke > Sent: 02 April 2008 21:07 > To: eadera(a)idrc.or.ke > Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions > Subject: [kictanet] Digital Villages > > Dear All, > In today's Daily Nation, the ICT Board advertised (p 18) for Digital > Village Entrepreneurs. This is very significant in the sense that > we are > now very close to involving our rural folks in creating wealth > through ICT > enterprise. In the past few months since the idea of DVs was > mooted, we > have learnt a great deal and new rural technologies have emerged. > Private sector is beginning to see opportunities in our rural areas. > Similar programs elsewhere have often been taken up by the private > sector > and escalated Broadband penetration. > > In Slovakia for example Government direct subsidies to rural areas has > helped the country achieve the greatest broadband density in > Europe. The > subsidy drove demand for broadband beyond any estimates. In Chile > direct > subsidy, intense government local content coupled with tax > incentives for > rural infrastructure helped the country take broadband to the even > sparsely populated Tundra regions of the Andes. Farmers in the region > have as much as 11 MB broadband to homes. Operators are happy and > productively utilizing rural Base Stations without additional > subsidies. > > Although in our case we have managed some sort of subsidy, we need > more > especially tax incentives on rural infrastructure. With incentives, > it > will be attractive for operators to take up rural connectivity on > commercial basis. We shall be through with the supply side of ICTs > when > the undersea, the terrestrial fibre, data centers, disaster recovery > centers and network operation centers are ready in the next few > months. > Some of these projects are being undertaken by the private sector and > where necessary the Government may intervene marginally. > > The challenge now lies on the Demand side. The risk is that > operators may > concentrate to provide for the bent up demand in urban areas > forgetting > rural areas. Yet Mpesa shows us that the money is in rural areas. > The > purpose of this e-mail therefore, is to seek for your support in > identifying youth from your rural areas (that is if you come from a > village like me) and recommend them to Victor at the ICT Board. I > know > there are other private initiatives outside of operators intending to > support the DV project but we are still grabbling with how this can be > distinctively done without causing confusion. Knowing that we have a > great resource in you (Kictanet) I am confident that your contribution > would enhance the efforts to scale up ICTs in our country. > > Asante. > > > Bitange 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: eadera(a)idrc.or.ke > Unsubscribe or change your options at > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/eadera%40idrc.or.ke > > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > This message was sent to: mucheru(a)google.com > Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mucheru%40google.com

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Digital Villages
by wambui jane 04 Apr '08

04 Apr '08

Edith and all I join Edith in congratulating the ICT board. However, Dr. Ndemo says "... I know there are other private initiatives outside of operators intending to support the DV project but we are still grabbling with how this can be distinctively done without causing confusion..." I am and believe others on this list are confused, what is the difference between the ICT board Digital villages and the ICT villages that are being promoted by ictvillage.com the on line/business portal that belongs to a member of the ICT board? Is this not conflict of interest and does it not go against the principles of good/accountable corporate governance? Pray I ask, how are KICTANet stakeholders expected to play a role/commit to an initiative that is already corrupt/ed/conflicted as it is and how does the ICT board intend to deal with this discrepancy? Could we hear from the ICT board and from Dr. Ndemo on this? regards On 03/04/2008, Edith Adera <eadera(a)idrc.or.ke> wrote: Dr Ndemo, It's good to learn of this new development and to know that things are moving towards implementation. Kudos to the ICT Board! May I ask whether there is any plan to share with stakeholders (and the public) the DV Program implementation model that is envisaged for discussion and feedback? Has there been some in-country background research to determine the needs and potential areas for locating the DVs? Having been funders of similar telecentres and community-owned networks for the last decade across Africa, there are some hard lessons worth sharing (some of which have already been shared directly with the Board), but I believe others have invaluable lessons and experiences to share. An opportunity to publicly discuss the model will be useful. Edith -----Original Message----- From: kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of bitange(a)jambo.co.ke Sent: 02 April 2008 21:07 To: eadera(a)idrc.or.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: [kictanet] Digital Villages Dear All, In today's Daily Nation, the ICT Board advertised (p 18) for Digital Village Entrepreneurs. This is very significant in the sense that we are now very close to involving our rural folks in creating wealth through ICT enterprise. In the past few months since the idea of DVs was mooted, we have learnt a great deal and new rural technologies have emerged. Private sector is beginning to see opportunities in our rural areas. Similar programs elsewhere have often been taken up by the private sector and escalated Broadband penetration. In Slovakia for example Government direct subsidies to rural areas has helped the country achieve the greatest broadband density in Europe. The subsidy drove demand for broadband beyond any estimates. In Chile direct subsidy, intense government local content coupled with tax incentives for rural infrastructure helped the country take broadband to the even sparsely populated Tundra regions of the Andes. Farmers in the region have as much as 11 MB broadband to homes. Operators are happy and productively utilizing rural Base Stations without additional subsidies. Although in our case we have managed some sort of subsidy, we need more especially tax incentives on rural infrastructure. With incentives, it will be attractive for operators to take up rural connectivity on commercial basis. We shall be through with the supply side of ICTs when the undersea, the terrestrial fibre, data centers, disaster recovery centers and network operation centers are ready in the next few months. Some of these projects are being undertaken by the private sector and where necessary the Government may intervene marginally. The challenge now lies on the Demand side. The risk is that operators may concentrate to provide for the bent up demand in urban areas forgetting rural areas. Yet Mpesa shows us that the money is in rural areas. The purpose of this e-mail therefore, is to seek for your support in identifying youth from your rural areas (that is if you come from a village like me) and recommend them to Victor at the ICT Board. I know there are other private initiatives outside of operators intending to support the DV project but we are still grabbling with how this can be distinctively done without causing confusion. Knowing that we have a great resource in you (Kictanet) I am confident that your contribution would enhance the efforts to scale up ICTs in our country. Asante. Bitange 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: eadera(a)idrc.or.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/eadera%40idrc.or.ke _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: wanjiraalice(a)gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/wanjiraalice%40gmail.c… _________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the next generation of Windows Live http://www.windowslive.co.uk/get-live

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Re: [kictanet] Digital Villages
by wambui jane 04 Apr '08

04 Apr '08

>From a Google search, it seems that the digital villages are the ICT board/world bank initiative, while ICT villages are those being promoted by ictvillage.com the on line/business portal that belongs to a member of the ICT board? ICT village.com has what they refer to as DIGITAL VILLAGE NETWORK etc. Both initiatives refer to their projects as digital villages….. Kind regards and very confused Wambui From: wambui(a)live.co.uk To: kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke Subject: [kictanet] Digital Villages Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2008 08:44:03 +0000 Edith and all I join Edith in congratulating the ICT board. However, Dr. Ndemo says "... I know there are other private initiatives outside of operators intending to support the DV project but we are still grabbling with how this can be distinctively done without causing confusion..." I am and believe others on this list are confused, what is the difference between the ICT board Digital villages and the ICT villages that are being promoted by ictvillage.com the on line/business portal that belongs to a member of the ICT board? Is this not conflict of interest and does it not go against the principles of good/accountable corporate governance? Pray I ask, how are KICTANet stakeholders expected to play a role/commit to an initiative that is already corrupt/ed/conflicted as it is and how does the ICT board intend to deal with this discrepancy? Could we hear from the ICT board and from Dr. Ndemo on this? regards On 03/04/2008, Edith Adera <eadera(a)idrc.or.ke> wrote: Dr Ndemo, It's good to learn of this new development and to know that things are moving towards implementation. Kudos to the ICT Board! May I ask whether there is any plan to share with stakeholders (and the public) the DV Program implementation model that is envisaged for discussion and feedback? Has there been some in-country background research to determine the needs and potential areas for locating the DVs? Having been funders of similar telecentres and community-owned networks for the last decade across Africa, there are some hard lessons worth sharing (some of which have already been shared directly with the Board), but I believe others have invaluable lessons and experiences to share. An opportunity to publicly discuss the model will be useful. Edith -----Original Message----- From: kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of bitange(a)jambo.co.ke Sent: 02 April 2008 21:07 To: eadera(a)idrc.or.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: [kictanet] Digital Villages Dear All, In today's Daily Nation, the ICT Board advertised (p 18) for Digital Village Entrepreneurs. This is very significant in the sense that we are now very close to involving our rural folks in creating wealth through ICT enterprise. In the past few months since the idea of DVs was mooted, we have learnt a great deal and new rural technologies have emerged. Private sector is beginning to see opportunities in our rural areas. Similar programs elsewhere have often been taken up by the private sector and escalated Broadband penetration. In Slovakia for example Government direct subsidies to rural areas has helped the country achieve the greatest broadband density in Europe. The subsidy drove demand for broadband beyond any estimates. In Chile direct subsidy, intense government local content coupled with tax incentives for rural infrastructure helped the country take broadband to the even sparsely populated Tundra regions of the Andes. Farmers in the region have as much as 11 MB broadband to homes. Operators are happy and productively utilizing rural Base Stations without additional subsidies. Although in our case we have managed some sort of subsidy, we need more especially tax incentives on rural infrastructure. With incentives, it will be attractive for operators to take up rural connectivity on commercial basis. We shall be through with the supply side of ICTs when the undersea, the terrestrial fibre, data centers, disaster recovery centers and network operation centers are ready in the next few months. Some of these projects are being undertaken by the private sector and where necessary the Government may intervene marginally. The challenge now lies on the Demand side. The risk is that operators may concentrate to provide for the bent up demand in urban areas forgetting rural areas. Yet Mpesa shows us that the money is in rural areas. The purpose of this e-mail therefore, is to seek for your support in identifying youth from your rural areas (that is if you come from a village like me) and recommend them to Victor at the ICT Board. I know there are other private initiatives outside of operators intending to support the DV project but we are still grabbling with how this can be distinctively done without causing confusion. Knowing that we have a great resource in you (Kictanet) I am confident that your contribution would enhance the efforts to scale up ICTs in our country. Asante. Bitange 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: eadera(a)idrc.or.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/eadera%40idrc.or.ke _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: wanjiraalice(a)gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/wanjiraalice%40gmail.c… Have you played Fishticuffs? Get fish-slapping on Messenger _________________________________________________________________ Win 100’s of Virgin Experience days with BigSnapSearch.com http://www.bigsnapsearch.com

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