The National Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Policy Conference (23-28 March 2003)
Kenya School of Monetary Studies

Final Communique

This First National Information and Communications Technology Policy Conference was organised by the Kenyan government through the Ministry of Transport and Communication, under the coordination of the National Communications Secretariat and with support of the Government Information Technology Services Department of the Ministry of Finance.

The Conference was organised to discuss pertinent issues in the ICT sector that would form the basis of finalising Kenya's national ICT policy and attendant legislations to guide the orderly development of the info-communications sector.

The conference drew broad participation from government ministries and other stakeholders from both the public and private sectors. The heavy presence of diverse interest groups underscored the importance and urgency of a national ICT policy for Kenya. The conference was opened by the Minister for Transport and Communications, John Michuki, who gave the keynote address.

Arising from the deliberations participants made the following recommendations:

THE NEED FOR A NATIONAL ICT POLICY
ICTs are absolutely vital for today's information society. It profoundly affects all aspects of human activity and changing lifestyles. ICTs provide organisations and individuals with new and more efficient tools and ways of doing things for increased communication and management effectiveness. Worldwide, it is a vehicle being for ensuring a knowledge-based society for effective development. Benefits to be derived from wider application of ICTs are so many that Kenya cannot afford to be left behind by other countries in the development of this important sector. To compete effectively and successfully in this fiercely competitive global economic environment, Kenya requires a highly skilled and educated human resource base with relevant aptitude, and skills in the application of ICTs in every day life.

ICTs cover Internet service provision, telecommunications equipment and services, information technology equipment and services, media and broadcasting, libraries and documentation centres, commercial information providers, network based information services and other related information and communication activities.

The last few years have revealed a growing demand for a formal national ICT policy emanating from diverse interest groups of ICT stakeholders, including government departments, education stakeholders, research institutions, ICT marketing and training sectors, Internet service providers (ISPs), development partners, NGOs, communities and other parties in the provision of the ICT infrastructure.

There is a consensus that a national ICT policy should, among others, clearly address the following issues:
Access
Infrastructure and services
Partnership
Gender
Youth
Environment
Security
Cyber crime
Equity
Legal framework
People with disabilities
Quality
Relevance of ICT in an information society

The conference identified the following constraints facing the ICT sector, which the policy needs to address:
- Lack of national champions to drive ICTs and ICT recognition by national leaders
- Uncoordinated government ministry initiatives
- Lack of gender-sensitive ICT policy
- ICT illiteracy and low usage among the leaders and therefore over-delegating ICT policy issues
- Inadequate national ICT infrastructure (telecommunications, electricity)
- Lack of legislation to enable e-commerce
- Inadequate ICT skills and capacity
- Lack of incentives for the development of ICT
- Poor remuneration for local ICT staff, which leads to brain drain
- Lack of standardisation of ICT products
- Inadequate Research and Development capacity in ICT

The conference proposed the following strategies:
- Declare Information and Communication Technology a prioritised industry
- Creation of a National ICT Advisory Council
- Establish ministerial and inter-ministerial ICT committees and strategic plans to identify and pursue full portfolio of ICT issues
- Develop sectoral ICT policies that are in line with the national ICT policy
- Integrate gender and youth issues in the content and process of ICT policy formulation and in implementation of ICT initiatives
- Improve existing ICT infrastructure countrywide
- Create an enabling environment for investment in the ICT sector
- Integrate ICT-based curriculum at all levels of education and training
- Standardise the curriculum offered in schools and training institutions
- Prioritise research and development in ICTs
- Provide affordable Internet facilities to educational and research institutions
- Create partnerships and collaborations between government, private sector and civil society
- Provide ICT training to teachers and technical support team in educational institutions through local and foreign training programmes
- Formulate and implement an ICT master plan as a matter of priority
- Promote wider application of e-learning