[kictanet] [loose organization is reactive - we need a secretariat] Public Consultation on National Broadband Strategy for Kenya

Tue Mar 12 17:53:17 EAT 2019

 Greetings GG, Ali & Listers,
It looks to me like we as Kictanet have a pattern of reactive engagement and I believe that it is a major contributor to the haphazard way things seem to pop-up in the local (and regional) ICT space. Possibly also an indicator that MNC lobbyists are much more proactive and effective than local stakeholders in agenda setting. 

Multi-stakeholderism has certain powerful advantages (e.g. a uniquely egalitarian platform where all voices can be heard) - but it also appears to have some crippling disadvantages (e.g. reactive ,instead of proactive engagement) when it is the sole mode of stakeholder-Government engagement. 

Of course there are those who benefit from, and thus prefer, the status quo - but I would want to believe that the majority of local stakeholders would want Kictanet to be a proactive "guiding light" in the policy space so that any proposed public policy is primarily beneficial to the Kenyan public, local businesses and our economy - in a net-positive, sustainable way.

Is it worth exploring whether there is a better way of engaging with Government institutions? For example: What if before the actual public consultation starts, there is a process for identifying and on-boarding potentially impacted stakeholders, establishing the optimum consultation approach (be they conferences / town hall / shared documents etc.. including budgets / program management etc) and negotiating reasonable timelines?

One thing is certain: If we don't organize for proactive engagement (e.g. via full-time secretariat), Kictanet will continue to struggle at being proactive and thus, have severely limited effectiveness in the policy space.
Effectiveness is positively correlated with organization. To be organized you need a framework of formal structures, dedicated teams, strategies, plans, priorities, rules, processes and resources. 

I truly appreciate Kictanet as it currently is (and have noted many benefits of multi-stakeholderism) so I hope this will not be misunderstood. This is a call for an honest housekeeping discussion... can we work better via some kind of hybrid structure. e.g. we can have Kictanet organized into chapters: A consultative engagement chapter (secretariat) and an industry activism (political / multistakeholderism) chapter - both supporting each other under one umbrella. 

Brgds,Patrick.
Patrick A. M. Maina
[Cross-domain Innovator | Independent Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous Innovations]

    On Monday, March 11, 2019, 8:38:15 AM GMT+3, Ali Hussein via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:  

 Gimode
Greetings. Seeing that you posted this email on Friday, 8th March, I'm curious to understand how the committee can expect to get substantive responses within a week on such a critical piece of document? 
I think it's time this country reviews what it means when the constitution talks about Public Participation. I know that there are members of the August House in this list. I challenge them to address this issue. I fear that government officials are taking us through a 'tick the box' exercise when it comes to public participation.

Ali Hussein

Principal

AHK & Associates

Tel: +254 713 601113

Twitter: @AliHKassim

Skype: abu-jomo

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Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the organizations that I work with. 

On Fri, Mar 8, 2019 at 9:04 PM Gimode, Chiimbiru via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

Dear Listers,

You will recall the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology (MoICT) constituted an inter-agency Steering Committee to review of Kenya’s first National Broadband Strategy (NBS) for the period 2013-2017. The Committee draws membership from the MoICT, Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat (VDS), National Communications Secretariat (NCS) and the ICT Authority (ICTA). 

The team is at the tail-end of the review of the NBS and is seeking  views from the members of the public to enrich the NBS for the period 2018 – 2023  in line with Constitution of Kenya 2010.

Attached is a public notice  on the same.

You can access the consultation paper on the Authority’s website on this link: https://ca.go.ke/consumers/public-consultations/open-consultations/ 

The deadline for submission of comments is 15th March 2019.

Best  Regards,Chiimbiru Gimode, CMRP, MPRSK.Communications Officer
Communications Authority of Kenya (CA)Head Office: CA Centre,Waiyaki Way,Westlands, Nairobi I P.O Box 14448 Nairobi 00800.Regional Offices: Mombasa I Nyeri I Kisumu I Eldoret
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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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