[kictanet] Fw: DRAFT ICT POLICY 2016 LINK-KICTAnet Stakeholder Input

Wed Jun 22 11:30:16 EAT 2016

Ali, +1, an excellent post, as usual :)

An additional point to consider, in respect of both inter-ministry
cooperation, and blockchain technology is a point I raised earlier on
this list regarding elections - which should put an end, once and for
all, to issues of 'rigging' - I refer to:

https://followmyvote.com/blockchain-voting-the-end-to-end-process/

which explains the open-source voting system which relies on
blockchain to ensure the integrity of the electoral process.

Cheers,
Tony

On 22/06/2016, Ali Hussein via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
> Walu and all
>
> My contribution:-
>
> 1. Bandwidth capacity increased from 847k Mbps to 1.5m Mbps yet the
> utilization ratio decreased from 58.7% to 55.1%. It would have been
> interesting to understand what occasioned the drop in utilization? Lessons
> learnt? Pricing? Accessibility?
>
> 2. Broadband subscriptions increased from 4.2 million to 7.1m. This is
> commendable. A more detailed penetration review by county would be very
> helpful. It would help some of the counties understand why they are lagging
> behind in the adoption of ICTs. Even if this is too detailed for the Policy
> Document a link to a more detailed study would be very helpful. This could
> then be presented to Governors in a sort of report probably named:-
> 'The State of ICTs in the Counties'
>
> 3. The performance or utilization of the National Optic Fibre Backbone
> (NOFBI) must be brought into review. According to the ICT Authority
> website:-
>
> The ICT Authority is implementing Phase 11 of the National Fibre Optic
> cable. The construction begun in September 2014 and is expected to be
> complete by June 2016. The second phase will build 1,600KM of fiber linking
> all the 47 county headquarters and an additional 500KM dedicated for
> military use. This is in addition to the existing 4,300KM of NOFBI I
> completed in 2009. NOFBI phase1passes 58 towns in 35 counties
> To date:
>
> 1200Km out of the 1600KM civil works are completed.
> 900Km of fibre has been laid in the backbone section.
> The backbone section is now complete and fibre installed in all the 47
> counties (Kajiado County fibre in NOFBI I was damaged by road construction)
> and capacity to connect Kajiado County HQ will be sourced from other
> operators whose fibre is along the power line to Namanga
> Metropolitan fibre civil works has been completed in 35 of 47 counties.
> NOFBI Phase 1 is already in use in the national government, Telkom,
> Safaricom, Jamii Telecom and KENET utilizing more than 3,000KM of the cable.
> The operations and maintenance of NOFBI Phase 1 is being handled by Telkom.
>
> Read more:-
>
> http://www.icta.go.ke/national-optic-fibre-backbone-nofbi/
>
> This is absolutely commendable. We must now move to the next stage of
> critical evaluation of this Critical Infrastructure.
>
> a) What are the learnings?
>
> b) What could we have done better?
>
> c) What are the bottlenecks to last mile connectivity?
>
> d) Why haven't our connectivity costs reduced considering that most of the
> telcos are using this backbone which is a national resource?
>
> We are stepping on the shoulders of giants who envisioned this resource for
> the country. We must make absolutely sure that we squeeze every ounce of the
> advantage it has given us.
>
> e) Why are we not in the top 50 global internet penetration rankings? Make
> no mistake about it. Our competition is not Africa. It is global.
>
> http://www.internetworldstats.com/top25.htm
>
> 4. A review of the ICT Start-up ecosystem is totally lacking in this policy
> document. It is imperative that we do a deep dive of this ecosystem and
> ensure that private and public/government efforts are aligned. Totally. It
> is nonsensical to think that this sector will become world class without
> private, public and government working in tandem. Some of the areas to look
> into:-
> a) Capacity building for entrepreneurs
> b) A regulatory environment that is super conducive to the ecosystem while
> protecting the public good.
> c) Access to markets outside the country
> d) Access to cheap capital.
>
> 5. The Universal Service Access Fund is a commendable initiative but too
> often there hasn't been much information on the impact the critical resource
> is having. My suggestion would be to have an interactive real time map
> showing its impact and why certain regions are chosen to receive its largess
> and not others. This should be linked with Infrastructure sharing and last
> mile strategies to provide connectivity from the NOFBI.
>
> 6. WayLeaves. There has to be robust engagement with counties to ensure that
> ISPs and Telcos are not held to ransom by short term county revenue hunting
> at the expense of spreading ubiquitous broadband connectivity. This is so
> critical that a clear strategy paper needs to be put together by all
> stakeholders to guarantee its implementation.
>
> 7. What are the roadblocks that hinder us from achieving universal broadband
> connectivity?
>
> 8. 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. 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.
>
> Time for pussyfooting around is over.
>
> 9.  Science, Technology and Innovation. The importance of this cannot be
> gainsaid.  Beyond the policy statements the Ministry needs to articulate
> achievements in this area over the last 10 years, lessons learnt and clear
> way forward.
>
> The mash up (no pun intended) of higher learning institutions, hubs,
> incubators, accelerators and businesses need to be prioritized to achieve
> true breakthroughs.
>
> 10. Gaming and application development. How can we replicate the success of
> such local content as Papa Shimanyula, Mother in Law etc online. What
> happened to once popular Ma3Racer, which at its height was downloaded in 200
> countries. What are the lessons learnt?
>
> 11. Postal and Courier Services. What needs to be done to enthuse a more
> vibrant and profitable postal service? The CS has just appointed a new board
> to this beleaguered giant. He needs all our support to ensure its success.
> At the same time the government needs to be absolutely ruthless in its
> mandate of ensuring management deliver on its promises.
>
> New comers in this space also require policy support as the postal service
> cannot by itself achieve the requirements of an economy that is increasingly
> digital.
>
> Great move on enumerating where we are on the establishment of a National
> Addressing System and the recent launch of mPost. How can the government
> collaborate with private sector initiatives like OkHi? How can we avoid
> duplication?
>
> 12. Consumer Protection. The Consumer Protection Act of 2012 gives us a good
> foundation. What can the ICT Ministry and stakeholders in the sector
> contribute to enhance this act in this new digital dispensation?
>
> 13. Cyber Security. Too often governments the world over use this blanket
> term to spy and infringe on the rights of citizens. This is a delicate
> balancing act which requires all players to work with utmost good faith in
> ensuring that our digital resources are safe from those who would want to
> take them away from us.
>
> Did I miss the part on Privacy Protection in this policy document?
>
> 14. Human Resource Development and Training. The policy document mentions
> the Establishment of ICT Centers of Excellence. I propose the government
> goes one step further and Establish The Kenya Institutes of Technology
> fashioned around the Indian Institutes of Technology.
>
> The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are autonomous public institutes
> of higher education, located in India. They are governed by the Institutes
> of Technology Act, 1961 which has declared them as institutions of national
> importance and lays down their powers, duties, and framework for governance
> etc.
>
> 15. Knowledge Economy. Great improvement to the policy document here.
> Commendable to actually spell out the difference facets of this sector. My
> only disappointment here is that the document mentions eServices like health
> and agriculture but conspicuously misses out Finance? I'm curious why?
> Seeing as this is the one sector that we actually stand to have the best
> competitive advantage due to the uptake of mobile money in this country.
> This is an obvious glaring oversight.
>
> 16. New Innovations and services in ICT. Great section. Very bold. Now to
> its implementation.
>
> 17.  eGoverment. It cannot be gainsaid the strides this country has made in
> this area. Kudos to all who have played a role in it. We now must move to
> the next level and beat Estonia, which is the leading digital government in
> the world.
>
> 18. Policy, legal and regulatory framework. Here, a lot of work needs to be
> done. Often times ministries and government departments work at
> cross-purposes and seem at odds with each other. Can the ICT Ministry
> champion a Common Purpose Task Force with the help of the AG's office to
> smooth over diverse views and vested interests? ICT is the thread that molds
> the nation and the Ministry MUST take its rightful place in the scheme of
> things. For example:-
>
> Before the Film classification board makes comments on OTT they could
> consult the ICT Ministry or the Central Bank makes comments on Blockchains
> they could do the same?
>
> We appreciate the role regulators play in an economy. What we would like to
> see is for them to be equipped for Regulation in the 22nd Century as opposed
> to using regulation tools fit for the era of The Robber Barons (early 1900s)
> or that of Alexander Graham Bell (mid 1800s).
>
> Bottom line? A well thought out Policy document that requires a few tweaks
> and more importantly -  EXECUTION.
>
> Ali Hussein
> Principal
> Hussein & Associates
> +254 0713 601113 / 0770906375
>
> Twitter: @AliHKassim
> Skype: abu-jomo
> LinkedIn: 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 20 Jun 2016, at 3:25 PM, Walubengo J via kictanet
>> <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Listers,
>>
>>
>> The Ministry of ICT (PS V. Kyalo) has asked KICTAnet to ran a two week
>> moderated discussion on the Draft ICT Policy 2016, that will replace the
>> current 2006 ICT Policy.
>>
>>
>> Please download and go through in preparation of the online discussions
>> scheduled to kick-off this wednesday 22nd June 2016.
>>
>> You views will be consolidated and later on you will be invited to
>> validated the same at a face-to-face session to be confirmed at a venue
>> and date to be confirmed later.
>>
>> Kazi kwenyu. Do not say you were not consulted :-)
>>
>> Best rgds.
>>
>> walu.
>>
>>
>>
>> ----
>> Dear All,
>>
>> The Draft ICT Policy 2016 has been posted in the MoICT website for
>> stakeholders comments.  Please use the link below to access the document.
>>
>> http://www.information.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Draft-National-ICT-Policy-20June2016.pdf
>>
>> Kind regards,
>> Jane W. Migwi
>> Administrative Secretary
>> National Communications Secretariat
>> P.O. Box 10756-00100, NBI
>> Tel: +254-20-2719953 / +254-20-2713429
>> Fax: +254-20-2716515
>> Cell:  0721 850 561
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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-- 
Tony White