IfG.CC - The Potsdam eGovernment Competence Center

The new body follows consolidation of three entities: ICT Board of Kenya, the e-Government Directorate and the Government Information and Technology Services (GITS) which were charged with various roles in the ICT industry.

According to Information Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i, the new body, established via a notice signed by Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, shall boost efficiency in the industry.

The National government in collaboration with the Civil Society and the Private Sector has unveiled new projects under the Ajira Digital Programme to build and expand Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure across the country targeting over one million youth.

According to Dr. Kennedy Ogola, the project which is part of the government’s efforts aimed at promoting new and flexible forms of employment such as micro-work and online contracting to create employment and grow the economy is also offering ICT training packages to selected youth across the country.

A new ICT access gaps study indicates that despite Kenya’s rapid ICT growth there is danger that some sections of the masses, especially in rural areas, could be left behind.

Speaking on Tuesday during the launch of the study in Nairobi, Ministry of Information and Communication Permanent Secretary, Dr Bitange Ndemo said Kenya must leapfrog from agricultural production based economy to a knowledge –based economy through deployment of basic infrastructure, including electricity, for widespread of ICT services.

This was brought to light by delegates at the Connected Kenya 2011 summit held in Mombasa last week. The summit brought together key government officials and the private sector to discuss ways in which the public can benefit from improved government services.

To the theme of 'innovating for the citizen', the summit moved to reward excellence and innovation in the ICT industry, while also showcasing some of the nation's up-coming public-private partnerships.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has demonstrated the government’s commitment to promoting e-Government in the country by launching an integrated registration system to consolidate population registration information into a single database for ease of verification by both Government and private bodies. With this tool, data on all people in Kenya can be found in one place.

This makes good the promise made by the Jubilee Government to provide a central database that identifies all citizens and foreign nationals in the country. The system has been dubbed the Integrated Population Registration System (IPRS). During its launch at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, the President said credible data was critical for development and indispensable for the planning and delivery of public services.

Africa stands at the cusp of a technological revolution, spearheading innovation in the regulatory and governance landscapes. Through the dynamism of RegTech (regulatory technology) and GovTech (government technology), countries across the continent are not only embracing the future but actively shaping it.

With technologies such as big data analytics and fraud management solutions, as well as the partnership between the public and private sectors, governmental bodies are empowered to efficiently navigate extensive datasets, identify potential risks, and detect instances of non-compliance.

The four centres – iHub, m:Lab, naiLab and 88mph – will access high speed internet to enable developers and startups to launch and browse their applications faster on the web.

National Treasury Principal Secretary Kamau Thugge says the Sondu-Homabay-Kisii Rural Electrification Project will construct an 85-kilometre (Km) electrification power distribution line consisting of 132 kilowatts.

Summary

• In Africa, Somalia is followed by Sudan at position 13, Algeria 15th, Reunion 22nd, Tanzania 23rd, Ghana 34th, Western Sahara 36th, Morocco 37th, Kenya, Mayotte 44th, Egypt 45th while Djibouti closed the top 50 index at position 48.
• Citizens in these countries pay Sh68, Sh70, Sh77, Sh101, Sh106, Sh106, Sh112, Sh116, Sh117 and Sh121 for every 1GB of mobile data on average, respectively.
• Zambia, Tunisia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Congo, Guinea, Burundi, Lesotho, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Mauritius all make it in the top 100, surpassing developed economies such as Germany, the United States, Switzerland, South Korea, Belgium, Portugal, New Zealand, Norway and Netherlands.

“The company has been entrusted by Mohali-based Center for Development of Advanced Computing, a scientific society under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the government of India, to provide technology to launch the project,” a statement read on Thursday.

This year, Kenya has had three major cases of amputation because of wrong treatment. There have been unreported cases of deaths especially among children, after doctors administered drugs without identifying the real cause of the children’s illnesses.

The highly specialised CISCO training programme on bandwidth management and maintenance was undertaken as part of Telkom Kenya’s and Dimension Data’s contract to provide the government with 80Mbps internet bandwidth for the e-Government programme.

NOFBI, a joint initiative between the Directorate of eGovernment, Telkom Kenya and Soulco, a Belgian communications firm that specialises in the delivery of last mile solutions, connects 29 counties under the County Connectivity project.

On Jamhuri Day, President Kibaki directed that computerisation of land records and establishment of an electronic court filing system be completed in a year's time. There were several other projects under the flagship of the e-government that are way behind schedule.

Kalonzo asked the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to make use of the 8,200 BVR kits to ensure Kenyans are not denied the opportunity to participate in the General Election.

He said the equipment would ensure names of ghost voters do not appear in the register.

The invitation-only, East Africa Outsourcing Summit that will be held in Nairobi from 5th to 6th June 2012 will act as a stage for players in the out¬sourcing industries in East Africa to gain insight from the key outsourcing regions worldwide.

With global technology trends Kenya needs to develop as an outsourcing hub. This is a good strategy that will support the development of a stable industry.

Counties outside the National Fibre Optic Backbone (NOFBI) will have to wait longer for connection following budget cuts for ICT infrastructure connectivity.

Supplementary budget estimates from the National Treasury indicate the number of kilometres to be rolled out in Phase Two of the multi-billion-shilling project have been cut from 800km to 500km.

I can now report that there isn’t much going on.

A search for “e-health” returned no results on the medical services ministry website while a search for “ICT in health” yielded seven hits of how the ministry plans to use ICT, all of them administrative.

The Center's services will be integrated with an online portal called Huduma Kenya, which launched in June.

At the launch, President Kenyatta said inefficiency in public services “bred corruption, initiating a cycle of vice which has tormented many and cost the country billions," reports the BBC.

According to a Public Notice published this week, the working group will hold a stakeholders’ consultation forum on Tuesday next week to discuss the draft policy and bill.

The Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology has mandated the working group to develop a draft policy and bill for the implementation of Article 34 of the Constitution and to hold consultative meetings with stakeholders and members of the public on the draft proposals.