Emerging Markets Communications (EMC) is a premier provider of global satellite communications. Utilizing a high quality, fully managed network, EMC offers private end-to-end satellite solutions in more than 140 countries. EMC specializes in meeting the diverse communications needs of its customers, which includes Oil&Gas, Telecommunications providers, Financial Institutions, several Fortune 500 companies and Large Intergovernmental organizations including the United Nations. A United States-based company with headquarters in Florida, EMC is powered by its network of strategically located, wholly-owned support centers (in Argentina, Germany, Kazakhstan, Russia, the United Kingdom, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Kenya and Senegal). In addition, EMC operates two wholly-owned teleport facilities in Europe, which are equipped with 11 to 32 meter C, Ku, L, and X-band antennas, as well as 120,000 square feet of highly secure disaster recovery and business continuity infrastructure. The Quality Management System of Emerging Markets Communications is ISO 9001-2000 certified. For more information on EMC, please visit our website:www.emc-corp.net.
The material in this section is based on sixty-five qualitative semi-structured interviews conducted from 2004-2006 in Kenya. Additional interviews were conducted in Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. I also conducted participant observation, and sat in on dozens of meetings of the organizations KIF and KICTAnet as well as several national and transnational conferences on ICT. I conducted interviews in Kenya with former members of parliament, high ranking government officials, academics, private sector participants, and civil society advocates. I take responsibility for all content and interpretations. No individual named below can be held responsible for any insights or conclusions made in this article. All errors are my own. Several interviewees requested anonymity. Nonetheless, the sample below of those who allowed their names to be used gives a sense of the scope and depth of the interviews conducted. Several individuals deserve special thanks, including Juma Okech, the Secretary of E-Government, Bitange Ndemo, the Permanent Secretary for Information and Communications, Marcel Werner, the Secretary of the Kenya Information and Communications Technology Federation, Alice Munyua, the Kenyan representative of APC, and CCK Board Member, Amos Opiyo of the Ministry of Planning, Dr. Eric Aligula of the Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis, Henry Belsoi of Telkom Kenya, Jonathan Campaigne, Director of Pride Africa, Kevit Desai, the President of Kenya IEEE, Mike Eldon, CEO of Symphony Software, James Gachui, Founder of Wananchi Online, Dr. Kathryn Getau, Computer Science Faculty of the University of Nairobi, Dr. Tim Waema, Computer Science faculty of the University of Nairobi, Wallace Gichoho of Call Center Africa, Mirjana Ilic of UNESCO, Michael Katundu, Communications Commission of Kenya, Joseph Kiplagat, Computer Science Faculty, Moi University, Brian Longwe of AFRISPA, Charles Nduati of Kenyatta University, Dr. Florence Etta, formerly of IDRC, Edith Adera of IDRC, as well as various staff members, directors and participants from the Computer Society of Kenya, KICTAnet, the Directorate of E-Government, the National Communications Secretariat, Kenya Pipeline Company, and many other organizations.