[kictanet] Korea

Mon Nov 14 11:25:08 EAT 2011

Bwana Ndemo,

It would be nice upon your return from Korea to share in few bullets what lessons you've learnt and what you would implement in Kenya if you became President? 

I understand that Senegal witnessed rapid development when their President would come back home with innovative ideas from abroad which he would wanted implemented immediately without winding processes of feasibility studies, planning, research etc....some of their super-highways benefitted from this approach.

Edith

-----Original Message-----
From: bitange at jambo.co.ke [mailto:bitange at jambo.co.ke] 
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 7:10 PM
To: Edith Adera
Cc: bitange at jambo.co.ke; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: RE: [kictanet] Korea

Edith,
Today we spent some time in Daejeon, the Silicon Valley of Korea.  The city is about 200 Km north of Seoul or a two and half hour drive.  By rail it took us 45 minutes to cover the distance in their 350 Kph super train. 
It was faster than driving from South B to City Centre at peak hour in Nairobi.  Korea is a country of hills but the highways and rail tunnels run straight since they blast through these hills making driving pleasurable.

Even at the breath taking speed, we had a glimpse of their farm lands and rural life.  The rice fields are dry and clear scattered with hay. Here nothing goes to waste as this is what improves on their productivity.  Kim who sat next to me tells me much of hay will be animal fodder, particularly for grazing livestock such as cattle  and some will be used to make bloakboards thus increasing retuns to farmers.  For a few minutes I reflected on the waste from our wheat and corn fields that would easily feed the dying livestock in Northern Kenya or safe our trees by making bloakbords.

At intervals of about 50 Km there is a city with high rises.  The average size of an appartment is 90 sq m and with two to three bedrooms.  They don't need more than that Kim said.  The average family size here is 3. 
Fertility rate is 1.1 per woman going by 2010 statistics.  Fertility rate in Kenya from the same statistics stands at 5 children per woman with Central and Nyanza averaging  3 and 6 respectively (the variance between Central and Nyanza is largely due to education of women and not Kumi Kumi as Hon. Shitanda may think).

I ask Kim what percentage of their population is urban.  he quickly pulls his Galaxy handset and googles my question.  This is common here.  Nobody seems to know anything.  Google has the answer.  Eighty one percent he says.  We arrive in Daejeon and what strikes you is the amount of rail infrastructure.  The high speed, the slow speed (cheaper with maximum speed of 180 kmh on standard gauge.  Note that whenever our train moves at more than 60 kph, it rolls as we are on narrow gauge) and the goods train.

There are 60 research centers but our trip takes us to their National Data Center.  It is a seven floor building measuring 40,000 sq m.  It consumes
240 MW of power and has 1,000 employees on a three shift rotation.  They keep their sensitive data here with a back up facility in another city 70 Kms further north.  They are planning on a third facility that would mainly focus on business continuity.  The head of the facility receives us.  He does not speak a single word of English but a woman seated next to him translates about 70% of what is said.  More important he tells us the benefits of automation including the efficiencies that government has created to its citizens and the reduction of corruption in Korea.  He admits that Korea at one time was as corrupt as any of those countries struggling in the TI list.

I am foever optimistic that automation will see Kenya eradicate corruption.  Preliminary results are encouraging.  Pre-digitization at Lands Ministry has seen revenue jump from Ksh. 3 billion to Ksh. 7 billion.  Once we finish it is estimated that GoK will collect as much as Ksh. 30 billion.  A similar amount will be recovered if we automated our procurement.  The Company registry's revenue are up three times. 
Judiciary we have not finished yet butthere are positive signs.

We left Daejeon at 2 pm for a 3.30 pm meeting with the Minister in Public Service.  There are certainly areas that Korea needs to improve.  In all the meeting I attended, there was not a single senior woman.

In this all expense paid visit to Korea, I made one serious arror but a good lesson.  I invited four of the senior people to a dinner sponsored by Kenya (a diplomatic lingua franca).  My bill came to Kuan. 1.2 million or $1,000.  Seoul is EXPENSIVE.

Regards.

Ndemo.

> Bwana Ndemo,
>
> Wow! what a transformation! how long has this journey taken? what were 
> the key success factors?.
>
> For sure, what we need in Kenya is this "feeling of shame"....that 
> would be halfway to eradicating corruption!
>
> Edith
> ________________
> Edith Ofwona Adera
> Senior Program Specialist
> Climate Change & Water Program
> International Development Research Centre | Centre de recherches pour 
> le développement international Regional Office for Eastern and 
> Southern Africa
> Tel: +254202713160 | Fax/Téléc: +254202711063 | Skype: edithadera 
> eadera at idrc.or.ke | www.idrc.ca | www.crdi.ca 
> ________________________________________
> From: kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> [kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of 
> bitange at jambo.co.ke [bitange at jambo.co.ke]
> Sent: 08 November 2011 17:19
> To: Edith Adera
> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Korea
>
> I arrived in Korea yesterday for a Global e-Government conference.  
> ITU ranks Korea as number one in ICT diffusion.  From the airport you 
> see people walk through with an e-passport using biometrics.  The New 
> Incheon airport is 70 Kms west of Seoul, the capital and largest city 
> of South Korea with some 11 million inhabitants. It is one of the 
> largest and busiest airports in the world actually the world's fourth 
> busiest airport by cargo traffic, and the world's eighth busiest 
> airport in terms of international passengers in 2010.
>
> Korea is about 99,000 sq Kms or one half of the Rift Valley Province 
> of Kenya with a population of 50 million and a GDP of $1 trillion 
> (Kenya's GDP is about $35 billion).  In the 60's it was largely a 
> donor recipient country with a GDP less than that of Kenya and more 
> than 60% of its population below poverty.  They have turned tables to 
> be a member of the OECD and a donor country over a short period.
>
> For many years it mostly depended on the USA as its largest trade 
> partner but over a time they focused their energies on the Asian 
> Markets.  Its trade with China, USA and Japan in 2010 figures stands 
> at %190, $98 and
> $90 billion respectively.  They import a great deal of food and the 
> reason why we should not lease our land but use it to improve on our 
> economic growth.  A Kg of meat here is $100 imported from Canada and Brazil.
>
> I asked our Ambassador why we cannot sell our meat here.  He says we 
> do not meat their standards.  This should not be a problem since we 
> have broadband in most parts of the country that we can keep pace with 
> the rest of the world in keeping the records especially those required 
> by various standrds organization.
>
> Back to Korea.  ICTs are also deployed along the highways making it 
> easier to go through the toll stations and collecting all the 
> revenues.  You can get data from government at every hour.  You can 
> for example know the number of children born in a day throughtout the 
> country.  There is CCTV practically everywhere.  Crime is approaching zero.
>
> There is an over supply of affordable public transport via the rail 
> and bus system all clean and on time.  If you choose to drive on your 
> own, you are taxed at every new turn you make.  The tax from the 
> polluters who cannot use public transport is used to subsidize the 
> energy efficient public tranportation.
>
> Every child after high school has to go through the Military thus 
> instilling the discipline required in this competitive world.  Because 
> of such discipline, they do everything very fast.  We were literaly 
> running behind our hosts to catch up with them.  In the Newspapers 
> there is a Bank executive who has committed suicide because he gave 
> questionable loans to friends.  He killed himself for shaming his 
> family and that he may not have any friends.
>
> My experience here confirms much of what we have been saying in this 
> forum.  The problem is how to inculcate such high levels of ethical 
> standards as well as feeling of shame.
>
>
> Regards
>
>
> Ndemo.
>
>
>
>
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