[kictanet] [KICTAnet] CCK hosting its website abroad

Mon Apr 23 12:20:47 EAT 2012

In all these discussions, I think Kenya should avoid creating some form of affirmative action when it comes to contracts.

Companies in Rwanda may grow because foreigners have to work with them... But are they technically competent

There are conversations going on right now around 140 friday about how to strengthen the sector... For me, I think we should build good quality stuff or do good quality work and the contracts will flow

You win some, you loose some :)

Sent from my BlackBerry®

-----Original Message-----
From: Phares Kariuki <pkariuki at gmail.com>
Sender: kictanet-bounces+agostal=gmail.com at lists.kictanet.or.keDate: Mon, 23 Apr 2012 10:56:52 
To: Agosta Liko<agostal at gmail.com>
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] [KICTAnet] CCK hosting its website abroad

My comments on the issue:

The government does have a prerogative to develop local industries. A
simple example is Embraer in Brazil, which grew to it’s current level
(with Kenya Airways buying jets from it) primarily from the government
purchasing. We don’t want the government to run the companies in the
ICT space, just use the taxes it collects from us to develop the very
same industries.

If the private sector has it’s act together (as is the case with many
companies e.g. Cellulant, which has won a contract from the Government
of Nigeria recently, Seven Seas etc) and we have the capacity, it’s
wrong for the government to outsource the work… The government of
Rwanda currently has a model that for large government contracts, you
have to work in tandem with a local firm, which has two companies
(Rock Global Consulting & Matrix Business Solutions) experience
accelerated growth and are now capable of handling a lot of the
business the government has without external partnerships. They have
grown their capacity. The government loses less money and this in a
small way, fixes their balance of trade and increases employment
locally.

The US government is currently trying as much as possible to end
outsourcing with companies like Apple/Cisco etc.

I am not saying that we should adopt a model that was used by
India/China in the mid-late twentieth Century (extreme market
protection) but I believe it should be tempered. Importing milk from
Tanzania for example, will simply kill our dairy industry. Market
protection has it’s ills as well, but if well done, grows your
economy.

I agree, to a point, with Joe’s approach, however, with CCK, given the
nature of their business, will necessarily have most of their traffic
being local. We do have some good local hosting companies. If for
instance, the tender was inclusive of all that and a preference for
local hosting (if the website were to be local) or international (in
this case the US), then this should clearly be specified at the tender
stage.

The government wants to have 500 companies the size of Seven Seas
technologies (according to what I read from the recently ended
Connected Kenya Summit – correct me if I’m wrong
http://softkenya.com/kenya-ict-board-plans-500-new-firms-by-2017-to-push-kenya-to-top-10-ict-hubs/)
which basically means that in the next five years, we will have, 500
companies with over 1B KES in revenue (500B KES – 6.01B USD, with
current rates). How are we ever going to achieve this if the
government (currently the largest consumer of ICT Services) does not
channel it’s resources into local firms?

On Mon, Apr 23, 2012 at 10:07 AM, Eugene Lidede (Synergy)
<eugene at synergy.co.ke> wrote:
> I find it hypocritical, that we want to be at the forefront of lobbying
> government to outsource locally, but when that is done, we in turn outsource
> abroad using sleek phrases and acronyms like BPO/ITES, Lack of Capacity,
> Costs, Security… the list is endless!
>
>
>
> While I see the argument you are raising for local support, I think there is
> a bigger question as to whether the Internet is local? Also how many of the
> local hosting companies are locally owned?
>
>
>
> The Internet is as local as the Internet is abroad and vice-versa. The
> question of whether a firm is locally owned or not, is a “local-hosting”
> irrelevancy that needs to be addressed differently.  It may be entertaining
> to watch Nigerian oga movies  produced in Abuja, it would be better to see a
> few Kenyan actors star in those movies and a few scenes shot in Kajiado, the
> best experience is to have a hearty laugh watching hilarious Naswa/Pasua
> comedy clips.… whether some Nigerian owns the production company behind
> Naswa is equally an irrelevancy as far as “local-do-it-ourselves” goes.
>
>
>
> The net effect of every shilling spent in Kenya as opposed to being
> converted to dollars and spent abroad, is pretty straight forward I should
> think. I find it hypocritical (if not defeatist – and bordering on an
> economic crime) that a company “saves” by hosting abroad and later claims to
> partake in CSR activities and benefits from Tax incentives for the phony
> CSR!
>
>
>
> It would be great if as an industry we answer some key questions and then
> decide whether it is beneficial to use "local" or imported. My phone is
> Korean, Laptop Apple (Chinese or US - you decide), Office furniture from a
> South African company, imported from Italy etc..
>
>
>
> I want to believe that the decision to import an Apple computer is more
> informed by the lack of a local alternative in functionality, aesthetics,
> prestige or some peculiar sentimental value. If only there was a local brand
> called Chungwa that could equally tickle your gadgetry taste buds….. The
> same “lacking” cannot be claimed for local hosting.
>
>
>
> How many Kenyans are  in the Diaspora and using the Internet.
>
>
>
> What difference does it make? If anything, they ought to be on the frontline
> advancing our cause as a “hosting”/ICT destination, while we develop the
> requisite capacity to absorb the business they forward our way. I think it
> is immoral from a policy perspective to target the Diasporas while 40
> million are languishing in traffic Jams and endless dropped calls, just to
> mention a few of the “easiest-to-solve” of our local ICT problems…
>
>
>
> America did not just wake up July 4th and decide to outsource software
> development to India or hardware to China. It is the nationals of these
> countries residing/visiting America who built their respective cases and
> they did so with the confidence that back home there was sufficient capacity
> and capability. Unlike in our case, they managed to do so despite language
> and accent barriers and differences in political ideology and nuclear
> capability. We seem to have our cart in front of the horse, expecting the
> IBMs and Googles of this world to come develop capacity for us then swing us
> some!
>
>
>
> I think you are asking the wrong question. You should be asking about the
> quality of service to the visitor of the site. Various considerations go
> into where to host a service;
>
>
>
> With respect to CCK hosting, for as long as they are dealing with a middle
> man (aka Broker/Reseller) then topics like Security, Quality of Service
> ought not to arise, and if they do, then the contract ought to go to a firm
> with demonstrated local infrastructure.
>
>
>
> Regards
>
>
>
>
>
> From: kictanet-bounces+eugene=synergy.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> [mailto:kictanet-bounces+eugene=synergy.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke] On
> Behalf Of Joseph Mucheru
> Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2012 11:38 PM
> To: Eugene Lidede
> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] CCK hosting its website abroad
>
>
>
> Grace/Wanjiku,
>
>
>
> While I see the argument you are raising for local support, I think there is
> a bigger question as to whether the Internet is local? Also how many of the
> local hosting companies are locally owned? I think you should evaluate the
> total economic impact to Kenya and not base it on face value. It would be
> great if as an industry we answer some key questions and then decide whether
> it is beneficial to use "local" or imported. My phone is Korean, Laptop
> Apple (Chinese or US - you decide), Office furniture from a South African
> company, imported from Italy etc.. back to the subject of local hosting
> ..... How many Kenyans are  in the diaspora and using the Internet.  I think
> you are asking the wrong question. You should be asking about the quality of
> service to the visitor of the site. Various considerations go into where to
> host a service;
>
> 1) Cost
>
> 2) Security
>
> 3) Quality of Service - where is your primary audience, what devices (mobile
> (feature or smart phone?, desktop, tablet )
>
> 4) Search Engine Ranking and optimisation - Discoverability
>
> 5) others ...
>
>
>
> Who is best positioned to provide this kind of comparison data? Can you
> investigate and give us feedback?
>
>
>
> Thanks
>
>
>
> Joe Mucheru
>
>
>
> On Sun, Apr 22, 2012 at 11:01 PM, Grace Githaiga <ggithaiga at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>
> Quoting the article by Rebecca Wanjiku...
>
>
>
> For a regulator like the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), you would
> expect them to be promoting services if the whole talk of how infrastructure
> has improved and how it is getting better.
>
>
>
> Read more...
>
> http://www.wanjiku.co.ke/2012/04/cck-hosting-its-website-abroad/
>
>
>
> Rgds
>
> GG
>
>
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> --
> Joe Mũcherũ
> Regional Lead, Sub-Saharan Africa
> Google Kenya
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> people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
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-- 
Warm Regards,

Phares Kaboro Kariuki

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The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.

KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.