[kictanet] My reflections on #140Friday and the (failed) Policy Paper

Wed Mar 13 14:54:56 EAT 2013

Ali,

The next #140 Friday is this Friday :) , Brian has agreed to be the Lead on
this and we are going to grow it a step at a time, see here >>
www.140friday.com

Sam

On Wed, Mar 13, 2013 at 2:15 PM, robert yawe <robertyawe at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> COMPUTER SOCIETY OF KENYA
>
>
> Robert Yawe
> KAY System Technologies Ltd
> Phoenix House, 6th Floor
> P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200
> Kenya
>
> Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696
>   ------------------------------
> *From:* Brian Munyao Longwe <blongwe at gmail.com>
> *To:* robertyawe at yahoo.co.uk
> *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, 13 March 2013, 10:32
> *Subject:* [kictanet] My reflections on #140Friday and the (failed)
> Policy Paper
>
> Every once in a while you find a cause or initiative that resonates with
> your values, passions and interests. That is what happened when, last year
> a heated debate on twitter  between techies, IT entrepreneurs and the
> public sector led to a call for a physical face-to-face meeting to thrash
> out the issues. The main focus of the debate was the question of why most
> of the juicy IT deals tend to go to multinationals or overseas IT
> companies. Over the course of the online debate a number of issues came to
> the fore, these included shortcomings or weakness that hindered local IT
> companies from obtaining large projects; other issues also included public
> procurement policy and practice which effectively locked out local
> companies. Once there was consensus to have a face-to-face meeting I was
> nominated to pull it together, make it happen and effectively facilitate
> the whole engagement.
>
> The Nailab, a leading incubator, offered their offices as a venue for the
> meeting. In preparing, I not only reached out to key players in industry,
> government and civil society but also involved the media. We were able to
> get the attention of Nation Media's CEO Linus Gitahi and he approved our
> use of one of their business anchors, Larry Madowo, as a moderator for the
> face to face debate. The first debate was very well attended, the issues
> well articulated, the dialogue fresh and frank. A number of actions points
> came out of the first debate and these included:
>
>    - ICT businesses (both large, small and startup) needed to organize
>    themselves into a single industry body that could act as an interface
>    between government and industry
>    - Develop a policy paper for presentation to Government which captured
>    a vision for the growth and development of the ICT industry in Kenya as
>    well as a roadmap of actions that could get us there.
>
> Strangely and somewhat unexpectedly, the responsibility for coordinating
> the above two action points fell to me. I did not shrink from the task but
> made it clear that since I did not have an IT business of my own, and was
> not at the time part of any local company that I would simply try to act as
> a facilitator but that actions would have to come from the stakeholders
> themselves. We then brainstormed and figured out that it would be best for
> the industry association to be prioritized, as the drafting of the policy
> paper proceeded in order that the industry body would be the one that
> presented the completed paper. A target was set of presenting the paper at
> the Connected Kenya Summit which was to take place in the first week of
> April.
>
> In the process of thinking about how best to handle the industry body
> action point, an organization called KITOS (Kenya IT and Outsourcing
> Services) offered itself as the vehicle which could be used to bring
> industry together. This was received fairly well by most, albeit with some
> concern that the organization had been primarily known as being
> representative of those active in the BPO and ITES sector. These concerns
> were waived by the incumbent officials at KITOS who said that a simple name
> change could totally transform the perception and make the organization's
> name sound more representative. This then led to a few meetings where KITOS
> introduced itself to industry stakeholders in the #140Friday process. In
> these meetings discussions on membership criteria, membership fees etc were
> discussed. After it was clear that dialogue had been established between
> KITOS and it's potential members I exited from the scene as it was now up
> to them to thrash things out and make it happen. A parting shot that I left
> was that I felt that the membership categories and accompanying fees did
> not provide an entry point for poor startups or freelancers to join, and
> that they were an equally important part of the value chain and industry.
>
> I then carried on with focus meetings with various individuals to
> crystallize the policy paper draft which would be presented at the
> Connected summit. This process went well and eventually time for the event
> arrived. But KITOS asked me to present on their behalf as they had not yet
> finalized their stuff. With a lot of support from Mike Macharia of Seven
> Seas and advice from Paul Kukubo of the ICT Board I presented the draft. It
> was my expectation that KITOS would thereafter continue with the role and
> actions that were agreed on in the first #140Friday meeting. Including
> finalizing/polishing the policy paper for formal submission to Government
>
> It therefore came as a big surprise to me when I heard very recently that
> I had failed to deliver a policy paper from industry to Government. I HAD
> FAILED! This is what has lead me to write this account, not to vindicate
> myself but to put the facts out there for scrutiny for anyone who might
> have given ear to those who for whatever reason are seeking to cast
> aspersion upon me. I may have many failings but I will not sit down and
> take responsibility for the failings of others.
>
> This year, the Nailab and I have decided to pick up, dist off and relaunch
> the lively #140Friday ICT debates as they proved a very effective tool to
> galvanize debate, discussion and action on current affairs in the ICT
> sector.
>
>
>
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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
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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.
>

-- 
Warm Regards,
------------------------
Sam Gichuru

twitter: | @samgichuru <http://twitter.com/samgichuru>
Blog: |  www.samgichuru.com
Facebook: | Sam.gichuru <http://www.facebook.com/sam.gichuru>
Skype: Sam.gichuru
Cellphone: | +254-722-730565

Co-founder/ Director /Nailab Incubation
Location: | Nairobi
Website: | www.nailab.co.ke
twitter: | @thenailab
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