[kictanet] One subject, varying quality - We lack an accreditation system for ICT courses

[Bill Kagai]

Tim, et al,
Am overcome by acute nostalgia when FOSS is mentioned because we
chased policy agenda from the Economic Commission of Africa in Addis
to Tunis via Geneva in the corridors of International
Telecommunication Union under the auspices of the World Summit on
Information Society (WSIS) between 2004-2006.

But the lesson that made me finally see the light was triggered by the
post election violence in January 2008 when a company am associated
with was contracted by NPWJ and KNCHR to document evidence.

Browse through the attached pdf document, you will realize there is
actually no crisis in technology deployed and that it does not matter
what technology is deployed during crisis.

An ICC judge Benard Lavigne, now a prosecutor in Toulouse used this
database and told us it was miles ahead of what they use at ICC. Am
also waiting for my day with the prosecutor albeit for totally
different reasons that could also fatten my wallet in due
course....(life is good).

Bill

On Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 5:02 PM, Mwololo Tim<timwololo at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dr. Ndemo,
>
> I hear you loud and clear. I know the debate can be quite heated for many
> reasons. It would be nice to have the procurement rules and any other
> instrument of government to be silent on this issue. I only wish the people
> were neutral!
>
> Sang has a very important point, which may need a guided discussion.
>
> Mwololo
>
>
> On 7/1/09, bitange at jambo.co.ke <bitange at jambo.co.ke> wrote:
>>
>> Prof. Waema,
>> A good policy levels the play ground.  What each party (Proprietary or
>> OSS) does should not concern policy.  That is why we need the procurement
>> rules change to give everybody an equal chance.
>>
>>
>> Ndemo.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> > Bwana Sang,
>> >
>> > You have a point. We do not have strong OSS champions, especially in the
>> > public sector - at least not as powerful as the evangilists for
>> > proprietary
>> > software. This situation is not helped by a non-committal policy. Let me
>> > chew over how we can change things.
>> >
>> > Mwololo
>> >
>> >
>> > On 6/30/09, Barnabas K. Sang <bksang at education.go.ke> wrote:
>> >>
>> >>  Tim,
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> I agree with you to some extent, that we all need revision of the
>> >> current
>> >> ICT Policy to accommodate the key issues Kenya currently is focusing
>> >> on.
>> >> On
>> >> OSS, I still doubt capacity of “*OSS Champions*” on the issue having
>> >> observed in the past one year, how an opportunity to have 210 secondary
>> >> schools each equipped with 25 PCs and use both proprietary software and
>> >> OSS
>> >> (Funds provided for) progressed.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> To date, no OSS proponents have brought any concept on how MOE can
>> >> facilitate the adoption and use of OSS. There are some brilliant OSS
>> >> solutions, particularly supporting teaching and learning (animated
>> >> content
>> >> -> good for illustrations of difficult concepts in some subjects) and
>> >> development of content for use by all education and training
>> >> stakeholders
>> >> (teachers, students, parents and researchers).
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> I would like to acknowledge existence of sufficient leadership (policy
>> >> and
>> >> managers) to support modernization of education (ICT integration to
>> >> teaching
>> >> and learning). We may not have all necessary capacity yet for
>> >> decision-makers to guide the process, but in partnership with all
>> >> stakeholders, I believe OSS will definitely find a niche in the whole
>> >> ICT
>> >> integration exercise being spearheaded by MOE. Perhaps people like
>> >> yourself
>> >> and others in this network, could enlightened us on how OSS could be
>> >> part of
>> >> ICT integration efforts at an early stage as possible.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Kind Regards
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> B. K. Sang
>> >>
>> >>
>>
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