John,

You forget that mobile focuses on delivery. No real computing happens on mobile. Facebook runs massive data centers to compliment it's mobile offering. So does Google, to complement android. M-Pesa had to get capacity in rack space. Mobile is but a delivery tool. The argument that we should focus on mobile is akin to saying that we should scrap universities (knowledge 'producers') and focus on printing presses, because people read books. 

Most mobile applications are hollow at best without infrastructure. 

Think about it all the leaders in mobile Instagram, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Safaricom have massive compute capacity (Instagram leases from amazon). We on the other hand only want to focus on delivery. 


Sent from my mobile device, excuse brevity

On 22 Mar 2014, at 13:22, Dennis Kioko <dmbuvi@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Kieti,
How comes none of these thousands of software developers are supplying even a single solution to government. How comes government services are barely available to the millions of Kenyans via mobile? 

See our drift, government should be removing barriers and improving service delivery for all. 

Also, what was the role of governments in the likes of Angry Birds, King (Candy Crush Saga) and Facebook, beyond providing an enabling environment - which we don't do here. 

On Saturday, 22 March 2014, John Kieti <jkieti@gmail.com> wrote:
Phares, Ngigi, Conrad

Your focus and preference for server side and enterprise desktop mode solutions is very much appreciated.

However the thousands of local software developers getting into the system will not fit into just that pie of the value chain you are in for now. More so, 30m+ mobile subscribers is no small market place for software entrepreneurs. And nowadays the computer does not have to be on your desk or lap, in fact most computers among Kenyans are mobile phones. It is not bad for policy to at least direct the youth towards the opportunity in mobile.

You'll recall that its a global market place and some of the kids we deride for writing the so called "mVitus" are earning thee figure dollar checks monthly from downloads and ads in india, brazil etc. They just wont shout that aloud. More importantly though M-Pesa is seven years old. Many mobile solutions targeting local/regional problems will not mature as soon as we impatiently expect. We're only 3-4 years into the "mobile craze" and  most serious attempts are not over 3 years old. There's no short cuts to developing competitive advantages - even in mobile, give it time. If you are not convinced yet, try the ringtone market and premium SMS services. Its a whole big economy out there, with big money changing hands, and its all mobile!

That said, what would you rather the CS did about local enterprise desktop based solutions and server side services?

Have a nice weekend.


On Sat, Mar 22, 2014 at 12:47 PM, Rad! <conradakunga@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm mystified as well at this obsession with mobile apps.

Not that we should not to them, but there is so much opportunity in other sectors - infrastructure, cloud computing, enterprise applications, content management that Kenya can not only benefit from, but we can be competitive globally.

Looks like mobile apps will be this regime's Pashas & BPOs


On Sat, Mar 22, 2014 at 12:14 PM, Phares Kariuki <pkariuki@gmail.com> wrote:
A fairly narrow view of the technology sector. It's not all mobile. 

Sent from my mobile device, excuse brevity

On 22 Mar 2014, at 04:56, Grace Githaiga <ggithaiga@hotmail.com> wrote:

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