Ali, +1, an excellent post, as usual :)

An additional point to consider, in respect of both inter-ministry
cooperation, and blockchain technology is a point I raised earlier on
this list regarding elections - which should put an end, once and for
all, to issues of 'rigging' - I refer to:

https://followmyvote.com/blockchain-voting-the-end-to-end-process/

which explains the open-source voting system which relies on
blockchain to ensure the integrity of the electoral process.

Cheers,
Tony





On 22/06/2016, Ali Hussein via kictanet <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

Walu and all

My contribution:-

1. Bandwidth capacity increased from 847k Mbps to 1.5m Mbps yet the

utilization ratio decreased from 58.7% to 55.1%. It would have been

interesting to understand what occasioned the drop in utilization? Lessons

learnt? Pricing? Accessibility?

2. Broadband subscriptions increased from 4.2 million to 7.1m. This is

commendable. A more detailed penetration review by county would be very

helpful. It would help some of the counties understand why they are lagging

behind in the adoption of ICTs. Even if this is too detailed for the Policy

Document a link to a more detailed study would be very helpful. This could

then be presented to Governors in a sort of report probably named:-

'The State of ICTs in the Counties'

3. The performance or utilization of the National Optic Fibre Backbone

(NOFBI) must be brought into review. According to the ICT Authority

website:-

The ICT Authority is implementing Phase 11 of the National Fibre Optic

cable. The construction begun in September 2014 and is expected to be

complete by June 2016. The second phase will build 1,600KM of fiber linking

all the 47 county headquarters and an additional 500KM dedicated for

military use. This is in addition to the existing 4,300KM of NOFBI I

completed in 2009. NOFBI phase1passes 58 towns in 35 counties

To date:

1200Km out of the 1600KM civil works are completed.

900Km of fibre has been laid in the backbone section.

The backbone section is now complete and fibre installed in all the 47

counties (Kajiado County fibre in NOFBI I was damaged by road construction)

and capacity to connect Kajiado County HQ will be sourced from other

operators whose fibre is along the power line to Namanga

Metropolitan fibre civil works has been completed in 35 of 47 counties.

NOFBI Phase 1 is already in use in the national government, Telkom,

Safaricom, Jamii Telecom and KENET utilizing more than 3,000KM of the cable.

The operations and maintenance of NOFBI Phase 1 is being handled by Telkom.

Read more:-

http://www.icta.go.ke/national-optic-fibre-backbone-nofbi/

This is absolutely commendable. We must now move to the next stage of

critical evaluation of this Critical Infrastructure.

a) What are the learnings?

b) What could we have done better?

c) What are the bottlenecks to last mile connectivity?

d) Why haven't our connectivity costs reduced considering that most of the

telcos are using this backbone which is a national resource?

We are stepping on the shoulders of giants who envisioned this resource for

the country. We must make absolutely sure that we squeeze every ounce of the

advantage it has given us.

e) Why are we not in the top 50 global internet penetration rankings? Make

no mistake about it. Our competition is not Africa. It is global.

http://www.internetworldstats.com/top25.htm

4. A review of the ICT Start-up ecosystem is totally lacking in this policy

document. It is imperative that we do a deep dive of this ecosystem and

ensure that private and public/government efforts are aligned. Totally. It

is nonsensical to think that this sector will become world class without

private, public and government working in tandem. Some of the areas to look

into:-

a) Capacity building for entrepreneurs

b) A regulatory environment that is super conducive to the ecosystem while

protecting the public good.

c) Access to markets outside the country

d) Access to cheap capital.

5. The Universal Service Access Fund is a commendable initiative but too

often there hasn't been much information on the impact the critical resource

is having. My suggestion would be to have an interactive real time map

showing its impact and why certain regions are chosen to receive its largess

and not others. This should be linked with Infrastructure sharing and last

mile strategies to provide connectivity from the NOFBI.

6. WayLeaves. There has to be robust engagement with counties to ensure that

ISPs and Telcos are not held to ransom by short term county revenue hunting

at the expense of spreading ubiquitous broadband connectivity. This is so

critical that a clear strategy paper needs to be put together by all

stakeholders to guarantee its implementation.

7. What are the roadblocks that hinder us from achieving universal broadband

connectivity?

8. Mobile Money and the new reality of Blockchain Technology. Let's not beat

about the bush here. The very leadership position that has been achieved by

our adaption of Mobile Money is at risk by burying our heads in the sand

when it comes to Blockchain Technology. Kenya, and Africa are again at risk

of being left behind. No other than the Governor of the Central Bank is on

record saying that we shall wait and see what the west does before jumping

in. I respect the man alot but I think engagement with the nascent Fintech

space in Nairobi together with the ICT Ministry is long overdue. We MUST

chart our own path - And it needs to be a pioneering path not a follower

path. We need a clear policy statement from the ICT Ministry on this.

Time for pussyfooting around is over.

9.  Science, Technology and Innovation. The importance of this cannot be

gainsaid.  Beyond the policy statements the Ministry needs to articulate

achievements in this area over the last 10 years, lessons learnt and clear

way forward.

The mash up (no pun intended) of higher learning institutions, hubs,

incubators, accelerators and businesses need to be prioritized to achieve

true breakthroughs.

10. Gaming and application development. How can we replicate the success of

such local content as Papa Shimanyula, Mother in Law etc online. What

happened to once popular Ma3Racer, which at its height was downloaded in 200

countries. What are the lessons learnt?

11. Postal and Courier Services. What needs to be done to enthuse a more

vibrant and profitable postal service? The CS has just appointed a new board

to this beleaguered giant. He needs all our support to ensure its success.

At the same time the government needs to be absolutely ruthless in its

mandate of ensuring management deliver on its promises.

New comers in this space also require policy support as the postal service

cannot by itself achieve the requirements of an economy that is increasingly

digital.

Great move on enumerating where we are on the establishment of a National

Addressing System and the recent launch of mPost. How can the government

collaborate with private sector initiatives like OkHi? How can we avoid

duplication?

12. Consumer Protection. The Consumer Protection Act of 2012 gives us a good

foundation. What can the ICT Ministry and stakeholders in the sector

contribute to enhance this act in this new digital dispensation?

13. Cyber Security. Too often governments the world over use this blanket

term to spy and infringe on the rights of citizens. This is a delicate

balancing act which requires all players to work with utmost good faith in

ensuring that our digital resources are safe from those who would want to

take them away from us.

Did I miss the part on Privacy Protection in this policy document?

14. Human Resource Development and Training. The policy document mentions

the Establishment of ICT Centers of Excellence. I propose the government

goes one step further and Establish The Kenya Institutes of Technology

fashioned around the Indian Institutes of Technology.

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are autonomous public institutes

of higher education, located in India. They are governed by the Institutes

of Technology Act, 1961 which has declared them as institutions of national

importance and lays down their powers, duties, and framework for governance

etc.

15. Knowledge Economy. Great improvement to the policy document here.

Commendable to actually spell out the difference facets of this sector. My

only disappointment here is that the document mentions eServices like health

and agriculture but conspicuously misses out Finance? I'm curious why?

Seeing as this is the one sector that we actually stand to have the best

competitive advantage due to the uptake of mobile money in this country.

This is an obvious glaring oversight.

16. New Innovations and services in ICT. Great section. Very bold. Now to

its implementation.

17.  eGoverment. It cannot be gainsaid the strides this country has made in

this area. Kudos to all who have played a role in it. We now must move to

the next level and beat Estonia, which is the leading digital government in

the world.

18. Policy, legal and regulatory framework. Here, a lot of work needs to be

done. Often times ministries and government departments work at

cross-purposes and seem at odds with each other. Can the ICT Ministry

champion a Common Purpose Task Force with the help of the AG's office to

smooth over diverse views and vested interests? ICT is the thread that molds

the nation and the Ministry MUST take its rightful place in the scheme of

things. For example:-

Before the Film classification board makes comments on OTT they could

consult the ICT Ministry or the Central Bank makes comments on Blockchains

they could do the same?

We appreciate the role regulators play in an economy. What we would like to

see is for them to be equipped for Regulation in the 22nd Century as opposed

to using regulation tools fit for the era of The Robber Barons (early 1900s)

or that of Alexander Graham Bell (mid 1800s).

Bottom line? A well thought out Policy document that requires a few tweaks

and more importantly -  EXECUTION.

Ali Hussein

Principal

Hussein & Associates

+254 0713 601113 / 0770906375

Twitter: @AliHKassim

Skype: abu-jomo

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

"Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what

no one else has thought".  ~ Albert Szent-Györgyi

Sent from my iPad

On 20 Jun 2016, at 3:25 PM, Walubengo J via kictanet

<kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

Dear Listers,

The Ministry of ICT (PS V. Kyalo) has asked KICTAnet to ran a two week

moderated discussion on the Draft ICT Policy 2016, that will replace the

current 2006 ICT Policy.

Please download and go through in preparation of the online discussions

scheduled to kick-off this wednesday 22nd June 2016.

You views will be consolidated and later on you will be invited to

validated the same at a face-to-face session to be confirmed at a venue

and date to be confirmed later.

Kazi kwenyu. Do not say you were not consulted :-)

Best rgds.

walu.

----

Dear All,

The Draft ICT Policy 2016 has been posted in the MoICT website for

stakeholders comments.  Please use the link below to access the document.

http://www.information.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Draft-National-ICT-Policy-20June2016.pdf

Kind regards,

Jane W. Migwi

Administrative Secretary

National Communications Secretariat

P.O. Box 10756-00100, NBI

Tel: +254-20-2719953 / +254-20-2713429

Fax: +254-20-2716515

Cell:  0721 850 561

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