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Blog
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Gaming gaining ground in Africa’s software development
ICT professionals are rapidly exploiting opportunities that development of gaming software is gaining in the market. DEMO Africa, the launch pad for emerging technologies will be launching 3 gaming products; Spyros Entertainment from Egypt, Kenya’s Jooist and Nigeria’s ChopUp.
ChopUp from Nigeria is a social platform that connects mobile device gamers across Africa and then allows them interact based on in-game achievements and points which can be transferred across games. The software is currently available for Java enabled handsets and feature phones, but is moving into the smart phone territory. (more…) -
Reading the tea leaves in the connectivity market. A multi-million dollar opportunity
Access Kenya gets acquired by Dimension Data while Kenya Data Network ends their losing streak with deep pockets from Liquid Telcom; an excellent exit for the Somen’s and KDN shareholders right? Yes, but to the keen eye the story goes deeper when your pulse is on the future of tech and service delivery in the African continent often referred to as the next frontier for any high growth business.
In 2010 the Japanese giant NTT – Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp bought South African IT firm Dimension Data for $3.2 billion looking to consolidate its emerging market footprint. Could Dimension Data with its reported operating revenues in 2012 of US$ 5.84 billion act as a conduit for NTT DoCoMo a subsidiary of NTT Holdings to market entry on the mobile segment having had vast experience on the mobile data service front with the Japanese consumer having latched onto technologies synonymous with mobile data much earlier than the rest of the world? (more…)
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Idd Salim Kithinji, in equal part #CodeNinja, #DotingFather and #GoodFriend
You had to know him to know him.
Our paths crossed back in ’97 as rabbles at Starehe Boys Center.
Razor sharp wit and going for the jugular on the written word endeared him and his blog – Thus Spaketh to thousands, yet a super chilled out guy in spoken word, a perfect ying and yangSalim, I remember
- going to baraza at Starehe (the house where we grew) and saying some guys (you) were hogging computers when their time was up before break I wanted to skip break and shika shika those CRT’s
- you skiving rollcall invoking those pseudo priviledges za computer room supervisor
- your love for balls…football crazies and you sipping on a Red Bull making short work of peeps in both Nairobi and Kampala at pool
- cussing whenever Sports Rd had a power black out because those Telkom servers had AA batteries for backup
- taking Anastacia and her sisters to their new airconditioned apartment on Mombasa road Parkside Towers
- staying late at Standard Investment Bank hacking Sembuse…and it working
- having Napers call from SA and we thinking…bassssss pesa hizo
- the meeting at the green boy when peeps laughed at our audacity at cannibalizing sms
- kissing ass at Safaricom after the mention of an Mpesa hack was misconstrued, and Bob Collymore coming into a meeting and saying “These guys don’t look like terrorists!”
- going to Uganda to sort out M7 on platforms
- loosing millions and still held our heads up high, we lived to see another day
- you telling me you had met this “billionaire” who would sort us on growth capital needs but ended up being such a disappointment
- you missing the girls – Venessa and Shazma so much when they were in Uganda you were calling literally everyday
- dealing with potato and wheat money that came in a tweed jacket and safari boots
- having not-so angel investors for that World Cup gig…those guys lakini
- the boys we met…the one’s with dad’s money talking big
- your tweef with Alai, glad the term nemesis was dropped
- putting wads in the toilet because after all its just money and it follows passion…and that we had loads of
- having an ideas board that would quite literally be wiped clean every three days, sometimes the world wasn’t ready and sometimes the ideas were plain foolish
- you teasing that I should just get myself a wife and kids and quit holding out, Vanessa and Shazma needed playmates they could relate to
- your obsession with the number 13
- thinking, if like Moses, we would never see the promised land after years in the desert aka hustling
- sometimes we did ties, but many times it was just t-shirt and jeans
- your cryptic and not so cryptic status updates
- agreeing to disagree and being cool with it
- lunches with the fam at mine (looked at the videos and one Shazma was bopping to JayZ made me smile)
- tech jargon infused conversations when talking about the ladies
- pushing you and Ruto to be ready for the big meeting
- you saying “Haina noma”
My last words to you before I left for Mombasa last week on Thursday was – ” Connected the dots“.
This is as incomplete and as complete as it is…Good times we had my friend, a good run. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un
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Invisible hardware players coming to the fore
Times are changing, with the focus on innovative services having been placed on software initiatives seeing a slow shift and balance of mindshare to accommodate hardware. There have always been hobbyists builders always tinkering with this and that board, building interesting things if but to prove that it is possible. Now we see big industry players, hitherto relegated to the backstage make direct effort to engage developer audiences to drive creation of solutions that are built with the hardware capabilities as the inspiration. (more…)
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The lockout perpetuated: ICT Procurement Policy done to exclude Kenyan Firms
On an email list of which I am part, trying to lobby the government and other sector players to adopt and local ICT solutions, this came through and can serve as an example of how and why the battle is real in our quest to grow local technology businesses. I share the same verbatim for your digest and opinion.
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As we prepare to meet and firm up on the ICT Policies that we would like our Government to take regarding Procurement of ICT solutions, it is sad to see that, even with the creation of the Kenya ICT Authority the modus-operandi of old, still continues!As an example, the Tender recently advertised by Kenya ICT Authority for Supply & Installation of a Transport Integrated Management System.The technical specifications by themselves are quite achievable, but, as usual, the procurement regulations are almost un-achievable for Kenyan Software firms. Why?- The requirement that you must have done 3 projects of at least Ksh 457 Million each means there is not a *SINGLE* local software firm that can bid.
- The requirement that the annual turnover for this company must be at least Ksh 170M means only but say 3-5 firms can actually bid for this job.
- The procurement regulations are absolute and not relative. Meaning, there are no marks to meet these requirements, its either you meet them or you don’t. It doesn’t matter whether you have or can make the best Transport Integrated System globally, it’s all about the money!
- Even if * consortiums of Kenyan software firms partnered to each produce a module, as an example, we still don’t meet Requirement 1.
- Even if you tried to partner with an international firm that has done this, why would they need to work with you, when they can just bid directly?
The only person who would be happy with this current arrangement would be a Tenderprenuer ( the cancer that is killing this country), who will get an International Partner for his 25% Cut to meet the right people, while our ‘rich’ country folks out Ksh 500M for a system that could have been developed and implemented at half that cost, employed not less than 30 Software Engineers and subsequently exported to other countries.If we are serious about lobbying GoK to change the game, this is one golden opportunity that can test our resolve, strategies and also commitment, otherwise we’ll probably just be meeting on end and nothing ever will change. -
Open Standards – the key to the enterprise market
Innovators whether domiciled in larger corporations or running in startup mode are always on the lookout for frictionless market access. With an increased focus on the B2B (business to business) segment, the enterprise market makes for a juicy proposition should you get your foot in.
The characteristics of this segment must however be closely analyzed, if one is to make any headway. Large corporations could be said to be set in their ways having gone through various transformative processes to get to where they are from a revenue, client base and market share perspective. Of this processes is the application of standards that guide how they and their systems operate.
Simply put, an open standard is a prescribed model of operation that would ensure interoperability, often arrived at through a consultative process by interested parties. This should not be confused with open source – which in its various license subsets gives anyone rights to use, alter and distribute a code base , as one can roll out a proprietary solution built on open standards. (more…)
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Technology solution development: the hardware play
Africa has many problems, and it is said that problems present the biggest opportunities when looking to create new products and services that add value, create more time, increase efficiency, extend transparency, save money and a host of other benefits that would translate to revenue and a sustainable business for any discerning entrepreneur.
We must appreciate the progress we have made over the years in our solution development process. In the past we often approached issues from the platform side and tried to cram in as much of the problem as we could with vestiges left to be dealt with another day, leaving in its wake compromised and half baked solutions. This could have been attributed to siloed knowledge centers and limited human resource competency.
Today, with a growing talent pool and easy access to information, we are now starting with the problem definition and working towards the most optimal solution to address the problem in its entirety based on available resources. (more…)
