[kictanet] [Skunkworks] Kenya IGF 2011 List Discussions Day 4 Cloud Computing

Tue Jul 5 17:30:50 EAT 2011

Actually the problem starts in school. We never bother looking 'under the
wheel'... It has to do with this 'cramming' culture we developed. If you
ever attend 80-90% of classes in Kenya (be it in University/High School),
you as a student are forced to attend classes for one purpose and one
purpose only, to write notes. Asking questions, probing, curiosity etc are
frowned upon. The notes then proceed to be crammed (either into one's brain
or into a 'mwakenya') for purposes of regurgitation in the exam room. The
end result is:

   1. A curriculum where, a colleague who went to KU in 1990 was given the
   example of a radio as disruptive technology. I was given the same example in
   2006, (after the iPod, GMail, Computer) etc. I was *not* allowed to be
   inquisitive, or give fresh examples. I remember exchanging notes with one
   said student and they were the same, word for word. The lecturer had never
   changed them.
   2. A workforce where we only work with technology we have been trained
   in, and avoid, at pain of death, figuring out how things work. We are stuck
   on CMS's with very few people actually developing *any* modules for the
   CMS's.

If we, as a nation are aiming to get more people looking to develop, we need
to encourage people to ask questions, be inquisitive without any
consequences. I don't understand why we keep forcing our students to write
notes that they simply proceed to cram for exams, and apply the same
thinking to technology... This problem by the way, is not limited to the IT
industry.

As someone pointed out, high schools where the students were allowed to
tinker with tech resulted in more innovative students (in tech), perhaps
some of the competency issues should be addressed in the curriculum.

On Tue, Jul 5, 2011 at 5:12 PM, Barrack Otieno <otieno.barrack at gmail.com>wrote:

> You bring an interesting dimension to the debate Mich, i agree with your
> perspective as well.
>
> Best Regards
>
>
>
> On Tue, Jul 5, 2011 at 9:59 AM, Michuki Mwangi <michuki at swiftkenya.com>wrote:
>
>> @Aki,
>>
>> Am going to play the devils advocate here :).
>>
>> On 7/5/11 7:51 AM, aki wrote:
>> >
>> > Why would the govt promote cloud computing as a national importance when
>> > they gave out the digitization project to Google? Our data now sits on
>> > Google servers!
>> >
>>
>> Why not?.
>>
>>
>> > I believe that those interested in cloud services should shun these
>> > until the govt leads on such,
>>
>> Please tell me is there any local company in Kenya that can provide
>> services that can compete or match Google's cloud services?.
>>
>> > I also think that before we proceed on any further discussions, we need
>> > to know why the Govt choose Google as the cloud service.
>> >
>>
>> Maybe we should compare it to this. Why is the Govt going for VW Passats
>> yet we have the Nyayo Pioneer car idling somewhere or am i mistaken?.
>>
>>
>> But on a more serious note - has anyone build an infrastructure here and
>> am not talking about a Data Center with all the bells and whistles. Am
>> talking about a service framework that is scalable and robust enough to
>> make the GoK think twice about giving their services to that provider?.
>> Here am not talking about the scale of Google am talking small enough to
>> handle GoK but scalable to handle all of E.A Govts and more without
>> breaking.
>>
>> We are lacking in many extends from both technical expertise (and am
>> sure many folks will differ with me on this one) and more driven by the
>> $ than by the technology to care to know how to build it all together.
>>
>> We have been quick to say that why reinvent the wheel in so many of the
>> forums here (including myself). However, the downside of not reinventing
>> the wheel is we take the wheel and use it without understanding why it
>> was built that way - we just know that we need it and we use it (see
>> Joomla discussion).
>>
>> In conclusion, we have quickly to making revenues from a technology we
>> barely understand. As a result, those who understand it better will
>> always outcompete the rest of us.
>>
>> If you think about it - long before there was cloud folks had something
>> called rocketmail and hotmail. Then came yahoo and even then their
>> business model was a mystery to many in actual sense online advertising
>> was still a distant concept in 1997 - 2000. But see what they lead to
>> today. So basically they made the wheel and improved on the wheel and
>> now its no longer a wheel but a mirage of a wheel.
>>
>> My 2 cents.
>>
>> Michuki.
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Barrack O. Otieno
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-- 
With Regards,

Phares Kariuki

| T: +254 720 406 093 | E: pkariuki at gmail.com | Twitter: kaboro | Skype:
kariukiphares | B: http://www.kaboro.com/ |
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