Kenya’s new government must focus on encouraging the creation of local content to fuel the educational and economic benefits of ICT, according to outgoing permanent secretary of the ex-Ministry of Information and Communications Dr Bitange Ndemo.
Speaking to HumanIPO, Ndemo highlighted the need to concentrate on facilitating the production of local content to fuel online businesses.
He said significant progress had been made under the last government in rolling out ICT infrastructures across the country, and that local content was the next step in the right direction.
“We have pretty much dealt with infrastructure. We still have a challenge with local content,” Ndemo said.
“If you you look at the mobile subsector, voice has reached a tipping point. Operators must now focus on value added services such as online content to boost their earnings. We also need local online content for promotion of e-commerce.”
Considering the plans laid out in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s inauguration speech, during which the president pledged to improve ICT education and access in schools, identifying ICT as a necessary focus and catalyst for economic growth and national harmony, Ndemo pointed to the lack of content available to fuel such plans.
“The President wants computers in schools but [we] still do not have sufficient local content,” Ndemo said.
As to the achievements of the last government, Ndemo believes the progress in infrastructure roll out and the introduction of a legal framework are their particular hallmarks, and have developed the country’s ability to utilise ICT to boost the economy.
“Infrastructure and development of the legal framework were the major achievements. We were also able to do research (proof of concept) in many sectors and we can now comfortably quantify the impact of ICTs on the economy,” he said.
