Dear Listerners ,
 
In response to walu's mail earlier............
 
3 things I have learnt about content which I hope can contribute to this discussion. Apologies for delay tho
 
There are three types of content that have emerged in recent times ( could be more...)
 
  1. Dead on delivery - this would in my opinion cover areas such as traditional Radio and TV and during our school days - lectures on BB, as you watch and listen the information 'disappears' unless of course you record it (or get hardcopy notes), which a very small percentage does.
  2. Delivered and recorded - the same could apply but on the websites now there would be podcasts of the shows or video footage etc. this is where Internet plays a key role?  as it is the medium for storage and delivery, and retrieval on demand.
  3. pre-Prepared and delivered on demand - this is where there is no live stream or airing of the same and can be a little specific. For example here you could get specific content such as educational materials that are available on search engines or specific websites such as ( re:education again) crocodile clips, plato, business-in-a-box etc. You could also get the porn stuff and other xxx stuff here...

All three areas either need governance or regulatory focus ( which should be in the pipeline in some areas)

I think this is where the IG issues discussions need to also concentrate on apologies if you already have. My observation re this discussion is that there are two areas - inputs and outputs 
 
at inputs - into the medium called internet- on outputs - when you download, watch or listen online.
 
Should governance focus on source ie input? Put in mechanisms to trace and stop, or also in the blocking for the output part? when dealing with areas that are XXX?
 
Lastly, I think we need to widen our discussion beyond our culture, when I browse the internet on a search engine I am looking for specific information to help my current work task, or understand a medicine I am using or read up on an area of interest or about my fave artist/musician...not on a foreign for that matter local culture! Specific need puts me on the internet, returned value takes me back there again and again.....
 
The website that better have an attractive display of our culture and utamaduni and so on,is the one that is selling Kenya out there to attract tourism both local and international....
 
Having said this I am not against local content at all- I think that content is king, but the user is queen, so we have to be providing interesting enough material to interest high internet clickers anywhere in the world.....and also encourage our own growing internet users to build habit of usage, share their own knowhow and knowledge, which follows a cycle not to dissimilar to what I descibe above as my own personal use patterns.
 
As a wrap, many a time when we talk of local content here where we work ( we are in the business of content) we now clearly differentiate two areas:
  1. Does local mean made by us ourselves?
  2. OR does is mean localized ie utilizable by us here?
Food for thought I hope
 
Great weekend..
 
Fatma

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 
On 8/23/08, Gakuru, Alex <alexgakuru.lists@gmail.com> wrote:
Walu, et. al.

What would your son say of traditional music of Kenya here:
<http://www.bluegecko.org/kenya/soundclips.htm>

New media, especially the internet, also offers great potential to
preserve and promote our cultures, heritage and music.

Q1. Did last year's January's events create a cultural paralysis where
*anything* on the subject is anti-grand coalition spirit thus hence
must be subdued?

Q2. Is healing better achieved by being proud of and talking about
their cultures or being ashamed and keeping quiet?

Q3. If by silence, will the resultant void leave it to foreigners to
interpret our cultures for us and all future generations?

Q4. How can the internet, and new media, better preserve and promote
Kenyan cultures - a stated ICT Policy commitment?

Q5. What is the likelihood of, for example,
http://translate.google.com/translate_t in future being the only way
to know what another Kenyan is trying to tell me?

Through these provoking questions I hope to have your on-or-off-list
views and very interested the "tribaless" views.

peace!

Mwanafunzi wenu

Alex

On Fri, Aug 22, 2008 at 3:56 PM, John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Mwende,
>
> My contribution on content is borrowed from the 'real-world' situation with TV/Radio content as practiced in the developed economies.  Basically, all debatable content such as that of pornographic nature should be rated and access controlled.
>
> I truly live in fear for my son, who will be a teenager in another six years when pornography will be streaming in - as is already happening- through FM Radio, TV, Internet, 3G Mobile Phone, iPods, Matatus, etc. Only that time, it is likely to be cheaper, faster and virtually realistic.  A nation grown on a diet of pornography produces future pedophiles that come to feast on the next generation - as is common in West and emerging in our (urban?) society.
>
> My other contribution is on eLearning. eLearning has matured significantly over the last few years and is now a proven pedagogical methodology that is being exploited to the maximum by the Northern countries.  It is really upto us in Kenya, to measure up and became the eLearning Center for this region. Imagine, UoN,  Strathmore or KCCT floating their courses online and thereby reaching that Rwandese who always dreamt of getting a Kenyan Education but could not afford it due to overhead costs for meals, accomodation, transport, etc...
>
> walu.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --- On Fri, 8/22/08, mwende njiraini <mwende.njiraini@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> From: mwende njiraini <mwende.njiraini@gmail.com>
>> Subject: [kictanet] Day 10 of 10:-IGF Discussion, Socio-Cultural Issues
>> To: jwalu@yahoo.com
>> Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>> Date: Friday, August 22, 2008, 9:36 AM
>> Morning!
>>
>>
>>
>> Today we enter our last day of discussion on Socio-cultural
>> issues.
>>
>>
>>
>> To begin with, we discuss issues relating to content
>> control and freedom of
>> expression.  The internet governance discussions on content
>> focus on the
>> need to control three groups of content.  Firstly, content
>> where a global
>> consensus is in place including child pornography and
>> terrorism.  Secondly,
>> content that might be sensitive to particular countries,
>> regions or ethnic
>> groups due to their religious and cultural values. Thirdly,
>> politically and
>> ideologically sensitive content. There already exist
>> several initiatives
>> that limit the potential misuse of the internet.  Are there
>> such initiatives
>> in Africa? How can we enhance national legislation to
>> include a content
>> policy that would guarantee the protection of human rights,
>> specifically
>> freedom of expression and also remove the ambiguous role of
>> ISPs, law
>> enforcement agencies and other players?
>>
>>
>>
>> Secondly, we discuss issues relating to the delivery of
>> education services
>> over the internet (e-learning).  Many students from
>> developing countries are
>> today opting for online education to overcome the challenge
>> of prohibitive
>> costs associated with foreign education.  Increased
>> cross-border education
>> has brought about international governance issues in
>> relation to
>> accreditation of institutions, recognition of qualification
>> and quality
>> assurance.  Is there an existing national policy on online
>> education?  What
>> measures need to be put in place to assist our local
>> universities develop
>> e-learning programmes in order to protect our
>> culture/traditions implicitly
>> transmitted through our local institutions as well as
>> prevent capital
>> flight?
>>
>>
>>
>> References:
>>
>> 1.      Kurbalija, J. and Gelbstein, E. (2005) Internet
>> governance:  Issues,
>> Actors and Divides
>>
>>
>>
>> Again, you are encouraged to contribute to previous
>> discussion threads.
>>
>>
>>
>> Kind regards
>>
>> Mwende
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Disclaimer: These comments are the author's own
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>
>
>
>
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