[Kictanet] RE: [Africasource2-l] AfrISPA launches a paradigm shift to stimulateInternet growth through CONTENT

Mon Mar 27 15:18:56 EAT 2006

Thank you Stephen for the First Monday link. I schemed through the article,
as you pointed out at the end of the day it is still content that is being
shared whether the data is in an email, on a blog or in a file.

It seems that Andrew Odlyzko is distinguishing broadcast information from
peer-to-peer content. But I think when we say Content is King we mean all
content/data shared across the network. As he rightly quotes, the internet
without content would be "valueless collection of silent machines with gray
screens".

A product review from a user is content. And the website with the most
opinions is probably the one I would opt to browse. eBay or even music
sharing platforms consist of user generated, local content.

I would say the weakness of the 'Content is King' theory is lack of
interaction. Read (and comment on!) my blog for my thoughts on that "Content
is King, Interaction is Queen" … http://new.aitecafrica.com/node/139

I welcome AfrISPA's call for ISPs to provide free websites and blog based
spaces online. We must look beyond brick and motor business to enhance the
interaction on local networks. We must turn to end users and empower them to
generate content as well. Blog based technology and online interactive
communities are perfectly suited for this.

I look forward to the day I search for "mechanic" on google.co.ke and get
"Otieno's Garage behind Yaya (4 out of 5 stars - 10 reviews)" at the top of
my results!

*Kaburo Kobia*
Group Web Director & MD
AITEC | Kenya
tel/fax: +254 020-3749771
web: www.aitecafrica.com
email: kaburok at aitecafrica.com

On 3/24/06, Settimi, Stephen(GH/PRH/PEC) <ssettimi at usaid.gov> wrote:
>
> Eric -Thank you for sharing this piece from the Digital Africa Summit.
> The position paper somewhat echoes the slogan of the past that "content
> is King". I believe it remains King, but regrettable the court has been
> filled with tommyrot and jesters. The need for more African content is
> especially important for African and non-Northern domains. Content
> relevancy is the key.
>
> An interesting counter-point to the value of content is a compelling
> paper by Andrew Odlyzko who argues that the real value in the Internet
> is found not in content -although ipso facto that is all the Internet
> can carry, but in peer-to-peer communications and knowledge sharing
> evidenced by the explosive use of file sharing, blogs, SMS, etc. An
> interesting read: http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue6_2/odlyzko/
>
> Stephen Settimi
> Sr. Fellow, Knowledge Management USAID
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: africasource2-l-bounces at lists.tacticaltech.org
> [mailto:africasource2-l-bounces at lists.tacticaltech.org] On Behalf Of
> Eric Osiakwan
> Sent: Friday, March 24, 2006 4:21 AM
> To: discuss at afrispa.org; AfriNIC Discuss; afnog at afnog.org
> Cc: africasource2-l at lists.tacticaltech.org; kictanet at kictanet.or.ke;
> En-ISPA_Team at afrispa.org; tier at tier.cs.berkeley.edu;
> committee at afrispa.org; fibre-for-africa at lists.apc.org; afix at afrispa.org;
> idlelo2 at fossfa.net
> Subject: [Africasource2-l] AfrISPA launches a paradigm shift to
> stimulateInternet growth through CONTENT
>
>
> On Thursday 23rd of March 2006 at the keynote session of the Digital
> Africa Summit in Arebella Sheraton Grand Hotel, Cape Town, the African
> Internet Service Providers Association (AfrISPA @ www.afrispa.org)
> launched their first position paper in a series which is focused on
> strategies for increased Internet growth. "A call for a paradigm shift
> to stimulate Internet growth through content" is the first position
> paper which argues that based on research finding, most African are
> interested in the value they get out of connecting to the Internet and
> not just for the sake of having access. Primarily their interest is
> driven by the value of content that they locate which is relevant to
> their lives and business.
>
> According to Mr. Muriuki Mureithi of Summit Strategies who authored the
> report on behalf of AfrISPA, it was intriguing to realize that even in
> the semi-rural areas the interest of most small medium enterprises who
> could afford the Internet was content; they asked the question "would I
> find relevant material on the Internet which would aid the growth of my
> business?". For them it was not just enough to use the Internet to
> communicate but they also wanted to see how it fits into their business
> processes for growth. Further the position of the lack of African
> content on the Internet was expressed by some of the constituents
> interviewed in the study.
>
> Launching the report, Mr. William Stucke, Chairman of AfrISPA expressed
> AfrISPA's interest in identifying other mechanism for stimulating
> Internet growth on the continent hence the series of position papers
> being undertaken with support from the Catalysing Access to ICTs in
> Africa Programme (CATIA @ www.catia.ws). He outlined the ten point
> recommendations of the study and emphasised the one that asks AfrISPA
> members and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Africa to give a free
> webpage or weblog (blog) to all their clients as well as develop simple
> web publishing tools to help them publish their content.
>
> The main objective of this position paper it to make the case for
> Africans to move from being consumers to producers of content that is
> relevant to their livelihoods and business. The culture of generating,
> process and publishing content in Africa is so lacking that if we don't
> take a strategic step to deal with it, all the Internet pipes that are
> being built would lack the relevant content for our socio-economic
> development.
>
> Earlier, Mr. Eric M.K Osiakwan secretary of AfrISPA announced in his
> presentation that Africa now has fifteen Internet Exchange Points (IXPs)
> and twelve ISP Associations (ISPAs) however current efforts with other
> regional institutions would result in the establishment of ten more
> ISPAs and IXPs in 2006 with a projection of that to double in 2007. He
> emphasised that the growth of these exchanges is based on content and
> vice versa so the establishment of IXPs and the culture of developing
> and publishing content must go hand in hand.
>
> A copy of the study can be downloaded @
> http://www.afrispa.org/PositionPapers/content.pdf
>
> NB: Apologise for crossposting.
>
>
>
>
> --
> Eric M.K Osiakwan
> Executive Secretary
> AfrISPA (www.afrispa.org)
> Tel: + 233.21.258800
> Fax: + 233.21.258811
> Cell: + 233.244.386792
> Handle: eosiakwan
> Snail Mail: Pmb 208, Accra-North
> Office: BusyInternet - 42 Ring Road Central, Accra-North
> Blog: http://afrispa.skybuilders.com/users/Eric/blog.html
> Slang: "Tomorrow Now"
> --
>
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