[kictanet] the budget and ICT

Fri Jun 11 14:46:10 EAT 2010

Good points, Barrack.

I have wondered along the same lines:

Just throwing computers out there makes little sense. I suspect that unless
the use of computers is integrated into some sort of teaching or training
effort, then rural people, like everyone else, will use them to surf the web
for online dating, Facebook, music, smut and so on (I'd love to see stats
from the Pasha centres which websites people actually visit). That's all
cool, except I don't think it needs to be covered by taxpayers.

It'd be great to have computer training etc in schools. But then wouldn't it
be more sensible to include this in schools' overall budget and leave the
administration up to them? Obviously there are a whole bunch of issues with
school as we can see from the FPE money that went safari, but if schools
can't manage those funds, they won't be able to manage computers either.

Happy footie/furahi day,
Andrea

On 11 June 2010 14:38, Barrack Otieno <otieno.barrack at gmail.com> wrote:

> Interesting discussion going on , i am abit pessimistic though about
> the success of this new initiative, my greatest concern is whether the
> move is well informed or that there is a potential of it turning into
> a White elephant of sorts. We have had many initiatives aimed at
> ensuring ICT tools are available and accessible to all, however there
> has been very little feedback or research on how this initiatives have
> faired on or their real impact on the community.
> That said i am asking myself whether it is better to teach a man how
> to fish or whether we should keep buying fish for them. To elaborate
> if we focus on capacity building we will enable the people to see the
> need for buying computers whether refurbished or not, when they buy
> the computers they will expect to get value for money (aka roi) and as
> such we are likely to see more innovative communities proping up from
> all corners of the country, it is for this reason that i feel this
> move is ill advised and something needs to be done before the money
> goes down the drain, computers are not an end in themselves they are
> just a means to an end, the notion that they are an end must be done
> away with.
> Well i suppose it is time the communication commision or any other
> relevant body conducted a study on the impact of previous initiatives
> similar to the one being implemented i suppose it is our right as
> citizens of this great republic to be informed. I fully support the
> other issues raised by fellow listers, i would also like to know where
> we are with the e-mado project and where it fits in this arrangement.
> I would like to hear from stakeholders their take on this matter
>
> On Fri, Jun 11, 2010 at 11:36 AM, Ngũgĩ Kĩmani <ngugi at mafundi.co.ke>
> wrote:
> > Back in March 2010, the Kenyan government had announced a proposed ban on
> > second-hand computers, aimed at avoiding dumping and reducing electronic
> > waste in the country.
> >
> > Well I've not heard that the ban is being enforced, or lifted, but I am a
> > buyer of second hand branded computers and I have established that they
> are
> > indeed more stable and reliable than "new" assembled klones.
> >
> > I would advocate that the sale of second hand Dells and HPs and Compaqs
> etc
> > be allowed to continue, in fact be encouraged over assembly of klones,
> > because some of those computers have a minimum of 256 MB RAM +
> 2.something
> > processors and this is clearly adequate to run most open source
> > applications. What does a new user of computers need anyway - just OS
> > proficiency + word processing + spreadsheet. They can then move to faster
> > computers as their proficiency increases.
> >
> > :)
> >
> > --
> > Ngũgĩ Kĩmani
> > Fundi wa Mitambo
> >
> >
> > On 11 June 2010 11:58, Josiah Mugambi <jmugambi at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> It is safe I suppose to assume that not all targeted schools have a
> >> reliable (if any) source of electricity. Is there a plan for this?
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Josiah Mugambi
> >>
> >>
> >> On Fri, Jun 11, 2010 at 11:35 AM, Vitalis Olunga <volunga at yahoo.com>
> >> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> The plan (purchasing of) for computers for schools, if implemented,
> seems
> >>> more sustainable than the last year's budget for mobile ICT buses for
> >>> constituencies. What the constituency leaders should now work for is to
> >>> ensure the allocation of resources from the CDF to build computer labs
> in
> >>> schools where they may be lacking. Many emerging schools may still be
> >>> lacking computer labs and science labs as of now. One such school where
> I am
> >>> the chairman of BGO (Obambo, Siaya) is yet to have a computer lab in
> >>> place, and has no equipped science lab,  but is it one of the best in
> the
> >>> district (both in academic performance and sports).
> >>> Regards
> >>>
> >>> Vitalis
> >>>
> >>> ________________________________
> >>> From: "ikua at lpakenya.org" <ikua at lpakenya.org>
> >>> To: volunga at yahoo.com
> >>> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> >>> Sent: Fri, June 11, 2010 9:20:18 AM
> >>> Subject: [kictanet] the budget and ICT
> >>>
> >>> Listers,
> >>> The Government will spend 1.3B to buy 300 computers in each of the 210
> >>> constituencies. That means that each of the 63,000 computers will cost
> the
> >>> taxpayer KSh 20,634/=. This is a very good initiative.
> >>>
> >>> Now, they say that these computers will be assembled by institutions. I
> >>> just hope this does not mean they will go for clones. They would do
> much
> >>> better with branded, refurbished computers. As far as I know, the
> minister
> >>> did not mention anything touching on used computers in the budget.
> >>>
> >>> Now then, at this price, there is absolutely no allowance for software
> >>> purchases. Which is all well as these computers can be loaded with open
> >>> source software that will give much more value to the investment
> anyway. So
> >>> we will be watching keenly to see what kind of deals Microsoft will try
> to
> >>> push at the government to include their software in these computers,
> >>> probably at a ¨small price¨.
> >>>
> >>> The open source community is available and willing to advise the
> >>> Government on the best way of ensuring that tax payer money is used
> >>> prudently for the benefit of this country.
> >>>
> >>> Ikua
> >>> LPA-Kenya
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> kictanet mailing list
> >>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> >>> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
> >>>
> >>> This message was sent to: volunga at yahoo.com
> >>> Unsubscribe or change your options at
> >>>
> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/volunga%40yahoo.com
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> kictanet mailing list
> >>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> >>> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
> >>>
> >>> This message was sent to: jmugambi at gmail.com
> >>> Unsubscribe or change your options at
> >>>
> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jmugambi%40gmail.com
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> kictanet mailing list
> >> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> >> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
> >>
> >> This message was sent to: ngugi at mafundi.co.ke
> >> Unsubscribe or change your options at
> >>
> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/ngugi%40mafundi.co.ke
> >>
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > kictanet mailing list
> > kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> > http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
> >
> > This message was sent to: otieno.barrack at gmail.com
> > Unsubscribe or change your options at
> >
> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/otieno.barrack%40gmail.com
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Barrack O. Otieno
> +41767892272
> Skype: barrack.otieno
>
> _______________________________________________
> kictanet mailing list
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
>
> This message was sent to: andrea.bohnstedt at ratio-magazine.com
> Unsubscribe or change your options at
> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/andrea.bohnstedt%40ratio-magazine.com
>

-- 
Andrea Bohnstedt
Publisher
+254 720 960 322
www.ratio-magazine.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/pipermail/kictanet/attachments/20100611/2ee3f576/attachment.htm>