A new study has just detailed the key ingredients for any country that aims to become an ICT hot spot. The summary of it, being linked to a country's ability to invest in research and development activities, the ability to take knowledge to the market( innovation) and to building an intense business activity around this innovation. Notably, the EU sponsored report says that "You don't have to be big to succeed!" These are important points to ponder for anyone interested in the growth of the ICT Industry in Kenya. As the ICT Authority, we have a big agenda to grow the sector through investing in local capacity. We are very aware that we cannot do this alone. First, we need to create long-term policies on research and innovation, strengthen the Public-Private- Partnerships engagements and also work with our education institutions to churn out highly skilled graduates. In other words, no one is too small in this industry. We need to all work together to achieve the goal of ICT contributing to 8 per cent of our national income in the next few years. If you ask me, this is double if we enhance collaboration and partnerships. Talk to us. Victor Kyalo Ag. Chief Executive Officer, We have commenced implementation of the approved ICTA organization structure, starting with filling of the director level positions. In line with our mandate the positions cover Shared services-Infrastructure, applications and Information Security--, Programmes and standards, Partnerships, Capacity, Innovation and ICT service Management. The vacancies were advertised through PWC who are our recruitment agency for this exercise on 25 June 2014 ( Page 52 of the Daily Nation) This exercise was directed by the HR Board Committee. Interviews were conducted and the process will be completed during this quarter. You may be aware that government websites have experienced security challenges over the last few months. This has called for concerted efforts to deal with these glitches. To deal comprehensively with the issues, we started by conducting an audit of Government websites. The audit revealed that in their present state, many of the government websites do not conform to the standards and they are not secure.Read more Refer to Web Standards and Domain Strategy Get more Information Are you a cyber-security enthusiast? Enroll for a 3-day training from 1st to 3rd October at the University of Nairobi, C4Dlab. Registration and more details at c4dlab With an investment of Ksh 50,000, you will get the technical know-how on cyber risks and its management. Participants also get to build their careers in this marketable field and also become part of a community of security experts. The training, a partnership between ICT Authority and C4Dlab is meant to build capacity in Online Security. In July 2014, 17 people were awarded certificates after completing the course. Refer to 1st programme press release SAP Skills for Africa Scholarships 2014 Commences The second round for SAP Skills for Africa Scholarships commenced early September. The Program that was launched in 2013 through a partnership between ICT Authority and SAP is giving recent graduates interested in finance and business development an opportunity to kick start their careers. Successful candidates will get a fully-paid SAP scholarship, certification and internships placement after successful completion. The 8-week program, which will be carried out at Technobrain offices in Nairobi expects to train at least 100 students per year. The training, worth an estimated USD 6,000 per student, will be offered on scholarship to unemployed talented university graduates. Read more Get more information: FAQs Watch 2013 SAP Skills for Africa Program Documentary What 2013 beneficiaries had to say Check out some case studies from 2013 Good news for ICT Infrastructure growth. The official launch of Phase II will take place in Wote, Makueni County on Friday 26th September 2014. Read More The ICT Authority has partnered with OLX and other stakeholders to launch an online safety consumer education campaign dubbed 'Kaa Ridhoo'. The initiative will be unveiled end of September, 2014 in Nairobi. Read More Soon Kenyans will be served within minutes of submission of a birth certificate request. This is an improvement of the process that currently takes days. A project to digitize and automate births and deaths records has been undergoing at The Ministry of State for Immigration and registration of persons; Civil Registry Department.Read more Watch Documentary here View latest photos here Pasha centres will from October be part of the Intel® "She Will Connect program" which aims at getting more women to utilize technology and the internet. Read more Are you an ICT Stakeholder? Talk to us At the end of August, ICTA reached out to stakeholders to collaborate on various initiatives. The first engagement was with heads of ICT Associations that aimed at appraising insiders on the latest going-ons in the Authority as well as orient them on the ICT Authority bill. Read summary of meeting here.. Top executives form taskforce to look into youth ICT talent development. The meeting with CIOs was held end of August and sought to deliberate on collaborating in the development of requisite skills for the ICT sector. Attendees were addressed by the Cabinet Secretary, Dr Fred Matiangi and ICTA Ag CEO, Mr Victor Kyalo. At the event conclusion an 8-member advisory team was constituted to guide on the program roll-out. Read more Strathmore University's Centre of Excellence for Oracle opens at @iLabAfrica The centre was launched on 10th September at Strathmore University. This was made possible through an Oracle Grant which supported the strategy to increase the Oracle skills pool in Kenya. Read more Counties now map way forward to ICT Roadmaps The County Executive Members for ICT met in Mombasa from the 10th to 12th September 2014. The main purpose of the workshop was to assist the executives to understand the role of the National Government with regard to the roll out of IFMIS and understand the general life-cycle of ICT development within the County with specific reference to Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Read more More info View photo Payments at Nairobi City County go Online Nairobi residents can now expect easy, fast, secure and personalized services from the Nairobi City County. The county in June launched a personalized and user-friendly online platform http:// www.nairobi.go.ke , with several services payable online. Services offered include single business permits, land rates and parking fees payments. Others earmarked in coming months are market rates, application for building permits and advertisements payments. Read more Engineering graduates get opportunity to build vital skills In August 2014, ICT Authority teamed up with Huawei technologies with the aim of equipping engineering students with practical on-the-job skills. We received an overwhelming response for the internships by the deadline date. After review, 37 students have been recommended for face-to-face interviews. An additional 6 who had already completed their studies and are waiting to graduate have also been proposed for interviews. Those who pass the test and the interview will secure a 2-months internship and training at Huawei.Read more Call to Innovators: Apply for Innovation Prize for Africa It is said that only the wearer of a shoe knows where it pinches the most. That's why we are advocating for African-focused solutions from African themselves. If you share in this vision, Innovation Prize for Africa is looking to reward you. Submit your innovative solution to innovation prize for africa by 31st October 2014 and stand a chance to win US$ 150,000. Read more Applications open from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is inviting applications to the Grand Challenges Explorations grants, for solutions in global health and development. Apply at www.grandchallenges.org/explorations Deadline is November 12, 2014. Read more 1) OLX Kenya Social Media Awards, 3rd October, Nairobi The awards, now on the 2nd year aims to celebrate the contribution of social media in the social, economic and political spheres by recognizing those who have used it positively to impact lives. The theme this year is "Making Social Media Work for You." Read more 2) Gulf Information Technology Exhibition,12th-16th October, Dubai Registration is open for the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) technology week on www.gitex.com, to be held on 12th October, 2014 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.Read more 3) E-Commerce Kenya Conference, 30th -31st October, Nairobi Sadiki East Africa is in the process of organizing an e-commerce conference whose purpose is to look into the future of e-commerce through shared knowledge, peer to peer conversations and engaging networking spaces.Read more STAY CONNECTED Forward this email This email was sent to ggithaiga@hotmail.com by communications@ict.go.ke | Update Profile/Email Address | Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. ICT Authority | Telposta Towers, 12th Floor | Kenyatta Ave | P.o. box 27150-00100 | Nairobi | Kenya