Listers,

Below is the ICT Authority Quarterly newsletter.  You can reach me for any further information.



 
Message from the Chief Executive Officer
 
Looking at ICT in Government through one lens
 
Two years ago, when the ICT Authority was formed our vision was that of consolidation of ICT functions across government.
 
This was necessitated by the fact that the management, support and acquisition of ICT goods and services was often fragmented and uncoordinated leading to duplications, wastage and difficulties in sharing data across systems. This has also exposed Government Systems to poor software licensing regimes, inefficient support services and cyber threats.
 
To address this challenge we started by developing the Government Enterprise Architecture (GEA) and key domain standards in collaboration with Kenya Bureau of Standards. We have so far established a working framework with all public entities. Check standards here 

We are now following up with compliance, with support from relevant government organs and effective mid-October, 2015 the Authority will oversee the below:
 
  1. Guide the acquisition of ICT goods and services and implementation of ICT projects for all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA's).
  2. Sign Service Level Agreements with MDAs to govern the quality of services provided to them under the Frameworks agreements.
  3. Determine whether new requirements from MDA's can be met within an existing Framework Agreement and engage with new or existing vendors to meet new requirements.
  4. Work with MDA's in compliance of the guidelines and standards.
 
This is a welcome move to us and our stakeholders as we look into building a more receptive, robust and largescale ICT use in public service.
 
For more information on this do contact us at communications@ict.go.ke
 
Wishing you a productive last quarter of 2015.
 
Eng. Victor Kyalo,
Chief Executive Officer
ICT Authority
 

 
Establishment of Enterprise Kenya (EK)

We are looking to operationalize Enterprise Kenya,a  national accelerator, responsible for nurturing ICT innovations in the country. The initiative will provide entrepreneurs with needed support across the innovation value chain from idea to growth to scaling stages. The accelerator will be domiciled at ICT Authority.

The key areas of focus will be:
  • Scaling up ICT start - ups to commercialization. To this end, innovators will be introduced to experts in the ICT industry as well as potential customers.
  • Enterprise Kenya will invest financially to selected potential innovators.
  • Facilitate Export - Innovators will participate in trade related forums
  • Secure Investment advice - A professional private Equity Fund Manager will be contracted to oversee day to day administration of the National ICT Innovation Fund
A board sub-committee comprising of 4 members has been selected and approved . We anticipate to complete the following by December 2015. Appointment of ;
  • Acting Head of EK Secretariat 
  • Private Sector members (6 including chair) of EK 
  • Working Team Advisory Council
  • Council of Patrons 

This initiative is spearheaded by His Excellency The President of the Republic of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, who pledged KES 1 billion as seed fund to jump start Enterprise Kenya during the Kenya ICT Innovation held on 3rd and 4th March 2015. Additional funds will be from the private sector. Investors will benefit from acquiring equity in the firms under Enterprise Kenya.
 
Explore Kenya's history through accessing images and video online
 
An online portal will be made available from December 2015 to allow citizens to view and purchase copies of Kenya historical  images. The team has so far scanned and indexed over 40,000 images out of a collection of nearly 1 million images and documents from the Kenya News Agency archive. The ICT Authority is implementing the digitization of the images. Read more
 
View photos here 
 
More Government agencies now ready to share their data publicly
 
31 government agencies out of a total of 262 have shared their data on the Kenya Open Data platform.
The Kenya Open Data Initiative launched their new portal in July 2015, and has seen the number of datasets grow to 692 from 680 in just a few months.
In addition, Kenya Open Data has launched a budget app http://budget.opendata.go.ke/ that makes it easy for citizens, officials and other stakeholders to interact with budget data and enhance engagement in transparency in financial planning at the National Level.
To increase data surfacing, KODI has introduced the Open Data Fellows program that embeds eight fellows in three government ministries (Agricultural Food and Fisheries Authority - AFFA, The Auditor General's Office (KENAO), National Transport and Safety Authority - NTSA) and Kiambu County Government.
In July, the portal was awarded as one of the top 3 open data portals worldwide in award scheme sponsored by Bloomberg and Open Data Institute.
 
View new open data portal https://www.opendata.go.ke/ 
 
Development of GoK ICT Standards complete

Government ICT standards and guidelines have been developed and completed. Key thematic areas  that have been considered for standards include:
  1. Infrastructure
  2. Information security
  3. Application systems
  4. Information Management
  5. ICT Human Resource Management
  6. IT Governance
A circular has been issued to ministries, Departments and Agencies(MDA's) to comply with the standards.

A third stakeholder workshop is being organized for the heads of ICT in ministries and agencies to sensitize them on the standards compliance and how to develop their own Enterprise Architectures in line with the Government Enterprise Architecture (GEA)
 
Further deliberations on the draft Critical Infrastructure Bill
 
The draft Critical Infrastructure Bill is expected to be presented to parliament in November 2015 for further deliberations before it is passed to law.  Read more on the Critical Infrastructure Bill here

Renew your driving licence online 

You can now renew your driving license,book your driving test and download your interim driving license online. This service has been made possible by the National Transport and Safety Authority in conjunction with ICT Authority through the eCitizen self service portal that is user friendly. View portal here
 
County ICT Roadmaps completed and key findings to success Released
 
Strategic partnerships are critical to County Governments ICT transformation and improved service delivery. This is according to the latest findings from the County ICT Transformation project that is spearheaded by the ICT Authority to improve counties efficiency and effectiveness in public service delivery. Read more
 
 
The ICT industry is dynamic and rapidly evolves. To keep up with the changes in technology, regulatory practices, policy, changing business models and other industry issues, various research studies are carried out from time to time. Kindly click the link here to view some of the research studies.



Kenya engineering students benefit from ICT capacity building program
10 beneficiaries of Huawei Seeds for the Future Internship program recently attended a 2-week further training at Huawei headquarters in Shenzhen, China. This was the second batch after 9 students attended the training last year. Read more

Fibre optic cable linking Kenya and South Sudan Commences
Kenya and South Sudan will be connected to high speed fibre optic cable within the next 2 years thus enhancing communication and inter- border trade. Read more

Implementation of Digital Literacy Program in Primary schools
25 companies submitted their Expression of Interest proposals for the provision of goods and related services for the implementation of the Digital Literacy Programme in public primary schools in Kenya. Read more

The evaluation of the 25 companies is complete. We expect shortlisted candidates to be issued with Request for Proposal (RFP) and thereafter, an evaluation will be done to determine the winner of the tender.
 

5th CIO100 Annual Symposium and Awards 2015 (5th - 6th November 2015)
ICT Authority is a partner in this year's CIO100 Symposium and award ceremony.It is a celebration of 100 organizations (and the people within them) that are using information technology in innovative ways to deliver business value, whether by creating competitive advantage, optimizing business processes, enabling growth or improving relationships with customers. 

Kenya News Agency web portal launch( 5th December 2015)
The Kenya News Agency will be launching an eCommerce web  portal that will provide Kenyans with a platform to access digitized historical content such as photos, videos, news stories and features at a click of a button.

NASSCOM India Leadership Forum 2016 ( 10th - 12th February 2016)
Each year,the ICT Authority organizes a benchmarking tour to India for Kenya ICT companies. The delegates also get to attend the NASSCOM India Leadership Forum. The forum creates opportunities, collaborations and disseminates knowledge to thought leaders.The 2016 edition  is now open for registration. Read more
For a chance to participate,email Lucy Mbuvi at lmbuvi@ict.go.ke

 
Give us your feedback:
 
Copyright © 2014. All Rights Reserved.



--
Phyllis Nyambura
Communication Writer
The ICT Authority

Telposta Towers, 12th Floor, Kenyatta Ave
P.O. Box 27150 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya
t: + 254-020-2211960/62 | m: + 254 (0) 789396433 | e: pnyambura@ict.go.ke
Email: info@ict.go.ke or communications@ict.go.ke

Visit: www.icta.go.ke
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ICT Authority

Telposta Towers 12th Floor,  Kenyatta Ave

PO Box 27150 - 00100  Nairobi Kenya

Tel: +254 20 2211960

www.icta.go.ke