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The anti-competitive forces that foil speedy, affordable broadband
by Nanjira Sambuli 31 Mar '19

31 Mar '19

Interesting politics of broadband stateside... https://www.fastcompany.com/90319916/the-anti-competitive-forces-that-foil-… Sent from Flipboard Regards, Nanjira. Sent on the move.

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Apply for a Mozilla Fellowship
by Alice Munyua 30 Mar '19

30 Mar '19

https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2019/03/12/apply-for-a-mozilla-fellowship/

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[Good news for MSMEs & indigenous innovators] MPs seek to regulate Mobile Money & limit the scope of Telecommunication licenses
by Patrick A. M. Maina 30 Mar '19

30 Mar '19

[Link at bottom] This will be fantastic - if they succeed! Here's a quick recap of how the Telecommunications / Fintech Apps sub-sector is exploiting consumers and stifling local innovation. 1. Predatory practices: The mobile money sector has reached a point where lack of adequate regulation is leading to retrogressive practices that add hidden costs / friction to the economy - including: a. Price-gouging via ridiculous pricing methodologies: Mobile "money" is just text data moving from A-B. There is no credible justification for pricing to be based on the transaction value or amount sent / received / withdrawn - other than, imo, ruthless exploitation of consumer ignorance! The ethics of any company that earns super-profits in a poor third world country and still continues to do this are worth debating. At scale, I would wager that each P2P or bill payment message costs a telecoms provider less than Ksh. 0.01 per transaction. There needs to be an independent public-interest driven audit of the cost v/s pricing methodology given the essential and imperative nature of the service and the lack of viable alternatives due to lock-in effects. Very clear anti-trust issues at play, imo. b. Usurious loans, predating on the financially insecure with exorbitant fees; c. Aggressive CRB listing (thousands of young Kenyans punitively listed, some reportedly for as little as 200/-, which results in a tarnished record that denies youth access to other opportunities - for half a decade!); d. Promoting poor financial habits by encouraging people to borrow for consumption and/or to borrow "from Peter to pay Paul"; e. Aggressive collection methods - including blatant violations of privacy and shaming tactics - in violation of the Constitution; 2. Macro-economic stability risks: As payments go digital/cashless, unchecked dominance by one entity has resulted in a single point of failure scenario in the economy where the country's retail and service sectors are increasingly at the mercy of one private corporation that does not appear capable of guaranteeing 100% uptime year-round (and is not keen to guarantee just compensation for traders / customers for loss of business during down-times or service delays). 3. Unfair use of market power to crowd out MSMEs and young indigenous innovators: CA's broad-scope licenses have created a scenario where large IT corporations with mega budgets and market monopoly are "competing" with (more accurately, pulverizing) innovative indigenous MSME startups. It is sad to see a company that makes billions in profits apparently even engaging in vegetable business (among others) to deny mama mboga a livelihood. 4. Money laundering risks (Unregulated Loan Apps): Some foreign-funded apps could be a possible channel for international money laundering. The in-bound capital might not follow regulated channels. 5. Hot money risks: Foreign payday loan apps are using hot money models (short term capital allocation) to extract wealth from the country in the form of usurious interest without creating real sustainable value. This can have adverse effects e.g. on monetary policy. 6. Data sovereignty risks: Concentration of sensitive national economic data in the hands of a single private corporation (with foreign ownership). A mobile money monopoly is a bulls-eye target that attracts global hackers and saboteurs due to high payoff potential. 7. Big tech is no longer innovating: It is important for Government to note that, contrary to their PR claims, Big Tech players are no longer innovating - they just copy what is there and then leverage capital, network effects and media monopoly to scale even the most mediocre of ideas, distorting market forces and denying consumers the power to choose the best ideas. In healthy economies, governments solve this by create enabling environments for a new wave of innovations to emerge - via disruptive, independent startups. 8. Big tech are no longer creating new jobs (they are destroying jobs): HR-wise, big tech are already operating at maximum efficiency with single-digit ratios (e.g. 5%) of manpower costs to revenue. At macro-level, they are not creating more new jobs in the economy than they are destroying e.g. this hidden cost is indirect e.g. when their aggressive practices demotivate innovators and/or deny startups a chance to gain traction and grow which would attract investors. 9. Big tech anti-trust practices are delaying the next wave of innovations: In order to promote innovations in ICT (and other sectors), create jobs, and give a chance for the next "big wave of African innovation" to emerge, it is important for Government to step in and restrict Telecomms to their core business: Voice, Data and SMS. Otherwise we will only be showcasing the same old financial inclusion innovations, long after the rest of world has moved on. It looks like parliament is very much on the right track, and the proposed measures - if successful, will go a long way towards creating an enabling environment for indigenous startups and innovators. Kudos to Parliament for putting public interest at the forefront! =============== Article Excerpts ================ 1. "If MPs have their way, the telecommunications regulator, the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), will be compelled to ensure that mobile money services like Safaricom’s M-Pesa, Airtel Money and Telkom’s T-Kash are licensed as banks." 2. "The telecommunication firms will then be licensed to only offer voice, data and SMS services." https://www.nation.co.ke/news/MPs-seek-CBK-regulation/1056-5047788-2wdi1l/i… Best Regards, Patrick A. M. Maina[Cross Domain Innovator | Independent Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations]

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Fwd: [Internet Policy] Singapore to table (aka present in British English) fake news bill Monday
by Barrack Otieno 29 Mar '19

29 Mar '19

Listers, Might be of interest. Regards ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Ang Peng Hwa (Prof) <TPHANG(a)ntu.edu.sg> Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2019 17:27 Subject: [Internet Policy] Singapore to table (aka present in British English) fake news bill Monday To: ISOC Internet Policy <internetpolicy(a)elists.isoc.org> Hi. The Prime Minister of Singapore a couple of hours ago announced that the government will present the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill on Monday. https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/fake-news-laws-be-tabled-monday-hold-… According to the news report, the bill “will give the Government the power to compel online news sources and platforms to show corrections or display warnings about online falsehoods, and — in extreme and urgent cases — take down an errant article.” There was a Select (aka special and public) Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods https://www.parliament.gov.sg/sconlinefalsehoods that had recommended in September 2018 that the Government take action. Although most of the testimonies were public, there were closed door sessions too and reports about these seem to suggest there were disinformation campaigns targeted at Singapore. Facebook came under withering questioning at the Select Committee hearing. (A two-hour video on Facebook (where else) is at https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10155207544022115.) A couple of observations: 1. Several of us had pointed out that in Singapore, the group that spreads fake news is the elderly, parents and grandparents. And our kind of fake news is laughable by Russian standards—eg plastic rice is sold in the supermarket. And parents and grandparents pass on the hoax out of concern. The Bill does not capture this group. It is apparently not aimed at private but public communication. 2. The power to determine facticity apparently lies with the Government. 3. The sanctions come across as pretty mild—corrections or warnings. And taking down only in extreme and urgent cases. 4. The Bill will not cover the case of the videos of the NZ shooting where Google staffers were manually blocking and deleting the videoclips as they were being uploaded. They were from the live streaming and so were not false even if they were in poor taste. Regards, Peng Hwa ANG [image: id:image001.png@01D31147.941BB3B0]*ANG* Peng Hwa (Professor) | Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information | Nanyang Technological University *|* WKWSCI #02-05, 31 Nanyang Link, Singapore 637718 | Tel: (65) 67906109 GMT+8h | Fax: (65) 6792-7526 | Editor, Asian Journal of Communication | Web: http://research.ntu.edu.sg/expertise/academicprofile/Pages/StaffProfile.asp… Past President ICA | ICA 69th Annual Conference Washington DC, May 2019 ------------------------------ CONFIDENTIALITY: This email is intended solely for the person(s) named and may be confidential and/or privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete it, notify us and do not copy, use, or disclose its contents. Towards a sustainable earth: Print only when necessary. Thank you. _______________________________________________ To manage your Internet Society subscriptions or unsubscribe, log into the Member Portal at https://admin.internetsociety.org/622619/User/Login and go to the Interests tab within your profile.

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Modernizing Tertiary Education - some ideas
by Patrick A. M. Maina 29 Mar '19

29 Mar '19

Greetings Listers, The world is changing very rapidly and things that the older generations took for granted no longer apply. There are no jobs waiting for students when they graduate - that era ended decades ago (I believe in the 70s and early 80s). Yet, for some reason, academia appears to be stuck in time, doing things that no longer make sense. Here are some thoughts / ideas on what can be done to reform and rescue our tertiary education sector. (PhD holders might be interested in debating point No. 6. - is it too harsh or the right approach in principle? HR Policy practitioners might be interested in point No. 5..): 1. There is need for Government to strategically position TVETs and Universities as direct implementers of Vision 2030 and Big 4 objectives. Example - academia role should include creating sustainable jobs directly, and taking measures to guarantee high employment of graduates; instead of mechanically preparing our young people for jobs that may, or may not exist, then leaving them trapped in debt. 2. Expand CUE mandate to cover TVETs (as Commission for Tertiary Education); and then Implement a Universal Credit Accumulation and Transfer System - that creates multiple pathways *of equal status* towards higher qualifications (i.e. including transferable credits for TVET education and/or credits for demonstrable on-the-job / startup experience). This calls for a national skills mapping database that is derived from, and/or supports strategic national objectives (as outlined in vision 2030 & Big 4 master-plans). Accelerate regional accreditation to leverage intra-Africa synergies in view of AfCFTA. 3. Require *all* form 4 / grade x leavers to first attend TVETs for at least 2 years to gain hands-on technical skills for real world self-sufficiency, before they (i.e. those who wish to do so) attend university. Rationale: We need to keep our eye on the goal. The goal of education, imo,is not to create "paper churning, hands-off, intellectual elites" who lack real-world-relevant skills, but to create a competent, grounded, hands-on, innovative and future-proofed workforce that is capable of applying knowledge by making or doing things that help solve, in tangible and measurable ways, very specific challenges faced by our country (primarily) or to help solve global problems in a way that primarily and tangibly benefits our country (enhancing our global brand / jobs creation / high-value exports / attracting high quality FDI etc). 4. De-eliticize university education by creating high-value technical specialist pathways via TVETs (for high paying jobs and societal status / recognition). This would temper the belief held by the general public that a university degree is the only path to success and social mobility / status. 5. Employers to emphasize and primarily rely on real-world achievements for competence signalling - rather than relying on academic papers. For example, job advertisements should stop asking for academic qualifications. This is a pointless, tick-box requirement that only creates a market for "River Road degrees". For regulated roles, like medicine or engineering, having a valid practicing license should be a sufficient indicator of academic achievement as the license (hopefully) cannot be issued without verification of the required academic background. We now have the indigenous capacity to implement competency-based hiring painlessly with technology (e.g. via ongoing programs of supervised, automated technical screening assessments to create a national pool of vetted job candidates - which incidentally would eliminate a lot of wastefully redundant HR activities - at macro level). Hopefully tenderpreneurs / MNC lobbyists will not hijack and subvert this idea. Shindwe! :-) Incidentally implementing the above suggestion will reduce incentives for cheating or cram & dump learning. 6. Using policy and regulation to strictly limit career pathways for PhD holders such that they primarily engage in research and academia. Government and corporations should stop hiring PhD holders for full-time administrative roles, for example. It is wasteful, short-sighted and counterproductive (considering the massive resources expended to educate people to that level, as well as the need to productively leverage the intellectual potential of earned PhD holders as a super-scarce resource in Africa). PhD holders should be primarily dedicated to pushing the boundaries of knowledge for the benefit of our country - and they should be rewarded very well for it and accorded top societal honors / as well as status (so they are not tempted to seek jobs that do not develop / challenge their intellectual abilities / potential). The only exception would be for very specific, short term, high-impact, research-reliant-projects or initiatives with very precise and highly specialized objectives, where exceptionally high levels of real expertise is needed. The PhD designation should have (3-5) designation levels that signify real-world achievement at post-doctorate level. PhD holders, other than retirees, who wish to permanently engage in non-research work (or work that can be done by Masters / Bachelors degree holders) should be required to permanently relinquish their PhD qualification and lose the "Dr." designation. There needs to be a distinctive high-status designation for non-academic honorary doctorates e.g. "Exceptional Life Achiever Degree" with the title "Lx." in recognition of non-academic transformational achievements with high societal impact. 7. Academic institutions should form corporations to engage in intellectual property businesses for profit (e.g. IP licensing / manufacturing & distribution) to raise research funds. This requires a pragmatic expansion of institutional mandate as well as strengthening and contextualizing the indigenous IP framework. 8. Pedagogy should be driven by a projects-based learning paradigm with deep integration of learning and real-world work. Removing artificial (and retrogressive) boundaries or demarcations between industry and academia: a. Why should learners first graduate before they can start working? This is a mindset problem. Does it make sense to have schoolwork and employment / MSME startups kept separate (yet they are complementary and interdependent)? b. Why allow someone without real-world paid work (not industrial attachment, but a real job or real MSME startup experience) to graduate? c. Why can't students learn and gain academic credits on the job (doing real, paid work for someone or in their own startups)? d. Why ask our children to choose the projects they want to work on without setting a strategic real-world context that is mapped to real world goals (e.g. Big 4) and real career prospects. Projects-based learning can solve this - with emphasis on projects that can create sustainable wealth for the country (sold to regional governments or the consumer public). We need to train a generation of self-starters who can survive by creating their own opportunities - irrespective of the economy or jobs market. Students should incorporate real startups (with seed funding from Government) during 2nd year - to make and sell products that solve real-world problems in our country / region - and then earn transferable academic credits for demonstrable experience. Employers like Government, MSMEs and corporations can embed academia into the workplace by adopting an apprenticeship approach in partnership with Universities and TVETs to hire 2nd year students and assign them to projects that enable them to earn "on-job learning credits". By the time they graduate, at least 99% ought to be gainfully employed (or running real businesses). This is how you tackle poverty and unemployment in a sustainable way. So what really prevents us from doing this - other than mindset? I know the above might read like heresy to traditionalists - but before you grab the pitchforks and light the torches, look around you... status quo is not working, that's the reality - and things will get worse as 4IR gradually kicks in - if we don't effect radical transformation. I'd be happy to have a round-table with the faculty of any tertiary institution that is interested in discussing / debating the above points. Have a great evening! Patrick A. M. Maina[Cross Domain Innovator | Independent Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations]

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Excel as a Bi Tool:Data Visualization (Dashboard Reporting) in Excel
by Tracy Nyatoro Weru 29 Mar '19

29 Mar '19

Greetings, We have the pleasure to inform you that Sunesis consulting in partnership with I - Lab Africa,Strathmore university is organizing a 3-day training course on Excel as a Business Intelligence Tool (DashboardReporting). The program will take place @iLabAfrica on *24th - 26th April 2019 *at 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. This is a 3-day training that aims at providing business personnel with skills to transform data into decisions using a cost effective tool. The training course is open to all personnel in business related fields who want to leverage on the power of Excel as a Business Intelligence tool. We would be honored to have you participate in this training. If you have further queries, please do not hesitate to contact the event coordinator on getrude.gichuhi(a)strathmore.edu Or alternatively Kindly ensure to register here <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1x-WVFxxCjYGSrXYT0XXQ0WUqnzE4W2wkoLw0ioCtWM…> to reserve your space. -- *Kind Regards,* Tracy Weru Program Coordinator @iLabAfrica Research Centre Email: tweru(a)strathmore.edu Direct Line: +254 (0) 703 034 621 Ext: 2621 Cell: +254 (0) 724239020 Enquiries: +254 (0) 703-034000/200/300 www.strathmore.edu <http://www.twitter.com/StrathU> <https://www.facebook.com/StrathmoreUniversity/?ref=hl> <https://www.youtube.com/user/StrathmoreUniversity> <https://plus.google.com/110890271788869052448/posts> <https://www.linkedin.com/edu/strathmore-university-357048> <https://www.instagram.com/strathmore.university/> <https://www.youtube.com/user/StrathmoreUniversity> -- *Note: *All emails sent from Strathmore University are subject to Strathmore’s Email Terms & Conditions. Please click here <http://www.strathmore.edu/en/email-policy> to read the policy. * * "Visit our Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/StrathmoreUniversity>Page and Twitter <https://twitter.com/StrathU>Account".

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Facebook and Google: This is What an Effective Ad Archive API Looks Like - The Mozilla Blog
by Alice Munyua 28 Mar '19

28 Mar '19

facebook & Google are preparing to release their ad archive APIs. Mozilla & a cohort of independent researchers are publishing five guidelines these APIs must meet in order to truly heighten transparency and curb disinformation. https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2019/03/27/facebook-and-google-this-is-what-a…

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Data Protection Forum & NIIMS - Friday 29th March
by Linda Bonyo 28 Mar '19

28 Mar '19

Dear Listers Join us this Friday 6 pm as we explore the privacy and data protection issues pertaining to the National integrated Identity Management System- NIIMS popularly known as huduma Namba. We look forward to an open, diverse and engaging discussion whose Speakers include George Kegoro (KHRC), Nanjira Sambuli (Web Foundation), Isaac E.N Okero (Former LSK President), Grace Bomu (Kictanet) , Nzilani Mweu (Tech Lawyer) Registration is absolutely free on eventbrite, limited tickets available. Event is powered by *Kenya Human Rights Commission *and hosted by the *Lawyers Hub*. Register here : https://www.eventbrite.com/e/data-protection-in-the-era-of-kenyas-identity-… ______________________________________________ *Linda Bonyo* (Ms.) | Co-Founder, *Lawyers Hub * Tech for Justice ACK Garden House| Block D, 6th Floor | Email: bonyo(a)*lawyershub.ke* <bonyo(a)lawyershub.ke> | Skype*:* lawyershubke Tel: +254(0)207840228 Mobile : +254784840228 www.lawyershub.www.lawyershub.org | www.lawyershub.ke | Nairobi, Kenya. *_**__________________________________________________________* *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 Lawyers Hub.*

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[disaster preparedness] cheap wooden disposable cargo DRONES that can be built locally
by Patrick A. M. Maina 27 Mar '19

27 Mar '19

[link below] This is an idea worth copying and a great way to develop a culture of *simple*, *practical* cross-domain innovations. Our woodworking students can team up with electronics and computing students to build, test these simple contraptions. Example use cases include supplying emergency relief to places where aircraft cannot land. Suggested approach: MoED and MoICT to sponsor a nationwide TVETs v/s Universities competition to see which institution designs the best drone prototype models with optimal balance of performance [against pre-defined parameters] and costs. The top 5 can then be built to scale and tested using gov. planes / helicopters - and the teams involved recognized with national honors. The best can then be mass produced on order (Big 4 + Jobs!) and exported via G2G facilitated trading to other African countries e.g. Mozambique, Zimbabwe as part of regional DR planning. Moral: Innovation does not have to be complicated or expensive. It just needs to solve a real problem. So, can we build a wooden drone or not? Interested listers from Gov & academia willing to run with this? https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/drones/disposable-delivery-dro…

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Cyber Wing-Child Protection Unit
by Watoto Watch Network 26 Mar '19

26 Mar '19

Hello Listers, Great development for children in our online space in Kenya; Opening of the *Cyber Wing* at the Child Protection Unit (DCI). The wing will support investigators tackle Child Online crimes. The unit will be the first in Africa to be linked to Interpol's International Child Sexual Exploitation database. See more info; @DailyNation https://www.nation.co.ke/news/Kenya-gets-first-cyber-unit-to-fight-child-se… Great day. Regards, Lillian Kariuki. (Executive Director, Watoto Watch Network)

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Why Leapfrogging in Frontier Markets Isn't Working
by Gideon 26 Mar '19

26 Mar '19

+1 Ali, Not to oversimplify my point, but if only inbound tech/businesses would take good time to re-evaluate core business models and local enviroments before leaping in. I also think leapfrogging in itself may not be felt in some countries like KE where new technologies are adapted almost immediately albeit in ways that only benefit or fit into the local needs and enviroment. In some situations, a big leap works, in others bit stepwise scalling coupled with adaptating solutions to local problems, nuances and ways of living would be the best formula. Regards GR On Tue, Mar 26, 2019 at 8:59 AM <kictanet-request(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote: > Send kictanet mailing list submissions to > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > kictanet-request(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > You can reach the person managing the list at > kictanet-owner(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of kictanet digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Why ?Leapfrogging? in Frontier Markets Isn?t Working > (Ali Hussein) > 2. Blockchain Taskforce Report (Ali Hussein) > 3. Cyber Wing-Child Protection Unit (Watoto Watch Network) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2019 06:58:06 +0300 > From: Ali Hussein <ali(a)hussein.me.ke> > To: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Why ?Leapfrogging? in Frontier Markets Isn?t > Working > Message-ID: > < > CAPjmBy1oHTx8_8VQGEpmaroFFdeXxPafsHam-jnsJG7KA9dxFg(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > Alice > > Interesting article. Long read but worth it. My take is that the author > makes valid arguments. There are certain areas which I think he should have > paid attention to:- > > 1. Comparing Africa and the rest of the world as if Africa is one country > is a bit of a stretch. > 2. The #BigTech example (Uber specifically) is not complete without taking > into account that global companies fail in frontier markets not because > they don't have the muscle to succeed but because they fail to understand > and learn from local nuances. > 3. Platforms are under attack by regulators everywhere and this > conversation won't be complete if we don't pay attention to what regulation > will mean going forward in Africa. > 4. Scaling is not for everyone. To equate innovation to scaling doesn't in > my humble opinion tell the whole story. > 5. To tell the story of 'Leapfrogging' in Frontier Markets without talking > about Mpesa is in my humble opinion missing a big part of the story. I'm > hoping that the next part will probably cover this? > > Regards > > *Ali Hussein* > > *Principal* > > *AHK & Associates* > > > > Tel: +254 713 601113 > > Twitter: @AliHKassim > > Skype: abu-jomo > > LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim > <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim> > > > 13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing, > > Chiromo Road, Westlands, > > Nairobi, Kenya. > > Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely > mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the > organizations that I work with. > > > On Sat, Mar 23, 2019 at 11:27 PM Alice Munyua via kictanet < > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote: > > > Ali, > > Your thoughts? > > > > > > > > > https://www.cgdev.org/publication/why-leapfrogging-frontier-markets-isnt-wo… > > > > _______________________________________________ > > kictanet mailing list > > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > > https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > > Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet > > Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ > > > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > > > https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/info%40alyhussein.com > > > > The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform > > for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and > > regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT > > sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and > development. > > > > KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors > > online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and > bandwidth, > > share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do > > not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. > > >

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Blockchain Taskforce Report
by Ali Hussein 25 Mar '19

25 Mar '19

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

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Why “Leapfrogging” in Frontier Markets Isn’t Working
by Alice Munyua 25 Mar '19

25 Mar '19

Ali, Your thoughts? https://www.cgdev.org/publication/why-leapfrogging-frontier-markets-isnt-wo…

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South Sudan IGF and SIG is happening next week
by Nelson Kwaje 20 Mar '19

20 Mar '19

Dear listers, Yours truly with the help of Article 19 and UNESCO South Sudan office will be organizing the first South Sudan IGF and SS-SIG next week. The country has a long way to go and I am glad the Kenyan experience is helping us in making some small steps on the other side. See info on the links below. http://southsudanigf.net/first-south-sudan-internet-governance-forum-28th-m… http://southsudanigf.net/south-sudan-digital-rights-workshop-internet-acces… Regards Nelson Kwaje Team Lead, Tech and Innovation Unit WEB4ALL LTD www.web4all.co.ke Tel : +254711250795 Skype : nelson kwaje Twitter : @nelsonkwaje Building ICT Solutions That Matter "There are enough success rooms to accommodate all of us. No one needs to fail for another to succeed. Not all of us will succeed in the same manner or at the same time." Nelson Kwaje

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Google to prompt Android users to choose preferred browsers to allay EU concerns | Reuters
by Alice Munyua 20 Mar '19

20 Mar '19

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-google-android/google-to-prompt-andro…

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[Big tech is hacking minds for profit] addiction algorithms and subversive content are NOT human rights!
by Patrick A. M. Maina 18 Mar '19

18 Mar '19

Listers, Big-tech lobbyists have become so adept at hacking the human brain (social engineering) that they have convinced civil society activists and even some critical government institutions (e.g. constitutional courts) that their commercial interests are "human rights" and that their unregulated operations are a manifestation "free speech" and/or "democratic ideals". This is complete brainwash and very regrettable given that it unethically subverts, distorts and distracts society from rational discourse regarding critical issues like free speech, democracy and human rights. The consequence of Big tech's irresponsible profit-seeking continue to accumulate - globally: Question for Internet NGOs: Are you really protecting the internet, or are you protecting FANG business interests? Why are you not speaking up more about the negative impact of FANG-type business models on society and the internet? CNN: "People could easily become radicalized before social media. Many are still radicalized without it. But social media, often in combination with other factors, has proven itself an efficient radicalizer, in part because it allows for the easy formation of communities and in part because of its algorithms, used to convince people to stay just a little longer, watch one more video, click one more thing, generate a little more advertising revenue." https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/17/tech/youtube-facebook-twitter-radicaliza… Did Zimbabwe court get it wrong on the internet? Social media apps are not the internet. https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2001310324/court-says-inte… ==================== There are increasing concerns that screen-based learning could be risky for young children (especially below 14 years)... From blue screen eye damage issues, to ergonomics (spine / posture / small text), unintended stifling of creativity, and so on. Perhaps Kenya's laptop program would best benefit High school students from grade 10 (Form 1) and above? "Silicon Valley parents are raising their kids tech-free — and it should be a red flag." https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-parents-raising-their-kids-t… "In 2007, Bill Gates, the former CEO of Microsoft, implemented a cap on screen time when his daughter started developing an unhealthy attachment to a video game. Later it became family policy not to allow kids to have their own phones until they turned 14." "Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple until his death in 2012, revealed in a 2011 New York Times interview that he prohibited his kids from using the newly-released iPad. "We limit how much technology our kids use at home." "Tim "Apple" Cook, the current Apple CEO, said in January that he doesn't allow his nephew to join online social networks. The comment followed those of other tech luminaries, who have condemned social media as detrimental to society." The damage being caused to our children's brains, by uncontrolled exposure to algorithms is massive and at an unprecedented scale. This might turn out to be worse than what the Tobacco industry did before they got regulated. https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2001316924/kenyan-parents-… There needs to be a policy definition of what the internet is and especially what it is not - so that when dangerous platforms are shut down, the civil society does not get tricked to pursue ruthless corporate interests thinking that they are "defending internet freedoms", "free speech" or "democracy". Brgds,Patrick. Patrick A. M. Maina [Cross Domain Innovator | Independent Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations]

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TODAY’S DEADLINE: Public Consultation on National Broadband Strategy for Kenya
by Nanjira Sambuli 16 Mar '19

16 Mar '19

Good day, Are we to assume that concerns raised here regarding today’s deadline for submitting comments have gone unheard? Regards, Nanjira. Sent on the move. > On 11 Mar 2019, at 19:18, info(a)elvisjonyo.co.ke wrote: > >> On 2019-03-11 13:51, Nanjira Sambuli via kictanet wrote: >> +1, Ali, >> Additionally, are there reflections on the successes and shortcomings >> for the 2013-17 period? >> For instance the goal on broadband speeds for rural vs urban areas, a >> very lofty goal therein? >> Regards, >> Nanjira. >> Sent on the move. >>> On 11 Mar 2019, at 07:29, Ali Hussein <ali(a)hussein.me.ke> wrote: >>> Gimode >>> Greetings. Seeing that you posted this email on Friday, 8th March, I'm curious to understand how the committee can expect to get substantive responses within a week on such a critical piece of document? >>> I think it's time this country reviews what it means when the constitution talks about Public Participation. I know that there are members of the August House in this list. I challenge them to address this issue. I fear that government officials are taking us through a 'tick the box' exercise when it comes to public participation. >>> Ali Hussein >>> Principal >>> AHK & Associates >>> Tel: +254 713 601113 >>> Twitter: @AliHKassim >>> Skype: abu-jomo >>> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim >>> 13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing, >>> Chiromo Road, Westlands, >>> Nairobi, Kenya. >>> Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the organizations that I work with. >>>> On Fri, Mar 8, 2019 at 9:04 PM Gimode, Chiimbiru via kictanet <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote: >>>> Dear Listers, >>>> You will recall the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology (MoICT) constituted an inter-agency Steering Committee to review of Kenya’s first National Broadband Strategy (NBS) for the period 2013-2017. The Committee draws membership from the MoICT, Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat (VDS), National Communications Secretariat (NCS) and the ICT Authority (ICTA). >>>> The team is at the tail-end of the review of the NBS and is seeking views from the members of the public to enrich the NBS for the period 2018 – 2023 in line with Constitution of Kenya 2010. >>>> Attached is a public notice on the same. >>>> You can access the consultation paper on the Authority’s website on this link: https://ca.go.ke/consumers/public-consultations/open-consultations/ >>>> The deadline for submission of comments is 15th March 2019. >>>> Best Regards, >>>> Chiimbiru Gimode, CMRP, MPRSK. >>>> Communications Officer >>>> Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) >>>> Head Office: CA Centre,Waiyaki Way,Westlands, Nairobi I P.O Box 14448 Nairobi 00800. >>>> Regional Offices: Mombasa I Nyeri I Kisumu I Eldoret >>>> Office Line : 0703-042-524 I Website : www.ca.go.ke I Twitter : @CA_Kenya >>>> Facebook : Communications Authority of Kenya I YouTube : CA Kenya I Instagram: CA Kenya >>>> Flickr : https://www.flickr.com/photos/cck-kenya >>>> Core Values: >>>> Integrity | Innovation| Excellence >>>> “Today is only one day in all the days that will ever be. But what will happen in all the other days that ever come can depend on what you do today’’-Ernest Hemingway >>>> Please be responsible, consider the environment before printing this e-mail. >>>> DISCLAIMER:- This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use by the individual(s) or entity to whom it is addressed to. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. Additionally, if you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately by a reply e-mail. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission. >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> kictanet mailing list >>>> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >>>> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet >>>> Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet >>>> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ >>>> Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/info%40alyhussein.com >>>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. >>>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. >> _______________________________________________ >> kictanet mailing list >> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet >> Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet >> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ >> Unsubscribe or change your options at >> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/info%40elvisjonyo.co.… >> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder >> platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT >> policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for >> reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled >> growth and development. >> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors >> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and >> bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, >> respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or >> qualifications. > It is unreasonable and dishonorable to expect the public to peruse through a document and give comments in one week. You might as well promulgate it as is. > >

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[NBS Working group representation] SMEs & indigenous startups NOT involved!
by Patrick A. M. Maina 16 Mar '19

16 Mar '19

Dear Listers, The National Broadcast Strategy was drafted by over 70 participants representing 40 organizations. On closer scrutiny, the private sector (and non-profit) representation appears heavily skewed in favor of big-corp interests with over ~90% of participants representing large entities (or mid-size entities in partnership with, or historically associated with advancing the interests of, large entities). Here's the breakdown: * 10 Local companies (of which 60% are the largest, most visible Kenyan ICT corporations).* 9 Foreign companies or MNCs* 5 Non-profits* 2 Universities* 14 Government Agencies * 0 Indigenous ICT SME stakeholders (non-startups) * 0 Internet Startup Stakeholder(s)* 0 Indigenous tech innovators / inventors * 0 Indigenous tech policy representative(s)----- 40 organizations (~71 participants) ----- This elucidates why government policies tend to be *heavily and unfairly biased* towards large corporations, multinationals and NGOs to the detriment of SMEs and indigenous startup ecosystems (despite SMEs being the actual bedrock of Kenya's economy; the most innovative sector - albeit neglected and lacking opportunities for exposure; and the biggest jobs creators overall). Big corp's dominance at policy level is unfairly hogging government attention and thus preventing the development of a well coordinated tech-startup ecosystem based on a national ecosystem master-plan that would significantly and exponentially boost our economy within a very short period. This is one reason why our top graduates and innovative youth are jobless - relying on NGO handouts for survival (or having to grovel in the media to get PR-motivated "rescue offers" from companies that would otherwise have turned down their application for merit-based consideration). I think it is hypocritical, unethical and wrong for big corp to say it "cares" about the community when doing CSR - when behind the scenes it is busy hoarding all the meaningful opportunities, resources and government incentives that would be far more helpful to the same community in a sustainable way. Our President's call for promotion of SMEs, local Innovation, self-employment ("Tujiajiri") and millions of jobs for our youth might never materialize if things continue this way. The important role of SMEs and indigenous startups / innovations in supporting the Big 4 agenda needs to be emphasized and promoted. We need proportionate (and affirmative) policy representation at SME and Indigenous Startups / Innovations level. These representatives should be actual, experienced founders / innovators (who have been in the trenches and truly know where the shoe hurts) - not private "incubators" who will always be conflicted in favor of the hands that feed them (their MNCs / big-tech / big-corp partners). I humbly request government stakeholders on this list to kindly take note of the above problem and take action to remedy it please, in public interest. Opportunity should be equitably distributed in line with the spirit of our Constitution. Millions of jobs can be created (and we can avoid massive capital outflows) if this is done properly. Adopting the right policies is what made China take 700 Million people out of poverty in just 40 years. They have shown that it can be done. Let our policies be driven by similar goals, in line with Big 4 agenda: To take 40 Million Kenyans out of poverty and into a path of sustainable prosperity within 5-10 years. Have good evening.Patrick. Patrick A. M. Maina[Cross Domain Innovator | Independent Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations]

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[NBS Working group representation] SMEs & indigenous startups NOT involved!
by Patrick A. M. Maina 16 Mar '19

16 Mar '19

Correction: NBS = National Broadband Strategy Dear Listers, The proposed National Broadband Strategy was drafted by over 70 participants representing 40 organizations. On closer scrutiny, the private sector (and non-profit) representation appears heavily skewed in favor of big-corp interests with over ~90% of participants representing large entities (or mid-size entities in partnership with, or historically associated with advancing the interests of, large entities). Here's the breakdown: * 10 Local companies (of which 60% are the largest, most visible Kenyan ICT corporations).* 9 Foreign companies or MNCs* 5 Non-profits* 2 Universities* 14 Government Agencies * 0 Indigenous ICT SME stakeholders (non-startups) * 0 Internet Startup Stakeholder(s)* 0 Indigenous tech innovators / inventors * 0 Indigenous tech policy representative(s)----- 40 organizations (~71 participants) ----- This elucidates why government policies tend to be *heavily and unfairly biased* towards large corporations, multinationals and NGOs to the detriment of SMEs and indigenous startup ecosystems (despite SMEs being the actual bedrock of Kenya's economy; the most innovative sector - albeit neglected and lacking opportunities for exposure; and the biggest jobs creators overall). Big corp's dominance at policy level is unfairly hogging government attention and thus preventing the development of a well coordinated tech-startup ecosystem based on a national ecosystem master-plan that would significantly and exponentially boost our economy within a very short period. This is one reason why our top graduates and innovative youth are jobless - relying on NGO handouts for survival (or having to grovel in the media to get PR-motivated "rescue offers" from companies that would otherwise have turned down their application for merit-based consideration). I think it is hypocritical, unethical and wrong for big corp to say it "cares" about the community when doing CSR - when behind the scenes it is busy hoarding all the meaningful opportunities, resources and government incentives that would be far more helpful to the same community in a sustainable way. Our President's call for promotion of SMEs, local Innovation, self-employment ("Tujiajiri") and millions of jobs for our youth might never materialize if things continue this way. The important role of SMEs and indigenous startups / innovations in supporting the Big 4 agenda needs to be emphasized and promoted. We need proportionate (and affirmative) policy representation at SME and Indigenous Startups / Innovations level. These representatives should be actual, experienced founders / innovators (who have been in the trenches and truly know where the shoe hurts) - not private "incubators" who will always be conflicted in favor of the hands that feed them (their MNCs / big-tech / big-corp partners). I humbly request government stakeholders on this list to kindly take note of the above problem and take action to remedy it please, in public interest. Opportunity should be equitably distributed in line with the spirit of our Constitution. Millions of jobs can be created (and we can avoid massive capital outflows) if this is done properly. Adopting the right policies is what made China take 700 Million people out of poverty in just 40 years. They have shown that it can be done. Let our policies be driven by similar goals, in line with Big 4 agenda: To take 40 Million Kenyans out of poverty and into a path of sustainable prosperity within 5-10 years. Have good evening.Patrick. Patrick A. M. Maina[Cross Domain Innovator | Independent Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations]

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(Submission by KICTANET Indigenous Stakeholders) Public Consultation On The National Broadband Strategy For Kenya
by Patrick A. M. Maina 15 Mar '19

15 Mar '19

Dear Sir / Madam, Please find attached submissions for KICTANET Indigenous Stakeholders. Due to limited time provided, it was not possible to complete our review and feedback. Please consider offering a time extension, ideally of about 3 weeks, so that we can give more detailed and comprehensive inputs. Thank you and Best Regards, Patrick A. M. Maina[Cross Domain Innovator | Independent Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations | KICTANET Indigenous stakeholder]

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Rethinking Affordable Access
by Nanjira Sambuli 14 Mar '19

14 Mar '19

Worthwhile read. https://a4ai.org/rethinking-affordable-access/ Rethinking Affordable Access - Alliance for Affordable Internet This guest post was prepared by Steve Song and appeared first on his website Many Possibilities. Everyone needs affordable access to communication. Affordable access strategies that don’t target everyone end up magnifying the digital divide in a kind of Matthew effect: those with affordable phone/internet services have access to ever increasing education resources, opportunities, services, social safety nets (the list goes on) such that the unconnected fall further behind just by standing still. You may not agree completely with this statement but let’s assume for the purpose of this article that it is true. And if it is true, then we have a problem because access growth is slowing down. Growth is slowing whether you look at mobile subscribers or internet penetration. To date, a combination of public and private investments in telecommunications has managed to connect about half the world to the internet. Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in particular are the runaway success story when it comes to providing affordable access in regions thought unreachable. So why, given the rapid growth of the last fifteen years, are things slowing down? The one-line answer is that we have connected the easy-to-connect half, the relatively wealthy living in relatively densely populated areas. Connecting poor people is sparsely populated rural areas is a much bigger challenge. In a recent Guardian article, Sonia Jorge of the Alliance for Affordable Internet Access (A4AI) suggests that universal internet access is as far away as 2050. That same article suggests that the reason growth is slowing is a combination of lack of skills and lack of investment. It is undeniable that lack of skills to take advantage of digital tools and services is a significant barrier to uptake. It is also true that those skills are connected to affordability. We discover value online by experiencing it and by experimenting to discover what is valuable to us. When access is expensive, the discovery of value in being online is overshadowed by concerns about the cost of being online. Lack of investment is also a complicated issue. The vast majority of MNOs are private companies that serve their shareholders. Even where MNOs are government-owned, there is often more interest in generating a profit than in providing universal, affordable access. It is unsurprising then that MNOs invest in areas where both population density and incomes levels are higher. Spectrum auctions that levy millions of dollars from MNOs in advance of network deployment only compound this trend as operators worry about an increased debt burden. Universal Service Funds (USFs) are the primary mechanism that has been established to try to ensure that poorer and more remote regions also have access. Operators are typically taxed a percentage of their turnover that goes into a fund run by a Universal Service Agency, whose purpose is to finance access into unserved regions. The history of USFs and the associated agencies that manage them is pretty mixed. These agencies are typically government bureaucracies that have little experience managing millions of dollars and are risk averse by the very nature of being bureaucracies. Worse, funds with millions of dollars often attracts the worst kind of kleptocratic behaviour. That said, USFs have made a difference. In the early days of mobile network growth, they created incentives for MNOs to invest in areas that were not economic priorities for them. This led to the growth of infrastructure into previously unserved regions. However, these subsidies have typically succeeded in regions where MNOs would have found themselves eventually, that is, areas that have populations dense enough to create profits for MNOs Where USFs have really run into problems is in trying to push MNOs into regions that are not economically viable for them. Stories abound, although seldom publicly, of USF funds that have completely subsidised the capital costs of cell tower build-outs for MNOs in remote areas but those cell towers are not operated by the MNOs because the towers don’t generate profits, or perhaps not sufficient profit. In one Southern African country, the USF agency has paid for the build-out of 103 base stations in rural areas; 77 of which are not operational. This is not particularly surprising. Often, the operational costs (e.g. maintenance, supply of diesel for back-up generators, etc.) can exceed the revenues generated by calls on the base stations in remote, sparsely populated regions where income levels are lower than in urban areas. For an MNO that is accountable to its shareholders, it only makes sense to turn those towers off. And that is where we find ourselves today. Access growth is slowing because the economics just don’t make sense. So what to do? A recently published report commissioned by the World Bank entitled “Innovative Business Models For Expanding Fiber-optic Networks And Closing The Access Gaps” attempts to answer that question. Their conclusions don’t exactly break any new ground for the World Bank, however. An extremely short (perhaps unfair) summary would be: Enable market forces; the private sector has been most successful at deploying networks. Try to get out of their way. Regulate only as a last resort where there is absolutely clear evidence that the market has failed. Government investment should be cautious and only implemented with a clear vision. The problem with the above recommendations is that this course of action got us to where we are now — but it doesn’t address the fundamental problem of access economics that the MNOs face. Nor does does the proposed strategy mitigate any of the downsides of MNO network deployments, which is often a lack of market competition. If new thinking is required, what might that look like? Here are some news ways of looking at the problem. We Don’t Live in a Single Economy The conventional analysis of the access challenge treats the economy as a single entity but the reality is that the economics of the rural poor is very different from comparatively wealthy big cities. French economic historian, Fernand Braudel, makes a distinction between global and local economies. Companies that operate in the global economy are easy to spot because the endgame for those companies is monopoly. Whether you are MTN or Amazon or McDonalds, the goal is to occupy the maximum possible amount of the market. These kinds of companies get most of our attention. Growing to this size is seen as a virtue. And indeed, there has been a lot of success in the growth of mobile access. Silicon Valley has a particular obsession with scale. Where else would growth hacking be an actual profession. While there has been some pushback to this, scale remains the brass ring for internet companies in particular. In contrast, local companies seek to serve an immediate market, one which they typically have much deeper knowledge of and are able to serve in a manner that a global company cannot. The economics of these local companies are different than those of global companies. Some things are more expensive, but many things are cheaper when it comes to serving a local market. Thus the local baker’s labour costs per loaf of bread are higher but they don’t incur any shipping costs and can tailor their production specifically to demand. Not to mention the fact that they can greet you every day and be a part of your life and your community. This is not news. Governments around the world have recognised the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and have policies developed to encourage their growth. The economic contribution of small business is substantial. In the United States, small businesses employ 47.5 percent of all private sector employees. In South Africa, SMEs contribute 34 percent towards Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provide employment to about 60 percent of the labour force. But nowhere do we see a deliberate strategy to empower small and medium telecommunication/internet access providers. Again, this is not surprising. Historically, building a telecommunications company required millions of dollars of investment in international connectivity, national network infrastructure, last mile infrastructure, handsets, agent networks, marketing, the list goes on. It was a risky bet too. Choose the wrong underlying technology (e.g., WiMAX mobile ten years ago) and you could lose millions. All this has changed. Telecommunications networks are becoming disaggregated. Increasingly international, national, and metropolitan network infrastructures are available as wholesale services to any operators, lowering the bar to market entry for smaller operators who can focus on last-mile delivery. Also, communication technology in general has dramatically dropped (and continues to drop) in price. Not only has WiFi technology become extremely affordable but all kinds of communication technologies from point-to-point microwave to GSM to LTE base stations, even fibre optics now have prices that are within the reach of the community network and small-scale operator. “When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.” Alexander Den Heijer Tell me if this sounds familiar: You’re in a meeting about affordable internet access and someone mentions the importance of community networks and small-scale operators. Someone stands up, usually from a big operator, sometimes government, sometimes the regulator, or even the ITU and says, “Oh we recognise the value of community networks… but do they really scale?” The implied answer is “No, of course not.” But what if we could connect millions of people affordably through small businesses i.e. ISPs and community-owned networks without scaling? Not far from where I now live in rural Nova Scotia, is a small community of about 500 people called Lawrencetown. They got fed up with not having decent access to broadband and being ignored by the incumbent telcos and formed a cooperative to build a WiFi network that serves the community. They started out charging about USD45 per month for 20 Mbps service but reduced the price to USD30 per month because they found they were making too much money. They don’t need to be any bigger than they are. They were able to do this because: Access to backhaul is affordable and open; The administrative barriers to setting up an ISP are very low; and, WiFi access technology is very cheap. Their success has emboldened the community to explore the use of a cooperative to deliver both healthcare and energy. We now live in world that has conspired to make it possible for local entrepreneurs and/or community groups to solve their own access challenges. What is missing is the enabling policies and regulation to let a million of these little (and not so little) flowers bloom. Community-Owned Infrastructure In addition to creating an enabling environment for local access solutions, we need to break out of the Manichean world of private sector networks vs government networks. In particular, community ownership of telecommunications infrastructure needs to be elevated to the mainstream of affordable access debates. We need to dispel the picture that many people seem to have of community-owned networks: two tin cans and a piece of string. It is true that in the early days of wireless hacking with WiFi, tin cans actually featured but it was that kind of hacking that spurred the growth of WiFi as a credible backhaul technology. More to the point, as the status of telecommunications infrastructure is changing from luxury to essential utility, there are lessons we can learn from the growth of another essential utility that started out as a luxury: the electricity grid in the United States. In the early part of the 20th century, much of rural America had no access to electrical power. Rural farmers and ranchers banded together to form cooperatives to build their own power infrastructure. But they likely would not have succeeded had there not been enabling policies and programs put in place by the government. The following 3 minute video which tells the story of US electrical cooperatives is well worth watching. Today, those same cooperatives are rolling out fibre optic infrastructure to address lack of broadband service in those same regions. Cooperatives can take many forms. They can be tiny like the one in Lawrencetown. They can address access challenges in regions that aren’t viable for large operators such as Rhizomatica are doing in rural Oaxaca, Mexico, or Zenzeleni in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. They can embody commons principles established by Elinor Ostrom as Guifi.net are doing in Catalunya, Spain. They can enable farmers to dig their own fibre trenches to deliver 1Gbps (symmetric) internet service in rural northern England as B4RN are doing. Cooperatives are a time-tested model for addressing collective resource challenges, especially but in no way limited to in rural areas. Why should we prioritise their growth? Here are a few reasons: Cooperatives lower consumer costs. Cooperatives are non-profits and reinvest surplus back into the network, either by lowering costs (as Lawrencetown did) or by expanding the network. This is particularly relevant in areas that may have enough demand to support one network operators but not two. Subsidising a commercial operator to build a network may solve the access challenge but does not address the affordability challenge. Cooperatives invest in local economies. In a remote community, calling someone a block away typically generates revenue for the incumbent operator headquartered in the capital. It siphons revenue away from remote, poor communities. Community-owned networks ensure that revenue spent on telecommunications is spent locally, creating more local economic circulation. Cooperatives build local skills. The technical skills to build and manage communication networks is within reach of anyone with the right learning environment. Cooperatives provide a space for local skills development in a 21st century career. Cooperatives can help to unwind inequitable social systems. We know that communication technology is an amplifier which can magnify positive outcomes like entrepreneurship and education but which can also reinforce existing social and economic inequities. Because cooperatives are not driven by a profit motive and because they are local, they can both understand and collectively choose to address challenges that face their communities in a meaningful way. Cooperatives build… community. Perhaps that sounds like a tautology but there is nothing like having a project in common to build community bonds/ties and the social fabric that holds us all together. This is a “yes, and” scenario This article should not be interpreted as an argument against big telcos. The success of large-scale, commercial telecommunications networks is undeniable. They have great advantages thanks to their economies of scale, however, the evidence is mounting that the large network model alone is not enough to connect everyone affordably. Small businesses are now are practical reality in the world of telecommunications and the internet, but are limited, not by technology, but by the lack of an enabling policy and regulatory environment. Similarly, community ownership of telecommunications infrastructure in the form of cooperatives and similar structures is a proven success model that cries out for policy, regulatory, and investment support. Locally-owned commercial and/or community connectivity initiatives will grow the market which will ultimately be good for big telcos too. The best news for regulators is that enabling local connectivity initiatives directly addresses one of the biggest concerns raised in the World Bank report: risk. Smaller initiatives can fail without causing systemic harm. They can innovate faster and be more responsive to local needs. Cooperatives are owned by their members. What better way to ensure skin-in-the-game, arguably one of the best ways to mitigate risk. It’s time to move the word “local” into the mainstream of telecommunications policy, regulation, and investment. For more updates on our work, follow us on Twitter at @A4A_Internet. Follow Steve at @stevesong. Regards, Nanjira. Sent on the move.

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Deciphering Trump's "Einstein Pilot" comment & why (most) state mandated backdoors are a bad idea
by Patrick A. M. Maina 14 Mar '19

14 Mar '19

Listers, US president Donald Trump recently triggered a debate about the (often overlooked) negative aspects of placing high/total reliance on modern, increasingly complex (and increasingly opaque), technology for safety-critical applications like aircrafts. Some food for thought... (disclaimer: below is shared for information and/or debate only, with respect to cybersecurity policy discussions): 1. (*2018* article) "Boeing thinks that cyberattacks may be a real threat to flight safety and pilots should be trained to determine and withstand them." https://airlinerwatch.com/boeing-wants-to-train-pilots-against-cyberattacks/ 2. In 2012 researchers reportedly discovered what appeared to be a deliberately engineered (i.e. possibly state mandated) security backdoor in *military grade* chips used for critical functions in aircrafts (e.g. boeing 787) and sensitive military equipment (e.g. drones). The backdoor could be ecploited by sophisticated (state sponsored) attackers to potentially take over sensitive equipment (like a commercial plane). The good intentions behind such backdoors includes anti-hijacking. But the unintended consequence is severely increased vulnerability (ironically to a different form of hijacking) that cannot be hot-fixed. https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/military-grade-chips-may-not-be-… 3. "Five eyes" nations (US, UK, CA, AU, NZ) see themselves as the global "good guys" with infinite wisdom, and who should be allowed (and trusted, without independent oversight or international accountability) to hack any tech device/software for "good" reasons. So they agressively push their tech manufacturers to engineer security backdoors into systems (chips & software). Again, the unintended consequence, which makes (most) state mandated backdoors a terrible idea, is that there is no way to fully secure such backdoors against exploitation by the "bad guys" (e.g. competing states or organized criminal networks). Sadly, it means that "five eyes" origin technology (hardware and/or software) should always be considered *insecure by design*. Yet this is the tech most of Africa relies on for literally *everything*. Actually any non-indigenous technology should be considered insecure by default (a key reason to develop strategic indigenous technology capacity). Could also partially explain why some foreign govs seem to have so much high quality (near real time) information on Africa across all critical spheres (industrial, financial, political, security etc). https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/03/five-eyes-governments-call-on-tech-giants… The floor is open for comments / debate. :-) Good day.Patrick. Patrick A. M. Maina[Cross Domain Innovator | Independent Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations]

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AFROBYTES Nairobi - Invitation
by Linda Bonyo 14 Mar '19

14 Mar '19

Dear Listers This is to welcome you to Afrobytes Nairobi happening this Friday afternoon at the iHub. The French Development Agency's Innovation team will be present and is looking to meet people in the sector. Let me know if you need tickets as it is on an invite basis. The definitive program is now online with the speakers's profiles: http://www.afrobytes.com/afrobytes-event-series/afrobytes-nairobi/ *Afrobytes is the connection point between the African Tech Industry and other global tech ecosystems. <https://youtu.be/cO87x5VP68g>* Wonder what to expect at Afrobytes events? Just check out this video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkZxjG_iUPo> Join me on LinkedIn <https://www.linkedin.com/in/ammin-youssouf-4660621> Visit us: www.afrobytes.com, Follow us: twitter.com/socialafrobytes or Have a coffee with us: Station F <https://www.google.com/maps/place/STATION+F/@48.8348101,2.3620091,15z/data=…> // Bonus: *- One of Fast Company's Most Creative People 2018 > Rank 94-95 <https://www.fastcompany.com/most-creative-people/2018> * *- In the 50 Most Daring Entrepreneurs List in 2018 by Entrepreneur.com > Rank 14 <https://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/321571>* Regards, ______________________________________________ *Linda Bonyo* (Ms.) | Co-Founder, *Lawyers Hub * Tech for Justice ACK Garden House| Block D, 6th Floor | Email: bonyo(a)*lawyershub.ke* <bonyo(a)lawyershub.ke> | Skype*:* lawyershubke Tel: +254(0)207840228 Mobile : +2547840840228 www.lawyershub.africa | www.lawyershub.ke | Nairobi, Kenya. *_**__________________________________________________________* *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 Lawyers Hub.*

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[corrected version] [connecting the dots] The real reason why Africa struggles with eCommerce and Airlines
by Patrick A. M. Maina 13 Mar '19

13 Mar '19

Correction: KQ revenues in 2018 were ~50 Billion. Dear Listers, Whenever we have a spectacular failure in industry, we rush to attribute it to one or many of the five factors below: 1. Management competence (e.g. manifests through "culture" and/or lack of responsiveness to new/non-standard challenges; lack of awareness that competence is situational) 2. Failed Strategy (e.g. markets respond better to competitors or are already locked-in. Strategy can fail even where the management is highly competent.)3. Corruption / conflicts of interest (includes nepotism, procurement challenges e.g. unethical vendor practices or blatant theft) 4. External factors (e.g. global economic / geopolitical dynamics) 5. Force Majeure (sudden unforeseeable calamities - whether natural or man-made) I'd like to put forward one reason, unique to Africa, that is seldom raised or addressed, yet it in many cases could be the primary reason why many African businesses struggle to remain viable despite adopting business models that succeed in other countries: The biggest obstacle for most African businesses is the structural operating environment. Simply put, Africa doesn't scale. * Scale is the reason that KQ's economic doom was sealed in 1977 when East African Airways was dissolved. * Scale (not trust or delivery infrastructure) is the reason eCommerce simply can't and won't work in Africa (yet works in India) under the current circumstances. Certain types of businesses are simply not viable without scale. It doesn't matter what strategy, caliber of management or whatever else is used. Without scale, you have to swim upstream and perform miracles. No wonder we tell tourists that Kenya / Africa is "Magical". Only a magician can do certain businesses in Africa - under current circumstances. For example KQ earns ~Ksh. 50 Billion annually. Where does the money go? Do you know who really benefits from African Airlines failure to leverage scale? Here's my list: 1. International Vendors (Equipment / Systems / Fuel) 2. International Hedge funds (e.g. Price / Currency hedges) 3. International Insurance.4. Prioritized creditors (most likely international) 5. International Airports. The only country that doesn't get paid is Kenya. Due to lack of scale, we end up literally giving financial aid to rich countries. This is not a smart thing for a poor country to do. Scale benefits are (in part) what makes Delta Airlines, for example, operate with double digit margins, earn Ksh. 4.4 Trillion in a year (enough to run our country for almost 2 years without borrowing) which translates to Ksh. 1.3 Billion DAILY PBT (profits before tax). Yes, a daily profit of Ksh. 1.3 Billion. That kind of performance is not magical - it's just smart application of basic economics and intelligent (strategically meaningful) politics + policies. eCommerce? USPS (et. al) operation at scale is what made Amazon possible at scale. Prosperity is not just about efficiency - the size of market matters. It matters a lot! Africa combined is the 8th largest economy in the world yet as individual countries we barely register on the global radar. Individual African countries are simply not viable. No amount of aid or borrowing will fix scale deficiencies - in fact, the lack of scale is what makes our current national debts worrisome and risky! The idea of "national pride" carriers is ancient and obsolete. We need Pan-African Champion Airlines (where countries buy shares in not more than three Pan-African Airlines - North, Central and South). This would immediately dissolve the perceived (delusional) national advantage of self-imposed barriers to open skies and regional trade. The current heavy reliance on international markets is not smart at all (we are highly exposed to global shocks and geopolitics); it should be supplemented by sensible and massive intra-Africa trade. Pan-Africanism is not a sentimental idea, it is a rational and intelligent economic strategy. It is the only way to create a common and unified mindset that will unlock scale in Africa. Thankfully a good number of African leaders and technocrats are recognizing these challenges, hence the AfCFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area) initiative, which requires ratification of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), the Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons, and the African Passport, as part of the integration process. As business people it is in our interest to support these initiatives as much as we can - but also to be vigilant of powerful (foreign state-backed) resource-extraction MNCs that would want to hijack or sabotage Africa's integration because it spoils their centuries-long plunder party. How does my argument hold, in view of success stories like Equity and/or Safaricom? In science, we disprove arguments by looking for a 'black swan" (just a single instance of contradiction) - are they not the Black Swans? Nope! Equity and Safaricom have certain common business model aspects which allow them to operate "successfully" with limited scale. The most obvious being network effects - but there are other non-obvious factors which are out of scope of this article. Still these are still tiny and fragile operations relative to their scale-leveraged counterparts which earn tens of billions of shillings in revenues daily (and trillions annually). Our culture of mediocrity is what makes us celebrate our (relative) minions. Failure to think in terms of scale is dangerous.. it leads to (or encourages) predatory corporate behavior, comfort zones, mediocrity and other mental barriers. Thanks for reading. I welcome your thoughts on the above. Good day & Brgds, Patrick A. M. Maina[Cross Domain Innovator | Independent Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations]

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Public Consultation on National Broadband Strategy for Kenya
by Gimode, Chiimbiru 13 Mar '19

13 Mar '19

Dear Listers, You will recall the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology (MoICT) constituted an inter-agency Steering Committee to review of Kenya’s first National Broadband Strategy (NBS) for the period 2013-2017. The Committee draws membership from the MoICT, Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat (VDS), National Communications Secretariat (NCS) and the ICT Authority (ICTA). The team is at the tail-end of the review of the NBS and is seeking views from the members of the public to enrich the NBS for the period 2018 – 2023 in line with Constitution of Kenya 2010. Attached is a public notice on the same. You can access the consultation paper on the Authority’s website on this link: https://ca.go.ke/consumers/public-consultations/open-consultations/ The deadline for submission of comments is 15th March 2019. Best Regards, Chiimbiru Gimode, CMRP, MPRSK. Communications Officer Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) Head Office: CA Centre,Waiyaki Way,Westlands, Nairobi I P.O Box 14448 Nairobi 00800. Regional Offices: Mombasa I Nyeri I Kisumu I Eldoret Office Line : 0703-042-524 I Website : www.ca.go.ke I Twitter : @CA_Kenya Facebook : Communications Authority of Kenya I YouTube : CA Kenya I Instagram: CA Kenya Flickr : https://www.flickr.com/photos/cck-kenya Core Values: Integrity | Innovation| Excellence “Today is only one day in all the days that will ever be. But what will happen in all the other days that ever come can depend on what you do today’’-Ernest Hemingway Please be responsible, consider the environment before printing this e-mail. DISCLAIMER:- This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use by the individual(s) or entity to whom it is addressed to. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. Additionally, if you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately by a reply e-mail. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission.

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WWW turns 30
by Nanjira Sambuli 13 Mar '19

13 Mar '19

Hi listers, Tomorrow, March 12 marks the 30th anniversary of the World Wide Web! My colleagues (at the Web Foundation) have been recreating a timeline of the web in the 30 years, and would be awesome to have contributions from this our ecosystem, via #web30, #ForTheWeb. See https://webfoundation.org/2019/02/help-build-a-timeline-of-the-webs-history/ <https://webfoundation.org/2019/02/help-build-a-timeline-of-the-webs-history/> for more info on how to participate. Past the celebrations, though, lies a steep task ahead to keep it open and for everyone! Check out the contract for the web, and each ‘estate’ to step up to its role. See: https://fortheweb.webfoundation.org/ <https://fortheweb.webfoundation.org/> Regards, Nanjira

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Re: [kictanet] Public Consultation on National Broadband Strategy for Kenya
by Nanjira Sambuli 11 Mar '19

11 Mar '19

+1, Ali, Additionally, are there reflections on the successes and shortcomings for the 2013-17 period? For instance the goal on broadband speeds for rural vs urban areas, a very lofty goal therein? Regards, Nanjira. Sent on the move. > On 11 Mar 2019, at 07:29, Ali Hussein <ali(a)hussein.me.ke> wrote: > > Gimode > > Greetings. Seeing that you posted this email on Friday, 8th March, I'm curious to understand how the committee can expect to get substantive responses within a week on such a critical piece of document? > > I think it's time this country reviews what it means when the constitution talks about Public Participation. I know that there are members of the August House in this list. I challenge them to address this issue. I fear that government officials are taking us through a 'tick the box' exercise when it comes to public participation. > > Ali Hussein > Principal > AHK & Associates > > Tel: +254 713 601113 > Twitter: @AliHKassim > Skype: abu-jomo > LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim > > 13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing, > Chiromo Road, Westlands, > Nairobi, Kenya. > > Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the organizations that I work with. > > >> On Fri, Mar 8, 2019 at 9:04 PM Gimode, Chiimbiru via kictanet <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote: >> Dear Listers, >> >> >> >> You will recall the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology (MoICT) constituted an inter-agency Steering Committee to review of Kenya’s first National Broadband Strategy (NBS) for the period 2013-2017. The Committee draws membership from the MoICT, Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat (VDS), National Communications Secretariat (NCS) and the ICT Authority (ICTA). >> >> >> >> The team is at the tail-end of the review of the NBS and is seeking views from the members of the public to enrich the NBS for the period 2018 – 2023 in line with Constitution of Kenya 2010. >> >> >> >> Attached is a public notice on the same. >> >> >> >> You can access the consultation paper on the Authority’s website on this link: https://ca.go.ke/consumers/public-consultations/open-consultations/ >> >> >> >> The deadline for submission of comments is 15th March 2019. >> >> >> Best Regards, >> Chiimbiru Gimode, CMRP, MPRSK. >> Communications Officer >> >> Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) >> Head Office: CA Centre,Waiyaki Way,Westlands, Nairobi I P.O Box 14448 Nairobi 00800. >> Regional Offices: Mombasa I Nyeri I Kisumu I Eldoret >> >> Office Line : 0703-042-524 I Website : www.ca.go.ke I Twitter : @CA_Kenya >> Facebook : Communications Authority of Kenya I YouTube : CA Kenya I Instagram: CA Kenya >> Flickr : https://www.flickr.com/photos/cck-kenya >> >> Core Values: >> Integrity | Innovation| Excellence >> “Today is only one day in all the days that will ever be. But what will happen in all the other days that ever come can depend on what you do today’’-Ernest Hemingway >> >> Please be responsible, consider the environment before printing this e-mail. >> DISCLAIMER:- This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use by the individual(s) or entity to whom it is addressed to. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. Additionally, if you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately by a reply e-mail. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission. >> _______________________________________________ >> kictanet mailing list >> kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke >> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet >> Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet >> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ >> >> Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/info%40alyhussein.com >> >> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. >> >> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.

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Re: [kictanet] John Suffolk's Statement at the Huawei Press Conference on March 7, 2019 - Huawei
by Ali Hussein 11 Mar '19

11 Mar '19

Adam Thanks for this. Informative. Part of it is public knowledge already especially the part about components of computer systems being manufactured by several vendors. The Global IT Supply Chain is so convoluted and so many players involved that if what the US is alluding to is correct that we will see the collapse of this ecosystem, of which China is a major player. Kind of shooting oneself in the foot so to speak. Take Apple for example: According to the statement 766 global suppliers, among which 346 were on the Chinese mainland. In summary, around half of iPhones are manufactured in China. This will be case study worthy of any Business School going forward. Regards *Ali Hussein* *Principal* *AHK & Associates* Tel: +254 713 601113 Twitter: @AliHKassim Skype: abu-jomo LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim> 13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing, Chiromo Road, Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya. Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the organizations that I work with. On Fri, Mar 8, 2019 at 6:06 PM Adam Lane via kictanet < kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote: > Hi all > > I thought I'd share this, as it's a nice summary of the cybersecurity > challenges we all face globally and addresses some of the concerns raised > by some stakeholders overseas. > > > https://www.huawei.com/en/press-events/special-release/john-suffolks-statem… > > there's a lot more detail on the website, but this may be the most > insightful. > > regards > Adam > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet > Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/info%40alyhussein.com > > The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform > for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and > regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT > sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. > > KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors > online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, > share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do > not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. >

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[here we go again.. surely we can't be this dumb] 800, 000 Kenyans need food aid, agency says
by Patrick A. M. Maina 09 Mar '19

09 Mar '19

Guys, last year the problem was TOO MUCH RAIN. This year (less than 12 months later), the problem is TOO LITTLE RAIN. This has been happening for over 100 years. Corruption makes us look foolish and incompetent to the rest of the world.. like we are incapable of something as basic as learning to compensate for nature's cycles. Then we get offended when the developed world holds paternalistic or condescending attitudes towards us... It's not them, we are doing this to ourselves! When will we realize that it is NOT THE RAIN PATTERNS that are the problem... it's having people who don't care about the impact of their selfish actions on the less privileged, in positions or jobs that require caring. When you look at countries like the Netherlands, which should not even be viable (because 1/3 of their land is literally below sea level) or Israel - which is literally a desert but among the top 20 most food secure nations, the significance of our continued failure as a society really sinks in. Some problems are so fundamental, they should have been solved decades ago. There is no excuse. No one to blame, but ourselves as a society. We contribute our part to grand corruption by being silent and passive about it. Silence, in the face of repeated injustice, means CONSENT. These are 800,000 victims of our silence in the face of corruption, nepotism and short sighted thinking. Don't blame the rain.. look in the mirror. That is where the problem is. https://www.nation.co.ke/news/800-000-Kenyans-need-food-aid/1056-5016738-ta… 800,000 Kenyans need food aid, agency says | | | | | | | | | | | 800,000 Kenyans need food aid, agency says National Drought Management Authority warns figure could rise if weather stays same. | | |

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UK to place social media firms under duty of care.
by Patrick A. M. Maina 09 Mar '19

09 Mar '19

[link at the bottom] "Social media firms in the United Kingdom will soon be placed under a new statutory duty of care, the Daily Telegraph reported on Friday. Under the new rules, tech giants will be required to take reasonable and proportionate action to protect their users, especially children, from any online harm. This includes harmful content that is illegal such as physical abuse and legal content which is potentially harmful, such as cyber bullying, self-harm and violence. Firms that fail to do so will be fined, prosecuted and even barred from operating in the UK. To ensure enforcement of the rules, the government will create a new independent regulator that will have wide-ranging powers to require firms to remove harmful or illegal material under legally binding codes." link: https://www.teletrader.com/amp/news/details/47079238

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John Suffolk's Statement at the Huawei Press Conference on March 7, 2019 - Huawei
by Adam Lane 08 Mar '19

08 Mar '19

Hi all I thought I'd share this, as it's a nice summary of the cybersecurity challenges we all face globally and addresses some of the concerns raised by some stakeholders overseas. https://www.huawei.com/en/press-events/special-release/john-suffolks-statem… there's a lot more detail on the website, but this may be the most insightful. regards Adam

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[AfrICANN-discuss] ICANN64 from March 09 to March 14, 2019 in Kobe
by Bob Ochieng 08 Mar '19

08 Mar '19

Listers, This will be interesting for some of you. > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Yaovi Atohoun <yaovi.atohoun(a)icann.org> > Subject: [AfrICANN-discuss] ICANN64 from March 09 to March 14, 2019 in Kobe > Date: March 8, 2019 at 11:28:27 AM GMT+3 > To: AfrICANN Community List <africann(a)afrinic.net> > Reply-To: AfrICANN Community List <africann(a)afrinic.net> > > Hello everyone / Bonjour à tous > > EN: ICANN64 community forum is scheduled for March 9-14, 2019 in Kobe (Japan) and it is possible to attend remotely. > Pease see the full agenda of the meeting at https://64.schedule.icann.org/ <https://64.schedule.icann.org/> . You have also links on remote participation in various sessions details. > Note that time zone in Kobe is UTC+9 > > FR : La réunion ICANN64 se déroule du 09 au 14 mars 2019 à Kobe (Japon) et il est possible d’y participer à distance > Prière aller sur https://64.schedule.icann.org/ <https://64.schedule.icann.org/> pour l’agenda de la réunion. Vous pouvez aussi participer à distance grâce aux liens disponibles sur les pages d’information des différentes sessions. > Notez que le fuseau horaire à Kobe est UTC+9 > > Thanks / Merci > > -- > Yaovi Atohoun > Stakeholder Engagement and Operations Manager- Africa; ICANN > Tel. +229 66015649/65209067 > www.icann.org <http://www.icann.org/> > > _______________________________________________ > AfrICANN mailing list > AfrICANN(a)afrinic.net <mailto:AfrICANN@afrinic.net> > https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/africann <https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/africann>

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[connecting the dots] The real reason why Africa struggles with eCommerce and Airlines
by Patrick A. M. Maina 07 Mar '19

07 Mar '19

Dear Listers, Whenever we have a spectacular failure in industry, we rush to attribute it to one or many of the five factors below: 1. Management competence (e.g. manifests through "culture" and/or lack of responsiveness to new/non-standard challenges; lack of awareness that competence is situational) 2. Failed Strategy (e.g. markets respond better to competitors or are already locked-in. Strategy can fail even where the management is highly competent.)3. Corruption / conflicts of interest (includes nepotism, procurement challenges e.g. unethical vendor practices or blatant theft) 4. External factors (e.g. global economic / geopolitical dynamics) 5. Force Majeure (sudden unforeseeable calamities - whether natural or man-made) I'd like to put forward one reason, unique to Africa, that is seldom raised or addressed, yet it in many cases could be the primary reason why many African businesses struggle to remain viable despite adopting business models that succeed in other countries: The biggest obstacle for most African businesses is the structural operating environment. Simply put, Africa doesn't scale. * Scale is the reason that KQ's economic doom was sealed in 1977 when East African Airways was dissolved. * Scale (not trust or delivery infrastructure) is the reason eCommerce simply can't and won't work in Africa (yet works in India) under the current circumstances. Certain types of businesses are simply not viable without scale. It doesn't matter what strategy, caliber of management or whatever else is used. Without scale, you have to swim upstream and perform miracles. No wonder we tell tourists that Kenya / Africa is "Magical". Only a magician can do certain businesses in Africa - under current circumstances. For example KQ earns >Ksh. 100Billion annually. Where does the money go? Do you know who really benefits from African Airlines failure to leverage scale? Here's my list: 1. International Vendors (Equipment / Systems / Fuel) 2. International Hedge funds (e.g. Price / Currency hedges) 3. International Insurance.4. Prioritized creditors (most likely international) 5. International Airports. The only country that doesn't get paid is Kenya. Due to lack of scale, we end up literally giving financial aid to rich countries. This is not a smart thing for a poor country to do. Scale benefits are (in part) what makes Delta Airlines, for example, operate with double digit margins, earn Ksh. 4.4 Trillion in a year (enough to run our country for almost 2 years without borrowing) which translates to Ksh. 1.3 Billion DAILY PBT (profits before tax). Yes, a daily profit of Ksh. 1.3 Billion. That kind of performance is not magical - it's just smart application of basic economics and intelligent (strategically meaningful) politics + policies. eCommerce? USPS (et. al) operation at scale is what made Amazon possible at scale. Prosperity is not just about efficiency - the size of market matters. It matters a lot! Africa combined is the 8th largest economy in the world yet as individual countries we barely register on the global radar. Individual African countries are simply not viable. No amount of aid or borrowing will fix scale deficiencies - in fact, the lack of scale is what makes our current national debts worrisome and risky! The idea of "national pride" carriers is ancient and obsolete. We need Pan-African Champion Airlines (where countries buy shares in not more than three Pan-African Airlines - North, Central and South). This would immediately dissolve the perceived (delusional) national advantage of self-imposed barriers to open skies and regional trade. The current heavy reliance on international markets is not smart at all (we are highly exposed to global shocks and geopolitics); it should be supplemented by sensible and massive intra-Africa trade. Pan-Africanism is not a sentimental idea, it is a rational and intelligent economic strategy. It is the only way to create a common and unified mindset that will unlock scale in Africa. Thankfully a good number of African leaders and technocrats are recognizing these challenges, hence the AfCFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area) initiative, which requires ratification of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), the Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons, and the African Passport, as part of the integration process. As business people it is in our interest to support these initiatives as much as we can - but also to be vigilant of powerful (foreign state-backed) resource-extraction MNCs that would want to hijack or sabotage Africa's integration because it spoils their centuries-long plunder party. How does my argument hold, in view of success stories like Equity and/or Safaricom? In science, we disprove arguments by looking for a 'black swan" (just a single instance of contradiction) - are they not the Black Swans? Nope! Equity and Safaricom have certain common business model aspects which allow them to operate "successfully" with limited scale. The most obvious being network effects - but there are other non-obvious factors which are out of scope of this article. Still these are still tiny and fragile operations relative to their scale-leveraged counterparts which earn tens of billions of shillings in revenues daily (and trillions annually). Our culture of mediocrity is what makes us celebrate our (relative) minions. Failure to think in terms of scale is dangerous.. it leads to (or encourages) predatory corporate behavior, comfort zones, mediocrity and other mental barriers. Thanks for reading. I welcome your thoughts on the above. Good day & Brgds, Patrick A. M. Maina[Cross Domain Innovator | Independent Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations]

3 2

DNSSEC - is it available again?
by Mark Elkins 07 Mar '19

07 Mar '19

Hi, Just did a search on DNSSEC in this group and get nothing. I see that co.ke (and ke!) is DNSSEC signed. That's Very Good. Does KeNIC accept DS records for entries in CO.KE? Do any Registrars have that in their interface? A search of "dnssec" on the KeNIC website shows nothing (I tried both case) http://www.kenic.or.ke/index.php/en/search-results?ordering=newest&searchwo… Lastly - Are non-Kenyan based organisations allowed to be Registrars yet? The Application form (http://www.kenic.or.ke/images/PDF/Registrar%20Application%20Form%20Updated.…) doesn't state you have to be in Kenya - though it asks for a "KRA Pin Certificate" - and I've no clue what that it. I have a few co.ke domains and would love to add DNSSEC to them. My systems allow for that (talks EPP) and I have about 100 DNSSEC signed domains, mainly in ZA but also in other ccTLDs and GTLDs. -- Mark James ELKINS - Posix Systems - (South) Africa mje(a)posix.co.za Tel: +27.128070590 Cell: +27.826010496 For fast, reliable, low cost Internet in ZA: https://ftth.posix.co.za

3 3

Scholarships for ICT4D with University of Manchester
by peres wamukhula were 07 Mar '19

07 Mar '19

Dear Listers Please find below, details of two sets of scholarships to study ICT4D with the University of Manchester: - The 2019 Development Informatics Scholarship covers tuition fees, flights and living costs. It is available for applicants from Ghana, Kenya, Zambia or Zimbabwe to Manchester’s one-year MSc ICTs-for-Development <https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.manc…>. Deadline 31 March: https://www.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/study/taught-masters/funding-opportunities… <https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gdi.…> - Ten Commonwealth scholarships cover all fees for the distance learning MSc Management and Information Systems <https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.manc…>. Deadline 22 March: https://www.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/study/taught-masters/funding-opportunities… <https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gdi.…> Best regards Peres Were

1 0

Researchers discover a MAJOR hardware-level security vulnerability in ALL Intel CPUs (and it's worse than Spectre)
by Patrick A. M. Maina 05 Mar '19

05 Mar '19

"Researchers have found another way to abuse speculative execution in Intel CPUs to steal secrets and other data from running applications." "The leakage can be exploited by a limited set of instructions, which is visible in all Intel generations starting from the 1st generation of Intel Core processors, independent of the OS (works against ALL operating systems) and also works from within virtual machines and sandboxed environments." "This security shortcoming can be potentially exploited by malicious JavaScript within a web browser tab (phishing vector), or malware running on a system, or rogue logged-in users, to extract passwords, keys, and other data from memory. The vulnerability, it appears, cannot be easily fixed or mitigated without significant redesign work at the silicon level. The researchers also examined Arm and AMD processor cores, but found they did not exhibit similar behavior." "Spoiler is not a Spectre attack. The root cause for Spoiler is a weakness in the address speculation of Intel’s proprietary implementation of the memory subsystem which directly leaks timing behavior due to physical address conflicts. Existing spectre mitigations would therefore not interfere with Spoiler." The "spoiler" vulnerability "can be exploited from user space without elevated privileges." Link to the paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1903.00446.pdf News article: Intel CPUs afflicted with simple data-spewing spec-exec vulnerability Link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/03/05/spoiler_intel_processor_flaw/ | | | | | | | | | | | SPOILER alert, literally: Intel CPUs afflicted with simple data-spewing ... 'Leakage ... is visible in all Intel generations starting from first-gen Core CPUs' | | |

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Master of Science in Information System Security from Strathmore...
by Michael Bullut 05 Mar '19

05 Mar '19

Greetings Team, Has anyone done the Master of Science in Information System Security from Strathmore? I need a reference for the same. *Apologies for the cross-posting... * Warm regards, Michael Bullut. --- *Cell:* *+254 723 393 114.**Skype Name:* *Michael Bullut.* *Twitter:* * @Kipsang <http://twitter.com/Kipsang/>* *Blog: http://www.kipsang.com/ <http://www.kipsang.com/>* *E-mail:* *main(a)kipsang.com <main(a)kipsang.com>* *---*

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IGF Best Practice Forum on AI-Big-Data and AI +UTC12 (45 minutes)
by Alex Comninos 04 Mar '19

04 Mar '19

Dear All The BPF IoT-BD-AI (Internet of Things, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence) is resuming its activities with its first virtual meeting today (12PM) - UTC in 45 minutes. Sorry for the short notice, but if anyone was interested please join at the ink below: In 2019 the BPF IoT-BD-AI intends to develop the BPF's potential as platform for multi-stakeholder discussion, to discuss best practices contributing to creating trusted systems and applications. The full BPF proposal is available at accepted proposal<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GCDIeffcyjv7Aw8nCTShiBLvcOOx8KCC/view> Meeting link https://intgovforum.webex.com/intgovforum/j.php?MTID=me73a91313a42e9ccd5cc1… Best, Alex

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Re: [kictanet] Education ministry abandons Uhuru's laptop project
by Baiju Shah 03 Mar '19

03 Mar '19

Hi Grace, I think the approach has to be different in achieving Digital Literacy and it has to be one of self motivated learning from the youngsters, the guides need to the the teachers who teach them all day and hence it will be of value to train the teachers and the teachers train the students in the current model. I do not see any amount of teacher training. In addition, we discuss the basic infrastructure, there needs to be a team within the MOE who does an yearly audit of the infrastructure tie this up the the performance of the head teacher and the budgets that were available, with a little bit of data analysis we will be able to identify where the limitations are and what needs to be done to remedy the situation. Finally, each school needs to establish a community digi kiosk that not only acts as a teaching support in technology but also services the community around them to make it self sustaining, government pays the ICT - entrepreneur some fee to sustain him basically for a certain number of KPI, training based on a continuous learning basis, this will create 30,000 ICT led jobs in the country, provide these schools with an operational system that enables the headmasters to use technology to optimise the operational running of their institutions, reduces costs and this will free up teachers time resulting in better teaching outcomes, the money saved through better operations and transparency will assist them to maintain and upgrade their infrastructure. The operational system will also enable the School heads make decisions on the basis of factual information and the government can further be able to role up into single performance dashboard from all being able to seethe performance at national, county, regional and to the lowest denominator. Anybody ready to participate for such an impact project to improve and uplift our future? If so, please get intouch we have the operational product ready, we now need to role this out, but with the current state of affairs it is going to be a real challenge. Thanks, Best Regards, *Baiju Shah * *Tel. 0787332247* On Wed, Feb 27, 2019 at 10:09 AM Grace Githaiga via kictanet < kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote: > [image: Boxbe] <https://www.boxbe.com/overview> This message is eligible > for Automatic Cleanup! (kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke) Add cleanup rule > <https://www.boxbe.com/popup?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.boxbe.com%2Fcleanup%3Fkey…> > | More info > <http://blog.boxbe.com/general/boxbe-automatic-cleanup?tc_serial=48315153208…> > Listers > > Just incase you missed reading this one. KICTANet discussed this > eventuality a while back. Read on! > > The Ministry of Education has now suspended issuance of tablets to Class > One pupils under the digital literacy programme, opting instead to build > computer laboratories. > > > Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang has said that each of the 25,000 public > primary schools will get one computer laboratory. > > > “There has been a policy change in programme from one child-one laptop to > the construction of computer laboratories for ICT integration,” Dr Kipsang > told National Assembly’s Education Committee while presenting budgetary > proposals. > > > https://www.nation.co.ke/news/education/Ministry-abandons-laptop-project/26… > > > > Best regards > > > Githaiga, Grace > > > -- > Grace Githaiga > Co-Convenor, Kenya ICT Action Network > > _______________________________________________ > kictanet mailing list > kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke > https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet > Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet > Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ > > Unsubscribe or change your options at > https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/baiju%40telemedia.co.… > > The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform > for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and > regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT > sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. > > KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors > online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, > share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do > not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications. >

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Education ministry abandons Uhuru's laptop project
by Grace Githaiga 03 Mar '19

03 Mar '19

Listers Just incase you missed reading this one. KICTANet discussed this eventuality a while back. Read on! The Ministry of Education has now suspended issuance of tablets to Class One pupils under the digital literacy programme, opting instead to build computer laboratories. Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang has said that each of the 25,000 public primary schools will get one computer laboratory. “There has been a policy change in programme from one child-one laptop to the construction of computer laboratories for ICT integration,” Dr Kipsang told National Assembly’s Education Committee while presenting budgetary proposals. https://www.nation.co.ke/news/education/Ministry-abandons-laptop-project/26… Best regards Githaiga, Grace -- Grace Githaiga Co-Convenor, Kenya ICT Action Network

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[hidden knowledge] What? AFRICANS (in the US) co-invented the PC, Cell Phone Tech, 4G & the LIGHT BULB????
by Patrick A. M. Maina 01 Mar '19

01 Mar '19

Listers, this is mind-blowing stuff (see the list & video links below). Did you know that almost every modern convenience in your house, and every portable electronic device, contains (or has technology inspired by) an invention by a person of African descent? Dear policy makers, when you don't believe in your own people's potential, you encourage imported technology/labor and discourage the development of indigenous solutions. When you don't give your indigenous innovators a real chance - unless they partner with a foreigner, who you happily encourage to come and "fund" our innovators, relying on obsolete imported IP laws, do you know that you are encouraging the plunder of indigenous IP? Do you know that foreign "competition" or "awards" are literally IP mining projects where we lose huge sums (possibly billions) of foreign exchange? For every 1 to 20 "winners", they collect THOUSANDS of potentially high value ideas which they will one day sell back to our governments at a massive premium (leading to even more taxes - because Government revenue is not diversified enough)! Has anyone followed up to see what happened next for all these "winning innovations" we keep hearing about for the last decade? How many jobs have been created, how big are the companies? how many still exist? what is their ownership structure (how much is still owned by the indigenous founders)? If we truly want a culture of innovation (which is critical if we want to take charge of our future), we must protect our children from the *politics of intelligence* (IQ brainwash). It is a real phenomenon - and is calculated to make Africans (from early childhood) believe that we are somehow inherently inferior and/or incompetent. It suppresses our children's dreams and ambitions, guiding them towards a life of self-doubt, mediocrity and apathy. Wake up Kenya (and Africa), let's get serious about protecting our indigenous intellectual resources and nurture them for commercial advantage so that we can free our country from the shackles of debt, poverty and other forms of externally imposed indignity! =================================== Does anyone on this list recognize these names? Did you learn about any of them is school? 1. Dr. Mark Dean: an IBM employee who helped invent the PERSONAL COMPUTER & MONITOR (screen) !!! He holds THREE of IBM's original nine PC patents. More recently he led the team that invented the 1GHz Chip. 2. Henry T Thompson - Pioneered cellphone technology (invented the Gamma-Electric cell)..among other things (e.g. improved solid rocket propellant - which significantly enhanced US missile defense capabilities) 3. Jesse Lee Russel: invented 4G / LTE technology (!!) 4. John Henry Thompson - Invented Lingo, a scripting language for rendering visuals / simulations in computer programs (Macromedia, Shockwave etc) 5. Otis Boykin: Invented the resistor (during a time of racial segregation). 6. Marie Van Brittan Brown: Invented the CCTV camera 7. James E. West - invented the Electret Microphone 8. Kenneth J. Dunkley - invented 3D glasses 9. George e. Alcorn - Imaging Xray Spectometer 10. Dr. Betty Harris - invented the bomb detector 11. Dr. Patricia Bath - invented a laser cataract remover 12. Valerie thomas - A NASA employee, invented the hologram - still way ahead of its time. 13. Dr. Shirley Jackson - co-invented fibre optic cables, caller id and call waiting. 14. Lonnie G. Johnson - patented technology that was the basis for CD/DVD optical drive (waaaaay ahead of its time) 15. Lewis Latimer: Invented the most critical component of the light bulb (the filament). 16...the list goes on and on... traffic lights, toaster, stapler, staple remover, central heating efficiency improvements, subway tech etc etc.. and these are the ones that were documented. For context, it is important to keep in mind that some of these inventors (have) lived during very hard times for people of color (slavery / racial segregation) and were systematically denied a proper education or dignified existence. Incredible achievements considering the odds and obstacles they faced. Growing up, I always wondered how come black people don't contribute to science or progress... Are our kids currently being brainwashed in school? Does KICD check for IQ brainwash while approving content? Food for thought. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umdq6B3HIZU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8tje7BkYMo Brgds,Patrick A. M. Maina.[Cross-domain Innovator | Independent Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations]

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Re: [kictanet] [mixed-up tender-driven priorities] Education ministry abandons Uhuru's laptop project
by Patrick A. M. Maina 27 Feb '19

27 Feb '19

Adam Lane, really? what does "entirely funded by GoK" mean exactly... are you saying GoK has ever had a balanced budget? When? My facts are 100% in order. :-D On Wednesday, February 27, 2019, 3:20:14 PM GMT+3, Adam Lane <adam.lane(a)huawei.com> wrote: Patrick, the tablet project has been entirely funded by GOK, not by aid or loans. please check your facts. From:Patrick A. M. Maina via kictanet <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke>To:Adam Lane <adam.lane(a)huawei.com>Cc:Patrick A. M. Maina <pmaina2000(a)yahoo.com>Date:2019-02-27 13:15:13Subject:Re: [kictanet] [mixed-up tender-driven priorities] Education ministry abandons Uhuru's laptop project GG and listers, I think the underlying subtext is that a NEW TENDER is coming up for "computer labs" that will be deployed in overcrowded, dilapidated public schools (some mud-walled, others open air) with dirty / unpainted classrooms, rudimentary and worn out / broken fittings (if any) and no (or poorly paid and demoralized) teachers... not forgetting, attended mostly by children who are not getting their basic needs met (balanced unpolluted diet; clothing; dignified shelter with clean water and toilet; access to competent healthcare; child-friendly neighborhood; physical safety and psychological safety) that are critical per-requisites to actual learning, because their parents are TRAPPED IN POVERTY due to historical policy-level factors that are beyond their control and not of their own making. What problem should be solved first? How do we set priorities as a country? Here's an interesting puzzle that is by now familiar to most/all of us: a. Is there money to pay decent wages to all teachersso they can all live a dignified life (and focus 100% on our children's development)? NO. b. Is there money for "shiny thing" projects that will create a multi-billiontender opportunity for foreign MNC rent seekers? YES. Billions. How does that work? Well, it turns out that aid money (mostly Loans) from "donors/aid partners" comes with usage restrictions that are designed to benefit the donor country more than the recipient country e.g. the aid money can only be used to fund projectswhich create export markets for the donor country's corporations, national industries and/or labor. Basically aid is like a "nice" shopkeeper offering you "assistance", via a loan, to buy from his/her shop (and nowhere else), things that you don't need and cant afford e.g. dryclean-only clothes, when your children are malnourished and you can't maintain such clothes. The shopkeeper is not interested in clothing your children sustainably, he only wantsto profit off you and gain power over you via debt (so you can't freely deal with other shopkeepers). Once you are totally dependent on debt, you will have to sing the shopkeeper's tune to make ends meet. This is why many African government programs and/or priorities don't make sense or benefit the majority. It's not Africans who are calling the tune. quick_rant() { Are we not worried that our persistent failure, as an African society, to solve relatively simple challenges is signalling low competence to the rest of world (and therefore entrenching long held racist stereotypes that could lead to some form of future oppression/apocalypse for our children/descendants)? I have seen modern-day debates by highly educated people (including some very high achievers and Nobel Prize winners in the scientific community) arguing that Africa's failure to recover from historical setbacks (as well as perceived failure to contribute to global progress) is "proof" that we are genetically inferior intellectually. Although the mainstream science community has aggressively rebuffed that narrative (i.e. in public - we don't know the private sentiments), it is ultimately politics (i.e. perceptions - not reality) that shapes the past and the future. Are we playing thepolitics of perceived intelligence and competence as well as we should? History shows that incompetent societies have had to peg their continued existence on the benevolence of other more competent societies - but that benevolence has not always guaranteed (so the existential prognosis for incompetent societies isvery poor). Does this not bother us enough? } Secondly there is new information that, at certain early ages (e.g. pre-school through lower primary), heavy reliance on technology causes MORE HARM than good: a. It stunts creativity by leaving nothing to imagination; b. could trigger lifelong addiction problems - especially when imported, poorly vetted platforms are used; c. harms eyesight e.g. via blue light / small text; d. choice of wireless connectivity increases risk of cancers via long-term EMF radiation; e. excessive screen-time impairs the development of soft skills; f. risk of brainwashing via thought-bubble algorithms; and g. turns connected minors into data generation products for corporate exploitation. In fact, top technology executives and practitioners e.g. in Silicon Valley, are (and have been)LIMITING screen-time for their own children and sending them to TECH-FREE private schools (e.g. Waldorf), while their companies ruthlessly lobby governments globally to adopt harmful (by design) technologies in public schools so that children of low income parents (i.e. the majority) can use them, with no choice of opting-out, because it is part of compulsory education. Will this new knowledge be factored in Kenya's "Phase 2" of digital learning? Will Government restrict screen-time for all children below 12 years (and totally ban poorly moderated addiction-forming platforms like Facebook, SnapChat, Instagram, WhatsApp, youTube and gamified apps for under-age children)? Let's see what happens... :-) ==================================== On tablets, I was hoping that the strategy behind the tablets project was to develop local "manufacturing" (kit assembly) capacity for mobile devices and kick-start it with a gov procurement stimulus. If that was the idea, it looks like there was no proper ECOSYSTEM MASTER-PLAN to guarantee sustainability e.g. by developing a strong "demand side" - beyond our own gov. tenders... Further the manufacturing project should have been run by a collaborating (not competing) consortium of multiple agencies: 1. The Industrialization & Trade ministry to work with indigenous hardware startups to do the assembly, distribution and sales of the devices (including robust demand generation across the region / continent - with the aim of having Government orders as just a small fraction of the overall sales). 2. ICT ministry to conduct business analysis, contextualized architecture design, develop an ecosystem of indigenous platforms and content development capacity - via indigenous startups.3. Education ministry to oversee local content and platform development by setting standards (via KICD) and vetting / approving content in line with economic master-plan.4. The Health ministry to oversee ergonomics and offer guidance on safety for device (e.g. screen specifications / EMF radiation), platform (e.g. algorithms / gamification) and content design (e.g. font size v/s eyesight risks).5. Ministry of energy to ensure provision of power.6. County governments for services like sanitation and water.7. Foreign Affairs ministry to help negotiate regional and international synergies. Regional collaboration would develop and optimally leverage the comparative advantage of each constituent country.TakeEast Africa for example; a. Tanzania has a well developed content development industry; whereas b. Kenya is good with apps, software platforms and hardware maintenance. It also hasexcellent distribution and marketing ability; c. Uganda and Rwanda have comparatively lower wages - with hence perfect for assembly line setup. If each country only did what it does best, and bought the rest from its regional neighbors, we would have built a sustainable regional ecosystem. But lo-and-behold, each country wants to dominate the entire value chain by itself, and then eventually is puzzled why they suddenly have excess capacity (and increased debt) but no markets and no demand other than from Government itself. :-) Interested in hearing your thoughts on the above, as well as any alternative viewpoints. Good day. Patrick A. M. Maina.[Cross-domain Innovator | Independent Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations] On Wednesday, February 27, 2019, 9:23:08 AM GMT+3, Grace Githaiga via kictanet <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote: Listers Just incase you missed reading this one. KICTANet discussed this eventuality a while back. Read on! The Ministry of Education has now suspended issuance of tablets to Class One pupils under the digital literacy programme, opting instead to build computer laboratories. Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang has said that each of the 25,000 public primary schools will get one computer laboratory. “There has been a policy change in programme from one child-one laptop to the construction of computer laboratories for ICT integration,” Dr Kipsang told National Assembly’s Education Committee while presenting budgetary proposals. https://www.nation.co.ke/news/education/Ministry-abandons-laptop-project/26… Best regards Githaiga, Grace -- Grace Githaiga Co-Convenor, Kenya ICT Action Network _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/pmaina2000%40yahoo.com The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development. KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.

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Fwd: [Internet Policy] Your phone and TV are tracking you, and political campaigns are listening in
by Barrack Otieno 26 Feb '19

26 Feb '19

Listers, Might be of interest. Regards ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Richard Hill <rhill(a)hill-a.ch> Date: Sat, Feb 23, 2019 at 8:04 PM Subject: [Internet Policy] Your phone and TV are tracking you, and political campaigns are listening in To: <internetpolicy(a)elists.isoc.org> According to this article political campaigns are buying data in order to send targeted advertising based on what people are doing: https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-campaign-tech-privacy-20190220-s… Your phone and TV are tracking you, and political campaigns are listening in Best, Richard _______________________________________________ To manage your Internet Society subscriptions or unsubscribe, log into the Member Portal at https://admin.internetsociety.org/622619/User/Login and go to the Interests tab within your profile. -- Barrack O. Otieno +254721325277 +254733206359 Skype: barrack.otieno PGP ID: 0x2611D86A

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Public Notices on Postal/Courier Security Mgt and National Addressing System
by Gimode, Chiimbiru 26 Feb '19

26 Feb '19

Dear Listers, The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has published the attached notices in today’s newspapers. They are: * Guidelines on Postal/Courier Security Management * Initiatives on Development of a National Addressing System (NAS) for Kenya This is for your information and noting. Best Regards, Chiimbiru Gimode, CMRP, MPRSK. Communications Officer Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) Head Office: CA Centre,Waiyaki Way,Westlands, Nairobi I P.O Box 14448 Nairobi 00800. Regional Offices: Mombasa I Nyeri I Kisumu I Eldoret Office Line : 0703-042-524 I Website : www.ca.go.ke I Twitter : @CA_Kenya Facebook : Communications Authority of Kenya I YouTube : CA Kenya I Instagram: CA Kenya Flickr : https://www.flickr.com/photos/cck-kenya Core Values: Integrity | Innovation| Excellence “Today is only one day in all the days that will ever be. But what will happen in all the other days that ever come can depend on what you do today’’-Ernest Hemingway Please be responsible, consider the environment before printing this e-mail. DISCLAIMER:- This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use by the individual(s) or entity to whom it is addressed to. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. Additionally, if you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately by a reply e-mail. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission.

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The Reckoning - Regulating #BigTech
by Ali Hussein 26 Feb '19

26 Feb '19

Washington is late to the party but its' implications can be global. This will be interesting to watch. William Barr, in his January confirmation hearings to become the U.S. attorney general, entered into the lexicon a valuable, if redundant, expression to describe the biggest technology companies in the land. “I think a lot of people wonder how such huge behemoths that now exist in Silicon Valley have taken shape under the nose of the antitrust enforcers,” said Barr, an establishment Republican lawyer from central casting—and therefore an unlikely antagonist for Big Business. His locution stuck, heightening the sense that the “behemoths”—Facebook, Google <http://fortune.com/fortune500/alphabet/>, Amazon <http://fortune.com/fortune500/amazon-com/>, Microsoft, Apple <http://fortune.com/fortune500/apple/>, and a handful of less-gigantic competitors—now face a greater regulatory threat than at any other time in their relatively brief existence. Read on:- How Washington will tame #BigTech <http://fortune.com/2019/02/25/silicon-valley-tech-washington-politics/?utm_…> *Ali Hussein* *Principal* *AHK & Associates* Tel: +254 713 601113 Twitter: @AliHKassim Skype: abu-jomo LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim> 13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing, Chiromo Road, Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya. Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the organizations that I work with.

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[2 Lessons from India's a-duh! moment] 1. Fingerprints can be stolen 2. Aadhaar data leak was the world’s biggest
by Patrick A. M. Maina 20 Feb '19

20 Feb '19

[~10 minute read] [Links below] Two important takeaways from India's "a-duh!" moment: 1. The value of proactive and strategic industry engagement with Government: India has some of the world's smartest techies, but it looks like they have very sub-optimal influence in strategic policy and politics because Aadhaar issues could have been easily foreseen and mitigated. This is the same situation we have in Kenya where the tech industry is often reacting to policies / laws that seem to materialize from "thin air" as different arms of Government operate in silo mode. The reactive approach by industry is dis-empowering and leads to antagonistic / mistrusting relationships or engagements between industry and government whereas the goal should be to get optimal systemic gains through proactive influencing and cooperation. Governments are primarily political organizations and indigenous businesses in Kenya (and Africa) must come to terms with the fact that their operating environment is greatly influenced by the political environment (and government policies / projects / priorities / deadlines are often driven by political goals). It is therefore imperative that indigenous Tech stakeholders get more active and visible in politics to boost local industry's influence on government activities. We should not just engage (as an industry) with/via ICT ministry, but also form direct working links with Finance, Education, Industrialization, Agriculture, Lands, Foreign Affairs and Culture ministries - among others, as well as Parliament and the Senate; and such engagement should go as far as proactively (and strategically) fielding pro-local-industry candidates for parliamentary, senate, cabinet and permanent secretary roles as well as influencing selection of working groups and committees. Be assured the MNCs have dedicated full-time teams that are actively engaging governments 24x7x365 (often dangling carrots - that somehow never materialize - to win undeserved concessions to the detriment of reticent local players). The same MNCs, having external loyalties, aggressively avoid contributing meaningfully to the local society's long-term or strategic well being, e.g. by paying much less relative taxes, thanks to tax havens and Transfer Pricing; suppressing local wages; exacerbating inflation via predatory pricing or exploitative business models; blocking skills transfer; committing immigration corruption to facilitate race-nepotism; and many other value-destroying activities (which are then whitewashed with "CSR" and PR). 2. Corruption is a cultural phenomena: Legislation or technical measures have minimal or greatly degraded impact in an entrenched culture of corruption; so pushing for excessive / draconian laws; adding layers of bureaucracy or introducing intrusive surveillance systems does not (and will never, by itself) solve corruption; it only pushes the vice to higher level of elitism where real unaccountable power is held (as is the case in western countries where corruption is largely a preserve of the super-elite); and that ultimately makes corruption far more difficult - if not totally impossible - to solve. In Kenya, we have a paradoxical advantage of being a young republic... things like corruption are not as entrenched as they are in the more mature republics (hence the low levels of sophistication). I think as a country, we have a better chance of solving the problem, if we look for new ways of thinking about the vice. At the heart of our problem is a system of extrinsic values (excessive reliance on external indicators of achievement e.g. paper certification or displays of material opulence). This needs to be replaced with a system that extols intrinsic values (instilling a deep love for country, vocation and society - and emphasizing that as the most worthy indicator of achievement). Its impossible to superficially declare, impose or proclaim intrinsic values - they have to be modeled in everyday scenarios at all leadership levels, so they can be willingly admired and emulated. This requires a deliberate and strategic highlighting, in collaboration with mass media networks, of strategic role model archetypes that embody the precise values or vocations that are beneficial to our society. Example: The people who do the most critical work in society (e.g. Doctors, Nurses, Educators, Job creators / Small business founders) would be prominently and routinely celebrated. Those employed would be paid well enough to have comparative financial dignity and accorded high levels of respect and admiration in society. Because these professions require intelligence, conscientiousness, hard work, technical mastery, problem solving, ethics and patience - among other desirable qualities, uplifting them will create an environment where society desires to emulate their habits. Now contrast with qualities that politicians need have if they want to get ahead... :-) Further, when the elites who set policy live in a different and disconnected, parallel world: how can they empathize with problems that don't affect them? Their only connection with the populace is the ballot - hence the recurrent cycles of high, but superficial, engagement with society only during voting time where promises of "a better tomorrow" abound. How about a better today, for a change? a. How many Kenyans (% of 45 Million) can fly to America, London, India or South Africa for medical treatment? Would striking Nurses be paid poorly if one condition for getting into public office, for all senior government officials, is that they exclusively use local public hospitals (or resign to access private / international ones)? Wouldn't the public health system improve immediately? This kind of thinking can be extrapolated to nearly all sectors. b. Is education really important? Then why doesn't the status of educators in society (and their pay) reflect their role as the trustees of our economic destiny? c. Does merit matter? If yes, how can we measure merit in a consistent and transparent way? Some countries have a map that links all training offered to real vocation prospects - in view of strategic contexts, economic trends & projections. d. Can we design a "national dream"? A systematized model for merit based achievement where sincere inputs (initiative, effort, innovation) get a high chance of desired outputs; and where dream-hacking like nepotism and cronyism is shunned? National dreams must be anchored on systems and institutions. Let's get engaged with Government in a more proactive and strategic way so that we can address the real issues and reduce the endless firefighting. Best Regards, Patrick A. M. Maina [Cross-Domain Innovator & Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations] Aadhaar Operator's Biometrics Stolen And Misused, UIDAI Documents Prove | | | | | | | | | | | Aadhaar Operator's Biometrics Stolen And Misused, UIDAI Documents Prove Tech-support emails accessed by HuffPost India prove that the biometric identity of an Aadhaar operator were sto... | | | Aadhaar leak biggest data breach of 2018, claims Avast Antivirus study | | | | | | | | | | | Aadhaar leak biggest data breach of 2018, claims Avast Antivirus study The report refers to the incident in which anonymous sellers on WhatsApp charged Rs 500 or less for access to Aa... | | |

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Critical Infrastructure Protection Bill
by Lawrence Dinga, CISSP 20 Feb '19

20 Feb '19

Dear Listers, Could someone kindly direct me where I can find the above Bill. Thanking you in advance Regards [image: Mailtrack] <https://mailtrack.io?utm_source=gmail&utm_medium=signature&utm_campaign=sig…> Sender notified by Mailtrack <https://mailtrack.io?utm_source=gmail&utm_medium=signature&utm_campaign=sig…> 02/20/19, 11:20:20 AM

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Fwd: [afnog] Expression of Interest on collaborative R&D projects with AFRINIC
by Barrack Otieno 19 Feb '19

19 Feb '19

---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Amreesh Phokeer <amreesh(a)afrinic.net> Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2019 11:14 Subject: [afnog] Expression of Interest on collaborative R&D projects with AFRINIC To: <afnog(a)afnog.org> Dear Colleagues, AFRINIC is pleased to invite you to express your interest in collaborating on its Research and Development projects. Please find more information on how you can collaborate with AFRINIC by reading this blog article. https://www.afrinic.net/blog/429-expression-of-interest-on-collaborative-pr… ……………………………………………………. Chers collègues, AFRINIC a le plaisir de vous inviter à exprimer votre intérêt pour collaborer à ses projets de recherche. Vous trouverez plus d’informations sur cette collaboration avec AFRINIC en lisant cet article de blog. https://www.afrinic.net/blog/429-expression-of-interest-on-collaborative-pr… Best regards, -- Amreesh D. Phokeer R&D Manager, AFRINIC t: +230 403 51 00 | f: +230 466 6758 | tt: @afrinic | w: www.afrinic.net facebook.com/afrinic | flickr.com/afrinic | youtube.com/afrinicmedia @amreesh Skype: amreesh.afrinic _______________________ _______________________________________________ afnog mailing list https://www.afnog.org/mailman/listinfo/afnog

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Fwd: [afnog] AIS 2019 - CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS - ENGLISH & FRENCH
by Barrack Otieno 19 Feb '19

19 Feb '19

Dear Members, This is for your information attention and action. Thank you Best Regards ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Nancy Dotse <nancydotse(a)gmail.com> Date: Mon, Feb 18, 2019 at 9:05 PM Subject: [afnog] AIS 2019 - CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS - ENGLISH & FRENCH To: afnog <afnog(a)afnog.org> Dear Colleagues, We invite all individuals wishing to make presentations during AIS’19, which will be held from 9 to 21 June 2019 in Kampala, Uganda to submit abstracts. The meeting website is now up at https://www.internetsummit.africa To enrich the discussions and share knowledge with the technical community at AIS’19, we are seeking presentations of a wide range of issues, broadly related to growth, access and development of Internet in Africa. Please read the event concept note at https://www.internetsummit.africa/images/AIS19_EN_concept_note.pdf We are specifically interested in presentations focusing on the following areas: • The Internet and Sustainable Development • Internet Governance • Business Practices and Technology • E-governance • Cyber Security • Core Internet Infrastructure • Access, Utility and Development • Internet Number Resources Management • Internet Measurements • Higher Education in the Age of Technology • Cloud Computing • Open Data/Big Data • Technology and Content Production • Relations between Mobile Operators and the Internet Community • Mobile Applications • IPv6 • Peering and Interconnection • DNS • RPKI • IXPs Your contribution can be in the form of a presentation during a session, a tutorial, or a live technical demonstration. Kindly read all information carefully before submitting your proposal. Speakers’ Guidelines • The maximum time allotted per presentation will not exceed 30 minutes. • The presenter(s) will be required to upload their final presentation in PDF format, no later than five (5) days prior to the presentation date. • Presenters are responsible for producing any handouts if required. There are usually approximately 200 delegates in each session. Presentations with marketing and/or commercial content will not be considered. How to submit a Presentation Proposal • Please register/login on the AIS-19 website at: https://www.internetsummit.africa/en/?option=com_afmeeting&view=register • Fill in the online form with the requested information. • In the Speakers section, provide your abstract, your biography and slides if available, then click submit and you are done! Important dates to note • Deadline for submitting an application - 5 April 2019 • Notification of acceptance of application - 12 April 20119 • Submission of presentation - 25 April 2019 …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Appel à Présentations pour AFRINIC-29 est Ouvert Chers collègues, Ceci est un appel à présentations pour la prochaine réunion de l’AIS’19 du 9 juin à 21 juin 2019. Visitez le site web de la réunion à https://www.internetsummit.africa. Nous recherchons des orateurs qui souhaitent partager leurs idées et savoir sur un large éventail de sujets principalement liés à l'accès et au développement de l’Internet en Afrique. Merci de lire la note de concept de la réunion à https://www.internetsummit.africa/images/AIS19_EN_concept_note.pdf Nous sommes plus spécialement intéressés par des présentations mettant l’accent sur : • L'Internet et le développement durable • La gouvernance de l’Internet • La technologie et le business • L’e-gouvernance • La cyber sécurité • L’Infrastructure Internet de base • L’accès, l'utilité et le développement • Gestion des ressources numériques d’internet • Mesures de l'internet • L'enseignement supérieur à l'ère de la technologie • Le Cloud Computing • L’Open Data / Big Data • La technologie et la création de contenu • Les relations entre les opérateurs mobiles et la communauté Internet • Les applications mobiles • L’IPv6 • Le Peering et l’interconnexion • Les DNS • RPKI • Les Points d’Echange Internet Votre contribution peut être sous la forme d’une présentation durant une session, un tutoriel ou une démonstration technique en live. Si vous souhaitez intégrer notre équipe d’intervenants lors de notre future réunion, il vous suffit de suivre ces instructions. Conditions à Remplir • Le temps maximal alloué par présentation ne doit pas dépasser 30 minutes. • Merci de soumettre votre présentation finale en format PDF, au plus tard cinq jours avant la date de votre présentation. • Les présentateurs sont responsables pour produire des documents de support en cas de besoin. Nous avons habituellement une audience constituée d'environ 200 délégués pour chaque session. Les présentations avec un contenu commercial ne sont pas autorisées. Veuillez soumettre votre proposition de présentation selon les étapes suivantes : • Inscrivez-vous sur le site d’AIS’19 : https://www.internetsummit.africa/en/?option=com_afmeeting&view=register • Remplissez le formulaire en ligne • Dans la section ‘Speakers’, soumettre un résumé de votre présentation, votre biographie et des diapositives si disponibles, et cliquer sur sauvegarder et c’est fait!. Dates Clés • Date limite pour soumettre une/des application/s le 5 avril 2019 • Notification d'acceptation de l'application le 12 avril 2019 • Soumission finale de la présentation le 25 avril 2019 _______________________________________________ Announce mailing list Announce(a)afrinic.net https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/announce _______________________________________________ afnog mailing list https://www.afnog.org/mailman/listinfo/afnog -- Barrack O. Otieno +254721325277 +254733206359 Skype: barrack.otieno PGP ID: 0x2611D86A

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New Zealand joins global efforts to tax online MNCs (the FANGs)
by Patrick A. M. Maina 19 Feb '19

19 Feb '19

"New Zealand that it plans to update its laws so it can tax revenue earned by multinational digital firms such as Google, Facebook and Amazon, extending a global effort to bring global tech giants into the tax net. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the cabinet had agreed to issue a discussion document about how to update the country's tax framework to ensure multinational companies pay their fair share. "Our current tax system is not fair in the way it treats individual tax payers, and how it treats multinationals," Ardern told reporters at her weekly post-cabinet news conference." New Zealand to target online firms like Google, Facebook and Amazon with digital tax | | | | | | | | | | | New Zealand to target online firms like Google, Facebook and Amazon with... CNBC New Zealand said on Monday that it plans to update its laws so it can tax revenue earned by multinational digita... | | |

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