[kictanet] Day 10 of 10:-IGF Discussion, Socio-Cultural Issues

Sat Aug 23 12:41:03 EAT 2008

Dear Listerners ,

In response to walu's mail earlier............

3 things I have learnt about content which I hope can contribute to this
discussion. Apologies for delay tho

There are three types of content that have emerged in recent times ( could
be more...)

   1. Dead on delivery - this would in my opinion cover areas such as
   traditional Radio and TV and during our school days - lectures on BB, as you
   watch and listen the information 'disappears' unless of course you record it
   (or get hardcopy notes), which a very small percentage does.
   2. Delivered and recorded - the same could apply but on the websites now
   there would be podcasts of the shows or video footage etc. this is where
   Internet plays a key role?  as it is the medium for storage and delivery,
   and retrieval on demand.
   3. pre-Prepared and delivered on demand - this is where there is no live
   stream or airing of the same and can be a little specific. For example here
   you could get specific content such as educational materials that are
   available on search engines or specific websites such as ( re:education
   again) crocodile clips, plato, business-in-a-box etc. You could also get
   the porn stuff and other xxx stuff here...

All three areas either need governance or regulatory focus ( which should be
in the pipeline in some areas)
I think this is where the IG issues discussions need to also concentrate on
apologies if you already have. My observation re this discussion is
that there are two areas - inputs and outputs

at inputs - into the medium called internet- on outputs - when you download,
watch or listen online.

Should governance focus on source ie input? Put in mechanisms to trace and
stop, or also in the blocking for the output part? when dealing with areas
that are XXX?

Lastly, I think we need to widen our discussion beyond our culture, when I
browse the internet on a search engine I am looking for specific information
to help my current work task, or understand a medicine I am using or read up
on an area of interest or about my fave artist/musician...not on a foreign
for that matter local culture! Specific need puts me on the internet,
returned value takes me back there again and again.....

The website that better have an attractive display of our culture and
utamaduni and so on,is the one that is selling Kenya out there to attract
tourism both local and international....

Having said this I am not against local content at all- I think that content
is king, but the user is queen, so we have to be providing interesting
enough material to interest high internet clickers anywhere in
the world.....and also encourage our own growing internet users to build
habit of usage, share their own knowhow and knowledge, which follows a cycle
not to dissimilar to what I descibe above as my own personal use patterns.

As a wrap, many a time when we talk of local content here where we work ( we
are in the business of content) we now clearly differentiate two areas:

   1. Does local mean made by us ourselves?
   2. OR does is mean localized ie utilizable by us here?

Food for thought I hope

Great weekend..

Fatma

On 8/23/08, Gakuru, Alex <alexgakuru.lists at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Walu, et. al.
>
> What would your son say of traditional music of Kenya here:
> <http://www.bluegecko.org/kenya/soundclips.htm>
>
> New media, especially the internet, also offers great potential to
> preserve and promote our cultures, heritage and music.
>
> Q1. Did last year's January's events create a cultural paralysis where
> *anything* on the subject is anti-grand coalition spirit thus hence
> must be subdued?
>
> Q2. Is healing better achieved by being proud of and talking about
> their cultures or being ashamed and keeping quiet?
>
> Q3. If by silence, will the resultant void leave it to foreigners to
> interpret our cultures for us and all future generations?
>
> Q4. How can the internet, and new media, better preserve and promote
> Kenyan cultures - a stated ICT Policy commitment?
>
> Q5. What is the likelihood of, for example,
> http://translate.google.com/translate_t in future being the only way
> to know what another Kenyan is trying to tell me?
>
> Through these provoking questions I hope to have your on-or-off-list
> views and very interested the "tribaless" views.
>
> peace!
>
> Mwanafunzi wenu
>
> Alex
>
> On Fri, Aug 22, 2008 at 3:56 PM, John Walubengo <jwalu at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > Mwende,
> >
> > My contribution on content is borrowed from the 'real-world' situation
> with TV/Radio content as practiced in the developed economies.  Basically,
> all debatable content such as that of pornographic nature should be rated
> and access controlled.
> >
> > I truly live in fear for my son, who will be a teenager in another six
> years when pornography will be streaming in - as is already happening-
> through FM Radio, TV, Internet, 3G Mobile Phone, iPods, Matatus, etc. Only
> that time, it is likely to be cheaper, faster and virtually realistic.  A
> nation grown on a diet of pornography produces future pedophiles that come
> to feast on the next generation - as is common in West and emerging in our
> (urban?) society.
> >
> > My other contribution is on eLearning. eLearning has matured
> significantly over the last few years and is now a proven pedagogical
> methodology that is being exploited to the maximum by the Northern
> countries.  It is really upto us in Kenya, to measure up and became the
> eLearning Center for this region. Imagine, UoN,  Strathmore or KCCT floating
> their courses online and thereby reaching that Rwandese who always dreamt of
> getting a Kenyan Education but could not afford it due to overhead costs for
> meals, accomodation, transport, etc...
> >
> > walu.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --- On Fri, 8/22/08, mwende njiraini <mwende.njiraini at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> From: mwende njiraini <mwende.njiraini at gmail.com>
> >> Subject: [kictanet] Day 10 of 10:-IGF Discussion, Socio-Cultural Issues
> >> To: jwalu at yahoo.com
> >> Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> >> Date: Friday, August 22, 2008, 9:36 AM
> >> Morning!
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Today we enter our last day of discussion on Socio-cultural
> >> issues.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> To begin with, we discuss issues relating to content
> >> control and freedom of
> >> expression.  The internet governance discussions on content
> >> focus on the
> >> need to control three groups of content.  Firstly, content
> >> where a global
> >> consensus is in place including child pornography and
> >> terrorism.  Secondly,
> >> content that might be sensitive to particular countries,
> >> regions or ethnic
> >> groups due to their religious and cultural values. Thirdly,
> >> politically and
> >> ideologically sensitive content. There already exist
> >> several initiatives
> >> that limit the potential misuse of the internet.  Are there
> >> such initiatives
> >> in Africa? How can we enhance national legislation to
> >> include a content
> >> policy that would guarantee the protection of human rights,
> >> specifically
> >> freedom of expression and also remove the ambiguous role of
> >> ISPs, law
> >> enforcement agencies and other players?
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Secondly, we discuss issues relating to the delivery of
> >> education services
> >> over the internet (e-learning).  Many students from
> >> developing countries are
> >> today opting for online education to overcome the challenge
> >> of prohibitive
> >> costs associated with foreign education.  Increased
> >> cross-border education
> >> has brought about international governance issues in
> >> relation to
> >> accreditation of institutions, recognition of qualification
> >> and quality
> >> assurance.  Is there an existing national policy on online
> >> education?  What
> >> measures need to be put in place to assist our local
> >> universities develop
> >> e-learning programmes in order to protect our
> >> culture/traditions implicitly
> >> transmitted through our local institutions as well as
> >> prevent capital
> >> flight?
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> References:
> >>
> >> 1.      Kurbalija, J. and Gelbstein, E. (2005) Internet
> >> governance:  Issues,
> >> Actors and Divides
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Again, you are encouraged to contribute to previous
> >> discussion threads.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Kind regards
> >>
> >> Mwende
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Disclaimer: These comments are the author's own
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> >
> >
> >
> >
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