The Kenyas Official ICT Journal. January/March Issue in the making.computer_age@cskonline.org. .

25TH NOVEMBER 2010- 15TH KENYA ICT EXCELLENCE AWARDS GALA DINNER (KICTEA)

This year the Celebration Gala Dinner will be held at Hilton Hotel, Main Chamber from 7.00 to 10.00 pm. It will be a 3 hour Celebration Party of we will witness several ICT Personalities inducted into the only Hall of Fame in Kenya, The Kenya ICT Hall of Fame. The same nite, winners of the voted categories will receive their trophies and certificate of excellence. Currently the Independent Panel of Judges, which compose of ICT Professional from both Private and Public Sector are in the excercise of determining the winners as per the creteria demands. Not all categories will be awarded. The categories with null nominations meaning the Nominated companies did not fullfill the demands of having such awards or the category did not receive any nominations at all.

Not all Categories are determined by the public. Some categories are decided by the jurry on the bases that they know a lot on specific issues and policies regarding ICT that the public may not make the right choice due to technical structure of such categories.

For Winners will be communicated to from awards department and give them information regarding the awards Celebration Dinner. We usualy publish a free Souvenir Program (Magazine) with adverts and profiles of the winners and other ICT companies. We would urge the companies to foward their before 18th-Thursday-of this month so that laying and printing of the magazine may start.Click here for required artwork sizes for publication

For more information about the awards please Contact CSK Awards Department on awards@cskonline.org . About the Gala Dinner Event contact the CSK Events Department on events@cskonline.org. For Publications and souvenir program contact computer_age@cskonline.org . Winners submit your Roll -Up Stands and Banners a day before the event.

HIGH PENALTIES ON CABLE VANDALISM

For the last few weeks the communication in Kenya has been interapted on both Voice and Data as a result of Vandalism of already laid Fiber Cables.This has made the Ministry incharge of Communication to come out and give their say on this matter.According to the Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Information and Communication, Dr. Bitange Ndemo,Penalties will be enhanced to curb vandalism of cables by the end of the year, the government has warned.This comes as the telecommunications companies cry foul over the menace blaming it on sabotage by competitors.

Information and Communications permanent secretary Bitange Ndemo on Thursday said a miscellaneous amendment Bill will enhance punishment to life imprisonment and a fine of Sh10 million when convicted.Currently, those found guilty are fined Sh100,000 or three years imprisonment. "What is happening is not vandalism. These are people who want to disable the system," said the PS. Read More>>

KENYA MOBILE BATTLE CONTINUES

The Communication Commission of Kenya has slashed off the interconnection charges based on offnet - onnet mobile tariffs. These where the charges imposed by the communication authority when one call from a different network which was directlyimplecated on the subscriber per call charges.Interconnect tariff is the price a telephone company charges you when you call its customers from another network. The charge has been Sh4.21 but has now been reduced to Sh2.21. The new charges take effect on September 1.

Before the slash, calling offnet in Kenya was about 24 Kenya Shillings per Minute but now one can call as low as one 4 shillings off-net (different Network) or even sometimes free on-net (from same network to same network), Read More>>

This has lead to massive migration from the market leader to her immediate competitor as the competitor swears to take the market leadership. However the public are still asking why the internet is still expensive? why are kenyans being charged 8 shillings per megabyte even after the Kenya Internet Backborne KDN redused the charges to service providers six months ago!

MOBILE/WIRELESS DATA CHARGES EXPECTED TO COME DOWN SOON

Bharti Airtel has contracted International Business Machines (IBM) to set up infrustructure on its newly acquired Zain Network. The India's top mobile phone firm said it had picked US computer giant IBM to supply information technology services to drive modernisation of its new African operations. This has finally given some hope to overcharged Kenyas that the price might chage drasticall from Ksh. 8/= per MB to something reasonable.As zain prepares to lauch 3G Network, Safaricom's 4G is under testing.

The current market leader in Mobile/Wireless Data provission-Orange Kenya, is now upgrading their networks.The process over the past few weeks has been causing internet problems as the company upgrades their charging portal. The company recently introdused SMS method of purchasing Data bundles which will eliminate disconnecting subscribers unaware whin their bundlesare exhausted, the method which forced the subscribers to use different network connections to purchase a data bundle of from another network or use their smart phones to access the Bundle portal. Read More>>

Get the worlds top stories from our news corner at the top right of this window. The local ict News feed will be launched as soon as the design is complete.

KENYA ELECTIONS TAKES ANOTHER STEP IN TECHNOLOGY
Since the Interim Independent Electoral Commision took over from ECK after the desputed 2007 national elections.Technology has become a recipe of redusing the problems which where highlited there after.such as delay ,double registration,rigging and so on.IIEC then introduces electronic registration early this year to speed up voter registration and induce integrity and order in vote registers.Although the system was in beta version it served the purpose. In this refferundum of which kenyans are going to decide on either to have a new constitution or remain with the older one drafted in Lancaster House UK, after independence.

IIEC in conjunction with the service providers have set a Virtual Private Network to be used in 2010 refferundum. Although everything will be done manually,GPRS enabled mobile phones will be used to transmit results from different polling stations for tallying.This will eradicate rigging cases and speed up the counting of the votes,but the final results will be confirmed after the Form 16 gets its way to the IIEC National Tallying Centre at Bomas of Kenya.

NEW DAWN TO ICT SECTOR IN EAST AFRICA
Its a new dawn to ICT sector in Kenya and East Africa in general.East Africa currently consists of Five countries namely; Kenya,Uganda,Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.On 1st July 2010,the East African Community took a giant leap as member states simultaneously launched the Common Market Protocol. The protocol, which was signed on November 20, last year, allows free movement of goods, services, capital and labour within the five countries.

The Treaty for Establishment of the East African Community was signed on 30 November 1999 and entered into force on 7 July 2000 following its ratification by the original three Partner States – Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The Republic of Rwanda and the Republic of Burundi acceded to the EAC Treaty on 18 June 2007 and became full Members of the Community with effect from 1 July 2007.

Setting off the common market, President Kibaki ordered Ministry for imigration to waive the work permit fees for all East Africans coming to search for greener pastures in Kenya.For more information click here>>

37th ICANN Meeting - Nairobi - Rod Beckstrom,ICANN President Opening Remarks

Other News Clip :

Dr. Waudo Siganga addressing the 4th Annual International IGF meeting is Egypt.He is the current Vice President of World Information Technology & services Alliance (WITSA) in charge of Africa

26TH-29TH OCTOBER - WINDOWS 7 MIGRATION WORKSHOP - Sun N Sand Beach Resort

Mr. Justus Ndung'u Ndumia (2nd from right) receives his accreditation certificate from CSK Special Advisor, Charles Gathii, in Watamu. Mr. Ndumia is the proprietor of Jusnet Business Institute based in Malindi. Looking on is CSK Programs Manager Kelvin Witere, left, and Chair, Dr. Waudo Siganga.

7TH -10TH SEPTEMBER- ICT & NETWORK SECURITY SEMINAR

24TH -27TH AUGUST- COMPUTER MANAGERS CONGRESS

24 JUNE 2010- ICT PRODUCTIVITY CONSULTATIVE FORUM
Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) held a consultative forum at the KICC on Productivity and Competitiveness of the ICT Cluster in nairobi. Among the CSK representatives was the Chairman and the corporate Affairs manager. Photos will be posted as soon as they are ready.

May 2010. This Year's Internet Governance Forum-GENEVA

Kenya ICT Sector was represented fully by delegates from Computer Society of Kenya,led by the National Chairman Dr. Waudo Siganga Ph.D. In this photo, delagates attending the IGF Planning meeting in Geneva converge in a break-away session to discuss the structure of the IG and Development Session for the upcoming IGF meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania. Click Here >>

April 27th–30th 2010.Implementing e-Procurement - WATAMU MALINDI

Many types of organizations benefit from using the tools of a professional e-procurement software application to centralize and manage their procurement.function.Mission critical e-procurement software systems are currently being implemented in organizations both large and small, in the public and private sectors including businesses, charities, governments, the military and the security services most of the new e-procurement systems are end – to end “Red-to-check” systems providing seamless integration into the existing corporate infrastructure and accounts systems. Our systems incorporate a best of breed approach to systems design and functionality.Electronic Multi-Level Approvals,

March 07 - 03 -2010 The 37th International Meeting of the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

ICANN MEETING NAIROBI :The 37th International Meeting of the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) 2010 was closed on Friday 12th of March. It has been a busy week for the delegates since Sunday when the Computer Society of Kenya held a Five Star Reception Dinner for the delegates at Hilton Hotel in Nairobi. More has been discusses and the report will be posted as soon as compilation is complete.For More information on the 37th ICANN international meeting visit the official website for the event and get comprehensive information about the meeting.

25-11-2009: KENYA ICT HALL OF FAME[KEIHF] 2010:

NOMINATE SOMEONE INTO THE HALL OF FAME :The Kenya ICT Hall of Fame (KEIHF) recognizes individuals who have made long-term outstanding and exceptional contribution to ICT in the country through ICT innovation, policy making and spearheading ICT value. The Independent Panel of Judges (IPJ) are giving you another chance to nominate 2 personality, a man and a woman whom you think deserves to sit on the Golden Seat of Fame for 2010. The hall of Fame was inaugurated by the Deputy Prime Minister,Musalia Mudavadi, in November 2009 and so far those inducted are Hon.James Rege, Njeri Rionge, the Late Juma Okech, George Okado and Crowther Pepela. The ICT Awards Gala Night, which also acts as the annual convocation for the ICT Community, will be held on November 25th at the Hilton Hotel. For more information on the above named personality get a copy of Computer Age ICT Journal or Search relevant sources.To View photos of last years event click here.

Welcome: Pleasure to invite you to the Computer Society of Kenya Official website . Our mission is to synchronize ICT in Kenya and represent Kenya in International ICT summits and policy making. Our goal is to provide you with useful information and Ideas as far as Information Communication and Technology is concerned. As Kenya gears ahead towards her set development goal of year 2030 We believe that ICT is among the major tools towards achieving the set goal that is why the Society is putting efforts in public policy advocacy towards achieving the development Goal. Read more>>

Services:The Computer Society of Kenya has been serving the Corporate ICT Companies, the SME's and Individual ICT Professionals,Currently the Society has a more than 6000 individual and corporate members countrywide.

Accreditation:Computer Society of Kenya is Accredited ICT Training Body in Kenya since 1986, providing an industry identity and forum, leading in public policy advocacy, offering technology and management training services, and running a recognition and awards program.The Society is also the official IT examining Body, offering certification in introductory courses , Proffessional and Special ICT Training workshops countywide

Publications:The Publication Department of Computer Society of Kenya takes care of all print and ICT media contents of the Society.Among the Publications,is the :-

Computer Age,The Kenya's official ICT Journal, The Email Directory,The Kenya ICT Business Guide,The Introductory Courses Handbooks, ICT Accredited College Guide and much more. For More Information on Publications Click Here.

The Media Department of Computer Society of Kenya handles Raw Facts and Figures , Database, Hard and Digital contents from internal and external sources as far as ICT is conserned. It is the department that collects the data from the ground, keeps and updates the CSK Databases, Updates and uploads content to CSK Portal, processes and analyses facts and figures to information and redistributes the information in different internal media. The CSK Media Department is divided into 3 sub-sections namely:-  The Data Section, Publications and Coverage  Section. Read More>>

2009: Kenya ICT Excellence Awards [KICTEA]

The Kenya's Most Excellent Companies in ICT Sector: The Kenya ICT Excellence Awards[KICTEA] is the annual ICT Excellence Awards by Computer Society of Kenya . Its our duty and responsibility to recognize the effort put by different entities in ICT. Our awards are benchmarks of Performance excellence as the awards panel, comprising of ICT Professionals, Retired ICT Managers and other Internationally Recognized ICT Personnel, enter into every detail in determining the deserved company for a given category. Find the list of the previous award winners which are now putting more efforts to ensure that they keep their awards in the next KICTEA. Also find some of the photos for the event from our Media Department. Both the Awards and the Hall of Fame where held in the same day and venue-Laico Regency formaly known as Prestigious Grand Regency.Find the list of the award winners right below >>

THE LIST OF KICTEA AWARD WINNERS 2010

The following are the companies which deserved the awards according to the CSK Independent Panel of Judges (IPJ)2010. More information on the creteria used to choose the winners will be uploaded in Events Page. Congratulations to all companies and professional Individuals below for their awards.Year 2009 was the toughest economic year and according to the Panel it was a complete challenge to pick the best out of the catecories.The following companies therefore displayed the ability to perform regardless of the situation and we would urge any one to have our confidence and trust in doing business withthe following companies. To Download KICTEA and CSK Logos,Click Here.