[kictanet] Day 10/11 of 12- BPO Discussions, Strengths and Weaknesses (Observations from USA and UK); and Trends and Niches

Mon Jun 15 20:47:46 EAT 2009

Adam,

Your comments are far from naive....the forum is open to all.....thank you.

Nyaki

________________________________
From: Adam Peake <ajp at glocom.ac.jp>
To: elizaslider at yahoo.com
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 6:29:07 PM
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 10/11 of 12- BPO Discussions, Strengths and Weaknesses (Observations from USA and UK); and Trends and Niches

> I agree as well. The frequent misrepresentation of facts, lack of analysis, even political stories, that our media is so good at covering, lack comprehensive political analysis.
> And while, one of the indicators of democracy is freedom of press, and I believe ours is free, with it comes all the negative aspects including the sheer irresponsibility we have witnessed for the past two years or so with terrible consequences.
> 
> Adam, notes that some foreign media , The Financial Times for example have a positive write up about the cable landing.

Hi,

I am not very knowledgeable about Kenya, I've just been fortunate enough to visit a couple of times -- the East Africa IGF was a great experience.  I follow the KICTANet list with great interest, but am not so confident about jumping in, please excuse my probably naive comments now!

As Alice mentioned, the Financial Times covered the cable landing in a positive way.  The FT is subscription only, but Google News seems to get around that, search for "Broadband 'lands' in east Africa".

In the Internet and communications sector that I cover (I work at a research institute in Tokyo), Kenya has a positive reputation for mobile, of course M-PESA, but perhaps just as significantly for the success of Celtel/Zain, which I think helped investors recognize that capital invested in Africa could provide a return similar to that of investment in Europe or Asia.

The cables landed/landing this year might be just as transformative, hopefully they will be. But as someone interested in what their impact might be, I have to say it is very difficult to get a clear picture of what happens now: a cable has landed, but what national broadband networks are in place, what's the backhaul nationally and to your landlocked neighbours? Transforming Kenya is one thing, transforming region of 120 million people is quite another.

I've read many comments about how the cost of bandwidth will drop, but all seem to be estimates. I've read about the Pasha Centres, but it's not easy to find definitive information about how they are being developed. And there's been nothing in the news about these centres or many other initiatives (if there were, then perhaps some of the more negative and trivial stories written last week about possible troubles with minor investors and environmental certificates when TEAMS landed would have been drowned out.)

My examples above are probably not good.  But what I'm trying to say is there seems to be a need for better information, and as a number of recent emails have suggested, better branding.

And I think it's necessary to see branding as more that an advertising campaign and positive press. South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak has created a Presidential Council on Nation Branding. The council is trying to determine what's popular about Korea, what impresses the world about Korea.  What are other countries' expectations, where can Korea make a difference, what values does the country possess that are attractive to others.  And of course what can be done to improve these perceptions of the national brand. Part of this is public relations, but it also goes a bit deeper, they are considering the notion of soft-power.

Kenya's obviously in a different situation from Korea, but there might be lessons. If the branding is to be a success then it seems a national champion needs to lead it. But if the focus of branding is to be just the ICT sector, then the champion might be closer to home: someone from CCK, ICT Board KICTANet, or the PS. Perhaps someone needs to 'work' Kenya's successes more. The East Africa IGF I mentioned is one small example, every time it's mentioned in the meetings I go to there's a positive buzz. However much we might criticize the global IGF process, it's quite an achievement that Kenya seems to have created what is seen as probably the IGF's biggest single success.

Best,

Adam

> If our local media can not choose to become part of the solution to our country's challenges and problems then I wonder what their role is?
> 
> 
> best
> alice
> 
> 
> p.s.Views expressed are personal and do not reflect  the position/s of any of the organisations/institutions I am affiliated with.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----------------------------------------------
>> I agree with Dr. Ndemo et al.  One of our greatest weakness is negative energy. And the root cause of this negative energy is tribalism. Our East African citizens (TZ,UG etc) know that Kenyans identify themselves first as being from their tribe, then 2nd as being from their clan and finally as being from their country ( the 'Navumulia' kua mkenya mentality). 
>> As noted by others, the sheer capacity of this negative energy will overide any marketing dollars that may be poured out there in "Brand Kenya" initiatives...There must be conscious and deliberate effort to sell Brand Kenya internally.  We have to find a way to celebrate our diversity rather than exagerate our differences...This to me should have been one of the pillars in the Vision 2030 because it wont happen overnite.
>> 
>> walu.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --- On Mon, 6/15/09, Catherine Adeya <elizaslider at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> 
>> 

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