[kictanet] Draft National ICT Policy Discussions Day 5 of 10: How to Develop the local ICT Industry

[Wangari Kabiru]

Blessed Monday!

Comments to today's deliberations;

* eCommerce
- Growth highly tied to financial services as it is about exchange of value; innovation, convenience, security

* National Addressing System
- Building codes as a regulation; may be caught up with new construction works with a requirement to be "digi-compliant" as part of the standard code. 
- Keep in mind in all Urban cities and townships of rural areas, there are sprawling informal settlements and slums - how to apply this otherwise masses are left behind.
- Academia front; what courses are ongoing or to be created to support this
- With the massive infrastructural developments, tie up e.g the road works with the fibre works or any other visionary works that support ICT developments so that we do not have double work done, e.g airport works, SGR railway works

* Local eBusiness 
* BPOs
* Investment incentives (Equity Shares)
- For the above, a relook at why we seem to go forward and backwards would be useful. BPOs hype was there not too long ago. I would say we are lazily satisfied with a scratch of the sector.
- Create a shift from consumer to mass creator
- Academia would be a great partner to drive this 

*  ICTs in SME, (Small Medium Size Enterprises)
- Firstly SME in Kenya is probably your jua kali outfit 
- Anything beyond that is high chances not owned locally or majority of the ownership 
- Taking cognisance of this, the policy must speak into the small nature of the Kenyan SME and not camouflage the needs
- Back again to the need to engage closely with the Ministry of Industrialisation

*ICT regional export incentives
- The incentives need to be beyond the East Africa Community
- i.e make the market BIG which is attractive for trade

* Local Device Manufacturing
- Sincerely this is the turning key for our nation in ICT
- Whether Kenya is an attractive manufacturing point or not
- This impacts on the import policies
- Relook, reevaluate, withdraw trade agreements and relations that do not allow the true development of ICT manufacturing
- Back to interministerial relations on policy matters


Blessed day!

Regards/WangariOn Jun 27, 2016 07:42, Barrack Otieno via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>
> Listers, 
>
> As was the case last week, feel  free to contribute on previous 
> threads as long as you pick the corresponding title.  Also remember, 
> if you wish to  directly edit the Draft ICT policy, visit Jadili 
> platform  (http://jadili.ictpolicy.org/docs/kenya-ict-policy), 
> register and post. 
>
> So onto todays theme: 
>
> * eCommerce, National Addressing System 
> * Local eBusiness, 
> *  BPOs 
> * Investment incentives (Equity Shares) 
> * ICTs in SME, (Small Medium Size Enterprises) 
> * ICT regional export incentives 
> * Local Device Manufacturing 
>
> The Background: 
>
> Building new ICT enterprises while integrating ICTs in existing 
> enterprises, particularly the SMEs will accelerate the overall 
> productivity of our  economy while increasing  the percentage 
> Contribution of ICT to the national GDP. 
>
> Previous attempts to play in the BPO sector have been made but this 
> has not yet played out successfully. Additionally very few indigenous 
> ICT firms exist, let alone venture out to the regional markets. 
> Attempts to have a vibrant local assembly/manufacturing of consumer 
> goods or devices (phones, tablets, laptops) seem also seems stunted. 
>
> What policies, strategies should we propose? We would like to  hear 
> your views over the next 12hrs. 
>
> Thank you 
>
> -- 
> Barrack O. Otieno 
> +254721325277 
> +254733206359 
> Skype: barrack.otieno 
> PGP ID: 0x2611D86A 
>
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