Looking at recent discussions on the list on Konza, one can forget how far the concept has come, and evolved *Kenya build Sh67bn digital city * Written by Kui Kinyanjui 31-August-2007: The governments of Kenya and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have entered into a Sh67 billion partnership to establish East Africa’s first digital city. Athi River town on the outskirts of Nairobi has been earmarked for the project that will be modelled on the successes of Dubai Internet City. The initiative is expected to create new jobs as major corporations set up base and use local resources to conduct their business. Besides, proponents of the project say it will position the country as a regional base for manufacture and development of ICT products. “Kenya has seen an increasing number of foreign ICT companies set up offices in Nairobi that they intend to use as entry points to the regional market,” Dr Bitange Ndemo, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, said. The partnership for the project was formed at the request of the UAE government and has seen the two governments draft a memorandum of understanding that is currently before the Attorney-General. Two Middle Eastern companies have expressed interest in undertaking the project. “There is significant demand. Companies have already approached us looking for incentives or joint partnership opportunities to start operations in Athi River,” said Dr Ndemo. In the last few years, several companies have opened regional bases in the country, including Microsoft, Nokia, HP, Ericcson and Cisco, all of whom have all cited the region’s relevance as the biggest emerging market for ICT products . Athi River —located just 50 kilometres from Nairobi City Centre — is currently a hub for several industries, including cement firms, manufacturing concerns and is home to an export processing zone (EPZ). It’s conversion into a fully fledged ICT city could transform the dusty town into the main industrial base of the country. However, the proposed digital city will face challenges that reflect the wider needs of the country as it increasingly relies on the ICT industry to drive economic growth, which according to a recent African Development Bank report, is expected to reach its highest levels in 20 years driven by the new sector. Those challenges include an acute shortage of trained IT workers and inadequate infrastructure. In response to that need and the development of other ICT driven industries such as the business process outsourcing sector, the government plans to heavily invest in beefing up the country’s infrastructure to increase access to internet-related services. It also aims to increase of technology content in the school curriculum and is currently offering subsidized bandwith to universities to encourage e-learning. Source - http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=483232&page=6 -- with Regards: blog.denniskioko.com <http://www.denniskioko.com/>