The Kenyan government will in the coming months deploy fibre to the country’s schools, hospitals and police stations to boost internet usage and facilitate better service delivery.
New cabinet secretary for planning and devolution Ann Waiguru told the Connected Kenya conference currently underway in Mombasa the deployment was part of a medium term plan under Vision 2030, with ICT and business process outsourcing a priority.
She said the provision of internet to these organisations, coupled with the planned provision of Wi-Fi to towns, will help develop the country’s human resources as the Jubilee government tries to create the one million jobs promised in its manifesto.
“The government is committed to in the coming months expand the current fibre network to schools, hospitals and police stations so as to facilitate programmes that we have for these institutions, such as the provision of laptops to schools, automating hospitals and creating better databases for government,” she said.
Waiguru recognised the ICT sector had made progress, with the recently released Economic Survey showing the use of internet in the country between 2009 and 2013 had increased significantly, as well as the number of internet service providers (ISPs).
Among other challenges that the government will continue to focus on, according to Waiguru, are the lack of a centralised ICT agency, the low adoption of ICT in government institutions and interruptions in power supply.
She added the government is speeding up legislation on laws on the special economic zones that will encourage investors and companies to set up ICT companies in the country, as well as a law on Public Private Partnerships.
“We will also be pushing forward with the full implementation of the National ICT Master Plan and national ICT infrastructure, including the rollout of LTE and 4G,” she said.
