Phares
The government wants to have 500 companies the size of Seven Seas technologies (according to what I read from the recently ended Connected Kenya Summit – correct me if I’m wrong http://softkenya.com/kenya-ict-board-plans-500-new-firms-by-2017-to-push-ken... which basically means that in the next five years, we will have, 500 companies with over 1B KES in revenue (500B KES – 6.01B USD, with current rates). How are we ever going to achieve this if the government (currently the largest consumer of ICT Services) does not channel it’s resources into local firms?
This statement comes across as marketing types seeking to ride off Seven Seas runaway success in Africa. How do you increase maize production by increasing the number of farmers a hundred fold, yet existing farmers are wailing left right center and you are doing nothing to increase the amount of nor fertility of existing arable land? Regards
-----Original Message----- From: Phares Kariuki [mailto:pkariuki@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, April 23, 2012 10:57 AM To: eugene@synergy.co.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] [KICTAnet] CCK hosting its website abroad
My comments on the issue:
The government does have a prerogative to develop local industries. A simple example is Embraer in Brazil, which grew to it’s current level (with Kenya Airways buying jets from it) primarily from the government purchasing. We don’t want the government to run the companies in the ICT space, just use the taxes it collects from us to develop the very same industries.
If the private sector has it’s act together (as is the case with many companies e.g. Cellulant, which has won a contract from the Government of Nigeria recently, Seven Seas etc) and we have the capacity, it’s wrong for the government to outsource the work… The government of Rwanda currently has a model that for large government contracts, you have to work in tandem with a local firm, which has two companies (Rock Global Consulting & Matrix Business Solutions) experience accelerated growth and are now capable of handling a lot of the business the government has without external partnerships. They have grown their capacity. The government loses less money and this in a small way, fixes their balance of trade and increases employment locally.
The US government is currently trying as much as possible to end outsourcing with companies like Apple/Cisco etc.
I am not saying that we should adopt a model that was used by India/China in the mid-late twentieth Century (extreme market protection) but I believe it should be tempered. Importing milk from Tanzania for example, will simply kill our dairy industry. Market protection has it’s ills as well, but if well done, grows your economy.
I agree, to a point, with Joe’s approach, however, with CCK, given the nature of their business, will necessarily have most of their traffic being local. We do have some good local hosting companies. If for instance, the tender was inclusive of all that and a preference for local hosting (if the website were to be local) or international (in this case the US), then this should clearly be specified at the tender stage.
The government wants to have 500 companies the size of Seven Seas technologies (according to what I read from the recently ended Connected Kenya Summit – correct me if I’m wrong http://softkenya.com/kenya-ict-board-plans-500-new-firms-by-2017-to- push-kenya-to-top-10-ict-hubs/) which basically means that in the next five years, we will have, 500 companies with over 1B KES in revenue (500B KES – 6.01B USD, with current rates). How are we ever going to achieve this if the government (currently the largest consumer of ICT Services) does not channel it’s resources into local firms?
I find it hypocritical, that we want to be at the forefront of lobbying government to outsource locally, but when that is done, we in turn outsource abroad using sleek phrases and acronyms like BPO/ITES, Lack of Capacity, Costs, Security… the list is endless!
While I see the argument you are raising for local support, I think
a bigger question as to whether the Internet is local? Also how many of the local hosting companies are locally owned?
The Internet is as local as the Internet is abroad and vice-versa. The question of whether a firm is locally owned or not, is a “local- hosting” irrelevancy that needs to be addressed differently. It may be entertaining to watch Nigerian oga movies produced in Abuja, it would be better to see a few Kenyan actors star in those movies and a few scenes shot in Kajiado, the best experience is to have a hearty laugh watching hilarious Naswa/Pasua comedy clips.… whether some Nigerian owns the production company behind Naswa is equally an irrelevancy as far as “local-do-it-ourselves” goes.
The net effect of every shilling spent in Kenya as opposed to being converted to dollars and spent abroad, is pretty straight forward I should think. I find it hypocritical (if not defeatist – and bordering on an economic crime) that a company “saves” by hosting abroad and later claims to partake in CSR activities and benefits from Tax incentives for the
CSR!
It would be great if as an industry we answer some key questions and
decide whether it is beneficial to use "local" or imported. My phone is Korean, Laptop Apple (Chinese or US - you decide), Office furniture from a South African company, imported from Italy etc..
I want to believe that the decision to import an Apple computer is more informed by the lack of a local alternative in functionality, aesthetics, prestige or some peculiar sentimental value. If only there was a local brand called Chungwa that could equally tickle your gadgetry taste buds….. The same “lacking” cannot be claimed for local hosting.
How many Kenyans are in the Diaspora and using the Internet.
What difference does it make? If anything, they ought to be on the frontline advancing our cause as a “hosting”/ICT destination, while we develop
requisite capacity to absorb the business they forward our way. I
is immoral from a policy perspective to target the Diasporas while 40 million are languishing in traffic Jams and endless dropped calls, just to mention a few of the “easiest-to-solve” of our local ICT problems…
America did not just wake up July 4th and decide to outsource software development to India or hardware to China. It is the nationals of
countries residing/visiting America who built their respective cases and they did so with the confidence that back home there was sufficient capacity and capability. Unlike in our case, they managed to do so despite language and accent barriers and differences in political ideology and nuclear capability. We seem to have our cart in front of the horse, expecting
IBMs and Googles of this world to come develop capacity for us then swing us some!
I think you are asking the wrong question. You should be asking about
quality of service to the visitor of the site. Various considerations go into where to host a service;
With respect to CCK hosting, for as long as they are dealing with a middle man (aka Broker/Reseller) then topics like Security, Quality of Service ought not to arise, and if they do, then the contract ought to go to a firm with demonstrated local infrastructure.
Regards
From: kictanet-bounces+eugene=synergy.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+eugene=synergy.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of Joseph Mucheru Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2012 11:38 PM To: Eugene Lidede Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] CCK hosting its website abroad
Grace/Wanjiku,
While I see the argument you are raising for local support, I think
On Mon, Apr 23, 2012 at 10:07 AM, Eugene Lidede (Synergy) <eugene@synergy.co.ke> wrote: there is phony then the think it these the the there is
a bigger question as to whether the Internet is local? Also how many of the local hosting companies are locally owned? I think you should evaluate the total economic impact to Kenya and not base it on face value. It would be great if as an industry we answer some key questions and then decide whether it is beneficial to use "local" or imported. My phone is Korean, Laptop Apple (Chinese or US - you decide), Office furniture from a South African company, imported from Italy etc.. back to the subject of local hosting ..... How many Kenyans are in the diaspora and using the Internet. I think you are asking the wrong question. You should be asking about the quality of service to the visitor of the site. Various considerations go into where to host a service;
1) Cost
2) Security
3) Quality of Service - where is your primary audience, what devices (mobile (feature or smart phone?, desktop, tablet )
4) Search Engine Ranking and optimisation - Discoverability
5) others ...
Who is best positioned to provide this kind of comparison data? Can you investigate and give us feedback?
Thanks
Joe Mucheru
On Sun, Apr 22, 2012 at 11:01 PM, Grace Githaiga <ggithaiga@hotmail.com> wrote:
Quoting the article by Rebecca Wanjiku...
For a regulator like the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), you would expect them to be promoting services if the whole talk of how infrastructure has improved and how it is getting better.
Read more...
http://www.wanjiku.co.ke/2012/04/cck-hosting-its-website-abroad/
Rgds
GG
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people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect
platform for privacy, do
not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
-- Warm Regards,
Phares Kaboro Kariuki