Re: [kictanet] kictanet Digest, Vol 13, Issue 38
Dear Carol, On behalf of the Kenya BPO and Contact Center Society I wish to make a few remarks on the current status of the BPO Industry. It is indeed correct to state that most of the BPO operators who started operations last year and before have come to a suspension, others have closed shop. With the high cost of bandwidth, very few of the operators have been able to sustain such high cost of operation. Indeed even those who are lucky to get some trial contracts are unable to service them sufficiently, ending up in not signing up the contracts. Many have relied on this promise of the bandwidth subsidy. Others who started their operations this year are now also running out of funds. It is imperative that this issue be addressed urgently and the Society has been in constant touch with the ICT Board following up this matter. Unfortunately, the Industry players have become tired of our response of " We are waiting for feedback from the ICT Board". Two weeks ago, Industry players were sent a form by the ICT Board to fill and send back. The form is meant to jump start the process. I would prefer the Board to give more information on this though as I may not be in the position to explain this further. One important point raised by Carol though is that these centres need not suspend or shut down if they can be provided with work from Government to keep them busy while international marketing takes place. Bandwidth subsidy alone will not keep these centres operating, they need work, constant work. It is important to state that for Kenya to really become an active outsourcing destination, much needs to be done. Many centres need to be running. Support needs to be there for indigenous local companies given that many international companies are the ones coming in to benefit from the bandwidth subsidies. We need to position our domestic centers to be active and take on some of the work when the ICT Board manages to attract international contracts to Kenya or else we will be developing the business for International companies who are not necessarily here for too long as they always shop for alternative destinations. But if we develop our own, we can be sure of long term sustainability as is the case in India. The two go hand in hand, bandwidth and contracts. Without these two, even making the proposed technology park a success may become a tall order. I would have been happier seeing a good chunk of that money going into marketing Kenya and winning contracts, the rest follows. Kenyans are very enterprising and I have heard of so many private companies wanting to set up technology parks. Maybe if Government had left that to private sector to do and concentrate on marketing and human resource capacity building the synergies would spiral faster. Kind regards, Gilda Odera Chair, Kenya BPO and Contact Centre Society ----- Original Message ----- From: <kictanet-request@lists.kictanet.or.ke> To: "Gilda Odera" <godera@skyweb.co.ke> Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 1:03 PM Subject: kictanet Digest, Vol 13, Issue 38
Send kictanet mailing list submissions to kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke
To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to kictanet-request@lists.kictanet.or.ke
You can reach the person managing the list at kictanet-owner@lists.kictanet.or.ke
When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of kictanet digest..."
Today's Topics:
1. Re: kictanet Digest, Vol 13, Issue 37 (Gilda Odera) 2. Marketing Kenya as a BPO Destination (Wambui Wakarema) 3. Re: kictanet Digest, Vol 13, Issue 37 (bitange@jambo.co.ke)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1 Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:25:03 +0300 From: "Gilda Odera" <godera@skyweb.co.ke> Subject: Re: [kictanet] kictanet Digest, Vol 13, Issue 37 To: <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Message-ID: <005701c8d2b7$85678020$f9e1dc29@SKYWEBDF0HBZFU> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original
Hi,
Did I miss an email giving details of where to access the Master Plan or has it not been availed?
Kind regards,
Gilda Odera Managing Director Skyweb Technologies Ltd Tel: 254-20-2711446/2711760 Fax: 254-20-2713934 URL:www.skyweb.co.ke ----- Original Message ----- From: <kictanet-request@lists.kictanet.or.ke> To: "Gilda Odera" <godera@skyweb.co.ke> Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 12:00 PM Subject: kictanet Digest, Vol 13, Issue 37
Send kictanet mailing list submissions to kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke
To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to kictanet-request@lists.kictanet.or.ke
You can reach the person managing the list at kictanet-owner@lists.kictanet.or.ke
When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of kictanet digest..."
Today's Topics:
1. Re: Kenya's new registry system (wesley kiriinya) 2. Re: ICT Master Plan debate (pwere@cascadegl.com) 3. Policy Issue Briefs: Key activities the ICANN community will be working on during the Paris meeting (alice wanjira)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:26:46 -0700 (PDT) From: wesley kiriinya <kiriinya2000@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Kenya's new registry system To: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Message-ID: <575580.74948.qm@web34701.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Security was 1 of the items I talked about. There is a thin line between security being used as a wrong excuse not to implement a system and where it's a real concern.
Anyway if all appropriate measures have been taken then it's OK. As I said, I appreciate that effort by the Gvmnt.
--- On Thu, 6/19/08, Brian Longwe <blongwe@gmail.com> wrote: From: Brian Longwe <blongwe@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Kenya's new registry system To: kiriinya2000@yahoo.com Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, June 19, 2008, 11:48 AM
I would like to balance this discussion by pointing out a historical fact.....
Due to "security" concerns our country was held back from a liberalised telecoms industry for years.
There were a lot of misplaced fears which originated from blanket generalisations of new technology and a fear of loss of control by the powers that be.
When I set up KIXP at the end of 2000, it was shut down within two weeks because Telkom Kenya insinuated that it presented a national security risk. It took us one whole year to educate, enlighten and lobby almost every component of the Executive in order to get KIXP re-opened.
Today it is considered a 'national resource' and KRA even wants to have it gazetted so that it can receive 24-hour physical security since it plays such an integral part of Kenya's economy.
I am not saying that we should blind ourselves to the consideration of security concerns, just that it is very easy to further delays innovation and development with hyped up discussions about security (or more appropriately insecurity).
best,
Brian
-- Brian Munyao Longwe e-mail: blongwe@gmail.com cell: + 254 722 518 744 blog : zinjlog.blogspot.com
On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 11:40 PM, Judy Okite <judyokite@gmail.com> wrote:
Gentlemen,
all your arguments are in place.....unfortunately we do not have a cyber crime law in place nor a data privacy law...(subject to be corrected)....so before we go very far.....we need to make Kenyans understand....
1. What is personal/private data?....very few understand that and why it may need to be protected...
2. what are the implications of the data,that this, system will hold, in the hands of a third party?...from here...we can ask for a document for public scrutiny.....what security measures...are in place...etc
Kind Regards,
On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 1:06 PM, <tyrus@icsit.jkuat.ac.ke> wrote:
Wesley,
I totally agree with you on this point.
Its one thing to set up a system where you will have citizens access their
details and its another entirely different thing to ensure its security is
not compromised. Even as these guys come up with this revolutionary
system, am sure they have security in mind and even more importantly have
taken the necessary steps to ensuring that its not compromised. What I
always have qualms with as you are well aware of in skunkworks, is the
reluctance by the developers or system operators to provide room for
Independent Penetration Testing. Granted this is not a panacea for
hack-proofing the system but will make the system devoid of common
vulnerabilities like what we saw in the ipo website.
In America, identity theft has occurred even on their secure servers alike
but if you look at the frequency, its relatively low since tests are
carried out on the system very often and when loop holes are discovered
relevant authorities are informed.
Its a very novel idea the Government is pursuing but even as we speak
there are notable Govt bodies whose IT infrastructure's security is very
sketchy. If there was a dedicated body in the ICT Board to dedicatedly
look into security issues regarding IT growth and implementation, I guess
there would be standards set even when putting a very basic implementation
like a web-site.
Regards,
"fyodor"
_______________________________________________
kictanet mailing list
kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: judyokite@gmail.com
Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/judyokite%40gmail.com
--
'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. ' Martin Luther King, Jr.
_______________________________________________
kictanet mailing list
kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: blongwe@gmail.com
Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/blongwe%40gmail.com
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: kiriinya2000@yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/kiriinya2000%40yahoo.co...
Thanks for this insight. Are BPO/Call Centre operators finding challenges in identifying and acquiring Call Center Software? On Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 4:55 PM, Gilda Odera <godera@skyweb.co.ke> wrote:
Dear Carol,
On behalf of the Kenya BPO and Contact Center Society I wish to make a few remarks on the current status of the BPO Industry.
It is indeed correct to state that most of the BPO operators who started operations last year and before have come to a suspension, others have closed shop. With the high cost of bandwidth, very few of the operators have been able to sustain such high cost of operation. Indeed even those who are lucky to get some trial contracts are unable to service them sufficiently, ending up in not signing up the contracts. Many have relied on this promise of the bandwidth subsidy. Others who started their operations this year are now also running out of funds. It is imperative that this issue be addressed urgently and the Society has been in constant touch with the ICT Board following up this matter. Unfortunately, the Industry players have become tired of our response of " We are waiting for feedback from the ICT Board". Two weeks ago, Industry players were sent a form by the ICT Board to fill and send back. The form is meant to jump start the process. I would prefer the Board to give more information on this though as I may not be in the position to explain this further.
One important point raised by Carol though is that these centres need not suspend or shut down if they can be provided with work from Government to keep them busy while international marketing takes place. Bandwidth subsidy alone will not keep these centres operating, they need work, constant work. It is important to state that for Kenya to really become an active outsourcing destination, much needs to be done. Many centres need to be running. Support needs to be there for indigenous local companies given that many international companies are the ones coming in to benefit from the bandwidth subsidies. We need to position our domestic centers to be active and take on some of the work when the ICT Board manages to attract international contracts to Kenya or else we will be developing the business for International companies who are not necessarily here for too long as they always shop for alternative destinations. But if we develop our own, we can be sure of long term sustainability as is the case in India. The two go hand in hand, bandwidth and contracts. Without these two, even making the proposed technology park a success may become a tall order. I would have been happier seeing a good chunk of that money going into marketing Kenya and winning contracts, the rest follows. Kenyans are very enterprising and I have heard of so many private companies wanting to set up technology parks. Maybe if Government had left that to private sector to do and concentrate on marketing and human resource capacity building the synergies would spiral faster.
Kind regards,
Gilda Odera Chair, Kenya BPO and Contact Centre Society
----- Original Message ----- From: <kictanet-request@lists.kictanet.or.ke> To: "Gilda Odera" <godera@skyweb.co.ke> Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 1:03 PM Subject: kictanet Digest, Vol 13, Issue 38
Send kictanet mailing list submissions to kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke
To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to kictanet-request@lists.kictanet.or.ke
You can reach the person managing the list at kictanet-owner@lists.kictanet.or.ke
When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of kictanet digest..."
Today's Topics:
1. Re: kictanet Digest, Vol 13, Issue 37 (Gilda Odera) 2. Marketing Kenya as a BPO Destination (Wambui Wakarema) 3. Re: kictanet Digest, Vol 13, Issue 37 (bitange@jambo.co.ke)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1 Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:25:03 +0300 From: "Gilda Odera" <godera@skyweb.co.ke> Subject: Re: [kictanet] kictanet Digest, Vol 13, Issue 37 To: <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Message-ID: <005701c8d2b7$85678020$f9e1dc29@SKYWEBDF0HBZFU> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original
Hi,
Did I miss an email giving details of where to access the Master Plan or has it not been availed?
Kind regards,
Gilda Odera Managing Director Skyweb Technologies Ltd Tel: 254-20-2711446/2711760 Fax: 254-20-2713934 URL:www.skyweb.co.ke ----- Original Message ----- From: <kictanet-request@lists.kictanet.or.ke> To: "Gilda Odera" <godera@skyweb.co.ke> Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 12:00 PM Subject: kictanet Digest, Vol 13, Issue 37
Send kictanet mailing list submissions to kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke
To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to kictanet-request@lists.kictanet.or.ke
You can reach the person managing the list at kictanet-owner@lists.kictanet.or.ke
When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of kictanet digest..."
Today's Topics:
1. Re: Kenya's new registry system (wesley kiriinya) 2. Re: ICT Master Plan debate (pwere@cascadegl.com) 3. Policy Issue Briefs: Key activities the ICANN community will be working on during the Paris meeting (alice wanjira)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:26:46 -0700 (PDT) From: wesley kiriinya <kiriinya2000@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Kenya's new registry system To: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Message-ID: <575580.74948.qm@web34701.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Security was 1 of the items I talked about. There is a thin line between security being used as a wrong excuse not to implement a system and where it's a real concern.
Anyway if all appropriate measures have been taken then it's OK. As I said, I appreciate that effort by the Gvmnt.
--- On Thu, 6/19/08, Brian Longwe <blongwe@gmail.com> wrote: From: Brian Longwe <blongwe@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Kenya's new registry system To: kiriinya2000@yahoo.com Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, June 19, 2008, 11:48 AM
I would like to balance this discussion by pointing out a historical fact.....
Due to "security" concerns our country was held back from a liberalised telecoms industry for years.
There were a lot of misplaced fears which originated from blanket generalisations of new technology and a fear of loss of control by the powers that be.
When I set up KIXP at the end of 2000, it was shut down within two weeks because Telkom Kenya insinuated that it presented a national security risk. It took us one whole year to educate, enlighten and lobby almost every component of the Executive in order to get KIXP re-opened.
Today it is considered a 'national resource' and KRA even wants to have it gazetted so that it can receive 24-hour physical security since it plays such an integral part of Kenya's economy.
I am not saying that we should blind ourselves to the consideration of security concerns, just that it is very easy to further delays innovation and development with hyped up discussions about security (or more appropriately insecurity).
best,
Brian
-- Brian Munyao Longwe e-mail: blongwe@gmail.com cell: + 254 722 518 744 blog : zinjlog.blogspot.com
On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 11:40 PM, Judy Okite <judyokite@gmail.com> wrote:
Gentlemen,
all your arguments are in place.....unfortunately we do not have a cyber crime law in place nor a data privacy law...(subject to be corrected)....so before we go very far.....we need to make Kenyans understand....
1. What is personal/private data?....very few understand that and why it may need to be protected...
2. what are the implications of the data,that this, system will hold, in the hands of a third party?...from here...we can ask for a document for public scrutiny.....what security measures...are in place...etc
Kind Regards,
On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 1:06 PM, <tyrus@icsit.jkuat.ac.ke> wrote:
Wesley,
I totally agree with you on this point.
Its one thing to set up a system where you will have citizens access their
details and its another entirely different thing to ensure its security is
not compromised. Even as these guys come up with this revolutionary
system, am sure they have security in mind and even more importantly have
taken the necessary steps to ensuring that its not compromised. What I
always have qualms with as you are well aware of in skunkworks, is the
reluctance by the developers or system operators to provide room for
Independent Penetration Testing. Granted this is not a panacea for
hack-proofing the system but will make the system devoid of common
vulnerabilities like what we saw in the ipo website.
In America, identity theft has occurred even on their secure servers alike
but if you look at the frequency, its relatively low since tests are
carried out on the system very often and when loop holes are discovered
relevant authorities are informed.
Its a very novel idea the Government is pursuing but even as we speak
there are notable Govt bodies whose IT infrastructure's security is very
sketchy. If there was a dedicated body in the ICT Board to dedicatedly
look into security issues regarding IT growth and implementation, I guess
there would be standards set even when putting a very basic implementation
like a web-site.
Regards,
"fyodor"
_______________________________________________
kictanet mailing list
kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: judyokite@gmail.com
Unsubscribe or change your options at
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/judyokite%40gmail.com
--
'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. ' Martin Luther King, Jr.
_______________________________________________
kictanet mailing list
kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: blongwe@gmail.com
Unsubscribe or change your options at
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/blongwe%40gmail.com
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: kiriinya2000@yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/kiriinya2000%40yahoo.co...
Send kictanet mailing list submissions to kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke
To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to kictanet-request@lists.kictanet.or.ke
You can reach the person managing the list at kictanet-owner@lists.kictanet.or.ke
When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of kictanet digest..."
Today's Topics:
1. Re: kictanet Digest, Vol 13, Issue 37 (Gilda Odera) 2. Marketing Kenya as a BPO Destination (Wambui Wakarema) 3. Re: kictanet Digest, Vol 13, Issue 37 (bitange@jambo.co.ke)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1 Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:25:03 +0300 From: "Gilda Odera" <godera@skyweb.co.ke> Subject: Re: [kictanet] kictanet Digest, Vol 13, Issue 37 To: <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Message-ID: <005701c8d2b7$85678020$f9e1dc29@SKYWEBDF0HBZFU> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1"; reply-type=original
Hi,
Did I miss an email giving details of where to access the Master Plan or has it not been availed?
Kind regards,
Gilda Odera Managing Director Skyweb Technologies Ltd Tel: 254-20-2711446/2711760 Fax: 254-20-2713934 URL:www.skyweb.co.ke ----- Original Message ----- From: <kictanet-request@lists.kictanet.or.ke> To: "Gilda Odera" <godera@skyweb.co.ke> Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 12:00 PM Subject: kictanet Digest, Vol 13, Issue 37
Send kictanet mailing list submissions to kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke
To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to kictanet-request@lists.kictanet.or.ke
You can reach the person managing the list at kictanet-owner@lists.kictanet.or.ke
When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of kictanet digest..."
Today's Topics:
1. Re: Kenya's new registry system (wesley kiriinya) 2. Re: ICT Master Plan debate (pwere@cascadegl.com) 3. Policy Issue Briefs: Key activities the ICANN community will be working on during the Paris meeting (alice wanjira)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1 Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:26:46 -0700 (PDT) From: wesley kiriinya <kiriinya2000@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Kenya's new registry system To: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Message-ID: <575580.74948.qm@web34701.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Security was 1 of the items I talked about. There is a thin line between security being used as a wrong excuse not to implement a system and where it's a real concern.
Anyway if all appropriate measures have been taken then it's OK. As I said, I appreciate that effort by the Gvmnt.
--- On Thu, 6/19/08, Brian Longwe <blongwe@gmail.com> wrote: From: Brian Longwe <blongwe@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Kenya's new registry system To: kiriinya2000@yahoo.com Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, June 19, 2008, 11:48 AM
I would like to balance this discussion by pointing out a historical fact.....
Due to "security" concerns our country was held back from a
telecoms industry for years.
There were a lot of misplaced fears which originated from blanket generalisations of new technology and a fear of loss of control by the powers that be.
When I set up KIXP at the end of 2000, it was shut down within two weeks because Telkom Kenya insinuated that it presented a national security risk. It took us one whole year to educate, enlighten and lobby almost every component of the Executive in order to get KIXP re-opened.
Today it is considered a 'national resource' and KRA even wants to have it gazetted so that it can receive 24-hour physical security since it
Gilda, My view is that the ICT Board is failing the BPO sector through sheer incompetence and inability to deliver. In particular, in the Marketing aspect (which is their core mandate) and ofcourse the bandwidth subsidy. What is the deputy CEO in charge of Marketing doing at the ICT Board? the industry had very high hopes when the ICT Board was formed last year. in the previous two years, the BPO Society has tried to market Kenya as an outsourcing destination and even organised Kenya;s participation in Expo's in the UK and USA with support from the Ministry of Information, even though resources were very scarce as there was no budget to market Kenya as a BPO destination. It is therefore quite disappointing that we are midway through the year, and the ICT Board, which has a budget to market Kenya, hasnt done any marketing activities. Neither have they informed the industry what is their marketing strategy. The BPO industry in Kenya is dying. Those who invested are closing shop and selling off their equipment. What is the Board doing about marketing? Is the Deputy CEO in charge of Marketing going to tell us what her plans are for putting Kenya on the BPO map? What is the strategy? regards Wambui Wakarema --- On Fri, 20/6/08, Gilda Odera <godera@skyweb.co.ke> wrote: From: Gilda Odera <godera@skyweb.co.ke> Subject: Re: [kictanet] kictanet Digest, Vol 13, Issue 38 To: wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Friday, 20 June, 2008, 1:55 PM Dear Carol, On behalf of the Kenya BPO and Contact Center Society I wish to make a few remarks on the current status of the BPO Industry. It is indeed correct to state that most of the BPO operators who started operations last year and before have come to a suspension, others have closed shop. With the high cost of bandwidth, very few of the operators have been able to sustain such high cost of operation. Indeed even those who are lucky to get some trial contracts are unable to service them sufficiently, ending up in not signing up the contracts. Many have relied on this promise of the bandwidth subsidy. Others who started their operations this year are now also running out of funds. It is imperative that this issue be addressed urgently and the Society has been in constant touch with the ICT Board following up this matter. Unfortunately, the Industry players have become tired of our response of " We are waiting for feedback from the ICT Board". Two weeks ago, Industry players were sent a form by the ICT Board to fill and send back. The form is meant to jump start the process. I would prefer the Board to give more information on this though as I may not be in the position to explain this further. One important point raised by Carol though is that these centres need not suspend or shut down if they can be provided with work from Government to keep them busy while international marketing takes place. Bandwidth subsidy alone will not keep these centres operating, they need work, constant work. It is important to state that for Kenya to really become an active outsourcing destination, much needs to be done. Many centres need to be running. Support needs to be there for indigenous local companies given that many international companies are the ones coming in to benefit from the bandwidth subsidies. We need to position our domestic centers to be active and take on some of the work when the ICT Board manages to attract international contracts to Kenya or else we will be developing the business for International companies who are not necessarily here for too long as they always shop for alternative destinations. But if we develop our own, we can be sure of long term sustainability as is the case in India. The two go hand in hand, bandwidth and contracts. Without these two, even making the proposed technology park a success may become a tall order. I would have been happier seeing a good chunk of that money going into marketing Kenya and winning contracts, the rest follows. Kenyans are very enterprising and I have heard of so many private companies wanting to set up technology parks. Maybe if Government had left that to private sector to do and concentrate on marketing and human resource capacity building the synergies would spiral faster. Kind regards, Gilda Odera Chair, Kenya BPO and Contact Centre Society ----- Original Message ----- From: <kictanet-request@lists.kictanet.or.ke> To: "Gilda Odera" <godera@skyweb.co.ke> Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 1:03 PM Subject: kictanet Digest, Vol 13, Issue 38 liberalised plays
such an integral part of Kenya's economy.
I am not saying that we should blind ourselves to the consideration of security concerns, just that it is very easy to further delays innovation and development with hyped up discussions about security (or more appropriately insecurity).
best,
Brian
-- Brian Munyao Longwe e-mail: blongwe@gmail.com cell: + 254 722 518 744 blog : zinjlog.blogspot.com
On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 11:40 PM, Judy Okite <judyokite@gmail.com> wrote:
Gentlemen,
all your arguments are in place.....unfortunately we do not have a cyber crime law in place nor a data privacy law...(subject to be corrected)....so before we go very far.....we need to make Kenyans understand....
1. What is personal/private data?....very few understand that and why it may need to be protected...
2. what are the implications of the data,that this, system will hold, in the hands of a third party?...from here...we can ask for a document for public scrutiny.....what security measures...are in place...etc
Kind Regards,
On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 1:06 PM, <tyrus@icsit.jkuat.ac.ke> wrote:
Wesley,
I totally agree with you on this point.
Its one thing to set up a system where you will have citizens access their
details and its another entirely different thing to ensure its security is
not compromised. Even as these guys come up with this revolutionary
system, am sure they have security in mind and even more importantly have
taken the necessary steps to ensuring that its not compromised. What I
always have qualms with as you are well aware of in skunkworks, is the
reluctance by the developers or system operators to provide room for
Independent Penetration Testing. Granted this is not a panacea for
hack-proofing the system but will make the system devoid of common
vulnerabilities like what we saw in the ipo website.
In America, identity theft has occurred even on their secure servers alike
but if you look at the frequency, its relatively low since tests are
carried out on the system very often and when loop holes are discovered
relevant authorities are informed.
Its a very novel idea the Government is pursuing but even as we speak
there are notable Govt bodies whose IT infrastructure's security is very
sketchy. If there was a dedicated body in the ICT Board to dedicatedly
look into security issues regarding IT growth and implementation, I guess
there would be standards set even when putting a very basic implementation
like a web-site.
Regards,
"fyodor"
_______________________________________________
kictanet mailing list
kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: judyokite@gmail.com
Unsubscribe or change your options at
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/judyokite%40gmail.com
--
'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that
matter. ' Martin Luther King, Jr.
_______________________________________________
kictanet mailing list
kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: blongwe@gmail.com
Unsubscribe or change your options at
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/blongwe%40gmail.com
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: kiriinya2000@yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/kiriinya2000%40yahoo.co...
Dear Margaret, Your passion and enthusiasm about the BPO industry is very interesting, your language and right of opinion notwithstanding. However, one may find it heard to relate to the accusations of non performance due to what you call 'The boards sheer incompetence and failure to deliver', since you failed to articulate the basis of your evaluation. To help you appreciate what the board is doing to market BPO industry and how you can contribute positively. 1) Refer to board CEO's earlier response to the BPO issues raised in this forum. 2) The Boards strategic plan' public debate is underway and you may want to be involved in order to better review the boards marketing activities and evaluate its performance todate more objectively. 3) As Paul stated in his email, the Boards marketing plan is being finalised and will equally be subjected to public debate and thus give you a chance to give your input. 4) If you had attended some of our marketing activities both locally and internationally, and the subsequent reviews with the industry, then you would have been able to hear and experience first hand the real issues in the BPO industry, kind of marketing activities we have been implementing and feedback. Your email suggests a clear disconnect. 5) It is important that we are clear that subsidy will not save the BPOs that are closing shop. Far from it, it is the operators capacity for quality, scale, business planning, management and experise in your niche that will guarantee survival. Thus the BPO subsidy is not a supplement for business management or indeed business. 4) Naturally, the board needs to do more; but we do operate under such constraints as budgets - which you may want to appraise yourself of. 5) This discussions are very important and we at the board encourage them a lot. However something is to be said of choice of words and tone in engendering discussion. The Kenya ICT Board is at the KICC, participating fully to the development of standards and ethics for the industry (a much more important aspect of the BPO business) and I hope to engage more here with you and others who feel as you do. These are the sort of activities that will grow and build the BPO industry credibility and attract jobs - in order to make the marketing activities that you refer to in your email worthwhile. You are also welcome to our offices to discuss your concerns and get responses in detail in person, any time. Regards, Eunice Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone provided by Celtel Kenya -----Original Message----- From: Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk> Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:28:08 To: <eunicekariuki@ict.go.ke> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Subject: Re: [kictanet] marketing Kenya as a BPO destination _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: eunicekariuki@ict.go.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/eunicekariuki%40ict.go....
Eunice you mention marketing activities the Board has organised, however you fail to state which exactly these are. Last year i visited the UK in November and met some call centre industry professionals who were quite excited to learn of Kenya's existence in the BPO industry, after they had seen a series of adverts in a leading UK Call Centre magazine. This to me means that Kenya was beginning to gain some visibility due to some efforts in dvertising, PR etc. these were tangible acitivities/efforts which I believe were sponsored by the Ministry of Information. Has the ICT Board engaged in any branding activities of Kenya as an outsourcing destination since last year? Any this year? You mention my tone: it is the tone of a bitter BPO operator who invested in this industry with high hopes. However, thank you for your response. I look forward to receiving the ICT Board plan for marketing, considering the year is halfway gone and nothing much has taken place in the international front. Wambui --- On Sat, 21/6/08, eunicekariuki@ict.go.ke <eunicekariuki@ict.go.ke> wrote: From: eunicekariuki@ict.go.ke <eunicekariuki@ict.go.ke> Subject: Re: [kictanet] marketing Kenya as a BPO destination To: wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Saturday, 21 June, 2008, 7:37 AM Dear Margaret, Your passion and enthusiasm about the BPO industry is very interesting, your language and right of opinion notwithstanding. However, one may find it heard to relate to the accusations of non performance due to what you call 'The boards sheer incompetence and failure to deliver', since you failed to articulate the basis of your evaluation. To help you appreciate what the board is doing to market BPO industry and how you can contribute positively. 1) Refer to board CEO's earlier response to the BPO issues raised in this forum. 2) The Boards strategic plan' public debate is underway and you may want to be involved in order to better review the boards marketing activities and evaluate its performance todate more objectively. 3) As Paul stated in his email, the Boards marketing plan is being finalised and will equally be subjected to public debate and thus give you a chance to give your input. 4) If you had attended some of our marketing activities both locally and internationally, and the subsequent reviews with the industry, then you would have been able to hear and experience first hand the real issues in the BPO industry, kind of marketing activities we have been implementing and feedback. Your email suggests a clear disconnect. 5) It is important that we are clear that subsidy will not save the BPOs that are closing shop. Far from it, it is the operators capacity for quality, scale, business planning, management and experise in your niche that will guarantee survival. Thus the BPO subsidy is not a supplement for business management or indeed business. 4) Naturally, the board needs to do more; but we do operate under such constraints as budgets - which you may want to appraise yourself of. 5) This discussions are very important and we at the board encourage them a lot. However something is to be said of choice of words and tone in engendering discussion. The Kenya ICT Board is at the KICC, participating fully to the development of standards and ethics for the industry (a much more important aspect of the BPO business) and I hope to engage more here with you and others who feel as you do. These are the sort of activities that will grow and build the BPO industry credibility and attract jobs - in order to make the marketing activities that you refer to in your email worthwhile. You are also welcome to our offices to discuss your concerns and get responses in detail in person, any time. Regards, Eunice Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone provided by Celtel Kenya -----Original Message----- From: Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk> Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:28:08 To: <eunicekariuki@ict.go.ke> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Subject: Re: [kictanet] marketing Kenya as a BPO destination _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: eunicekariuki@ict.go.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/eunicekariuki%40ict.go.... __________________________________________________________ Sent from Yahoo! Mail. A Smarter Email http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html
It is now August 2008. Still no marketing plan or strategy forthcoming from the Kenya ICT Board, one year since the Board's inception. One year asour competitors such as South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, Mauritius and others continue to make their mark as BPO destinations. Infact, I would like to know if the ICT Board has delivered on any single one of its objectives! Wambui __________________________________________________________ Not happy with your email address?. Get the one you really want - millions of new email addresses available now at Yahoo! http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/ymail/new.html
I am talking from a private sector point of view, I am an industry player and running a call center. Now in regards to marketing Kenya as a BPO destination, I would say not much has been done at all. Many call centers and BPO have shut down as a result of high bandwidth costs and poor marketing. I would expect the BPO industry to be taken more seriously it being one of the 5 pillars of the VISION 2030. If we dont start marketing now, when will we ever market the country as an outsourcing destination with such giant competitors as India and those mentioned by Wambui? At this slow pace I dont think this industry will last long. Serious marketing has to be done! Marketing is the main thing that should be done to bring Kenya to the limelight and great support is needed from the government in ensuring this is done. Without bias and prejudice, we thank the Kenya BPO & Contact Center Society which has been doing alot to sensitive people on the BPO & Contact Center industry as well as speak out the needs of the private sector in the industry. They recently launched the Standards & Ethics guidelines for the industry. Now this is something we can say is a step forward. Am sure with more support alot will be achieved to help bring the industry to life in Kenya. Like for instance there is the UK Birmingham Expo taking place in September 2008 there was even a media briefing by ICT BOard on it. This is the world's largest call center expo which is held annually and it particularly targets the Call Center/Contact Center industry. So I would expect the government to totally support local call centers to participate fully at such an event. As it is now, call centers are struggling hard to sustain themselves and most have even shut down. The few existing are still hanging in there struggling with high bandwidth costs and all. So this is the point the government should come in and at least sponsor several private sector call centers to participate at that event. With this high costs of bandwidth and other running call center expenses, who will be able to fund for themselves to such events? Very few or none at all will be able to afford attending the event. So who will be at the Kenyan stand in the UK CALL CENTER expo? Government officials only???? I wonder. It is at such events that Kenya will be able to be placed in the map as an outsourcing destination as with such events comes advertising on the Call Center Focus Magazine as well as a stand for exhibiting Kenya at the expo. Private sector industry players will also get an opportunity to be exposed to the global call center industry and all that comes with it, as well as meet potential clients which in the long run will enable them to have stable contracts with which they can be able to sustain their centers. Please please government give this industry the support it needs and focus on the marketing aspect of it mostly as this is what will get it on the map. L.M On Sun, Aug 3, 2008 at 3:53 PM, Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk>wrote:
It is now August 2008. Still no marketing plan or strategy forthcoming from the Kenya ICT Board, one year since the Board's inception. One year as
our competitors such as South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, Mauritius and others continue to make their mark as BPO destinations.
Infact, I would like to know if the ICT Board has delivered on any single one of its objectives!
Wambui
------------------------------ Not happy with your email address? Get the one you really want <http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/ymail/new.html> - millions of new email addresses available now at Yahoo!<http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/ymail/new.html>
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: lmwatibo.ktd@gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/lmwatibo.ktd%40gmail.co...
Dear Lucy, The issues you touch on are burning. There was supposed to be a round table meeting today with the PM and it would be interesting to learn what the six reps from the ICT stakeholders managed to achieve as regards sensitizing the policy/decision makers on the points you dwell on. It surely is coming out loud and clear that the most efficient marketer for BPO&CC is none other than players in .....The Kenya BPO&CC Society did a great service to industry players by launching the Standards and Ethics Guidelines which were swiftly adopted by the stakeholders present who included the PS of the MoI&C, Kenya ICT Board and all the memebrs and non-members of the BPO&CC fraternity who graced KICC to witness the development see http://www.ict.go.ke/inner.php?cat=news&sid=104. Those of us who met in hotels at our expenses plus time which will never be recovered expected all, especially KICTB to ride on that wave and probably fly on with the Standards & Ethics Guideline by promoting it to became a regulation. With a Standard and Ethics Guideline, a big marketing tool is on the hands of GoK and also members of the KBPOCCS see http://www.kenyabposociety.or.ke/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=36. Having met people outside Kenya who are doing outsourcing, its telling how they react favorably knowing that the players have some agreed to standards and ethics. One the other let down to the BPO&CC industry is indeed the high cost of bandwidth. It appears by the time the necessary red tape will have been cut, the TEAMS or/and EASSY projects may have landed at the shores of Mombasa rendering the whole concept of bandwidth subsidy a red herring. Having been a student of 'Lords of Poverty' it would pay if the BPO&CC found other solace other than bank on promises. They are not promissary (sp) notes as issued by Central bank. There is an issue of size which the CEO of KICTB loves tauting as the reason we in Kenya are not able to attract work. What is your take? David On Tue, Aug 5, 2008 at 6:34 PM, Lucy M <lmwatibo.ktd@gmail.com> wrote:
I am talking from a private sector point of view, I am an industry player and running a call center.
Now in regards to marketing Kenya as a BPO destination, I would say not much has been done at all.
Many call centers and BPO have shut down as a result of high bandwidth costs and poor marketing. I would expect the BPO industry to be taken more seriously it being one of the 5 pillars of the VISION 2030. If we dont start marketing now, when will we ever market the country as an outsourcing destination with such giant competitors as India and those mentioned by Wambui? At this slow pace I dont think this industry will last long.
Serious marketing has to be done! Marketing is the main thing that should be done to bring Kenya to the limelight and great support is needed from the government in ensuring this is done. Without bias and prejudice, we thank the Kenya BPO & Contact Center Society which has been doing alot to sensitive people on the BPO & Contact Center industry as well as speak out the needs of the private sector in the industry. They recently launched the Standards & Ethics guidelines for the industry. Now this is something we can say is a step forward. Am sure with more support alot will be achieved to help bring the industry to life in Kenya.
Like for instance there is the UK Birmingham Expo taking place in September 2008 there was even a media briefing by ICT BOard on it. This is the world's largest call center expo which is held annually and it particularly targets the Call Center/Contact Center industry. So I would expect the government to totally support local call centers to participate fully at such an event. As it is now, call centers are struggling hard to sustain themselves and most have even shut down. The few existing are still hanging in there struggling with high bandwidth costs and all. So this is the point the government should come in and at least sponsor several private sector call centers to participate at that event. With this high costs of bandwidth and other running call center expenses, who will be able to fund for themselves to such events? Very few or none at all will be able to afford attending the event. So who will be at the Kenyan stand in the UK CALL CENTER expo? Government officials only???? I wonder.
It is at such events that Kenya will be able to be placed in the map as an outsourcing destination as with such events comes advertising on the Call Center Focus Magazine as well as a stand for exhibiting Kenya at the expo. Private sector industry players will also get an opportunity to be exposed to the global call center industry and all that comes with it, as well as meet potential clients which in the long run will enable them to have stable contracts with which they can be able to sustain their centers.
Please please government give this industry the support it needs and focus on the marketing aspect of it mostly as this is what will get it on the map.
L.M
On Sun, Aug 3, 2008 at 3:53 PM, Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
It is now August 2008. Still no marketing plan or strategy forthcoming from the Kenya ICT Board, one year since the Board's inception. One year as
our competitors such as South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, Mauritius and others continue to make their mark as BPO destinations.
Infact, I would like to know if the ICT Board has delivered on any single one of its objectives!
Wambui
________________________________ Not happy with your email address? Get the one you really want - millions of new email addresses available now at Yahoo! _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: lmwatibo.ktd@gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/lmwatibo.ktd%40gmail.co...
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: otwomad@gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/otwomad%40gmail.com
I am talking from a private sector point of view, I am an industry player and running a call center.
Now in regards to marketing Kenya as a BPO destination, I would say not much has been done at all.
Many call centers and BPO have shut down as a result of high bandwidth costs and poor marketing. I would expect the BPO industry to be taken more seriously it being one of the 5 pillars of the VISION 2030. If we dont start marketing now, when will we ever market the country as an outsourcing destination with such giant competitors as India and those mentioned by Wambui? At this slow pace I dont think this industry will last long.
Serious marketing has to be done! Marketing is the main thing that should be done to bring Kenya to the limelight and great support is needed from the government in ensuring this is done. Without bias and prejudice, we thank the Kenya BPO & Contact Center Society which has been doing alot to sensitive people on the BPO & Contact Center industry as well as speak out the needs of the private sector in the industry. They recently launched
Perhaps the ICT Board should be dissolved , re-constituted, given a fresh mandate. It is quite obvious that we cannot expect any deliverables from the Board if one year has come and gone with nothing to show for their existence in the BPO sector which I believe was originally their main mandate. The biggest issue being lack of direction in marketing and positioning Kenya as a BPO destination. Their marketing division has failed. Wambui --- On Tue, 5/8/08, David Otwoma <otwomad@gmail.com> wrote: From: David Otwoma <otwomad@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy To: wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Tuesday, 5 August, 2008, 5:43 PM Dear Lucy, The issues you touch on are burning. There was supposed to be a round table meeting today with the PM and it would be interesting to learn what the six reps from the ICT stakeholders managed to achieve as regards sensitizing the policy/decision makers on the points you dwell on. It surely is coming out loud and clear that the most efficient marketer for BPO&CC is none other than players in .....The Kenya BPO&CC Society did a great service to industry players by launching the Standards and Ethics Guidelines which were swiftly adopted by the stakeholders present who included the PS of the MoI&C, Kenya ICT Board and all the memebrs and non-members of the BPO&CC fraternity who graced KICC to witness the development see http://www.ict.go.ke/inner.php?cat=news&sid=104. Those of us who met in hotels at our expenses plus time which will never be recovered expected all, especially KICTB to ride on that wave and probably fly on with the Standards & Ethics Guideline by promoting it to became a regulation. With a Standard and Ethics Guideline, a big marketing tool is on the hands of GoK and also members of the KBPOCCS see http://www.kenyabposociety.or.ke/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=36. Having met people outside Kenya who are doing outsourcing, its telling how they react favorably knowing that the players have some agreed to standards and ethics. One the other let down to the BPO&CC industry is indeed the high cost of bandwidth. It appears by the time the necessary red tape will have been cut, the TEAMS or/and EASSY projects may have landed at the shores of Mombasa rendering the whole concept of bandwidth subsidy a red herring. Having been a student of 'Lords of Poverty' it would pay if the BPO&CC found other solace other than bank on promises. They are not promissary (sp) notes as issued by Central bank. There is an issue of size which the CEO of KICTB loves tauting as the reason we in Kenya are not able to attract work. What is your take? David On Tue, Aug 5, 2008 at 6:34 PM, Lucy M <lmwatibo.ktd@gmail.com> wrote: the
Standards & Ethics guidelines for the industry. Now this is something we can say is a step forward. Am sure with more support alot will be achieved to help bring the industry to life in Kenya.
Like for instance there is the UK Birmingham Expo taking place in September 2008 there was even a media briefing by ICT BOard on it. This is the world's largest call center expo which is held annually and it particularly targets the Call Center/Contact Center industry. So I would expect the government to totally support local call centers to participate fully at such an event. As it is now, call centers are struggling hard to sustain themselves and most have even shut down. The few existing are still hanging in there struggling with high bandwidth costs and all. So this is the point the government should come in and at least sponsor several private sector call centers to participate at that event. With this high costs of bandwidth and other running call center expenses, who will be able to fund for themselves to such events? Very few or none at all will be able to afford attending the event. So who will be at the Kenyan stand in the UK CALL CENTER expo? Government officials only???? I wonder.
It is at such events that Kenya will be able to be placed in the map as an outsourcing destination as with such events comes advertising on the Call Center Focus Magazine as well as a stand for exhibiting Kenya at the expo.. Private sector industry players will also get an opportunity to be exposed to the global call center industry and all that comes with it, as well as meet potential clients which in the long run will enable them to have stable contracts with which they can be able to sustain their centers.
Please please government give this industry the support it needs and focus on the marketing aspect of it mostly as this is what will get it on the map.
L.M
On Sun, Aug 3, 2008 at 3:53 PM, Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
It is now August 2008. Still no marketing plan or strategy forthcoming from the Kenya ICT Board, one year since the Board's inception.
One year as
our competitors such as South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, Mauritius and
others
continue to make their mark as BPO destinations.
Infact, I would like to know if the ICT Board has delivered on any single one of its objectives!
Wambui
________________________________ Not happy with your email address? Get the one you really want - millions of new email addresses available now at Yahoo! _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: lmwatibo.ktd@gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/lmwatibo.ktd%40gmail.co...
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: otwomad@gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/otwomad%40gmail.com
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/wambuiwakarema%40yahoo.... __________________________________________________________ Not happy with your email address?. Get the one you really want - millions of new email addresses available now at Yahoo! http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/ymail/new.html
Wambui, ...without defending the ICTBoard (am trying to look for their ToRs before passing judgement), I can only observe that you seem to be single-minded and persistent on this BPO thing... my general and non-ICT advice is that keep your eyes open - if BPO wont take you to heaven, am sure something else you maybe refusing to see will. God (or is it the ICTBoard?) may have shut the BPO door for you, but just look around and you will probably see many other opportunities. Richard of richard@northwestoffshore.com, a BPO company who is on this list had similar challenges and he did manage to work around them. Reach him out in case he prefers to keep his silence on the list. walu. --- On Thu, 8/7/08, Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
From: Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk> Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy To: jwalu@yahoo.com Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, August 7, 2008, 5:26 PM Perhaps the ICT Board should be dissolved , re-constituted, given a fresh mandate. It is quite obvious that we cannot expect any deliverables from the Board if one year has come and gone with nothing to show for their existence in the BPO sector which I believe was originally their main mandate. The biggest issue being lack of direction in marketing and positioning Kenya as a BPO destination. Their marketing division has failed.
Wambui
--- On Tue, 5/8/08, David Otwoma <otwomad@gmail.com> wrote:
From: David Otwoma <otwomad@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy To: wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Tuesday, 5 August, 2008, 5:43 PM
Dear Lucy,
The issues you touch on are burning.
There was supposed to be a round table meeting today with the PM and it would be interesting to learn what the six reps from the ICT stakeholders managed to achieve as regards sensitizing the policy/decision makers on the points you dwell on.
It surely is coming out loud and clear that the most efficient marketer for BPO&CC is none other than players in .....The Kenya BPO&CC Society did a great service to industry players by launching the Standards and Ethics Guidelines which were swiftly adopted by the stakeholders present who included the PS of the MoI&C, Kenya ICT Board and all the memebrs and non-members of the BPO&CC fraternity who graced KICC to witness the development see http://www.ict.go.ke/inner.php?cat=news&sid=104. Those of us who met in hotels at our expenses plus time which will never be recovered expected all, especially KICTB to ride on that wave and probably fly on with the Standards & Ethics Guideline by promoting it to became a regulation. With a Standard and Ethics Guideline, a big marketing tool is on the hands of GoK and also members of the KBPOCCS see http://www.kenyabposociety.or.ke/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=36. Having met people outside Kenya who are doing outsourcing, its telling how they react favorably knowing that the players have some agreed to standards and ethics.
One the other let down to the BPO&CC industry is indeed the high cost of bandwidth. It appears by the time the necessary red tape will have been cut, the TEAMS or/and EASSY projects may have landed at the shores of Mombasa rendering the whole concept of bandwidth subsidy a red herring. Having been a student of 'Lords of Poverty' it would pay if the BPO&CC found other solace other than bank on promises. They are not promissary (sp) notes as issued by Central bank.
There is an issue of size which the CEO of KICTB loves tauting as the reason we in Kenya are not able to attract work. What is your take?
David
I am talking from a private sector point of view, I am an industry player and running a call center.
Now in regards to marketing Kenya as a BPO destination, I would say not much has been done at all.
Many call centers and BPO have shut down as a result of high bandwidth costs and poor marketing. I would expect the BPO industry to be taken more seriously it being one of the 5 pillars of the VISION
marketing now, when will we ever market the country as an outsourcing destination with such giant competitors as India and
Wambui? At this slow pace I dont think this industry will last long.
Serious marketing has to be done! Marketing is the
done to bring Kenya to the limelight and great support is needed from the government in ensuring this is done. Without bias and
the Kenya BPO & Contact Center Society which has been doing alot to sensitive people on the BPO & Contact Center industry as well as speak out the needs of the private sector in the industry. They recently launched
Standards & Ethics guidelines for the industry. Now this is something we can say is a step forward. Am sure with more support alot will be achieved to help bring the industry to life in Kenya.
Like for instance there is the UK Birmingham Expo taking place in September 2008 there was even a media briefing by ICT BOard on it. This is the world's largest call center expo which is held annually and it
the Call Center/Contact Center industry. So I would expect the government to totally support local call centers to participate fully at such an event. As it is now, call centers are struggling hard to sustain
have even shut down. The few existing are still hanging in there struggling with high bandwidth costs and all. So this is the
should come in and at least sponsor several private sector call centers to participate at that event. With this high costs of bandwidth and other running call center expenses, who will be able to fund for themselves to such events? Very few or none at all will be able to afford attending the event. So who will be at the Kenyan stand in the UK CALL CENTER expo? Government officials only???? I wonder.
It is at such events that Kenya will be able to be
outsourcing destination as with such events comes advertising on the Call Center Focus Magazine as well as a stand for exhibiting Kenya at the expo.. Private sector industry players will also get an opportunity to be exposed to the global call center industry and all that comes with it, as well as meet potential clients which in the long run will enable them to have stable contracts with which they can be able to sustain their
On Tue, Aug 5, 2008 at 6:34 PM, Lucy M <lmwatibo.ktd@gmail.com> wrote: 2030. If we dont start those mentioned by main thing that should be prejudice, we thank the particularly targets themselves and most point the government placed in the map as an centers.
Please please government give this industry the
support it needs and focus
on the marketing aspect of it mostly as this is what will get it on the map.
L.M
On Sun, Aug 3, 2008 at 3:53 PM, Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
It is now August 2008. Still no marketing plan or
strategy forthcoming
from the Kenya ICT Board, one year since the Board's inception. One year as
our competitors such as South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, Mauritius and others continue to make their mark as BPO destinations.
Infact, I would like to know if the ICT Board has delivered on any single one of its objectives!
Wambui
________________________________ Not happy with your email address? Get the one you really want - millions of new email addresses available now at Yahoo! _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: lmwatibo.ktd@gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/lmwatibo.ktd%40gmail.co...
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: otwomad@gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/otwomad%40gmail.com
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/wambuiwakarema%40yahoo....
__________________________________________________________ Not happy with your email address?. Get the one you really want - millions of new email addresses available now at Yahoo! http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/ymail/new.html_____________________________________... kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: jwalu@yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jwalu%40yahoo.com
Walu BPO will not take me to heaven, but is a pillar of Vision 2030 and is an industry that can create thousands of new jobs in Kenya. i am surprised at your flippant attitude. If the ICT Board cannot deliver on this very important mandate, then Kenya risks losing out on an industry that can be a very large revenue generator for this country. Our competitors, like South Africa, Mauritius, India, Egypt, are working overtime to position themselves to the markets out there. If Kenya doesnt position itself at this time, we shall lose out. Richard Mwangi's challenges (whichever they were) are besides the point. Kenya needs to put in much effort if this industry is to become a force to reckon with. Wambui --- On Thu, 7/8/08, John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote: From: John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy To: wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, 7 August, 2008, 2:38 PM Wambui, ....without defending the ICTBoard (am trying to look for their ToRs before passing judgement), I can only observe that you seem to be single-minded and persistent on this BPO thing... my general and non-ICT advice is that keep your eyes open - if BPO wont take you to heaven, am sure something else you maybe refusing to see will. God (or is it the ICTBoard?) may have shut the BPO door for you, but just look around and you will probably see many other opportunities. Richard of richard@northwestoffshore.com, a BPO company who is on this list had similar challenges and he did manage to work around them. Reach him out in case he prefers to keep his silence on the list. walu. __________________________________________________________ Not happy with your email address?. Get the one you really want - millions of new email addresses available now at Yahoo! http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/ymail/new.html
Hey Wambui, No offense meant with regard to BPO. Its just that your concerns were beginning to sound somewhat personal than generic. As Otuoma mentions in another mail, there seems to be things beyond the ICTBoard that could be effected - e.g on Bandwidth susbsidies because of pending funds from World Bank... walu. NB: and by the way, this Richard guy if I could speak for him, is actually still in the BPO industry, he simply diversified into non-bandwidth intensive processes and in the interim focuses in Backoffice rather than bandwidth intensive Call-center operations. He does for example, data transcripting, research, training, etc). Something to keep you busy as you await bigger things. --- On Thu, 8/7/08, Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
From: Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk> Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy To: jwalu@yahoo.com Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, August 7, 2008, 7:10 PM Walu
BPO will not take me to heaven, but is a pillar of Vision 2030 and is an industry that can create thousands of new jobs in Kenya. i am surprised at your flippant attitude.
If the ICT Board cannot deliver on this very important mandate, then Kenya risks losing out on an industry that can be a very large revenue generator for this country. Our competitors, like South Africa, Mauritius, India, Egypt, are working overtime to position themselves to the markets out there. If Kenya doesnt position itself at this time, we shall lose out.
Richard Mwangi's challenges (whichever they were) are besides the point. Kenya needs to put in much effort if this industry is to become a force to reckon with.
Wambui
--- On Thu, 7/8/08, John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy To: wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, 7 August, 2008, 2:38 PM
Wambui,
....without defending the ICTBoard (am trying to look for their ToRs before passing judgement), I can only observe that you seem to be single-minded and persistent on this BPO thing...
my general and non-ICT advice is that keep your eyes open - if BPO wont take you to heaven, am sure something else you maybe refusing to see will. God (or is it the ICTBoard?) may have shut the BPO door for you, but just look around and you will probably see many other opportunities.
Richard of richard@northwestoffshore.com, a BPO company who is on this list had similar challenges and he did manage to work around them. Reach him out in case he prefers to keep his silence on the list.
walu.
__________________________________________________________ Not happy with your email address?. Get the one you really want - millions of new email addresses available now at Yahoo! http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/ymail/new.html
Hi - I think that the ICT Board, being a public entity owes a duty of reply in cases where questions are directed at it - and that includes the one from Wambui. Why has the Board fallen into a "Do Not Resopond Syndrome"? There must be a communications person there or a PRO being paid from public funds and they should do their job! Can we have an official response to Wambui's concerns FROM THE ICT BOARD. Waudo On Thu, 7 Aug 2008 23:07:01 -0700 (PDT), "John Walubengo" <jwalu@yahoo.com> said:
Hey Wambui,
No offense meant with regard to BPO. Its just that your concerns were beginning to sound somewhat personal than generic. As Otuoma mentions in another mail, there seems to be things beyond the ICTBoard that could be effected - e.g on Bandwidth susbsidies because of pending funds from World Bank...
walu. NB: and by the way, this Richard guy if I could speak for him, is actually still in the BPO industry, he simply diversified into non-bandwidth intensive processes and in the interim focuses in Backoffice rather than bandwidth intensive Call-center operations. He does for example, data transcripting, research, training, etc). Something to keep you busy as you await bigger things.
--- On Thu, 8/7/08, Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
From: Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk> Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy To: jwalu@yahoo.com Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, August 7, 2008, 7:10 PM Walu
BPO will not take me to heaven, but is a pillar of Vision 2030 and is an industry that can create thousands of new jobs in Kenya. i am surprised at your flippant attitude.
If the ICT Board cannot deliver on this very important mandate, then Kenya risks losing out on an industry that can be a very large revenue generator for this country. Our competitors, like South Africa, Mauritius, India, Egypt, are working overtime to position themselves to the markets out there. If Kenya doesnt position itself at this time, we shall lose out.
Richard Mwangi's challenges (whichever they were) are besides the point. Kenya needs to put in much effort if this industry is to become a force to reckon with.
Wambui
--- On Thu, 7/8/08, John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy To: wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, 7 August, 2008, 2:38 PM
Wambui,
....without defending the ICTBoard (am trying to look for their ToRs before passing judgement), I can only observe that you seem to be single-minded and persistent on this BPO thing...
my general and non-ICT advice is that keep your eyes open - if BPO wont take you to heaven, am sure something else you maybe refusing to see will. God (or is it the ICTBoard?) may have shut the BPO door for you, but just look around and you will probably see many other opportunities.
Richard of richard@northwestoffshore.com, a BPO company who is on this list had similar challenges and he did manage to work around them. Reach him out in case he prefers to keep his silence on the list.
walu.
__________________________________________________________ Not happy with your email address?. Get the one you really want - millions of new email addresses available now at Yahoo! http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/ymail/new.html
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: emailsignet@mailcan.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/emailsignet%40mailcan.c... People make a plan work, a plan alone seldom makes people work (Confucius).
I think we need a "holding companies to account" intervention in the ICT industry or "score card" intervention. South Africa has successfully introduced it in local authorities, which is scored by the public. This should apply across the board in the industry, not just to the ICT Board. Maybe a quarterly newsletter or equivalent from the ICT Board would help keep everyone abreast of any achievements...or progress towards concrete achievements. It has been rather quiet! On the mandate issue, I think it needs to be reviewed if BPO is the only mandate...ICT4D is certainly much broader and other strategies to get broad-based development (including in rural areas) needs to be considered. I worry that we might be too "centre focussed" other than the Digital Villages, which are yet to be rolled out to rural and remote areas. Edith -----Original Message----- From: kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of waudo siganga Sent: 08 August 2008 09:43 To: eadera@idrc.or.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy Hi - I think that the ICT Board, being a public entity owes a duty of reply in cases where questions are directed at it - and that includes the one from Wambui. Why has the Board fallen into a "Do Not Resopond Syndrome"? There must be a communications person there or a PRO being paid from public funds and they should do their job! Can we have an official response to Wambui's concerns FROM THE ICT BOARD. Waudo On Thu, 7 Aug 2008 23:07:01 -0700 (PDT), "John Walubengo" <jwalu@yahoo.com> said:
Hey Wambui,
No offense meant with regard to BPO. Its just that your concerns were beginning to sound somewhat personal than generic. As Otuoma mentions in another mail, there seems to be things beyond the ICTBoard that could be effected - e.g on Bandwidth susbsidies because of pending funds from World Bank...
walu. NB: and by the way, this Richard guy if I could speak for him, is actually still in the BPO industry, he simply diversified into non-bandwidth intensive processes and in the interim focuses in Backoffice rather than bandwidth intensive Call-center operations. He does for example, data transcripting, research, training, etc). Something to keep you busy as you await bigger things.
--- On Thu, 8/7/08, Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
From: Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk> Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy To: jwalu@yahoo.com Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, August 7, 2008, 7:10 PM Walu
BPO will not take me to heaven, but is a pillar of Vision 2030 and is an industry that can create thousands of new jobs in Kenya. i am surprised at your flippant attitude.
If the ICT Board cannot deliver on this very important mandate, then Kenya risks losing out on an industry that can be a very large revenue generator for this country. Our competitors, like South Africa, Mauritius, India, Egypt, are working overtime to position themselves to the markets out there. If Kenya doesnt position itself at this time, we shall lose out.
Richard Mwangi's challenges (whichever they were) are besides the point. Kenya needs to put in much effort if this industry is to become a force to reckon with.
Wambui
--- On Thu, 7/8/08, John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy To: wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, 7 August, 2008, 2:38 PM
Wambui,
....without defending the ICTBoard (am trying to look for their ToRs before passing judgement), I can only observe that you seem to be single-minded and persistent on this BPO thing...
my general and non-ICT advice is that keep your eyes open - if BPO wont take you to heaven, am sure something else you maybe refusing to see will. God (or is it the ICTBoard?) may have shut the BPO door for you, but just look around and you will probably see many other opportunities.
Richard of richard@northwestoffshore.com, a BPO company who is on this list had similar challenges and he did manage to work around them. Reach him out in case he prefers to keep his silence on the list.
walu.
__________________________________________________________ Not happy with your email address?. Get the one you really want - millions of new email addresses available now at Yahoo! http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/ymail/new.html
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: emailsignet@mailcan.com Unsubscribe or change your options at
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/emailsignet%40mailcan.c om People make a plan work, a plan alone seldom makes people work (Confucius). _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: eadera@idrc.or.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/eadera%40idrc.or.ke
Dear colleagues, I assure everyone that we have taken notice of your views. We recognise the need to communicate more widely and to this effect, I have asked our Head of Communication to adopt this mailing list as a formal medium to regularly relay the board's programs with immediate effect. On the specific issues raised here, our Head of Communication will relay an appropriate response as soon as we have completed our review of the issues raised. I propose that this include regular updates, on a formal basis, from the specific sector bodies which the Board provides partial support to, as a way of creating a complete picture. Kind regards On Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 11:41 AM, Edith Adera <eadera@idrc.or.ke> wrote:
I think we need a "holding companies to account" intervention in the ICT industry or "score card" intervention. South Africa has successfully introduced it in local authorities, which is scored by the public.
This should apply across the board in the industry, not just to the ICT Board.
Maybe a quarterly newsletter or equivalent from the ICT Board would help keep everyone abreast of any achievements...or progress towards concrete achievements. It has been rather quiet
On the mandate issue, I think it needs to be reviewed if BPO is the only mandate...ICT4D is certainly much broader and other strategies to get broad-based development (including in rural areas) needs to be considered. I worry that we might be too "centre focussed" other than the Digital Villages, which are yet to be rolled out to rural and remote areas.
Edith
-----Original Message----- From: kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+eadera <kictanet-bounces%2Beadera>=idrc.or.ke@ lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of waudo siganga Sent: 08 August 2008 09:43 To: eadera@idrc.or.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy
Hi - I think that the ICT Board, being a public entity owes a duty of reply in cases where questions are directed at it - and that includes the one from Wambui. Why has the Board fallen into a "Do Not Resopond Syndrome"? There must be a communications person there or a PRO being paid from public funds and they should do their job! Can we have an official response to Wambui's concerns FROM THE ICT BOARD. Waudo
On Thu, 7 Aug 2008 23:07:01 -0700 (PDT), "John Walubengo" <jwalu@yahoo.com> said:
Hey Wambui,
No offense meant with regard to BPO. Its just that your concerns were beginning to sound somewhat personal than generic. As Otuoma mentions in another mail, there seems to be things beyond the ICTBoard that could be effected - e.g on Bandwidth susbsidies because of pending funds from World Bank...
walu. NB: and by the way, this Richard guy if I could speak for him, is actually still in the BPO industry, he simply diversified into non-bandwidth intensive processes and in the interim focuses in Backoffice rather than bandwidth intensive Call-center operations. He does for example, data transcripting, research, training, etc). Something to keep you busy as you await bigger things.
--- On Thu, 8/7/08, Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
From: Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk> Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy To: jwalu@yahoo.com Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, August 7, 2008, 7:10 PM Walu
BPO will not take me to heaven, but is a pillar of Vision 2030 and is an industry that can create thousands of new jobs in Kenya. i am surprised at your flippant attitude.
If the ICT Board cannot deliver on this very important mandate, then Kenya risks losing out on an industry that can be a very large revenue generator for this country. Our competitors, like South Africa, Mauritius, India, Egypt, are working overtime to position themselves to the markets out there. If Kenya doesnt position itself at this time, we shall lose out.
Richard Mwangi's challenges (whichever they were) are besides the point. Kenya needs to put in much effort if this industry is to become a force to reckon with.
Wambui
--- On Thu, 7/8/08, John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy To: wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, 7 August, 2008, 2:38 PM
Wambui,
....without defending the ICTBoard (am trying to look for their ToRs before passing judgement), I can only observe that you seem to be single-minded and persistent on this BPO thing...
my general and non-ICT advice is that keep your eyes open - if BPO wont take you to heaven, am sure something else you maybe refusing to see will. God (or is it the ICTBoard?) may have shut the BPO door for you, but just look around and you will probably see many other opportunities.
Richard of richard@northwestoffshore.com, a BPO company who is on this list had similar challenges and he did manage to work around them. Reach him out in case he prefers to keep his silence on the list.
walu.
__________________________________________________________ Not happy with your email address?. Get the one you really want - millions of new email addresses available now at Yahoo! http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/ymail/new.html
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: emailsignet@mailcan.com Unsubscribe or change your options at
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/emailsignet%40mailcan.c om<http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/emailsignet%40mailcan.com> People make a plan work, a plan alone seldom makes people work (Confucius).
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: eadera@idrc.or.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/eadera%40idrc.or.ke
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: pkukubo@ict.go.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/pkukubo%40ict.go.ke
-- Paul Kukubo Chief Executive Officer, Kenya ICT Board PO Box 27150 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya CCK Offices Waiyaki Way Tel direct: +254 20 2089062/251152 telkom Direct: +254 20 3518000 Fax: +254 20 315147 Cell: + 254 735 180001 website: www.ict.go.ke
Let us also be realistic in our expectations of solutions -in toto- from the Board. I am aware of powerfully transforming initiatives they are implementing quietly because sometimes, "whatever is good must be done well and quietly." The ICT Board is so important to all Kenya! On Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 12:49 PM, Paul Kukubo <pkukubo@ict.go.ke> wrote:
Dear colleagues,
I assure everyone that we have taken notice of your views. We recognise the need to communicate more widely and to this effect, I have asked our Head of Communication to adopt this mailing list as a formal medium to regularly relay the board's programs with immediate effect.
On the specific issues raised here, our Head of Communication will relay an appropriate response as soon as we have completed our review of the issues raised.
I propose that this include regular updates, on a formal basis, from the specific sector bodies which the Board provides partial support to, as a way of creating a complete picture.
Kind regards
On Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 11:41 AM, Edith Adera <eadera@idrc.or.ke> wrote:
I think we need a "holding companies to account" intervention in the ICT industry or "score card" intervention. South Africa has successfully introduced it in local authorities, which is scored by the public.
This should apply across the board in the industry, not just to the ICT Board.
Maybe a quarterly newsletter or equivalent from the ICT Board would help keep everyone abreast of any achievements...or progress towards concrete achievements. It has been rather quiet
On the mandate issue, I think it needs to be reviewed if BPO is the only mandate...ICT4D is certainly much broader and other strategies to get broad-based development (including in rural areas) needs to be considered. I worry that we might be too "centre focussed" other than the Digital Villages, which are yet to be rolled out to rural and remote areas.
Edith
-----Original Message----- From: kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of waudo siganga Sent: 08 August 2008 09:43 To: eadera@idrc.or.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy
Hi - I think that the ICT Board, being a public entity owes a duty of reply in cases where questions are directed at it - and that includes the one from Wambui. Why has the Board fallen into a "Do Not Resopond Syndrome"? There must be a communications person there or a PRO being paid from public funds and they should do their job! Can we have an official response to Wambui's concerns FROM THE ICT BOARD. Waudo
On Thu, 7 Aug 2008 23:07:01 -0700 (PDT), "John Walubengo" <jwalu@yahoo.com> said:
Hey Wambui,
No offense meant with regard to BPO. Its just that your concerns were beginning to sound somewhat personal than generic. As Otuoma mentions in another mail, there seems to be things beyond the ICTBoard that could be effected - e.g on Bandwidth susbsidies because of pending funds from World Bank...
walu. NB: and by the way, this Richard guy if I could speak for him, is actually still in the BPO industry, he simply diversified into non-bandwidth intensive processes and in the interim focuses in Backoffice rather than bandwidth intensive Call-center operations. He does for example, data transcripting, research, training, etc). Something to keep you busy as you await bigger things.
--- On Thu, 8/7/08, Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
From: Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk> Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy To: jwalu@yahoo.com Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, August 7, 2008, 7:10 PM Walu
BPO will not take me to heaven, but is a pillar of Vision 2030 and is an industry that can create thousands of new jobs in Kenya. i am surprised at your flippant attitude.
If the ICT Board cannot deliver on this very important mandate, then Kenya risks losing out on an industry that can be a very large revenue generator for this country. Our competitors, like South Africa, Mauritius, India, Egypt, are working overtime to position themselves to the markets out there. If Kenya doesnt position itself at this time, we shall lose out.
Richard Mwangi's challenges (whichever they were) are besides the point. Kenya needs to put in much effort if this industry is to become a force to reckon with.
Wambui
--- On Thu, 7/8/08, John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy To: wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, 7 August, 2008, 2:38 PM
Wambui,
....without defending the ICTBoard (am trying to look for their ToRs before passing judgement), I can only observe that you seem to be single-minded and persistent on this BPO thing...
my general and non-ICT advice is that keep your eyes open - if BPO wont take you to heaven, am sure something else you maybe refusing to see will. God (or is it the ICTBoard?) may have shut the BPO door for you, but just look around and you will probably see many other opportunities.
Richard of richard@northwestoffshore.com, a BPO company who is on this list had similar challenges and he did manage to work around them. Reach him out in case he prefers to keep his silence on the list.
walu.
__________________________________________________________ Not happy with your email address?. Get the one you really want - millions of new email addresses available now at Yahoo! http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/ymail/new.html
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: emailsignet@mailcan.com Unsubscribe or change your options at
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/emailsignet%40mailcan.c om People make a plan work, a plan alone seldom makes people work (Confucius).
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: eadera@idrc.or.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/eadera%40idrc.or.ke
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: pkukubo@ict.go.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/pkukubo%40ict.go.ke
-- Paul Kukubo Chief Executive Officer, Kenya ICT Board PO Box 27150 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya
CCK Offices Waiyaki Way
Tel direct: +254 20 2089062/251152 telkom Direct: +254 20 3518000 Fax: +254 20 315147 Cell: + 254 735 180001
website: www.ict.go.ke
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: alexgakuru.lists@gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/alexgakuru.lists%40gmai...
So are you saying that the ICT board has been "quietly" marketing Kenya and for this we should not ask too many questions we must give them space to work "quietly"? It is a public institution and has to be transparent and accountable. If the performamnce so far has been poor, we need to know why. regards Jane
Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2008 17:19:53 +0300 From: alexgakuru.lists@gmail.com Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy CC: kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke To: wambui@live.co.uk
Let us also be realistic in our expectations of solutions -in toto- from the Board. I am aware of powerfully transforming initiatives they are implementing quietly because sometimes, "whatever is good must be done well and quietly." The ICT Board is so important to all Kenya!
On Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 12:49 PM, Paul Kukubo <pkukubo@ict.go.ke> wrote:
Dear colleagues,
I assure everyone that we have taken notice of your views. We recognise the need to communicate more widely and to this effect, I have asked our Head of Communication to adopt this mailing list as a formal medium to regularly relay the board's programs with immediate effect.
On the specific issues raised here, our Head of Communication will relay an appropriate response as soon as we have completed our review of the issues raised.
I propose that this include regular updates, on a formal basis, from the specific sector bodies which the Board provides partial support to, as a way of creating a complete picture.
Kind regards
On Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 11:41 AM, Edith Adera <eadera@idrc.or.ke> wrote:
I think we need a "holding companies to account" intervention in the ICT industry or "score card" intervention. South Africa has successfully introduced it in local authorities, which is scored by the public.
This should apply across the board in the industry, not just to the ICT Board.
Maybe a quarterly newsletter or equivalent from the ICT Board would help keep everyone abreast of any achievements...or progress towards concrete achievements. It has been rather quiet
On the mandate issue, I think it needs to be reviewed if BPO is the only mandate...ICT4D is certainly much broader and other strategies to get broad-based development (including in rural areas) needs to be considered. I worry that we might be too "centre focussed" other than the Digital Villages, which are yet to be rolled out to rural and remote areas.
Edith
-----Original Message----- From: kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of waudo siganga Sent: 08 August 2008 09:43 To: eadera@idrc.or.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy
Hi - I think that the ICT Board, being a public entity owes a duty of reply in cases where questions are directed at it - and that includes the one from Wambui. Why has the Board fallen into a "Do Not Resopond Syndrome"? There must be a communications person there or a PRO being paid from public funds and they should do their job! Can we have an official response to Wambui's concerns FROM THE ICT BOARD. Waudo
On Thu, 7 Aug 2008 23:07:01 -0700 (PDT), "John Walubengo" <jwalu@yahoo.com> said:
Hey Wambui,
No offense meant with regard to BPO. Its just that your concerns were beginning to sound somewhat personal than generic. As Otuoma mentions in another mail, there seems to be things beyond the ICTBoard that could be effected - e.g on Bandwidth susbsidies because of pending funds from World Bank...
walu. NB: and by the way, this Richard guy if I could speak for him, is actually still in the BPO industry, he simply diversified into non-bandwidth intensive processes and in the interim focuses in Backoffice rather than bandwidth intensive Call-center operations. He does for example, data transcripting, research, training, etc). Something to keep you busy as you await bigger things.
--- On Thu, 8/7/08, Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
From: Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk> Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy To: jwalu@yahoo.com Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, August 7, 2008, 7:10 PM Walu
BPO will not take me to heaven, but is a pillar of Vision 2030 and is an industry that can create thousands of new jobs in Kenya. i am surprised at your flippant attitude.
If the ICT Board cannot deliver on this very important mandate, then Kenya risks losing out on an industry that can be a very large revenue generator for this country. Our competitors, like South Africa, Mauritius, India, Egypt, are working overtime to position themselves to the markets out there. If Kenya doesnt position itself at this time, we shall lose out.
Richard Mwangi's challenges (whichever they were) are besides the point. Kenya needs to put in much effort if this industry is to become a force to reckon with.
Wambui
--- On Thu, 7/8/08, John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy To: wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, 7 August, 2008, 2:38 PM
Wambui,
....without defending the ICTBoard (am trying to look for their ToRs before passing judgement), I can only observe that you seem to be single-minded and persistent on this BPO thing...
my general and non-ICT advice is that keep your eyes open - if BPO wont take you to heaven, am sure something else you maybe refusing to see will. God (or is it the ICTBoard?) may have shut the BPO door for you, but just look around and you will probably see many other opportunities.
Richard of richard@northwestoffshore.com, a BPO company who is on this list had similar challenges and he did manage to work around them. Reach him out in case he prefers to keep his silence on the list.
walu.
__________________________________________________________ Not happy with your email address?. Get the one you really want - millions of new email addresses available now at Yahoo! http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/ymail/new.html
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: emailsignet@mailcan.com Unsubscribe or change your options at
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/emailsignet%40mailcan.c om People make a plan work, a plan alone seldom makes people work (Confucius).
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: eadera@idrc.or.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/eadera%40idrc.or.ke
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: pkukubo@ict.go.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/pkukubo%40ict.go.ke
-- Paul Kukubo Chief Executive Officer, Kenya ICT Board PO Box 27150 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya
CCK Offices Waiyaki Way
Tel direct: +254 20 2089062/251152 telkom Direct: +254 20 3518000 Fax: +254 20 315147 Cell: + 254 735 180001
website: www.ict.go.ke
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: alexgakuru.lists@gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/alexgakuru.lists%40gmai...
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: wambui@live.co.uk Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/wambui%40live.co.uk
_________________________________________________________________ Win a voice over part with Kung Fu Panda & Live Search and 100’s of Kung Fu Panda prizes to win with Live Search http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/107571439/direct/01/
For the ICT Board, some of us are expecting a one-year-old child to be running marathon in the Olympics! Let's give them reasonable time to be able to deliver before we start nailing them (if it'll be necessary!). There is no problem finding out what they are doing but suggesting just because they are public they need to tell us every step of their strategy is being unreasonable. Dissolving the entire Board because they have not delivered on one of their objectives in less than a year is also unrealistic. Jotham --- On Sat, 8/9/08, wambui jane <wambui@live.co.uk> wrote: From: wambui jane <wambui@live.co.uk> Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy To: jokilimo@yahoo.com Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Saturday, August 9, 2008, 12:18 PM #yiv197589490 .hmmessage P { margin:0px;padding:0px;} #yiv197589490 { FONT-SIZE:10pt;FONT-FAMILY:Tahoma;} So are you saying that the ICT board has been "quietly" marketing Kenya and for this we should not ask too many questions we must give them space to work "quietly"? It is a public institution and has to be transparent and accountable. If the performamnce so far has been poor, we need to know why. regards Jane
Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2008 17:19:53 +0300 From: alexgakuru.lists@gmail.com Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy CC: kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke To: wambui@live.co.uk
Let us also be realistic in our expectations of solutions -in toto- from the Board. I am aware of powerfully transforming initiatives they are implementing quietly because sometimes, "whatever is good must be done well and quietly." The ICT Board is so important to all Kenya!
On Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 12:49 PM, Paul Kukubo <pkukubo@ict.go.ke> wrote:
Dear colleagues,
I assure everyone that we have taken notice of your views. We recognise the need to communicate more widely and to this effect, I have asked our Head of Communication to adopt this mailing list as a formal medium to regularly relay the board's programs with immediate effect.
On the specific issues raised here, our Head of Communication will relay an appropriate response as soon as we have completed our review of the issues raised.
I propose that this include regular updates, on a formal basis, from the specific sector bodies which the Board provides partial support to, as a way of creating a complete picture.
Kind regards
On Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 11:41 AM, Edith Adera <eadera@idrc.or.ke> wrote:
I think we need a "holding companies to account" intervention in the ICT industry or "score card" intervention. South Africa has successfully introduced it in local authorities, which is scored by the public.
This should apply across the board in the industry, not just to the ICT Board.
Maybe a quarterly newsletter or equivalent from the ICT Board would help keep everyone abreast of any achievements...or progress towards concrete achievements. It has been rather quiet
On the mandate issue, I think it needs to be reviewed if BPO is the only mandate...ICT4D is certainly much broader and other strategies to get broad-based development (including in rural areas) needs to be considered. I worry that we might be too "centre focussed" other than the Digital Villages, which are yet to be rolled out to rural and remote areas.
Edith
-----Original Message----- From: kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of waudo siganga Sent: 08 August 2008 09:43 To: eadera@idrc.or.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy
Hi - I think that the ICT Board, being a public entity owes a duty of reply in cases where questions are directed at it - and that includes the one from Wambui. Why has the Board fallen into a "Do Not Resopond Syndrome"? There must be a communications person there or a PRO being paid from public funds and they should do their job! Can we have an official response to Wambui's concerns FROM THE ICT BOARD. Waudo
On Thu, 7 Aug 2008 23:07:01 -0700 (PDT), "John Walubengo" <jwalu@yahoo.com> said:
Hey Wambui,
No offense meant with regard to BPO. Its just that your concerns were beginning to sound somewhat personal than generic. As Otuoma mentions in another mail, there seems to be things beyond the ICTBoard that could be effected - e.g on Bandwidth susbsidies because of pending funds from World Bank...
walu. NB: and by the way, this Richard guy if I could speak for him, is actually still in the BPO industry, he simply diversified into non-bandwidth intensive processes and in the interim focuses in Backoffice rather than bandwidth intensive Call-center operations. He does for example, data transcripting, research, training, etc). Something to keep you busy as you await bigger things.
--- On Thu, 8/7/08, Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
From: Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk> Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy To: jwalu@yahoo.com Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, August 7, 2008, 7:10 PM Walu
BPO will not take me to heaven, but is a pillar of Vision 2030 and is an industry that can create thousands of new jobs in Kenya. i am surprised at your flippant attitude.
If the ICT Board cannot deliver on this very important mandate, then Kenya risks losing out on an industry that can be a very large revenue generator for this country. Our competitors, like South Africa, Mauritius, India, Egypt, are working overtime to position themselves to the markets out there. If Kenya doesnt position itself at this time, we shall lose out.
Richard Mwangi's challenges (whichever they were) are besides the point. Kenya needs to put in much effort if this industry is to become a force to reckon with.
Wambui
--- On Thu, 7/8/08, John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [kictanet] ICT/BPO Marketing Strategy To: wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Date: Thursday, 7 August, 2008, 2:38 PM
Wambui,
....without defending the ICTBoard (am trying to look for their ToRs before passing judgement), I can only observe that you seem to be single-minded and persistent on this BPO thing...
my general and non-ICT advice is that keep your eyes open - if BPO wont take you to heaven, am sure something else you maybe refusing to see will. God (or is it the ICTBoard?) may have shut the BPO door for you, but just look around and you will probably see many other opportunities.
Richard of richard@northwestoffshore.com, a BPO company who is on this list had similar challenges and he did manage to work around them. Reach him out in case he prefers to keep his silence on the list.
walu.
__________________________________________________________ Not happy with your email address?. Get the one you really want - millions of new email addresses available now at Yahoo! http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/ymail/new.html
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: emailsignet@mailcan.com Unsubscribe or change your options at
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/emailsignet%40mailcan.c om People make a plan work, a plan alone seldom makes people work (Confucius).
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: eadera@idrc.or.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/eadera%40idrc.or.ke
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: pkukubo@ict.go.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/pkukubo%40ict.go.ke
-- Paul Kukubo Chief Executive Officer, Kenya ICT Board PO Box 27150 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya
CCK Offices Waiyaki Way
Tel direct: +254 20 2089062/251152 telkom Direct: +254 20 3518000 Fax: +254 20 315147 Cell: + 254 735 180001
website: www.ict.go.ke
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: alexgakuru.lists@gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/alexgakuru.lists%40gmai...
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: wambui@live.co.uk Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/wambui%40live.co.uk
Get Hotmail on your mobile from Vodafone Try it Now! _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: jokilimo@yahoo.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jokilimo%40yahoo.com
Greetings all, Today we just want to get upto speed with the genesis and rationale for Internet Governance. Internet Governance issues arose from the increasing use of the Internet during the mid and late 1990s. Most countries were surprised at the increasing role the internet was having on their Socio-economic as well as Political landscape. They then realised that lacked the oversight power the US government unilatery enjoyed over the development and use of the Internet resources. Indeed one of the Key questions then as it is now, was why should one Government influence the direction of a global resource without reference to other governments? The way the Internet was governed was definitely not commensurate with its global reach or nature. A lot of lobbying and pressure particularly from Latin America, Asia Pacific and ITU started agitating for a change in the oversight role the US government had and continues to have over the Internet. The anti-change proponents however maintained that the current governance structure through the US Dept of Commerce and ICANN is what has given the Internet this phenomenal growth – hence the famous cliché – “If it ain't broken, why try to fix it?” The World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) process was commissioned by UN in the late 1990s to look into this and other emerging issues of the Internet such as the legal, economic and social-cultural dimensions of the Internet. The WSIS process concluded in Tunis, 2005, give no definite rulings on these issues but recommended instead the creation of a multi-stakeholder forum, the IGF – the Internet Governance Forum which continues to study and deliberate on these issues to date. WSIS also supplied the working definition for Internet Governance as:- the development and application by Stakeholders of the rules, norms, procedures and practices that influence the evolution and use of the Internet. The Stakeholders (States, Civil Society, Academia, Media, Businesses, etc) are all actively involved in the Internet Governance Forum with the sole objective of ensuring that their interests are catered for as the Internet continues to evolve. The IGF has so far held two summits, Greece, and Brazil with a 3rd due at the end of this year in India. The stakeholders propose positions on the emerging and contentious issues that are used to somewhat inform the direction the Internet takes. However, most of Africa continues to sleep as Nations and other stakeholders scramble to claim a stake and positions on what is becoming the most important battle of the 21st Century – the battle for the Information Superhighway. Those with experiences, comments, clarifications, observations or objections have 1day to say something on today’s Introductory theme. walu.
For general information see: http://www.intgovforum.org/ For what Walu is trying to get us engaged in see: http://www.intgovforum.org/usgdesa-letter-en.html On behalf of the Secretary-General, it is my pleasure to invite you to participate in the Third IGF in Hyderabad, India on 3 - 6 December 2008. The meeting will be open to all World Summit on the information Society (WSIS) accredited entities, as well as other institutions and persons with proven expertise and experience in matters related to Internet governance. Following broad-based consultations through the Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group (MAG), the proposed agenda for the Third Meeting of the IGF will be as follows: Reaching the next billion; Promoting cyber-security and trust; Managing critical Internet resources; Taking stock and the way forward; Emerging issues - the Internet of tomorrow The overall theme of the meeting will be internet for all'. On Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 10:56 AM, John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote:
Greetings all,
Today we just want to get upto speed with the genesis and rationale for Internet Governance. Internet Governance issues arose from the increasing use of the Internet during the mid and late 1990s. Most countries were surprised at the increasing role the internet was having on their Socio-economic as well as Political landscape. They then realised that lacked the oversight power the US government unilatery enjoyed over the development and use of the Internet resources.
Indeed one of the Key questions then as it is now, was why should one Government influence the direction of a global resource without reference to other governments? The way the Internet was governed was definitely not commensurate with its global reach or nature. A lot of lobbying and pressure particularly from Latin America, Asia Pacific and ITU started agitating for a change in the oversight role the US government had and continues to have over the Internet. The anti-change proponents however maintained that the current governance structure through the US Dept of Commerce and ICANN is what has given the Internet this phenomenal growth – hence the famous cliché – "If it ain't broken, why try to fix it?"
The World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) process was commissioned by UN in the late 1990s to look into this and other emerging issues of the Internet such as the legal, economic and social-cultural dimensions of the Internet. The WSIS process concluded in Tunis, 2005, give no definite rulings on these issues but recommended instead the creation of a multi-stakeholder forum, the IGF – the Internet Governance Forum which continues to study and deliberate on these issues to date. WSIS also supplied the working definition for Internet Governance as:- the development and application by Stakeholders of the rules, norms, procedures and practices that influence the evolution and use of the Internet.
The Stakeholders (States, Civil Society, Academia, Media, Businesses, etc) are all actively involved in the Internet Governance Forum with the sole objective of ensuring that their interests are catered for as the Internet continues to evolve. The IGF has so far held two summits, Greece, and Brazil with a 3rd due at the end of this year in India. The stakeholders propose positions on the emerging and contentious issues that are used to somewhat inform the direction the Internet takes. However, most of Africa continues to sleep as Nations and other stakeholders scramble to claim a stake and positions on what is becoming the most important battle of the 21st Century – the battle for the Information Superhighway.
Those with experiences, comments, clarifications, observations or objections have 1day to say something on today's Introductory theme.
walu.
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: otwomad@gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/otwomad%40gmail.com
Hi Walu, David - I hope in the course of the discussions someone can paint a clearer picture of the meaning of "critical Internet resources". The original "narrow definition" of IG was based on this concept but now I believe no two people in a room can give the same definition although I see it on the Hyraband Agenda (Agenda Item 4). I also hope that at the end of the day we will get some proposals for alternative IG Models, probably based on the WGIG report proposals: No single Government should have a pre-eminent role in relation to international Internet governance. The organizational form for the governance function will be multilateral, transparent and democratic, with the full involvement of Governments, the private sector, civil society and international organizations. The organizational form for the governance function will involve all stakeholders and relevant intergovernmental and international organizations within their respective roles In this connection, another resource is www.wgig.org Waudo Former UN-WGIG member On Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:17:54 +0400, "David Otwoma" <otwomad@gmail.com> said:
For general information see:
For what Walu is trying to get us engaged in see: http://www.intgovforum.org/usgdesa-letter-en.html
On behalf of the Secretary-General, it is my pleasure to invite you to participate in the Third IGF in Hyderabad, India on 3 - 6 December 2008.
The meeting will be open to all World Summit on the information Society (WSIS) accredited entities, as well as other institutions and persons with proven expertise and experience in matters related to Internet governance.
Following broad-based consultations through the Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group (MAG), the proposed agenda for the Third Meeting of the IGF will be as follows:
Reaching the next billion;
Promoting cyber-security and trust;
Managing critical Internet resources;
Taking stock and the way forward;
Emerging issues - the Internet of tomorrow
The overall theme of the meeting will be internet for all'.
On Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 10:56 AM, John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote:
Greetings all,
Today we just want to get upto speed with the genesis and rationale for Internet Governance. Internet Governance issues arose from the increasing use of the Internet during the mid and late 1990s. Most countries were surprised at the increasing role the internet was having on their Socio-economic as well as Political landscape. They then realised that lacked the oversight power the US government unilatery enjoyed over the development and use of the Internet resources.
Indeed one of the Key questions then as it is now, was why should one Government influence the direction of a global resource without reference to other governments? The way the Internet was governed was definitely not commensurate with its global reach or nature. A lot of lobbying and pressure particularly from Latin America, Asia Pacific and ITU started agitating for a change in the oversight role the US government had and continues to have over the Internet. The anti-change proponents however maintained that the current governance structure through the US Dept of Commerce and ICANN is what has given the Internet this phenomenal growth – hence the famous cliché – "If it ain't broken, why try to fix it?"
The World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) process was commissioned by UN in the late 1990s to look into this and other emerging issues of the Internet such as the legal, economic and social-cultural dimensions of the Internet. The WSIS process concluded in Tunis, 2005, give no definite rulings on these issues but recommended instead the creation of a multi-stakeholder forum, the IGF – the Internet Governance Forum which continues to study and deliberate on these issues to date. WSIS also supplied the working definition for Internet Governance as:- the development and application by Stakeholders of the rules, norms, procedures and practices that influence the evolution and use of the Internet.
The Stakeholders (States, Civil Society, Academia, Media, Businesses, etc) are all actively involved in the Internet Governance Forum with the sole objective of ensuring that their interests are catered for as the Internet continues to evolve. The IGF has so far held two summits, Greece, and Brazil with a 3rd due at the end of this year in India. The stakeholders propose positions on the emerging and contentious issues that are used to somewhat inform the direction the Internet takes. However, most of Africa continues to sleep as Nations and other stakeholders scramble to claim a stake and positions on what is becoming the most important battle of the 21st Century – the battle for the Information Superhighway.
Those with experiences, comments, clarifications, observations or objections have 1day to say something on today's Introductory theme.
walu.
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: otwomad@gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/otwomad%40gmail.com
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: emailsignet@mailcan.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/emailsignet%40mailcan.c... People make a plan work, a plan alone seldom makes people work (Confucius).
Good intro Walu. I will add a few points: Besides the concern that other governments had/have over USA's control over the numbering and naming mechanisms of the Internet, there are also a number of themes that have arisen within the Internet Governance debate that have prompted many countries to start seriously considering measures that relate to governance of the Internet within as well as without their borders. Some of these follow: 1) Cyber-Crime: Due to the vast nature of the network, the Internet can be used as a medium for electronic crime or computer assisted crime/fraud without the perpetrator ever physically stepping into the "victim" countries territory. Investigations have shown that in many cases, multiple computer and network systems in multiple jurisdictions have been compromised and used as part of elaborate schemes that either target a particular system or series of systems. a good example here is the Nigeria "419" scams which in the recent past seem to be originating more from the USA/Europe than from Nigeria itself. 2) Cyber-Warfare: also known as "information warfare" it is defined in Wikipedia as "... the use and management of information in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent. Information warfare may involve collection of tactical information, assurance that one's own information is valid, spreading of propaganda or disinformation to demoralize the enemy and the public, undermining the quality of opposing force information and denial of information collection opportunities to opposing forces." - the Internet plays a key role in many country's cyber-warfare strategies. An excerpt from a USA department of Defense report says this about China's Peoples Liberation Army "The PLA is investing in electronic countermeasures, defenses against electronic attack (e.g., electronic and infrared decoys, angle reflectors, and false target generators), and computer network operations (CNO). China’s CNO concepts include computer network attack, computer network defense, and computer network exploitation. The PLA sees CNO as critical to achieving “electromagnetic dominance” early in a conflict. " 3) Child Pornography: Among other evils that plague the Internet, this is probably the most disturbing. Law enforcement agencies across the globe have been stretched beyond their limits in trying to catch and shut down producers and propagators of these illicit materials. Once again, the vastly international nature of these networks makes it very hard to deal with cross-jurisdictional issues, laws on evidence, privacy and the like. While there have been cases where multi-national networks have been busted and entire child-porn rings dismantled, there is still great concern in this area 4) Spam: it has been reported that unsolicited commercial email and more recently malicious, meaningless email garbage constitutes almost 80% of all email transmitted over the internet. This carries incredible implications especially for the end users who pay a high price for their connectivity. Once again, a largely multi-national phenomenon - spam is clearly an issue that will need many countries, network, techies etc to sit together and figure out a way of dealing. I could keep going on but will rest my case here - hope that the discussions find time to discuss/shed light on some of the above areas.... Regards, Brian On Aug 11, 2008, at 9:56 AM, John Walubengo wrote:
Greetings all,
Today we just want to get upto speed with the genesis and rationale for Internet Governance. Internet Governance issues arose from the increasing use of the Internet during the mid and late 1990s. Most countries were surprised at the increasing role the internet was having on their Socio-economic as well as Political landscape. They then realised that lacked the oversight power the US government unilatery enjoyed over the development and use of the Internet resources.
Indeed one of the Key questions then as it is now, was why should one Government influence the direction of a global resource without reference to other governments? The way the Internet was governed was definitely not commensurate with its global reach or nature. A lot of lobbying and pressure particularly from Latin America, Asia Pacific and ITU started agitating for a change in the oversight role the US government had and continues to have over the Internet. The anti-change proponents however maintained that the current governance structure through the US Dept of Commerce and ICANN is what has given the Internet this phenomenal growth – hence the famous cliché – “If it ain't broken, why try to fix it?”
The World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) process was commissioned by UN in the late 1990s to look into this and other emerging issues of the Internet such as the legal, economic and social-cultural dimensions of the Internet. The WSIS process concluded in Tunis, 2005, give no definite rulings on these issues but recommended instead the creation of a multi-stakeholder forum, the IGF – the Internet Governance Forum which continues to study and deliberate on these issues to date. WSIS also supplied the working definition for Internet Governance as:- the development and application by Stakeholders of the rules, norms, procedures and practices that influence the evolution and use of the Internet.
The Stakeholders (States, Civil Society, Academia, Media, Businesses, etc) are all actively involved in the Internet Governance Forum with the sole objective of ensuring that their interests are catered for as the Internet continues to evolve. The IGF has so far held two summits, Greece, and Brazil with a 3rd due at the end of this year in India. The stakeholders propose positions on the emerging and contentious issues that are used to somewhat inform the direction the Internet takes. However, most of Africa continues to sleep as Nations and other stakeholders scramble to claim a stake and positions on what is becoming the most important battle of the 21st Century – the battle for the Information Superhighway.
Those with experiences, comments, clarifications, observations or objections have 1day to say something on today’s Introductory theme.
walu.
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: brian@caret.net Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/ mailman/options/kictanet/brian%40caret.net
Brian, you have pointed out issues that we need to consider at a national level with the increased use of the internet; What are the stakeholders initiatives are there in the area of promoting cyber-security and trust? For example is the Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT-KENYA: http://www.csirt.or.ke/) active? Do the provisions of the Draft ICT bill 2008 (Part IV – Electronic Transactions and Cybercrime) adequately address your concerns? Regards Mwende Disclaimer: These comments are the author's own. On 8/11/08, Brian Munyao Longwe <brian@caret.net> wrote:
Good intro Walu. I will add a few points:
Besides the concern that other governments had/have over USA's control over the numbering and naming mechanisms of the Internet, there are also a number of themes that have arisen within the Internet Governance debate that have prompted many countries to start seriously considering measures that relate to governance of the Internet within as well as without their borders. Some of these follow: 1) Cyber-Crime: Due to the vast nature of the network, the Internet can be used as a medium for electronic crime or computer assisted crime/fraud without the perpetrator ever physically stepping into the "victim" countries territory. Investigations have shown that in many cases, multiple computer and network systems in multiple jurisdictions have been compromised and used as part of elaborate schemes that either target a particular system or series of systems. a good example here is the Nigeria "419" scams which in the recent past seem to be originating more from the USA/Europe than from Nigeria itself. 2) Cyber-Warfare: also known as "information warfare" it is defined in Wikipedia as "... the use and management of information in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent. Information warfare may involve collection of tactical information, assurance that one's own information is valid, spreading of propaganda or disinformation to demoralize the enemy and the public, undermining the quality of opposing force information and denial of information collection opportunities to opposing forces." - the Internet plays a key role in many country's cyber-warfare strategies. An excerpt from a USA department of Defense report says this about China's Peoples Liberation Army "The PLA is investing in electronic countermeasures, defenses against electronic attack (e.g., electronic and infrared decoys, angle reflectors, and false target generators), and computer network operations (CNO). China's CNO concepts include computer network attack, computer network defense, and computer network exploitation. The PLA sees CNO as critical to achieving "electromagnetic dominance" early in a conflict. " 3) Child Pornography: Among other evils that plague the Internet, this is probably the most disturbing. Law enforcement agencies across the globe have been stretched beyond their limits in trying to catch and shut down producers and propagators of these illicit materials. Once again, the vastly international nature of these networks makes it very hard to deal with cross-jurisdictional issues, laws on evidence, privacy and the like. While there have been cases where multi-national networks have been busted and entire child-porn rings dismantled, there is still great concern in this area 4) Spam: it has been reported that unsolicited commercial email and more recently malicious, meaningless email garbage constitutes almost 80% of all email transmitted over the internet. This carries incredible implications especially for the end users who pay a high price for their connectivity. Once again, a largely multi-national phenomenon - spam is clearly an issue that will need many countries, network, techies etc to sit together and figure out a way of dealing.
I could keep going on but will rest my case here - hope that the discussions find time to discuss/shed light on some of the above areas....
Regards,
Brian
On Aug 11, 2008, at 9:56 AM, John Walubengo wrote:
Greetings all,
Today we just want to get upto speed with the genesis and rationale for Internet Governance. Internet Governance issues arose from the increasing use of the Internet during the mid and late 1990s. Most countries were surprised at the increasing role the internet was having on their Socio-economic as well as Political landscape. They then realised that lacked the oversight power the US government unilatery enjoyed over the development and use of the Internet resources.
Indeed one of the Key questions then as it is now, was why should one Government influence the direction of a global resource without reference to other governments? The way the Internet was governed was definitely not commensurate with its global reach or nature. A lot of lobbying and pressure particularly from Latin America, Asia Pacific and ITU started agitating for a change in the oversight role the US government had and continues to have over the Internet. The anti-change proponents however maintained that the current governance structure through the US Dept of Commerce and ICANN is what has given the Internet this phenomenal growth – hence the famous cliché – "If it ain't broken, why try to fix it?"
The World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) process was commissioned by UN in the late 1990s to look into this and other emerging issues of the Internet such as the legal, economic and social-cultural dimensions of the Internet. The WSIS process concluded in Tunis, 2005, give no definite rulings on these issues but recommended instead the creation of a multi-stakeholder forum, the IGF – the Internet Governance Forum which continues to study and deliberate on these issues to date. WSIS also supplied the working definition for Internet Governance as:- the development and application by Stakeholders of the rules, norms, procedures and practices that influence the evolution and use of the Internet.
The Stakeholders (States, Civil Society, Academia, Media, Businesses, etc) are all actively involved in the Internet Governance Forum with the sole objective of ensuring that their interests are catered for as the Internet continues to evolve. The IGF has so far held two summits, Greece, and Brazil with a 3rd due at the end of this year in India. The stakeholders propose positions on the emerging and contentious issues that are used to somewhat inform the direction the Internet takes. However, most of Africa continues to sleep as Nations and other stakeholders scramble to claim a stake and positions on what is becoming the most important battle of the 21st Century – the battle for the Information Superhighway.
Those with experiences, comments, clarifications, observations or objections have 1day to say something on today's Introductory theme.
walu.
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: brian@caret.net Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/ mailman/options/kictanet/brian%40caret.net
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: mwende.njiraini@gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mwende.njiraini%40gmail...
Thanks Brian and Many contributors on Internet Governance Subject and Discussions thereafter. More challenging is the development of policies and guidelines which could be adopted in the various sectors / sub-sectors in order for us as a country to have sound IG. More recently, in Education Sector for example, Technology (Particularly Internet - Social Networks) blame was featured in some media, to be possible cause for the youth stir-up in Secondary Schools. I think as Walu and most of us contribute in this worthy discussion at Macro level, lets also think of Micro-level as well. Before a National Policy is in place, proposals need to be put forth for specific sectors to move on develop into guidelines and standards. Recently, UNESCO's ICT Division organized a conference to discuss ICT ethics and morals and indeed Internet Governance (Globe perspective) became one of the critical aspects to be focused by a group of experts as a matter of priority, since more schools and education institutions are really connecting to Internet or pushing for having the faclity. Kind regards BKS _____ From: kictanet-bounces+bksang=education.go.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+bksang=education.go.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of mwende njiraini Sent: Monday, August 11, 2008 5:02 PM To: bksang@education.go.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 1 0f 10:-Internet Governance Discussions,Introductory Theme Brian, you have pointed out issues that we need to consider at a national level with the increased use of the internet; What are the stakeholders initiatives are there in the area of promoting cyber-security and trust? For example is the Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT-KENYA: http://www.csirt.or.ke/) active? Do the provisions of the Draft ICT bill 2008 (Part IV Electronic Transactions and Cybercrime) adequately address your concerns? Regards Mwende Disclaimer: These comments are the author's own. On 8/11/08, Brian Munyao Longwe <brian@caret.net> wrote: Good intro Walu. I will add a few points: Besides the concern that other governments had/have over USA's control over the numbering and naming mechanisms of the Internet, there are also a number of themes that have arisen within the Internet Governance debate that have prompted many countries to start seriously considering measures that relate to governance of the Internet within as well as without their borders. Some of these follow: 1) Cyber-Crime: Due to the vast nature of the network, the Internet can be used as a medium for electronic crime or computer assisted crime/fraud without the perpetrator ever physically stepping into the "victim" countries territory. Investigations have shown that in many cases, multiple computer and network systems in multiple jurisdictions have been compromised and used as part of elaborate schemes that either target a particular system or series of systems. a good example here is the Nigeria "419" scams which in the recent past seem to be originating more from the USA/Europe than from Nigeria itself. 2) Cyber-Warfare: also known as "information warfare" it is defined in Wikipedia as "... the use and management of information in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent. Information warfare may involve collection of tactical information, assurance that one's own information is valid, spreading of propaganda or disinformation to demoralize the enemy and the public, undermining the quality of opposing force information and denial of information collection opportunities to opposing forces." - the Internet plays a key role in many country's cyber-warfare strategies. An excerpt from a USA department of Defense report says this about China's Peoples Liberation Army "The PLA is investing in electronic countermeasures, defenses against electronic attack (e.g., electronic and infrared decoys, angle reflectors, and false target generators), and computer network operations (CNO). China's CNO concepts include computer network attack, computer network defense, and computer network exploitation. The PLA sees CNO as critical to achieving "electromagnetic dominance" early in a conflict. " 3) Child Pornography: Among other evils that plague the Internet, this is probably the most disturbing. Law enforcement agencies across the globe have been stretched beyond their limits in trying to catch and shut down producers and propagators of these illicit materials. Once again, the vastly international nature of these networks makes it very hard to deal with cross-jurisdictional issues, laws on evidence, privacy and the like. While there have been cases where multi-national networks have been busted and entire child-porn rings dismantled, there is still great concern in this area 4) Spam: it has been reported that unsolicited commercial email and more recently malicious, meaningless email garbage constitutes almost 80% of all email transmitted over the internet. This carries incredible implications especially for the end users who pay a high price for their connectivity. Once again, a largely multi-national phenomenon - spam is clearly an issue that will need many countries, network, techies etc to sit together and figure out a way of dealing. I could keep going on but will rest my case here - hope that the discussions find time to discuss/shed light on some of the above areas.... Regards, Brian On Aug 11, 2008, at 9:56 AM, John Walubengo wrote:
Greetings all,
Today we just want to get upto speed with the genesis and rationale for Internet Governance. Internet Governance issues arose from the increasing use of the Internet during the mid and late 1990s. Most countries were surprised at the increasing role the internet was having on their Socio-economic as well as Political landscape. They then realised that lacked the oversight power the US government unilatery enjoyed over the development and use of the Internet resources.
Indeed one of the Key questions then as it is now, was why should one Government influence the direction of a global resource without reference to other governments? The way the Internet was governed was definitely not commensurate with its global reach or nature. A lot of lobbying and pressure particularly from Latin America, Asia Pacific and ITU started agitating for a change in the oversight role the US government had and continues to have over the Internet. The anti-change proponents however maintained that the current governance structure through the US Dept of Commerce and ICANN is what has given the Internet this phenomenal growth hence the famous cliché "If it ain't broken, why try to fix it?"
The World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) process was commissioned by UN in the late 1990s to look into this and other emerging issues of the Internet such as the legal, economic and social-cultural dimensions of the Internet. The WSIS process concluded in Tunis, 2005, give no definite rulings on these issues but recommended instead the creation of a multi-stakeholder forum, the IGF the Internet Governance Forum which continues to study and deliberate on these issues to date. WSIS also supplied the working definition for Internet Governance as:- the development and application by Stakeholders of the rules, norms, procedures and practices that influence the evolution and use of the Internet.
The Stakeholders (States, Civil Society, Academia, Media, Businesses, etc) are all actively involved in the Internet Governance Forum with the sole objective of ensuring that their interests are catered for as the Internet continues to evolve. The IGF has so far held two summits, Greece, and Brazil with a 3rd due at the end of this year in India. The stakeholders propose positions on the emerging and contentious issues that are used to somewhat inform the direction the Internet takes. However, most of Africa continues to sleep as Nations and other stakeholders scramble to claim a stake and positions on what is becoming the most important battle of the 21st Century the battle for the Information Superhighway.
Those with experiences, comments, clarifications, observations or objections have 1day to say something on today's Introductory theme.
walu.
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: brian@caret.net Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/ mailman/options/kictanet/brian%40caret.net <http://40caret.net/>
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: mwende.njiraini@gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mwende.njiraini%40gmail com
mwende njiraini wrote:
Brian, you have pointed out issues that we need to consider at a national level with the increased use of the internet; What are the stakeholders initiatives are there in the area of promoting cyber-security and trust? For example is the Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT-KENYA: http://www.csirt.or.ke/) active? Do the provisions of the Draft ICT bill 2008 (Part IV – Electronic Transactions and Cybercrime) adequately address your concerns?
Just to add on to this - this past weekend, Georgia Government websites were hit with Denial of Service attacks (DOS) and claims are that it was done prior to the armed attack over the weekend. So while reviewing our policies we need to take into consideration that the Internet is a potential battleground with equally devastating effects. Regards, Michuki. -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.
Hi Michuki, All - Sorry to take you back but unfortunately it is not easy for me to keep track of the discussion in the daily "real-time" format. I have just seen your two contributions sent within hours of each other yesterday and was just wondering whether there is some contradiction. Firstly you indicated your apparent disagreement with the situation where is more emphasis on "management" rather than "technical development" when getting involved with IG. Then you highlight the DoS in Georgia. To me the example of Georgia (and Somalia, Iran, etc) is clear testimony that IG is more of "Management and control" issue than a technical phenomenom. In fact, it builds down to control of the Root Zone File (http://www.internic.net/zones/named.root) which we were informed in an informational mail from Alice a couple of weeks ago the USDoC is unwilling to cede control of to ICANN in the ongoing JPA (see www.icann.org). The easiest way to run DoS against another state is to disable the ccTLD record from the root zone file. That means that if your country is relying on the internet for commerce and other activities you better not disagree with the country that is controlling the Root Zone File. This is why countries such as S. Arabia, Brazil, India, China, etc were very vocal in the IG debates. They view their current position as unmananged risk and would thus prefer critical resources like the RZF managed by a neutral organization where they have a voice, such as ITU, or even ICANN. Right now things are quiet because of the IGF experiment, but then, IGF only has another 30 months or so. My suggestion here is that Kenya, and other African Governments need to take strong positions on this Root Zone File issue rather than being complacent since the "Internet is working OK anyway". In Georgia they were probably asking "If it aint broke, why fix it", before the DoS. I hope the Kenya Government will send a delegation to Hydraband armed with positions on IG issues including control of the Root Zone File. Waudo On Wed, 13 Aug 2008 08:02:47 +0300, "Michuki Mwangi" <michuki@swiftkenya.com> said:
mwende njiraini wrote:
Brian, you have pointed out issues that we need to consider at a national level with the increased use of the internet; What are the stakeholders initiatives are there in the area of promoting cyber-security and trust? For example is the Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT-KENYA: http://www.csirt.or.ke/) active? Do the provisions of the Draft ICT bill 2008 (Part IV – Electronic Transactions and Cybercrime) adequately address your concerns?
Just to add on to this - this past weekend, Georgia Government websites were hit with Denial of Service attacks (DOS) and claims are that it was done prior to the armed attack over the weekend.
So while reviewing our policies we need to take into consideration that the Internet is a potential battleground with equally devastating effects.
Regards,
Michuki.
-- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: emailsignet@mailcan.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/emailsignet%40mailcan.c...
People make a plan work, a plan alone seldom makes people work (Confucius).
Hi Brian et al, Brian Munyao Longwe wrote:
1) Cyber-Crime: Due to the vast nature of the network, the Internet a good example here is the Nigeria "419" scams which in the recent past seem to be originating more from the USA/Europe than from Nigeria itself.
2) Cyber-Warfare: also known as "information warfare" it is defined in Wikipedia as "... the use and management of information in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent.
3) Child Pornography: Among other evils that plague the Internet, this is probably the most disturbing.
4) Spam: it has been reported that unsolicited commercial email and more recently malicious, meaningless email garbage constitutes almost 80% of all email transmitted over the internet.
The common factor between them is that they are successful and thriving markets niches and steady revenue streams to a whole lot of folks. That means they continually provide incentive to the players to keep re-inventing themselves against all legal and enforcement measures. IMHO until the day the huge financial gains can be eroded from such activities we cannot anticipate significant success to be achieved in the near or short-term. We must recognize that the commercialization of the Internet resource has brought us both the good and bad, and the best and worst are yet to come. How we deal with these present issues (both good and bad) will impact the future of the Internet resource as we know it today; either positively or negatively. Best regards, Michuki. -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.
Hi This book review on "Internet Governance: An Introduction" raises key policy considerations we may need to consider particularly with regard to the vital areas of trust and confidence. The review proposes the need for "a marriage of the technical to the institutional that will provide the oversight necessary, the oversight that can allow for effective governance." http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/jibc/2007-08/Cordell_Book%20Review_PDF%20Re... Regards Mwende Disclaimer: These comments are the author's own. On 8/11/08, Michuki Mwangi <michuki@swiftkenya.com> wrote:
Hi Brian et al,
Brian Munyao Longwe wrote:
1) Cyber-Crime: Due to the vast nature of the network, the Internet a good example here is the Nigeria "419" scams which in the recent past seem to be originating more from the USA/Europe than from Nigeria itself.
2) Cyber-Warfare: also known as "information warfare" it is defined in Wikipedia as "... the use and management of information in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent.
3) Child Pornography: Among other evils that plague the Internet, this is probably the most disturbing.
4) Spam: it has been reported that unsolicited commercial email and more recently malicious, meaningless email garbage constitutes almost 80% of all email transmitted over the internet.
The common factor between them is that they are successful and thriving markets niches and steady revenue streams to a whole lot of folks. That means they continually provide incentive to the players to keep re-inventing themselves against all legal and enforcement measures.
IMHO until the day the huge financial gains can be eroded from such activities we cannot anticipate significant success to be achieved in the near or short-term.
We must recognize that the commercialization of the Internet resource has brought us both the good and bad, and the best and worst are yet to come. How we deal with these present issues (both good and bad) will impact the future of the Internet resource as we know it today; either positively or negatively.
Best regards,
Michuki.
-- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: mwende.njiraini@gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mwende.njiraini%40gmail...
Dear Walubengo, I have always wanted to ask: who decides what is good for discussion in this forum? I am asking this because I know the Kenya Communications Bill went through the first reading and if my memory serves me right the PS promised to have the stakeholders meet with the Parliamentary Committee on Communications. Is this not a priority. Just recently a listed member did not even know that we have an ICT Policy. In my view we should concentrate more on policies that we have the poer to change. Internet Governance has been a thorny issue in ITU. There is nothing we can do as third worlders to change the situation. Let us simply take advantage of the technology. Victor Maloi On 11/08/2008, John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote:
Greetings all,
Today we just want to get upto speed with the genesis and rationale for Internet Governance. Internet Governance issues arose from the increasing use of the Internet during the mid and late 1990s. Most countries were surprised at the increasing role the internet was having on their Socio-economic as well as Political landscape. They then realised that lacked the oversight power the US government unilatery enjoyed over the development and use of the Internet resources.
Indeed one of the Key questions then as it is now, was why should one Government influence the direction of a global resource without reference to other governments? The way the Internet was governed was definitely not commensurate with its global reach or nature. A lot of lobbying and pressure particularly from Latin America, Asia Pacific and ITU started agitating for a change in the oversight role the US government had and continues to have over the Internet. The anti-change proponents however maintained that the current governance structure through the US Dept of Commerce and ICANN is what has given the Internet this phenomenal growth – hence the famous cliché – "If it ain't broken, why try to fix it?"
The World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) process was commissioned by UN in the late 1990s to look into this and other emerging issues of the Internet such as the legal, economic and social-cultural dimensions of the Internet. The WSIS process concluded in Tunis, 2005, give no definite rulings on these issues but recommended instead the creation of a multi-stakeholder forum, the IGF – the Internet Governance Forum which continues to study and deliberate on these issues to date. WSIS also supplied the working definition for Internet Governance as:- the development and application by Stakeholders of the rules, norms, procedures and practices that influence the evolution and use of the Internet.
The Stakeholders (States, Civil Society, Academia, Media, Businesses, etc) are all actively involved in the Internet Governance Forum with the sole objective of ensuring that their interests are catered for as the Internet continues to evolve. The IGF has so far held two summits, Greece, and Brazil with a 3rd due at the end of this year in India. The stakeholders propose positions on the emerging and contentious issues that are used to somewhat inform the direction the Internet takes. However, most of Africa continues to sleep as Nations and other stakeholders scramble to claim a stake and positions on what is becoming the most important battle of the 21st Century – the battle for the Information Superhighway.
Those with experiences, comments, clarifications, observations or objections have 1day to say something on today's Introductory theme.
walu.
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: victormaloi3@gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/victormaloi3%40gmail.co...
Walu, I do not prescribe to the school of thought "most of Africa continues to sleep as Nations and other stakeholders scramble to claim a stake and positions on what is becoming the most important battle of the 21st Century." Historically, Africa did not have critical amount of Internet to warrant heavy (of their scarce resource) investments on "strange foreign discussions" that had very little, if any, use to their unconnected peoples. But the fast changing situation due improving connectivity has made and brought governance issues closer to home, and IGF then starts to make sense of investment. Short of that, it would just have been just another globe trotting academic arguments exercise with little meaning back home. You have explained the origins of IGF well, but Internet issues morph so fast that todays issues are so different from last year's let alone back then when WSIS process was begun. India's will be the third of 5 total IGF meetings. After TEAMS connects us next year, and hardly before the region fully appreciate what THE REAL internet impact is, there shall only be 2 IGFs left and we might have had sufficient stock of experience comparable to North countries. But the importance of multi-stakeholderism quality of the IGF can never be emphasized enough. It addresses "contemporary" challenges of the day the "Forum" turning into a window where everyone is held accountable to online ecosystem actions and reactions. This is why the Forum was formed to allow everyone to bring out whatever issues affect them in an all-are-equal atmosphere (IGF under the UN oversight) The UK, upon realising the value, importance and benefits of multistakeholder spirit, participation environment under the IGF, foresaw internet challenges will continue after 5th and last IGF. In order to carry on with the "working" IGF past that, they have decided to form "UK IGF" <http://blog.nominet.org.uk/insight/category/igf/> that is coordinated by Nominet (their KeNIC). All the selected issues introduced for this discussion are very important - but they are not they only important issues on Internet Governance. We shall give them our best contribution but let us be very aware that the real challenges are ahead of TEAMS. Therefore, my day one submission is that this discussion aspires and translates into a structures representative, and multi-stakeholder framework able to resolve important domestic and regional issues in an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect of every stakeholder (current 80% connected in Nairobi and the interests of new, rural participants who will join the network from next year. I foresee cultural issues, such as those experienced by Fatmar Bashil at an upcountry school becoming more widespread and relevant to Kenyans in future. Beyond winners sponsorship abroad, let us aspire for the establishment of "Ke-IGF"? Regards, Alex On Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 9:56 AM, John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote:
Greetings all,
Today we just want to get upto speed with the genesis and rationale for Internet Governance. Internet Governance issues arose from the increasing use of the Internet during the mid and late 1990s. Most countries were surprised at the increasing role the internet was having on their Socio-economic as well as Political landscape. They then realised that lacked the oversight power the US government unilatery enjoyed over the development and use of the Internet resources.
Indeed one of the Key questions then as it is now, was why should one Government influence the direction of a global resource without reference to other governments? The way the Internet was governed was definitely not commensurate with its global reach or nature. A lot of lobbying and pressure particularly from Latin America, Asia Pacific and ITU started agitating for a change in the oversight role the US government had and continues to have over the Internet. The anti-change proponents however maintained that the current governance structure through the US Dept of Commerce and ICANN is what has given the Internet this phenomenal growth – hence the famous cliché – "If it ain't broken, why try to fix it?"
The World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) process was commissioned by UN in the late 1990s to look into this and other emerging issues of the Internet such as the legal, economic and social-cultural dimensions of the Internet. The WSIS process concluded in Tunis, 2005, give no definite rulings on these issues but recommended instead the creation of a multi-stakeholder forum, the IGF – the Internet Governance Forum which continues to study and deliberate on these issues to date. WSIS also supplied the working definition for Internet Governance as:- the development and application by Stakeholders of the rules, norms, procedures and practices that influence the evolution and use of the Internet.
The Stakeholders (States, Civil Society, Academia, Media, Businesses, etc) are all actively involved in the Internet Governance Forum with the sole objective of ensuring that their interests are catered for as the Internet continues to evolve. The IGF has so far held two summits, Greece, and Brazil with a 3rd due at the end of this year in India. The stakeholders propose positions on the emerging and contentious issues that are used to somewhat inform the direction the Internet takes. However, most of Africa continues to sleep as Nations and other stakeholders scramble to claim a stake and positions on what is becoming the most important battle of the 21st Century – the battle for the Information Superhighway.
Those with experiences, comments, clarifications, observations or objections have 1day to say something on today's Introductory theme.
walu.
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: alexgakuru.lists@gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/alexgakuru.lists%40gmai...
I am talking from a private sector point of view, I am an industry player and running a call center. Now in regards to marketing Kenya as a BPO destination, I would say not much has been done at all. Many call centers and BPO have shut down as a result of high bandwidth costs and poor marketing. I would expect the BPO industry to be taken more seriously it being one of the 5 pillars of the VISION 2030. If we dont start marketing now, when will we ever market the country as an outsourcing destination with such giant competitors as India and those mentioned by Wambui? At this slow pace I dont think this industry will last long. Serious marketing has to be done! Marketing is the main thing that should be done to bring Kenya to the limelight and great support is needed from the government in ensuring this is done. Without bias and prejudice, we thank the Kenya BPO & Contact Center Society which has been doing alot to sensitive people on the BPO & Contact Center industry as well as speak out the needs of the private sector in the industry. They recently launched the Standards & Ethics guidelines for the industry. Now this is something we can say is a step forward. Am sure with more support alot will be achieved to help bring the industry to life in Kenya. Like for instance there is the UK Birmingham Expo taking place in September 2008 there was even a media briefing by ICT BOard on it. This is the world's largest call center expo which is held annually and it particularly targets the Call Center/Contact Center industry. So I would expect the government to totally support local call centers to participate fully at such an event. As it is now, call centers are struggling hard to sustain themselves and most have even shut down. The few existing are still hanging in there struggling with high bandwidth costs and all. So this is the point the government should come in and at least sponsor several private sector call centers to participate at that event. With this high costs of bandwidth and other running call center expenses, who will be able to fund for themselves to such events? Very few or none at all will be able to afford attending the event. So who will be at the Kenyan stand in the UK CALL CENTER expo? Government officials only???? I wonder. It is at such events that Kenya will be able to be placed in the map as an outsourcing destination as with such events comes advertising on the Call Center Focus Magazine as well as a stand for exhibiting Kenya at the expo. Private sector industry players will also get an opportunity to be exposed to the global call center industry and all that comes with it, as well as meet potential clients which in the long run will enable them to have stable contracts with which they can be able to sustain their centers. Please please government give this industry the support it needs and focus on the marketing aspect of it mostly as this is what will get it on the map. L.M On Sun, Aug 3, 2008 at 3:53 PM, Wambui Wakarema <wambuiwakarema@yahoo.co.uk>wrote:
It is now August 2008. Still no marketing plan or strategy forthcoming from the Kenya ICT Board, one year since the Board's inception. One year as
our competitors such as South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, Mauritius and others continue to make their mark as BPO destinations.
Infact, I would like to know if the ICT Board has delivered on any single one of its objectives!
Wambui
------------------------------ Not happy with your email address? Get the one you really want <http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/ymail/new.html> - millions of new email addresses available now at Yahoo!<http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/ymail/new.html>
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: lmwatibo.ktd@gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/lmwatibo.ktd%40gmail.co...
Regarding the expensive bandwidth issue and subsidizing it would it not be quicker, easier and cost effective for the ICT Board/Min of Information to use existing Telkom Kenya/Orange Internet Gateways and infrastructure to deliver the subsidized bandwidth to BPOs? Or could the tender process of the subsidized bandwidth capacity be causing the delays ? Anyway I hope the BPO players will make a success of this young industry and help create more jobs. With Rgds. On Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 4:55 PM, Gilda Odera <godera@skyweb.co.ke> wrote:
Dear Carol,
On behalf of the Kenya BPO and Contact Center Society I wish to make a few remarks on the current status of the BPO Industry.
It is indeed correct to state that most of the BPO operators who started operations last year and before have come to a suspension, others have closed shop. With the high cost of bandwidth, very few of the operators have been able to sustain such high cost of operation. Indeed even those who are lucky to get some trial contracts are unable to service them sufficiently, ending up in not signing up the contracts. Many have relied on this promise of the bandwidth subsidy. Others who started their operations this year are now also running out of funds. It is imperative that this issue be addressed urgently and the Society has been in constant touch with the ICT Board following up this matter. Unfortunately, the Industry players have become tired of our response of " We are waiting for feedback from the ICT Board". Two weeks ago, Industry players were sent a form by the ICT Board to fill and send back. The form is meant to jump start the process. I would prefer the Board to give more information on this though as I may not be in the position to explain this further.
One important point raised by Carol though is that these centres need not suspend or shut down if they can be provided with work from Government to keep them busy while international marketing takes place. Bandwidth subsidy alone will not keep these centres operating, they need work, constant work. It is important to state that for Kenya to really become an active outsourcing destination, much needs to be done. Many centres need to be running. Support needs to be there for indigenous local companies given that many international companies are the ones coming in to benefit from the bandwidth subsidies. We need to position our domestic centers to be active and take on some of the work when the ICT Board manages to attract international contracts to Kenya or else we will be developing the business for International companies who are not necessarily here for too long as they always shop for alternative destinations. But if we develop our own, we can be sure of long term sustainability as is the case in India. The two go hand in hand, bandwidth and contracts. Without these two, even making the proposed technology park a success may become a tall order. I would have been happier seeing a good chunk of that money going into marketing Kenya and winning contracts, the rest follows. Kenyans are very enterprising and I have heard of so many private companies wanting to set up technology parks. Maybe if Government had left that to private sector to do and concentrate on marketing and human resource capacity building the synergies would spiral faster.
Kind regards,
Gilda Odera Chair, Kenya BPO and Contact Centre Society
participants (19)
-
aki -
Barnabas K. Sang -
Brian Munyao Longwe -
David Otwoma -
Dorcas Muthoni -
Edith Adera -
eunicekariuki＠ict.go.ke -
Gakuru, Alex -
Gilda Odera -
John Walubengo -
Jotham Kilimo -
Lucy M -
Michuki Mwangi -
mwende njiraini -
Paul Kukubo -
Victor Maloi -
wambui jane -
Wambui Wakarema -
waudo siganga