[kictanet] Kenya laying on its rotting laurels

[robert yawe]

Hi,

A number of past topics are a clear indication that Kenya is laying on its historical laurels many of which are past their throw out date.

Digital migration:  Kenya led the process but now seems like we shall fall behind as we suspend the switchover yet Tanzania is going full steam ahead which means that they will also go LTE before we do (where will the tech investment go now?)

Uganda Statehouse web site:  Speaks for itself

Konza:  Even with all the issues of Ruanda's expansionist tendency's they still remain the darlings of investors, Southern Sudan is a true green field and with ready petrol dollar will give us a run for our money.  The Southern Sudan government needed a data center and instead of waiting for a master builder the imported a containerised one that took 3 months to order and commission

1 M TV sets and 2 M watches:  A clear sign that we believe we have arrived and can know enjoy the trappings of wealth then when a foreign multinational lands and takes over the business we plead for state protection

Geo-spatial Revenue Collection Information System (GEOCRIS):  The young man will soon be whisked off to some foreign capital where he will be feted and rewarded while we continue searching for a "database"

Internet bandwidth to double:  We have become a nation obsessed with infrastructure projects, what have we done with the existing bandwidth? 

Safaricom to lay own fiber:  As shareholders of Safaricom it is criminal to allow management to spend resources on duplicating efforts, CCK & NEMA need to stop double standards and apply the same rules across the board.  With the digital signal distribution they say 2 are more than enough, they refuse to enforce mast sharing (Kudos to Yu & Airtel).  Would it not be better if Safaricom was to use the money to improve their service delivery levels and footprint?

Treasury building new data center in CDB:  If the government is serious about shared services why is it that different ministries are busy building new data centers thereby further entrenching the silo structures

MPesa has grown up: We keep treating MPesa like a bouncing new born yet it is a mature application that now has an ID and will be voting in the next election, where is the next big thing?

OpenData a failure:  We opened data but forgot to teach the locals how to harness its potential, what we need is not more data but to use what we have.  Feeding a 4" water pipe into a home is a sure recipe for disaster, for the uninitiated your water supply is based on a 0.5" pipe

There is a story that was once told by the Hon. Raila Odinga after returning from an official visit to one of the Asian Tiger Nations where after a presentation on their stratospheric growth he asked for a copy of the master plan.  In response the hosts asked why he would want a copy of the document they copied from Kenya when they visited in the late 60's.  

We might as well convert the country into a university as is said "those who can do, those who can't teach"

Regards

 
Robert Yawe
KAY System Technologies Ltd
Phoenix House, 6th Floor
P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200
Kenya


Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696
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