[kictanet] Has the ICT Sector Failed?

Wed Mar 6 16:02:48 EAT 2013

And when I say plan, it extends beyond IEBC. If the timing was too short to test properly as I see here below, I expected the ICT team to brief the Chairman of IEBC of the risk involved and for him to inform the public that much as they wanted an electronic voting system, the finances must be made available early enough and so they have no choice to go but to go manual. The buck then shifts to Treasury who must be pressurized to perform their functions effectively. This involves more people than just the IEBC  though they will now take the beating for accepting to use a system that had not properly been tested.

Regards,

Gilda Odera

On Mar 6, 2013, at 12:14 PM, 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:
> 
> The RFP used to source a vendor: http://buyersguide.ifes.org/procurement_pdf/1356124968.pdf
> RFP was closing only 4th January, 2013, yes..only this January
> 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.
> Project was USAID funded.
> A good blog with several discussions on this: http://iebctechkenya.tumblr.com/
> Stories on media that never caught quick attention: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-108148/iebc-must-fix-results-transmission-system-fast, http://tinyurl.com/d9va4k4
> 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 10:20 AM, Agosta Liko <agostal at gmail.com> wrote:
> Roland
> 
> The governance experts are saying - lack of governance
> 
> The networking experts are saying - lets get better VPNS
> 
> The server experts are saying - we should have used HP or SUN or IBM
> 
> The database experts are concerned Oracle was used (Open Source Guys would want MySQL)
> 
> Software Developers - why use language X and not you
> 
> Software Testers - want more testing
> 
> Everyone is pitching their wares ... no one is sure what happened ....... ... and the job is over this week :)
> 
> On Wed, Mar 6, 2013 at 10:00 AM, Roland Omoresemi <roland at tezzasolutions.com> wrote:
> Can we really blame ICT when the true culprit appears to be the lack of proper testing of the systems in play?
> 
> IEBC could have performance tested (both load and stress) their systems to see how they would react under varying loads.
> 
> The tools and human resources were right there in Kenya but it is obvious we failed to apply them to help create a different result than what we currently face.
> 
> What we are witnessing is a classic case of what happens when we fail to adequately test our applications. Our non-conformance cost skyrockets...IEBC now has to worry about the cost of doing damage control on the biggest stage ever when it could have spent a fraction of the same cost to perform load or stress tests which would have helped them identify issues/bottlenecks in their systems long before now.
> 
> This is also not much different from what some of our local companies do...we deploy critical systems without proper testing and we then pray and hope nothing happens.
> 
> It is saddening that we don't see much value in setting aside adequate time for testing our applications (most especially those that are customer-facing) or we push whatever little testing we do to the very last minute when its practically too late to make any difference...or until the "s..." hits the ceiling and we then start to wonder why any of our issues could be happening.
> 
> Could we really blame ICT here or should we be looking closely at our lack of proper software testing?
> 
> - Roland
> ------Original Message------
> From: Edith Adera
> Sender: kictanet
> To: Roland Omoresemi
> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
> Subject: [kictanet] Has the ICT Sector Failed?
> Sent: Mar 6, 2013 12:55 AM
> 
> 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
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> ---------------------------------------------
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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.
> 
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> 
> -- 
> Muthoni
> 
> My Blog: http://rugongo.blogspot.com/
> --------------------------------------------
> Mahatma Gandhi once said:-
> 
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