Evans

Totally agree. As the saying goes GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out).

The issue of IEBC and how they have handled the vote counting is in  my opinion a shame. I have heard stories and rumors of how servers have crashed, bandwidth slow etc.

And before we blame other government agencies who are ostensibly supposed to be there to help with different aspects of the IEBC operations we need to remember that IEBC stands for Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (emphasis on Independent). If a returning officer finds himself without a vehicle do we blame the Ministry of Transport?

My point is that the Leadership of the IEBC has failed miserably in this arguably the most important election. We should be told exactly what the problem is and I do hope that this group will do a thorough post mortem of what happened, what were the preparations, who were the vendors, systems etc.

Let's not blame technology when we were unable to harness its power in the simplest way possible. Vote counting doesn't require rocket science.

By the way I can bet you my next pay check that the main proponents of this election already know who has won the election by now if their Strategists are worth any salt.

I think one of the greatest issues that we face in this country is the move from theory to practice. Most of us talk about Big Data, Business Intelligence etc but how many of us actually practice it? It is time that we really embrace the power of Technology in the right way.


Ali Hussein

CEO, 3mice interactive media ltd

Partner, Telemedia Africa Ltd

 

Tel: +254713601113

Twitter: @AliHKassim

Skype: abu-jomo

LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim

Blog: www.alyhussein.com


On Wed, Mar 6, 2013 at 9:42 AM, Evans Ikua <ikua.evans@gmail.com> wrote:
Edith, I beg to differ. Its not ICT that has failed here. Its the processes. Just throwing some expensive servers and plenty of bandwidth at a problem will not solve it. The top leadership has to fully understand their organization's ICT strategy. They have to internalize the opportunities that technology brings to the table, as well as the inherent risks that come with it. This cannot be left to techies, however good they may be. The reason being that if the organization that you lead fails (and the reason was technology), its you who is answerable, not the techies. This is the spirit of IT Governance.

It would be interesting to know if the IEBC commissioners fully understand the risks of the technologies that they are relying on.
Let us not blame the technology.

Evans

On Wed, Mar 6, 2013 at 8:55 AM, Edith Adera <eadera@idrc.ca> wrote:
Listers,

It is a shame that for the first time in Kenya's history when IT is given a chance to bring credibility and efficiency in the electoral process, ICT has failed SPECTACULARLY!

what went wrong?

Edith
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--
----------------------------------------------------
Kind Regards,
Evans Ikua,
lanetconsulting.com,
lpi-eastafrica.org,
ict-innovation.fossfa.net,
Skype: @ikuae
Cell: +254-722-955831

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