[kictanet] Redefine Issue; Net neutrality 'first world' problem?

Mon Feb 29 13:55:07 EAT 2016

Warm Greetings and pray the week has kicked off well!

This statement comes from what we may term as the "highest authority in ICT in Kenya".

I have no issue with nusu internet and etc from players out there who in their wisdom are attempting to bring some taste of the internet to people - run on with it even if it would be only one website accessible. 

However, words have power and they reflect where we are being taken to and we are going. 
By now access to the internet should be declared a public good, just as there is "national disasters declaration". 

The other ongoing discussion on this mtandao is about toilets and mobile phone, let me borrow from it also.

Some have toilets inside the house, some do not have any thus, we dig pit latrines that are out of the house. Yes, both have access to the sanitation offered by use of a toilet. Is there an implication with respect to access to comfort which we call standard of living?
To make it even better, we have the innovators who've come up with Poop-bags seeking to reach the toilet-unreachable communities; after your job inside your house or bush, the contents once inside the Poop-Bag turn into fertilizer for your home shamba...
Overall, there is a facility to do your job with dignity whether we call it toilet, latrine or a bag. Many ways to skin a cat.

Back to the internet access of a sites and the great value placed on this growing body of knowledge - what does it take to ensure all your people can access the world of the internet from the onset?

The request is for our Leaders to hold and represent a visionary trajectory. Not from a copy-cat point of view or what may at times be trial and error tactics by players (which sometimes are successful too) as they seek for their individual business interests.

Have a blessed day.

Regards/Wangari

---
Pray God Bless. 2013Wangari circa - "Being of the Light, We are Restored Through Faith in Mind, Body and Spirit; We Manifest The Kingdom of God on Earth".

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On Mon, 29/2/16, Waithaka Ngigi <ngigi at at.co.ke> wrote:

 Subject: Re: [kictanet] Redefine Issue; Net neutrality 'first world' problem?
 To: "Wangari Kabiru via kictanet" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
 Cc: "Wangari Kabiru" <wangarikabiru at yahoo.co.uk>
 Date: Monday, 29 February, 2016, 10:27

             Wangari,
 Good points you
 have...
 However, another
 way to look at it....
 What was the
 first way most Kenyans ever accessed the Internet? WAP
 phones‎... WAP only worked on certain specific websites
 that published using WML... That was ok, since certain
 important sites had this functionality, but definately *not*
 even 20% of the Internet was accessible this way. Yet, WAP
 was the only option for a lot of people, who then migrated
 to more capable platforms as time went by.
 10 yrs ago, what
 was the most prevalent way of transport across the country?
 Cars‎. Today it's the Boda Boda. Noda has
 revolutionized transport in most places and especially so
 upcountry.
 What if GoK had
 said what we need is a cheaper car; has to have four wheels,
 seatbelt, can carry four, would things have turned out this
 way?
 My point is, just
 the way we, privileged enough to have the 'full'
 Internet, might not understand why someone takes a
 half-car‎(Noda, very dangerous, exposes you to the
 elements all the time), then it might be also equivalently
 difficult for us to make the decision whether if given a
 choice btn the full Internet and Wikipedia only paid by
 Googla, that the Googla option might not end up being the
 most popular choice. 
 One that will get
 a lot of people online 'today' and not 3-4yrs into
 the future once we figure out how to raise the funds
 required etc
 Thoughts???

                                Waithaka Ngigi

 Alliance Technologies
 www.at.co.ke                            

                                                          From: Wangari Kabiru via
 kictanetSent: Monday, February 29, 2016
 4:35 AMTo: Ngigi
 WaithakaReply To: KICTAnet ICT Policy
 DiscussionsCc: Wangari
 KabiruSubject: [kictanet] Redefine Issue;
 Net neutrality 'first world'
 problem?
 Happy Saturday! 
 We've got to be a demand to ourselves and
 our communities to be a stand for more and not just enough
 or just a shot!
 Nairobi and Kenya is touted all over as the
 innovation hub. This thinking if adopted by all of us will
 only not keep us there or at best will keep us as a testing
 hub in the name of an innovative hub.
 Secondly, using all the experiences of the so
 called first world, how might we catapult our growth versus
 just following suite? We must be able to create our own
 trail, not just accept a few shots to get high on. 
 Half a loaf theorem is really killing our
 people. There is evidence all over- Traditional NGO speak.
 What does it take to have the whole loaf and icing cake too.
 In other words the highest potential experience from the
 onset.
 While we credit efforts by different players to
 meet community challenges such as nusu internet, the big
 brother herein Government must own the bigger vision and
 responsibility.
 For all it is worth, we are in dire need of all
 the exposed brains to not be satisfied with just enough even
 in this evolving ICTs field.
 Blessed day.
 Regard/Wangari 
 On Feb 26, 2016 21:43, Liz
 Orembo via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
 wrote:

 Interesting read.

 http://mgafrica.com/article/2016-02-24-africa-internet-access-more-important-for-africa-than-net-neutrality-which-is-a-first-world-problem/

 -- 

 Best regards.

 Liz.

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