[kictanet] kictanet Digest, Vol 70, Issue 28
Baiju Shah
baiju at tele2media.com
Wed Mar 6 22:48:32 EAT 2013
Listers,
Very interesting debate, now lets look at lesson learnt and put the right measures in place to have successful delivery of projects.
Best Regards,
Baiju
Sent from my iPad
On 6 Mar 2013, at 21:01, kictanet-request at lists.kictanet.or.ke wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: Results Transmission System (ICT Researcher)
> 2. Re: Has the ICT Sector Failed? (dmakali at yahoo.com)
> 3. Re: Has the ICT Sector Failed? (bitange at jambo.co.ke)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 6 Mar 2013 09:29:11 -0800 (PST)
> From: ICT Researcher <ict.researcher at yahoo.com>
> To: Brian Munyao Longwe <blongwe at gmail.com>
> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Results Transmission System
> Message-ID:
> <1362590951.61246.YahooMailNeo at web140006.mail.bf1.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> A wake-up call to Kenyans to be wary of "put all your eggs in the glorious IT basket" peddlers?? Unless you built the platform, owned and operated it, then your best could be no more than a washer in the system, a rain drop in the ocean or a mere subject in the digital kingdom. In which case the manual system restores IEBC to its due authoritative standing.
>
> Some food for thought:
>
>
> 'Engineering: Designed to Fail' - Henry
> Petroski, American Scientist, Volume
> 85
>
> ?Failure in engineering, as in lif,
> is considered a negative quality--something to be avoided. When we
> hear that a system has failed or a device has broken, we begin to
> look for causes and culprits even as we are caring for victims and
> cleaning up the pieces. We want o identify how and why each failure
> happened so that we can prevent it in the future. Was the design
> defective? Were the materials flawed? Was the maintenance negligent?
> Was the use excessive? Such are the questions of a failure analysis,
> determined to get to the heart of the matter so that blame and
> liability can be assigned, and things can be redesigned. In this
> sense, failed things and their makers can be said to be vindicated;
> they provide lessons for improvement and for the advancement of
> civilization.
> There is another aspect of failure, one
> that from the beginning puts the usual pejorative connotation of the
> word in a much more positive light. We actually want certain things
> to fail and break, for otherwise we would be frustrated in their use
> and possibly even harmed by their existence. The challenge to the
> engineer in this case is to design systems and devices that have
> well-defined and predictable failure and breaking points so that such
> physical phenomena as collapse fracture happen in the way and at the
> time they are supposed to."
>
>
> JSTOR link: http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/27856846?uid=3738336&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21101736419923
> ?? ? ?
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Brian Munyao Longwe <blongwe at gmail.com>
> To: ict.researcher at yahoo.com
> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Sent: Wednesday, March 6, 2013 1:33 PM
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Results Transmission System
>
>
> Why is another country paying for and procuring as critical and sensitive a national infrastructure and resource as our national election system?
>
> Total, absolute fail!
>
> Brian
>
>
> On Wed, Mar 6, 2013 at 10:06 AM, Dorcas Muthoni <dmuthoni at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Now, there is loads of information that is becoming available about the system. I am sharing more that has come my way:
>>
>>
>> 1. The RFP used to source a vendor:?http://buyersguide.ifes.org/procurement_pdf/1356124968.pdf
>> 2. RFP was closing only?4th January, 2013, yes..only this January
>>
>> 3. An external party (US based) that seems to have been fully involved in the entire procurement process and i would imagine implementation as well is?http://www.ifes.org/.?See all details about their role in the RFP and others on their website.
>> 4. Project was USAID funded.
>> 5. A good blog with several discussions on this:?http://iebctechkenya.tumblr.com/
>> Before we blame anybody or feel sorry for any party, Please lets do a thorough review of the ongoings. I am sure we shall then address the IT problem in this case.
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 6, 2013 at 9:21 AM, Edith Adera <eadera at idrc.ca> wrote:
>>
>> This story and another on safaricom being pressured not to support the transmission was in the public domain, as a sector, we should have discussed these ahead of time.
>>>
>>> these articles were in the public domain.
>>> ________________________________________
>>> From: kictanet [kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.ca at lists.kictanet.or.ke] on behalf of Dorcas Muthoni [dmuthoni at gmail.com]
>>> Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2013 12:39 AM
>>> To: Edith Adera
>>> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
>>> Subject: [kictanet] Results Transmission System
>>>
>>>
>>> Stories that we may have missed:
>>>
>>> http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-108148/iebc-must-fix-results-transmission-system-fast
>>>
>>> Story was published as early as Feb 19th 2013.
>>>
>>> I hope in future, departments like Directorate of e-Goverment launch competent QA and IS Audit teams that could be more involved in software projects at various agencies. It would be good for all of us.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Muthoni
>>>
>>> My Blog: http://rugongo.blogspot.com/
>>> --------------------------------------------
>>> Mahatma Gandhi once said:-
>>>
>>> First they ignore you,
>>> Then they laugh at you,
>>> Then they fight you,
>>> AND THEN YOU WIN!!!
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Muthoni
>>
>> My Blog: http://rugongo.blogspot.com/
>> --------------------------------------------
>> Mahatma Gandhi once said:-
>>
>> First they ignore you,
>> Then they laugh at you,
>> Then they fight you,
>> AND THEN YOU WIN!!!
>> _______________________________________________
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Wed, 6 Mar 2013 17:45:13 +0000
> From: dmakali at yahoo.com
> To: "Edith Adera" <eadera at idrc.ca>, "kictanet"
> <kictanet-bounces+dmakali=yahoo.com at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Has the ICT Sector Failed?
> Message-ID:
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>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252"
>
> Why is this being addressed as IT "failure" and not "sabotage"?. I would think failure is when a system "fails" to function according to its intended or programmed purpose and not when its "functioning" is interfered with so as to derail it from performing the set task.
>
>
>
> Sent from my BlackBerry?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Edith Adera <eadera at idrc.ca>
> Sender: "kictanet" <kictanet-bounces+dmakali=yahoo.com at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Date: Wed, 6 Mar 2013 17:10:13
> To: <dmakali at yahoo.com>
> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Has the ICT Sector Failed?
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/dmakali%40yahoo.com
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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.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Wed, 6 Mar 2013 21:04:26 +0300 (EAT)
> From: bitange at jambo.co.ke
> To: "Edith Adera" <eadera at idrc.ca>
> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Has the ICT Sector Failed?
> Message-ID:
> <3fa67fcf34554eb83f13d2b035eb6cf7.squirrel at mail.jambo.co.ke>
> Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1
>
> Edith,
> First let me clarify that the Biometric Voter Registration worked and that
> is how we were all registerted. The Voter verification system (a small
> gadget that takes the impression of your thumb and verifies with the
> registration data)failed in most polling centers. The data transmission
> system worked but the server could not cope within the short window period
> for transmission (just a few hours after polling centers were closed
> before they moved the ballot papers to the constituency tallying centers).
> Not all data was transmitted due to various issues including failure to
> fully charge the equipment, alligning data capture with the server
> software and other minor human errors.
>
> This does not qualify to condemn the entire industry. I remember once in
> the US when the space shuttle blew up yet they had made many missions into
> space. They did not claim failure of the program but rather used it to
> build a better program.
>
> In our election exercise we may need to further examine the errors in a
> more detailed way. Often we say we understand when we have not
> understood. We do not have the courage to say I have failed and need
> help. We see errors that we do not report. We do not learn from mistakes
> around us (KNEC has failed a couple of times in a similar exercise but we
> have never learnt from it). These are simple behavioral issues but it is
> what we need to correct if any training is to work on us.
>
> In my view we should rather examine ourselves in an increasingly
> complicated world. Recently, I boarded a Matatu from Westlands to city
> center which the drive pumped the breaks more that five times to get it to
> stop. When I asked him, he just laughed and said "Mheshimiwa hii inaweza
> enda hata mwezi". I decided to inform everybody that we are riding a
> vehicle with no breaks as I alighted. Nobody followed my call as they
> looked at me as though I was crazy. Technology may not be the problem as
> we think.
>
> Ndemo.
>
>
>
>
>> Mark,
>>
>> The law requires that the results are transmitted electronically, so it's
>> not a PR exercise! I guess this was made a requirement to avoid rigging
>> and disappearing returning officers like Kivuitu experienced - as these
>> are transmitted in the presence of all party agents observers etc. I guess
>> also a back-up to the actual signed paper copies.
>>
>> So ICT was playing a very crucial role.
>>
>> Edith
>>
>> From: kictanet
>> [mailto:kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.ca at lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of
>> Mark Mwangi
>> Sent: March 6, 2013 12:23 PM
>> To: Edith Adera
>> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
>> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Has the ICT Sector Failed?
>>
>> The way I understand the electronic system is that it was only meant to be
>> a public facing results platform that would give a general feel of the
>> winners and loosers before the official figures were declared.
>>
>> The failure of the system thus does not affect the integrity of the
>> elections but only the PR skills of IEBC. The official results are still
>> on form 16a i presume.
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 6, 2013 at 11:57 AM, Erik Hersman
>> <erik at zungu.com<mailto:erik at zungu.com>> wrote:
>> Valid question Edith. The short answer is that only the people in Bomas
>> can answer that question. I'm looking forward to when they talk about it
>> as well.
>>
>> Erik Hersman
>>
>> www.ushahidi.com<http://www.ushahidi.com/> |
>> www.iHub.co.ke<http://www.ihub.co.ke/>
>> www.whiteafrican.com<http://www.afrigadget.com/> |
>> @whiteafrican<http://twitter.com/whiteafrican>
>>
>> On Mar 6, 2013, at 11:45 AM, Edith Adera
>> <eadera at idrc.ca<mailto:eadera at idrc.ca>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Erik,
>>
>> Key question, were these companies working in sync or providing services
>> independently without a lead ensurin tgat everything works.
>>
>> The demo seems to have failed as per article circulated by Muthoni, why
>> were these not addresed as the same problems were experienced during
>> the`live show`.
>>
>> Hard to understand.
>>
>> Why not use one integrated system?
>>
>>
>>
>> ____________________________________
>> From: kictanet
>> [kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.ca at lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.ca at lists.kictanet.or.ke>]
>> on behalf of Erik Hersman [erik at zungu.com<mailto:erik at zungu.com>]
>> Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2013 1:52 AM
>> To: Edith Adera
>> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
>> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Has the ICT Sector Failed?
>>
>> Agreed with Evans here.
>>
>> Every single tech system has problems, that IEBC does as well should be no
>> surprise. I've been spending last night and this morning trying to better
>> understand how the IEBC's data flow works, their lack of clarity here is
>> the only problem that I can find. You can see my questions, sources and
>> even the IEBC RFP for the system here: http://iebctechkenya.tumblr.com/
>>
>> * Polling station uses Safaricom SIM cards >
>> * App installed in phone, proprietary software from IFES >
>> * Transmitted via Safaricom's VPN >
>> * Servers hosted/managed by Next Technologies (needs confirmation) >
>> * Google hosted website at http://vote.iebc.or.ke >
>> * Google hosted API at http://api.iebc.or.ke
>>
>> You'll note that, besides the IEBC itself, there are at least 4 (large)
>> organizations that have to be in sync in order for the system to work
>> (Safaricom, IFES, Next Technologies, and Google). That's no small task,
>> and as you can see by the list of companies involved, these are largely
>> not local companies.
>>
>>
>> Erik Hersman
>>
>> www.ushahidi.com<http://www.ushahidi.com><http://www.ushahidi.com/> |
>> www.iHub.co.ke<http://www.iHub.co.ke><http://www.ihub.co.ke/>
>> www.whiteafrican.com<http://www.whiteafrican.com><http://www.afrigadget.com/>
>> | @whiteafrican<http://twitter.com/whiteafrican>
>>
>> On Mar 6, 2013, at 9:42 AM, Evans Ikua
>> <ikua.evans at gmail.com<mailto:ikua.evans at gmail.com><mailto:ikua.evans at gmail.com>>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Edith, I beg to differ. Its not ICT that has failed here. Its the
>> processes. Just throwing some expensive servers and plenty of bandwidth at
>> a problem will not solve it. The top leadership has to fully understand
>> their organization's ICT strategy. They have to internalize the
>> opportunities that technology brings to the table, as well as the inherent
>> risks that come with it. This cannot be left to techies, however good they
>> may be. The reason being that if the organization that you lead fails (and
>> the reason was technology), its you who is answerable, not the techies.
>> This is the spirit of IT Governance.
>>
>> It would be interesting to know if the IEBC commissioners fully understand
>> the risks of the technologies that they are relying on.
>> Let us not blame the technology.
>>
>> Evans
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 6, 2013 at 8:55 AM, Edith Adera
>> <eadera at idrc.ca<mailto:eadera at idrc.ca><mailto:eadera at idrc.ca>> wrote:
>> Listers,
>>
>> It is a shame that for the first time in Kenya's history when IT is given
>> a chance to bring credibility and efficiency in the electoral process, ICT
>> has failed SPECTACULARLY!
>>
>> what went wrong?
>>
>> Edith
>> _______________________________________________
>> kictanet mailing list
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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.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> ----------------------------------------------------
>> Kind Regards,
>> Evans Ikua,
>> lanetconsulting.com<http://lanetconsulting.com><http://lanetconsulting.com/>,
>> lpi-eastafrica.org<http://lpi-eastafrica.org><http://lpi-eastafrica.org/>,
>> ict-innovation.fossfa.net<http://ict-innovation.fossfa.net><http://ict-innovation.fossfa.net/>,
>> Skype: @ikuae
>> Cell: +254-722-955831<tel:%2B254-722-955831>
>> _______________________________________________
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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.
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> kictanet mailing list
>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
>>
>> Unsubscribe or change your options at
>> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/mwangy%40gmail.com
>>
>> 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.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Regards,
>>
>> Mark Mwangi
>>
>> markmwangi.me.ke<http://markmwangi.me.ke>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> kictanet mailing list
>> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
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>>
>> Unsubscribe or change your options at
>> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/bitange%40jambo.co.ke
>>
>> 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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