[kictanet] Fwd: [Idlelo2] Google and East african Universities

Tue Apr 10 09:14:45 EAT 2007

This really looks good !

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dapo Ladimeji <dapo at ladimeji.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2007 16:04:08 +0100
Subject: [Idlelo2] Google and East african Universities
To: idlelo2 at fossfa.net

  East African universities to gain from web tools deal

The deal will give more students access to communication technologies
Kimani Chege
26 March 2007
Source: SciDev.Net

[NAIROBI] A software deal signed between universities in East Africa and
the US-based internet giant Google will improve access to web-based
communications for staff and students.

Under the deal, Rwanda's government ministries and three Rwandan
universities — the National University of Rwanda, the Kigali Institute
for Education and the Kigali Institute for Science and Technology — as
well as Kenya's University of Nairobi (UoN) will have free access to
Google Apps.

The applications include email, shared calendars, instant messaging and
word processing software, along with the associated support services
provided by the corporation.

The deal, signed last week (19 March), looks set to improve internal
communications at UoN and facilitate research, particularly for studies
undertaken in remote areas.

The head of information and communication technology at UoN, Elijah
Omwenga, says the email application Gmail will be particularly useful in
reducing the bandwidth required for internal communications by its
50,000 students and staff.

He told SciDev.Net that the institution was facing major challenges in
acquiring enough bandwidth.

"This means our students and staff can access mail from the campuses as
well as from outside. This will facilitate communicating all research,
even when it is being done in remote areas," said Omwenga.

However, he called for Google to come up with specific details of the
offer, so that Google and the UoN can develop research schemes geared
towards Africa's needs — such as developing software in local languages
and making it more relevant to the local audience.

About 20,000 users in Rwanda will have access to Google Apps in the
first phase. This will be followed by a broader countrywide introduction.

Students at UoN will be the first to use Google Apps in Kenya. Software
access will then be extended to 150,000 Kenyan students at universities
across the country.

A Google spokesperson told the International Data Group News Service,
"We are exploring other opportunities in both countries, and throughout
the region as well."

*Related SciDev.Net articles:*
Zambia announces ICT training centre for scientists
<http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=3453&language=1>
Web 2.0 can benefit the world's poor
<http://www.scidev.net/Opinions/index.cfm?fuseaction=readOpinions&itemid=572&language=1>
ICT for development: hope or hype?
<http://www.scidev.net/Opinions/index.cfm?fuseaction=readOpinions&itemid=537&language=1>

*Related links:*
University of Nairobi <http://www.uonbi.ac.ke>
National University of Rwanda <http://www.nur.ac.rw/>

*Photo Credit:* SciDev.Net/Tonks

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