Walu / Alice, Please make sure Emmanuel is enlisted on KICTANET. Thanks SMM ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Emmanuel Birech <birech@hotmail.com> Date: Thu, Feb 4, 2010 at 1:24 PM Subject: [Fwd: Re: [kictanet] Software Certification Kenya. ICT Board Project to support the BPO/ITES sector] To: ke-internetusers@bdix.net, kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke, kkobia@ict.go.ke, murigi.muraya@gmail.com, agostal@gmail.com, pkukubo@ict.go.ke Hi Paul & Liko, It is the availability of a critical mass of software development skills that’s going to allow software companies to have resources when they need them, and the same skilled individuals can start their own firms if they are entrepreneurial. The skilled individuals can be both certified or not certified at first, but if targeting outsourcing, it is preferable that they are. So, I fully support what the ICT board is trying to do to encourage certification, but would also like to share the following comments around some of the scope of service initiatives that have been highlighted: *Content development for certification:* I don’t think there is sufficient value for *local* content development as there are various certification tracks already existing for various software certification areas. I see no mention of .NET (C#, Visual Basic, F#) in the email though, but including the other languages you mentioned, there exist globally trusted and recognized certification tracks for these programming languages and also relevant and widely used training content. Why would a Kenya developer or software company want to sit the Kenyan track when they can certify in the world wide recognized one? This Kenya one may actually limit their horizon to Kenya. Certification should not be the only drive. We should encourage people to take up software development as a career up to and including in high schools. The fundamental blocks here are the access to the developer tools and training manuals / e-learning material. Certification can happen later for most, but key is to be able to write software, and this will get them a leg in a software company after which they can pursue certification. *Certification Process Development**:* Paul’s discussion touches on working with leading IT companies and academic institutions and this is the best way for creating that critical mass of skills. For established local software companies that want to showcase their maturity in the full Application Life Cycle Management, there are also international certification programs available. A well adopted one is the Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI). In fact there are studies showing that this is the reason that India has been quite successful (see article http://archives.infotech.indiatimes.com/articleshow/836340.cms) even though they are no longer a cheap destination. This certification acts like a guarantee for quality, which is critical in this industry. I see the ICT Board’s value here as making CMMI or similar level certification available locally at a much reduced cost (It is expensive currently as the consultants to evaluate are not based here and could involve several trials and getting to CMM level 5 could cost upwards of USD 50K currently). So I support the boards drive to have a local center in the same line as Joburg Centre for Software Engineering to help with this. The number of companies with this certification will increase with the right support and that can be used to start branding Kenya as a software outsourcing destination that has software quality in mind. No need to create anything local; just to make what is internationally available is cost friendly and accessible. Finally, I think one other thing the ICT Board could try to do is to support with connections to venture capital. I feel it may be a challenge for most software entrepreneurs to access capital (and most times not much capital is needed as this is people business) to grow and expand or even start operations, and even though we may have the youth fund locally, The fund is not IT Specific and software entrepreneurs compete with many other business, probably putting them at a disadvantage. IT Specific funds can help especially if they can be disbursed with the advice of the ICT board. Regards, Emmanuel Birech ------------------------------ Agosto I think this has been misunderstood or perhaps it is not clear. we are actually on the same page. This is to enable us to adopt a globally certified software development methodology and certification for generic software development. This is Most software developers in this country would benefit from the establishment of a higher standard of code development. Most software firms would benefit from access to international certification in process and methodology which is otherwise very expensive. Good example is the project in South Africa at the University of Wits with the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering. http://www.jcse.org.za/. We had spoken to them about partnering as well, but opted for this option. The suggestion you make is not an alternative, but another important strategy for achieving a more enhanced IT services sector and it is actually one that we have given much thought too. We are seeking the funding to do as well. Just this morning I have had a meeting with Symantec who are beefing up their presence in Kenya. Some of the discussions we have had go along the same them as I have had with many other multinationals who visit us often. 1. Many Kenyan business owners in IT services are afraid to make the investment in top talent certification despite the obvious returns because the certified employees often flee and are 'unbondable'. As an example it costs close to 10,000 USD to certified a top Cisco engineer who can then earn that in a month with some experience in any market in the world. 2. To develop Kenya's ICT credentials we will need to develop more certified engineers and experience consultants across the board, and across various technology platforms. We need technical implementation people, but we also need systems architects and experienced solution designers who can interpret business problems and convert them into an IT specification. Those who have been the industry for a while will attest to the fact that although we have a growing Kenyan pool, still many large IT systems in banks, major multinationals and other large organizations have substantial input from consultants from outside Kenya. This is for various reasons and is not unique to Kenya. At the very top level of talent in IT, there is a global shortage. 3. To build Kenya IT properly, the investments in all the right places need to be made. As we spend more on IT as a country, the demands becomes even more sophisticated. For example, with the current connectivity transformation, there is need for security, network, data center engineers and consultants. Without any research, one can attest to the frustrations experienced by some on their networks even currently. This is an opportunity for entrepreneurs. 4. When we sell the country as an outsourcing destination, all these things matter, the whole ecosystem including marketing, training, depth of experience, breadth of experience, industry culture, government policy, legislation, peer recommendations by companies based here, and indeed the nightlife. The reason why we think it important to provide the software sector with greater tools is because this sector is often made up of young brilliant entrepreneurial individuals who leave college sub-optimally equipped for commercial application of their craft. They then have to fend foe themselves and then some of them will develop into good engineers while many other others will pick up bad habits in who they write software. These bad habits become the industry norm and then define our sector. Standards are critical. 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 On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 1:31 PM, Agosta Liko <agostal@gmail.com> wrote: 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 _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: agostal@gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/agostal%40gmail.com<http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/agostal@gmail.com> ------------------------------ Hotmail: Trusted email with powerful SPAM protection. 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