[kictanet] [KICTAnet] [KICTAnet] CCK hosting its website abroad

Tue Apr 24 18:21:32 EAT 2012

Phares

> 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?
>

This statement comes across as marketing types seeking to ride off Seven Seas runaway success in Africa. 

How do you increase maize production by increasing the number of farmers a hundred fold, yet existing farmers are wailing left right center and you are doing nothing to increase the amount of nor fertility of existing arable land?

Regards

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Phares Kariuki [mailto:pkariuki at gmail.com]
> Sent: Monday, April 23, 2012 10:57 AM
> To: eugene at synergy.co.ke
> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
> 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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> om
> >
> > The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder
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> >
> > --
> > Joe Mũcherũ
> > Regional Lead, Sub-Saharan Africa
> > Google Kenya
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> om
> >
> > 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.
> 
> 
> 
> --
> Warm Regards,
> 
> Phares Kaboro Kariuki