Mwende Njiraini's Blog (28)

These are considerations shared with the ICT Advisory Committee Advisory Committee on COVID-19 in Kenya when selecting ICT innovation to mitigate COVID-19, based on examples from various countries.

ICT innovation to mitigate COVID-19 should address the following:

1. Needs of vulnerable population groups - senior citizens and children
2. Sharing of credible and…

Cloud computing is said to present numerous advantages including reduced capital costs associated with IT resources and equipment as well as flexibility - the ability to scale up or down IT applications, platform or infrastructure on demand.

Cloud computing services such as Communications-as-a-Service (CaaS) support the “dematerialization” - the replacement of atoms with bits - potentially reduce carbon emissions hence promoting sustainable consumption and development by using…

One of the great policy and governance questions of today and the future is how to provide Internet to all of humanity (Sambuli, 2016).   Various strategies are being deployed to connect the “next billion” Internet users - most of whom are in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

In Kenya the government has created an enabling environment that has allowed network operators to make significant investment in infrastructure to meet the ever growing consumer demand for high speed broadband…

Airtel, a mobile Operator in Kenya has launched the Airtel UnlimiNet, a mobile data plan a zero rated plan that enables subscribers to download and upload online content without incurring data usage charges or having their usage counted against data usage limits.  This means that subscribers can keep browsing (Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp,…

For the thousands of residents in Hiran, Middle and Lower Jubba regions who have been unable to access the internet on their mobile phones for the past two weeks, al-Shabaab's internet blackout represents a new burden in life, one that makes communicating with loved ones around the world a nearly impossible endeavour....…

An Arabic net address ending has become the first to go live as part of the rollout of more than 1,000 new generic top-level domain (gTLD) name suffixes.

The first websites ending in شبكة. - pronounced dot shabaka, and meaning web - went online a day ahead of schedule.

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Argentina has introduced new restrictions on online shopping as part of efforts to stop foreign currency reserves from falling any further.

Anyone buying items through international websites will now need to sign a declaration and produce it at a customs office, where the packages have to be collected.

The procedure will need to be repeated for every…

A US federal appeals court has rejected rules intended to prevent internet service providers (ISPs) from prioritising certain types of content.

Net neutrality is the principle that ISPs should not block web traffic for customers who pay less to give faster speeds to those who pay more

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The US Federal Communication Commission (FCC) adopted the rules in 2010.

They were challenged by ISP Verizon, which…

The Federal Communication Commission has issued  three basic rules on open internet which include:

1. Transparency: Broadband providers must disclose information regarding their network management practices, performance, and the commercial terms of their broadband services;

2. No Blocking: Fixed broadband providers (such as DSL, cable modem or fixed wireless providers) may…

In his article “The Bane of “Consultants” on African Telcos fortunes”, Tom Makau states that investors have made a big mistake by formulating a single strategy for “Africa” assuming there exists a homogenous economic entity called the “African market”.  The African continent as far as geo-political boundaries, economic zoning has widely varying tax policies and regulatory…

Assessment of the impact of Internet Exchange Points – empirical study of Kenya and Nigeria - a study done by ISOC shows the Kenya Internet Exchange Point (KIXP) currently localizes approximately 1Gbit/s of peak traffic, reduces latency from 200-600 ms to 2-10 ms to 2-10ms allowing ISPs to save almost $1.5 million per year on international connectivity.

On the other hand, the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN)…

According to Tom Makau, the existing telco business model in Kenya is under threat. 

Despite the exponential growth of the mobile internet it has the potential to diminishing marginal returns on investments thus the need cleverly craft triple play bundles.  Additionally, the regulator is making the environment more difficult with other measures including…

Once again, many companies in the telecoms and information and communications technology (ICT) sector are facing the spectre of …… the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)) regulating critically important aspects of the internet........

….in December 2012, the ITU will be holding a major treaty-writing conference in Dubai......(World Conference on International Telecommunications…

It was like a dream come true…… the 6^th Internet Governance Forum (IGF11) was held in my home town, Nairobi!

The relaxed space that is the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) facilities, offered speakers and participants a serene environment for rather hurried discussions on access, development, freedoms and innovation at time-limited…

Cybersecurity is a growing global concern as critical infrastructure and services including financial, energy, telecommunication and transport increasingly becoming internet-dependent.    Deterring cybercrime is an integral component of a national cybersecurity and critical information infrastructure protection (CIIP) strategy. 

The formulation and implementation of a cybersecurity strategy requires a comprehensive approach that involves the adoption of appropriate…

Cloud computing is said to present numerous advantages including reduced capital costs associated with IT resources and equipment as well as flexibility - the ability to scale up or down IT applications, platform or infrastructure on demand. 

Cloud computing services such as Communications-as-a-Service (CaaS) support the “dematerialization” - the replacement of atoms with bits - potentially reduce carbon emissions hence promoting sustainable consumption and development by…

There is now global recognition of the central role of the Internet in social and economic development.  This realisation is influencing government policies to improve access to affordable internet services.  To achieve this objective governments have pursued liberalisation and privatisation strategies to improve the state of telecommunication network infrastructure and services while the industry is employing strategies that will give them competitive…

Do you have a  facebook, gmail, yahoo, twitter, linkedIn or other social network account?

You can get all your google mail chats

Do you have your cat, dog, niece, nephew as your facebook profile feature: Forget it…..…

I had the privilege of  making a presentation at the 23rd Annual FIRST Conference held 12-17 June 2011, Vienna Austria on Cybersecurity in the Kenyan Context

The…

Access to affordable broadband is increasing influencing government policies.  Traditional remedies to improve access to affordable internet services including liberalisation and privatisation have unfortunately not resulted in reduction of the price of broadband particularly in developing countries.  This has resulted in the need for new and innovative approaches to meet the growing demand for broadband access.  One such approach that is gaining ground globally is the ‘open access…