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

Sun Apr 15 15:55:12 EAT 2007

Muthoni
Exactly - UoN should be producing code and building applications just like
Stanford is. And remember Google is basically a class project. What is
happening to our pride when we rejoice as beggars in Nanyuki Road when some
well stuffed man throws us a coin. What will happen tomorrow when the coin
is spend and the stuffed man is no longer available.

By accepting this so called gift, and rejoicing in it, we are enslaving
ourselves. We should do ourselves not wait to be given. We are extremely
myopic and that totally scares me.

Jo

On 4/15/07, Dorcas Muthoni <dmuthoni at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I agree with Joe. What are universities for. I wish we heard that 5
> students from the University of Nairobi had joined the Google Summer Code
> program.
>
> This does not sound so exciting at least to me as nothing stops the
> universities from achieving similar goals on their own. There are so many
> FOSS tools and software to leverage, if we mean not to reinvent the wheel.
>
> Muthoni
>
>
> On 4/15/07, jmanthi at gmail.com <jmanthi at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Alex
> > Well written but the fact of the matter is whatever google is offering
> > East Africans with pomp and circumstance is currently available to 6 month
> > child all over the world for free. You to be dwelling on the word free -
> > whichever way you slice it Googles service are currenly and they are making
> > oodles of money via advertisements.
> >
> > The question of hosting etc is basically of public policy and
> > competittive pricing. And you do not need a website to access googles
> > services.
> >
> > Consider that. I know we are not supposed to look at a gift horse (or
> > cow or goat or camel - insert your favorite domestic animal here ....) but
> > this could be a trojan horse.
> >
> > Joe
> > Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Alex Gakuru <alex.gakuru at yahoo.com>
> > Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2007 01:56:54
> > To:Joseph Manthi <jmanthi at gmail.com>
> > Subject: Re: [kictanet] Fwd: [Idlelo2] Google and East african
> > Universities
> >
> > Joe, Judy et. al.
> >
> > Please excuse the length of my response but I fear our common want for
> > brevity (to avoid information overloads:-) too often compromises on
> > thoroughness especially for those inclined to attention to detail and on an
> > issue so dear.
> >
> > I have borrowed some info from the Kenya Linux "skunkworks" mailing
> > list.
> >
> > Many thanks.
> >
> > Alex
> >
> > Joseph Manthi <jmanthi at gmail.com > wrote:
> > >How can East Africans be excited by being given something that is
> > absolutely >free to everyone else throughout the world.
> > >
> >
> > Not exactly! though and understandably, early Gmail adapters we may be
> > excused for taking it granted.
> >
> > <snip>
> > "As is Google's practice, the company has not said when the beta period
> > will
> > end, but Gogh said the company is working on a "premium version" of
> > Google
> > Apps for Education for which there will be a charge.
> > <snip>
> >
> > Allow me to elaborate further because cost or "free" is at the core.
> >
> > *Suppose* one wants 200 Kenya schools (Internauts clubs) to have
> > have web presence calling for ".ke" domain registrations and hosting
> > services.
> >
> > AFAIK end user registration cost for every .ke domain is shs 3,500/=
> > (or US$ 50.00), annual domain budget thus would be ksh 700,000/=
> > or US$ 10,000.00.
> >
> > The cheapest local annual hosting per domain is kshs 5,000/= or
> > US$ 70 thus for 200 domains I would have to budget for 1 million
> > shillings which is over US$ 14,000.00.
> >
> > Besides an annual saving of 1.7 million being a compelling enough
> > reason to be interested in google support, they offer free online
> > support services to educational institutions. I would also save on
> > ISPs "maintenance fees" and use of free google templates would
> > save on website developments costs.
> >
> > Going by Gmail's success at nabbing spam, parents would be more
> > comfortable instructing google to filter undesirable content.
> >
> > Would these would be reason enough for me to contemplate google
> > support for the 200 schools?
> >
> > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> >
> > [Canarie News]
> >
> > Date: Jan 3, 2007 6:32 PM
> > Subject: [CAnet - news] More universities switch to Google mail and
> > calendar services
> >
> > [Here is another example following UoArizona of how universities and
> > enterprises are switching to e-mail and other services offered by Google
> > and
> > Amazon (for grid services), etc. In fact Mark Gaynor predicted this
> > trend
> > several years ago in a seminal paper "The Real Options Approach to
> > Network-based Service Architecture" where he argued that as innovative
> > applications matured on the Internet they would migrate from an edge
> > based
> > services to a centrally managed service. At the time, most of us thought
> > that the telephone company would be the natural supplier of such
> > services -
> > but they have been largely displaced in that market by companies like
> > Google, Amazon, etc. Of course, as more universities and institutions
> > move
> > to Google and Amazon for these types of services it may have a major
> > impact
> > on the research network architectures i.e having your own dedicated
> > network
> > pipe to the nearest Google, Amazon server complex. Thanks to Rene Hatem
> > and
> > André Quenneville for this pointer. Some excerpts from the IT business
> > article -- BSA]
> >
> > Mark Gaynor's paper:
> > http://www.canarie.ca/conferences/advnet2001/gaynor.ppt
> >
> > IT Business article
> > http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/News.asp?id=41761
> >
> > *Server crash spurs Lakehead to speed up Gmail rollout*
> >
> > *Staff switch over more than 38,000 e-mail accounts in three days*
> >
> > The university in Thunder Bay, Ont., knew it needed a new e-mail system
> > and
> > had spent several months looking at alternatives before settling on the
> > online application suite from Mountain View, Calif.-based Google Inc.
> >
> > Lakehead switched over 38,000 e-mail accounts to Google Gmail in three
> > days,
> > with almost no interruption to service.
> > Google also helped out with some extra customer support during the
> > high-pressure changeover, though Kevin Gogh, enterprise product manager
> > at
> > Google, said there was "nothing that (reached) extraordinary levels."
> >
> > Besides replacing Lakehead's tottery old e-mail system, the conversion
> > brought some added benefits. Because it is getting the whole suite for
> > no
> > charge and it is entirely hosted by Google rather than on university
> > hardware, the university expects to save $2 million to $3 million a year
> > on
> > maintenance and about $6 million annually on infrastructure.
> >
> > And, Jafri said, students, staff and faculty now get 2GB each of storage
> >
> > space, versus 60MB with the old system. In addition, he expects Google
> > to
> > deliver 99 per cent availability. "It's very hard for us to get to that
> > level of availability."
> >
> > Now fully operational on Gmail, Lakehead still has some work to do on
> > other
> > aspects of the conversion. This month, the university will be converting
> > from an ageing in-house calendaring system to the Web calendaring
> > facility
> > included in Google Apps.
> >
> > The suite also includes a Web chat capability, and the company will
> > probably
> > add other features, Gogh said. "Our goal with Google Apps for Education
> > is
> > to provide a very rich set of communication tools."
> > The suite has been available free of charge under a beta program since
> > late
> > summer, he said, and universities and colleges that adopt it during that
> > beta period will never have to pay.
> >
> > As is Google's practice, the company has not said when the beta period
> > will
> > end, but Gogh said the company is working on a "premium version" of
> > Google
> > Apps for Education for which there will be a charge.
> >
> >
> > [skunkworks]
> > Please look up this link:
> >
> > <http://skunkworks-ke.blogspot.com/2007/03/google-in-kenya.html >
> >
> > Question: "will Google be bringing in some servers to cache this
> > offering locally ?
> > Coz otherwise it just increases the cost for the university - they have
> > to buy more satellite bandwidth to access the apps remotely."
> >
> > Google Answer: "Thanks for all the comments. Suffice it to say that both
> > of Riyaz's concerns (see comment #1) are being addressed so no worries
> > there."
> >
> > ----ends-----
> >
> > Joseph Manthi <jmanthi at gmail.com> wrote: How can East Africans be
> > excited by being given something that is absolutely free to everyone else
> > throughout the world.
> >
> > I can get into these apps without any special previleges.
> >
> > You know what they say - you pay for what you get. In this case
> > google.com: <http://google.com>  is giving UoN and other colleges
> > nothing that anyone else does not already have.
> >
> >
> > On 4/14/07, Judy Okite <judyokite at gmail.com: <mailto:judyokite at gmail.com> > wrote: Joe,
> >
> > I hope that this links will give you a better insight,in regards to your
> > question.
> >
> > http://www.google.com/a/edu/: < http://www.google.com/a/edu/>
> > http://www.dashes.com/anil/2006/08/28/google_office_g: <http://www.dashes.com/anil/2006/08/28/google_office_g
> > >
> >
> > Kind Regards,
> >
> >
> > On 4/10/07, jmanthi at gmail.com: <mailto:jmanthi at gmail.com>  <
> > jmanthi at gmail.com: <mailto:jmanthi at gmail.com> > wrote: Members
> > How is this different from anywhere else in the whole wide world. These
> > tools that seem to be exciting people is available to anyone who can access
> > google.com: <http://google.com>  anywhere in the world.
> >
> > How is this a benefit to these colleges?
> >
> > Joe
> > Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: "Judy Okite" < judyokite at gmail.com: <mailto:judyokite at gmail.com> >
> > Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 09:14:45
> > To:Joseph Manthi < jmanthi at gmail.com: <mailto:jmanthi at gmail.com> >
> > Subject: [kictanet] Fwd: [Idlelo2] Google and East african Universities
> >
> > This really looks good !
> >
> > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > From: Dapo Ladimeji <dapo at ladimeji.co.uk : <mailto: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: <mailto: 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
> >
> > <http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=3453&language=1>:
> > <
> > http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=3453&language=1<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
> >
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> >
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> > < http://www.scidev.net/Opinions/index.cfm?fuseaction=readOpinions&itemid=537&language=1
> > >
> >
> > *Related links:*
> > University of Nairobi < http://www.uonbi.ac.ke: <http://www.uonbi.ac.ke>
> > >
> > National University of Rwanda < http://www.nur.ac.rw/: <
> > http://www.nur.ac.rw/> >
> >
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-- 
Joseph Manthi
CEO
Wanza Technologies, Inc
C: 603-320-2924
T: 603-881-5750
F: 603-791-4683
http://www.wanzatechnologies.com
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