[kictanet] Draft National ICT Policy Discussions Day 8 of 10: Emerging Issues ( Big Data, Bitcoin, Internet of Things)

Fri Jul 1 16:26:56 EAT 2016

"Considering that Kenya has taken a lead in issues of technology....."

Blessed Furahi Day!

I think there is a white lie and white elephant within the above statement which needs its own time and place to discuss through.

Why do we still have our mass poverty indicators and on the rise; unemployment, underemployment, education, rouge medical services, public services? Dropping calls, financial services and access

This white lie and white elephant is hoodwinking and breeds complacency in this hotbed of innovation. One hit here and there does not qualify.
Dominance would.

The statement which might qualify is "Openness to testing and consumption of technologies". 
Yaani hali ya kuwa uwanja wa sarakasi na maonyesho haina maana ya kuwa Kenya ni shujaa. Ijapokuwa Kenya ina mashujaa wengi vibonge katika teknologia.

Again, statements needs own time and place to discuss through.

Be blessed.

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".

--------------------------------------------
On Fri, 1/7/16, Ali Hussein via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

 Subject: Re: [kictanet] Draft National ICT Policy Discussions Day 8 of 10: Emerging Issues ( Big Data, Bitcoin, Internet of Things)
 To: wangarikabiru at yahoo.co.uk
 Cc: "Ali Hussein" <ali at hussein.me.ke>
 Date: Friday, 1 July, 2016, 13:55

 Grace
 On the mark and on
 point. Maswali nyeti unayouliza.

 Ali
 HusseinPrincipalHussein & Associates+254 0713
 601113 / 0770906375
 Twitter: @AliHKassimSkype: abu-jomoLinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim

 "Discovery consists in
 seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one
 else has thought".  ~ Albert
 Szent-Györgyi
 Sent from my iPad
 On 1 Jul
 2016, at 10:36 AM, Grace Githaiga via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
 wrote:

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 #yiv8329482728 
 The issue of virtual Money/BlockChains is
 gaining traction all over the World. I was in a meeting
 recently and one question that most people asked me when
 they learnt I was Kenyan was on what were my thoughts around
 block chain technology disrupting our famous mpesa.
 Unfortunately I had no answer for them but it got me
 thinking. I am glad that someone on this list shared this
 link https://followmyvote.com/online-voting-technology/blockchain-technology/ which
 explains clearly how it works, at least for those who are
 not conversant. It is a worthy read.
 My questions:1.
 Considering that Kenya has taken a lead in issues of
 technology, should we be concerned about block chain
 technology considering it kinda provides a platform where no
 one organisation owns the data? And in light of KRA wanting
 to compel safaricom to share the data of its
 subscribers? 
 2. Will
 it disrupt Mpesa?
 3. Where is Central bank in this
 matter? Is central bank concerned that technology is about
 to change the way it does business or will it wait to make
 some unfortunate comment like it did recently on bloggers
 being responsible for the withdrawals at Chase
 Bank?
 4. And
 where is Treasury in this debate? Is it concerned with
 financial technology?
 5. Considering that this might be
 an idea whose time has come,  do we need policy direction
 on this issue? 
 I
 believe we have an opportunity with this ICT policy to be
 futuristic. Ama niaje?
 RgdsGG

 Date:
 Fri, 1 Jul 2016 06:13:08 +0300
 Subject: Re:
 [kictanet] Draft National ICT Policy Discussions Day 8 of
 10: Emerging Issues ( Big Data, Bitcoin, Internet of
 Things)
 From: kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
 CC: ultimateprogramer at gmail.com
 To: ggithaiga at hotmail.com

 I think there is a huge statement
 being made by Samsung with their move to Tizen,
 and apparently bold statements being made with regards to
 Android (and that Tizen will be the platform of choice).
 Outwardly the world will tell Samsung that they can not
 openly compete with Google on this.

 But then there’s something we are not seeing
 in this whole equation - the future of technology and
 computing.

 Major
 players are all looking to invest in IoT and Big Data.
 Because in a world of 6 Billion people in the Information
 and Knowledge revolution, IoT is not something that may
 happen. It will. Because according
 to IBM - Every day, we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of
 data. And this is why Samsung might win big. They are not
 building for now. They are building for the next 2 to 5
 years to come.

 Kenya
 faces a magnitude of challenges home made technology can
 solve. And technology does exist for us to create
 sustainable solutions - and create markets for sustainable
 solutions, as SwahiliBox had demonstrated close to a year
 back when we had very much earlier predicted
 the marriage between Big Data and IoT and we had developed
 prototypes that were even open sourced to demonstrate
 how easy and sustainable it can be to develop next
 generation solutions making use of both Big Data and IoT.

 Bwana Waziri, I think as
 a market this is one of the major areas we need to focus on
 - and that we are seriously neglecting. We can not keep on
 innovating on top of ERPs and M-Pesas and that is just it.
 Silicon Valley's innovative potential does not just
 encompass systems like Adobe Photoshop, but also innovations
 on top of IoT
 and Big Data. We need to innovate hardware that can be
 relevant within the African Context - Hardware that can then
 hook up with the ERPs and M-Pesas, and maybe bring to life a
 whole different export channel to other countries and
 governments looking for sustainable hardware solutions. And
 Kenya can do this.

 We need
 to push more resources into innovating around Big Data,
 Cloud and IoT. As a market we can only achieve maximum
 innovative potential in adopting the trends that players
 like Samsung, Intel, IBM, and the likes are investing
 billions of dollars to get right.

 On Fri, Jul 1, 2016 at
 5:30 AM, Ali Hussein via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
 wrote:
 Barrack
 and all
 For the first
 time Net Neutrality is being given a voice. But not far
 enough. We need clear direction on this important issue.
 Where do we stand on:-
 Net Neutrality 1.
 Third party liability?2. Fair and equitable
 treatment of Internet traffic?3. Zero rating of
 services? 4. I understand that Tespok did a
 study that showed an increase in data revenue from OTT and
 messaging services like YouTube and WhatsApp. It would be
 interesting if we could see that report or failure of which
 (as Tespok is a member based Organisation and may choose not
 to share it with the general public) CA may need to step
 in.5. Finally can the new regime tell us once and
 for all whether Kenya finally signed WCIT12 and what
 prompted the change of heart? 
 Mobile Money
 and the new reality of Blockchain Technology. Let's
 not beat about the bush here. The very leadership position
 that has been achieved by our adaption of Mobile Money is at
 risk by burying our heads in the sand when it comes to
 Blockchain Technology. 
 We need to
 stop thumping our chests about the phenomenal success of
 Mpesa. The reality is that Mpesa is only successful here in
 Kenya and a few other countries. Mpesa stopped innovating in
 this space years ago. It's time for a new reality. Mpesa
 is yesterday's news. Let's start creating a new
 narrative. We need a Global Champion. The likes of PayPal,
 eBay, Google etc. and we have it in us to do
 it.
 Kenya, and
 Africa are again at risk of being left behind. No other than
 the Governor of the Central Bank is on record saying that we
 shall wait and see what the West does before jumping in. I
 respect the man alot but I think engagement with the nascent
 Fintech Space in Nairobi together with the ICT Ministry is
 long overdue. We MUST chart our own path - And it needs to
 be a pioneering path not a follower path. We need a clear
 policy statement from the ICT Ministry on
 this. 
 I'm
 reliably informed that the ICT Ministry and the Central Bank
 has formed or will form a joint committee to look into the
 adaption of BlockChain Technology. I may have missed this
 but is there a representative(s) from the
 private/banking/Fintech space? Sometimes I get the feeling
 that this country's leaders still don't get the
 spirit of the New Constitution we promulgated in 2010. I
 would like to humbly remind ourselves of
 this:-
 The constitution was presented to the
 Attorney General of Kenya on 7 April 2010,
 officially published on 6 May 2010, and was subjected to a
 referendum on 4 August 2010. The new
 Constitution was approved by 67%
 of Kenyan voters. The constitution was
 promulgated on 27 August 2010.
 In the spirit of Uzalendo and moving this country
 forward let us share more and consult more extensively. This
 exercise of subjecting the new ICT Policy to this level of
 public scrutiny and intellectual discourse on a list like
 Kictanet is unprecedented. And highly commendable, This
 certainly shows the willingness and openness of the
 leadership of CS Mucheru. It's not a coincidence that he
 and PS Victor Kyalo are founder members of Kictanet.
 Intellectual discourse, sharing and engagement is in their
 DNA. I must however caution them that they must shine
 daylight into EVERYTHING that involves the public
 good. This new discussion on
 Blockchains is good for the public and the nascent FinTech
 community. We CANNOT and MUST NOT let vested
 interests prevail in the corridors of power at the detriment
 of the country at large. 
 It may well be that this country decides that
 BlockChain Technology will do more harm than good to us.
 However, I humbly suggest that decision should not be left
 to a few individuals. No matter their station in life or
 government. A robust platform of discussion and consultation
 spearheaded by the ICT and Treasury Ministries must be held.
 And this must be kicked off as soon as possible because
 time's a-wastin'.
 My humble two cents..
 Ali
 HusseinPrincipalHussein & Associates+254 0713
 601113 / 0770906375
 Twitter:
 @AliHKassimSkype: abu-jomoLinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim

 "Discovery consists in
 seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one
 else has thought".  ~ Albert
 Szent-Györgyi
 Sent from my
 iPad
 On 1 Jul 2016, at 1:33 AM, Barrack Otieno via
 kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
 wrote:

 Day 8 of 10:

 * Internet
 of Things, M2M
 * Net Neutrality
 & OTT
 * Big Data
 * Virtual Money/BlockChains

 The
 Background:

 Internet of Things is a vision (now a
 reality) of physical objects
 (machines, vehicles, buildings, etc)
 fitted with sensors that allow
 them to  communicate with each other. 
 The smart-city concept
 envisions sensors continuously reporting
 status (e.g Traffic status,
 Pollution Status, Maintenance Status) of
 the different objects to
 allow
 for efficient management response. A lot of data
 exchanges
 arises hence the term
 Big Data with its associated data analytics
 requirements.

 Meanwhile,
 Virtual Money/Currency (Bitcoin, etc) threatens to
 disrupt
 the need for a
 centralised banking institutions. Over The Top
 (Skype,
 Twitter, FB, Youtube)
 have been around longer but the need to regulate
 or NOT to regulate them continues to be
 debated.

 Given recent developments on the KiCTANET
 list on Virtual money  what
 should  our position on these and other
 emerging issues be from a
 policy perspective ? is there need to
 embrace the issues?

 Your comments are welcome

 --

 Barrack O. Otieno
 +254721325277
 +254733206359
 Skype: barrack.otieno
 PGP ID: 0x2611D86A

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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.

 -- 
 Ahmed Maawy
 Executive
 Director - SwahiliBox / M-Power (CBO)
 Curator - Global Shapers Mombasa Hub
 Ambassador - Open Knowledge
 Director - Startup Grind Mombasa
 Software Developer - AJ+ / EveryLayer
 (KE) +254 714 960 627
 Skype:
 ultimateprogramer

 swahilibox.co.ke
 globalshapers.org
 www.okfn.org
 startupgrind.com
 ajplus.net
 www.everylayer.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
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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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 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.