[kictanet] [Skunkworks] SAP and Kenya ICT Board Partner on Skills Develeopment

Fri Sep 21 13:08:12 EAT 2012

I wouldn't begrudge 100 underprivileged young people an opportunity to
become a resource to the local SAP user community. SAP, Oracle, IBM,
Microsoft...these kind of things have been happening much longer it isn't
the first time.

At a strategic level though, it would be great for KICTB to keep these
tightly aligned to where we hope to be in 2030. I would think, as someone
suggested elsewhere, encouraging these firms to fund an endowment of some
kind to finance ICT education for underprivileged young people at the
tertiary level would be better. However, there can't possibly be only one
way to catalyze growth in the sector. This SAP affair is just one. I'd like
to see more.

Kind regards,

Muchiri Nyaggah | PRINCIPAL PARTNER
@muchiri
Cell: +254 722 506400

We work with leaders to identify and bring to market great innovations in
Africa.

SEMACRAFT CONSULTING PARTNERS
Nairobi, Kenya.
www.semacraft.com | www.semacraft.com/blog
twitter: @semacraft

On Fri, Sep 21, 2012 at 12:58 PM, Evans Ikua <ikua.evans at gmail.com> wrote:

> Well, if I was German and SAP was German and the money would end up in
> Germany, I would think the same way.
>
>
> On Fri, Sep 21, 2012 at 12:43 PM, Andrea Bohnstedt <
> andrea.bohnstedt at ratio-magazine.com> wrote:
>
>> Honestly, guys - maybe it's because it's Friday and I'm a bit
>> undersugared, but what's the issue here? SAP will train 100 underprivileged
>> students in what I can see are marketable technical skills that will give
>> them a good foundation for a career. Boo!
>>
>> 100 out of, what - tens of thousands of kids? Hundreds of thousands of
>> kids? *Of course* this will not fix either youth employment or the state of
>> Kenya's ICT industry over night. It also won't fix the fact that Rhapta
>> Road seems to be crumbling, but then again, it doesn't have to. Doesn't
>> stop anyone from pursuing any other initiatives in the areas everyone put
>> forward. Well done, SAP, I think!
>>
>> On 21 September 2012 12:37, Evans Ikua <ikua.evans at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Mwendwa, this is where we have a disconnect. To build onto what you have
>>> pointed out, the Government would do good to actively support the
>>> development of the capacity of local developers who can be able to extend
>>> and develop local or open source ERPs, and any other systems. My big
>>> question here to Paul is, how much money do we lose in forex buying SAP and
>>> all the other software licenses annually, as a country? Can we get figures
>>> of how much a standard SAP implementation costs? How many are there in the
>>> country? How much of that money stays in the country and how much goes to
>>> Germany? Aren't we better off investing in our own developer skills so that
>>> we can keep some of this money within the country (and maybe pay teachers
>>> better)?
>>>
>>> The reason why rich countries stay rich is because they have positive
>>> balances of payments. A poor country like Kenya has a negative balance of
>>> payments. This basically tells us that we need to import as little as
>>> possible, and export as much as possible. Then vision 2030 becomes easier
>>> to achieve.
>>>
>>> Countries like Malaysia, Brazil, UK and Germany have come to this
>>> realization. They know what is in their best business interest and so they
>>> actively support local developer capacities, as opposed to having software
>>> engineers whose work is just to install packaged software from shiny discs.
>>>
>>> Brain drain? When we have a situation like I have just mentioned above,
>>> the really good developers will never have an incentive to stay in a
>>> country where all they do is install software. They will soon emigrate to
>>> Germany (or Silicon Valley) where they can be employed by SAP to get
>>> involved in the exciting world where they can actually do the development.
>>> With open source, they would stay in Kenya and still get to develop
>>> exciting applications
>>>
>>> On Fri, Sep 21, 2012 at 11:50 AM, lordmwesh <lordmwesh at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> This is a great debate, but we should not trivialize what the ICT
>>>> board is trying to do in helping build local SAP developers. Any
>>>> movement forward is welcomed.
>>>>
>>>> Although Great developers don't need any baby sitting, they will move
>>>> and work with any platform may it be proprietary closed or Free open
>>>> source.
>>>>
>>>> The debate of what software an enterprise should use should be decided
>>>> by the investors, after analysing all risks involved.
>>>>
>>>> SAP has seen an opportunity to develop local talent, great.
>>>>
>>>> Anybody who feels like me that local developers should also be taught
>>>> to integrate Open source ERPs should sponsor them too. A lot of talk
>>>> and no walk will not help anybody.
>>>>
>>>> Kudos KICTB, Any movement forward is welcomed.
>>>> ______________________
>>>> Mwendwa Kivuva
>>>> For
>>>> Business Development
>>>> Transworld Computer Channels
>>>> Cel: 0722402248
>>>> twitter.com/lordmwesh
>>>> transworldAfrica.com | Fluent in computing
>>>> kenya.or.ke | The Kenya we know
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> *----------------------------------------------------
>>> Kind Regards,
>>> Evans Ikua,*
>>> lanetconsulting.com,
>>> lpi-eastafrica.org,
>>> ict-innovation.fossfa.net,
>>> Skype: @ikuae
>>> Cell: +254-722-955831
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Andrea Bohnstedt <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/andreabohnstedt>
>> Publisher
>> +254 720 960 322
>>
>> www.ratio-magazine.com
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>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> *----------------------------------------------------
> Kind Regards,
> Evans Ikua,*
> lanetconsulting.com,
> lpi-eastafrica.org,
> ict-innovation.fossfa.net,
> Skype: @ikuae
> Cell: +254-722-955831
>
>
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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.
>
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