Paul for this software certification program .... how much will be spent ? instead of creating a Kenyan cert that will have no global value or that will not make sense to any international employer why dont you just give a 50% coupon to enable Kenyans to sit their linux, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP Certifications ? or even better, you can refund 80% when a Kenyan techie passes a cert exam {I learnt that people were complaining about cost of international certs} this is where am coming from - Kenyan Drs usually have to resit exams etc etc to practice in other countries ... IT is a good area because certs are global (CCIE is known worldwide) ... why cant we stick to what works Again ... maybe other software outsourcing operators have been asked for certs ... but am sure they were asking for the globally recognized ones Can we just cancel this one ? its too much work for nothing ... {a Kenyan Cert in software development} ... and if you go ahead {which is most likely the case} .. please make it optional ? my two cents On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 11:26 AM, Paul Kukubo <pkukubo@ict.go.ke> wrote:
Thank you for your questions. many have written to me directly to seek clarification.
I have received a flurry of questions on the status report and I will respond to those that are of a recurring nature directly on this list while pointing listers to the website www.ict.go.ke for more information and updates on aspect of the projects.
* *
*Objective of the assignment*
The objective of this assignment is to recruit a leading international academic institution or standards body to develop and implement an internationally recognized and sustainable software developer certification program (Certification Program) for Kenya. The Certification Program will have multiple components, including content and processes for local software developers to prepare, register and be certified; an Internet enabled credentialing program; and an initial pilot testing, evaluation and fine tuning of the Certification Program. The program should be underpinned by a sustainable business model.**
* Scope of services*
i. *Inception Report and Business Plan:* Provide an Inception Report that contains a description of start-up activities, the detailed work plan, methodologies, and an estimate of the time allocation for involved personnel from both the Government of Kenya and the organization’s team. In addition, to provide a business plan that spells out the resources to be deployed and the results proposed to be achieved. The business plan should also propose long term, sustainable business model options for the Certification Program.
ii. *Content Development:* Develop appropriate content for certification in close collaboration with relevant partners; including leading international and local IT companies, academic institutions, governments, international standards bodies and industry/trade associations. The developed content should have their explicit support in terms of relevance and quality, be based on the latest technologies and extensible to address the major languages (C, C++, Java), operating systems, language combinations, and software development tools and environments.
iii. *Certification Process Development: *Develop an internationally recognized, authentic, secure and valid process for software developer certification. This process should be developed in consultation with leading IT companies and academic institutions as well as have the buy-in of at least two industry associations of established countries in the area of BPO, and two countries aspiring to establish themselves in this domain. Countries should be chosen to be representative of at least three regions out of the following: Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, East Asia and other parts of Sub Saharan Africa. In addition, the processes should be based on proven experiences in similar certification programs. The testing process should be representative of real-life, professional software development. The examinations should also be refreshed annually; and extendable to address the full software development life cycle (including post-deployment maintenance) and modern issues (including the development of secure software systems). The examination must be developed using recognized techniques for validation and verification of quality. Linkages may be established with one or more organizations with leading testing and certification mechanisms to ensure that the certification will be conducted in a secure and proctored setting.
iv. *Provision of Internet-Enabled Credentialing Program:*Provide a web-enabled credentialing program, including functions for online registration, preparation and certification.
v. *Piloting:* To pilot the Certification Program with an initial batch of at least 50 enrollees, comprising of local software developers who should be benchmarked against a control group.
vi. *Evaluation Reports:* Conduct an evaluation of the pilot to prepare a detailed report to recommend strategies and action plans for improving the Certification Program. An evaluation should also be conducted on gaps and weaknesses in software development skills, so as to recommend changes in curriculum and pedagogy required as part of broader education reforms in Kenya.
vii. *Program Refinement and Local Capacity Building:* Refine the Certification Program based on the agreed recommendations of the Evaluation Report, and develop capacity within the country to conduct the assessments for certification.
viii. *‘Live’ Rollout:* Commence ‘live’ rollout of the Certification Program with assessment of certification by local institutions, with the target of testing at least 200 local software developers. In addition, to obtain the commitment of leading companies operating globally and locally to use the results as a necessary pre-requisite for their hiring decisions.
ix. *Mass Rollout and Marketing, and Business Model Implementation: *Implement mass rollout and marketing campaign for the Certification Program across Kenya, with a target to test at least 500 local software developers. In addition, to implement a business model for the Certification Program that is internationally recognized, financially self-sustaining and affordable for local software developers by the end of this consultancy service (24 months after contract signature). A final report is to be prepared to highlight the next steps to be taken by Kenya for the Certification Program, including future steps on training content development, certification process and local capacity building.
Paul Kukubo Chief Executive Officer, Kenya ICT Board PO Box 27150 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya
12th Floor, Teleposta Towers Koinange Street
Tel +254 20 2089061, +254 20 2211960
Fax: +254 20 2211962 Cell: + 254 735 180001
website: www.ict.go.ke skype: kukubopaul googletalk: pkukubo ____________________ Vision: Kenya becomes a top ten global ICT hub
Mission: To champion and actively enable Kenya to adopt and exploit ICT, through promotion of partnerships, investments and infrastructure growth for socio economic enrichment Sent from Nairobi, Kenya
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