Big guns running after the mobile apps business

From mobile banking, SMS chatting to stock market updates and sharing photos through mobile phones, the catalogue of mobile applications in Africa seems to be growing by the day. Thanks to the mobile phone penetration which has heavily outstripped PC penetration, availability of affordable bandwidth and the demand to do more than voice and text on the mobile phone.

The annual growth rate in mobile subscribers in Africa in 2007 was more than 40%, with more than 80 million new subscribers. Increased mobile penetration boosts economic activity, and recent studies show that increase in mobile penetration can lead to a one to 5% increase in the annual growth rate in a country's GDP.

A new report assessing m-content in Uganda and India by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO reveals that the demand for services is not being fully met. The report also shows that, in the future, healthcare and job-related services will top the list of in-demand services in Uganda, while internet over mobile, remittances and m-banking may also be in high demand in the coming years.

This unmet demand and potential in mobile application development space in Africa has been attracting attention of the big boys. In the last year, both Ericcson and Nokia, who are undoubtedly global market leaders, have made significant investments in an effort to tap into this potential.

Ericcson is establishing Innovation Centers in sub-Saharan Africa to develop mobile applications with a special focus on meeting the needs of poor and rural populations. The initiative focuses on solutions in health, education, agriculture and small business development.

The Ericsson Innovation Centers will include three application development hubs, in Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya. At first, the Innovation Center will concentrate on mobile applications, such as m-health that will enable health workers to gather, monitor and share data on things like births, deaths and epidemics, and to use smart mobile decision support tools in their daily work.

Other applications will relate to education, agriculture, business development, finance, government services and the overall improvement of communication capabilities.
Nokia, on the other hand supports the mobile-application labs at Makerere University, Uganda and the University of Nairobi, Kenya. These are the two oldest Universities in the region. The labs allow the universities to attract outsourced work from the corporate sector for mobile-applications development.

Nokia has also been working with startups through their "Innovation Challenge" initiative, where they give guidance and support to innovative applications. Through the initiative, start-up companies with the best applications receive support to further develop their applications to sellable applications. The company has also opened up its OVI store to local applications and developers.

And with other companies such as Google and Microsoft having a big presence in the region and eying a piece of this business, the mobile application space is going to get more interesting and competitive. What is interesting though, is that this has attracted a whole new set of developers, most of whom are straight from the university. Possibly because the Universities were the first to invest in skills development through the mobile development labs.

Technology delivers a superb FIFA 2010

As the vuvuzelas die down and everyone goes back to their routine, Dilbagh Gill, head of sport business and FIFA executive relationship at Mahindra Satyam, an Indian-based systems integration firm, has an interesting way of looking at the role of technology at the just concluded football bonanza.

He says technology and IT services are like the goalkeeper in football. No one seems to remember the goals the keeper saves. And the less you hear about the technology behind the event, the back office operations that keep the pictures flowing, the networks running and the communication alive, the better -  it means technology is playing its role effectively.

That could never be so true. One of the unsung heros of the FIFA World Cup 2010 is technology. This is from the event management system that Mahindra Satyam built from the bottom up, the live streaming of matches on the Internet, the social media activities in twitter, facebook and myspace to the crisp pictures that beamed on television sets across the world and watched by millions of football enthusiasts.

For instance, can you remember those overhead pictures that gave you a birds-eye view of the pitch? That was one of the newest innovations in broadcasting at the world cup. The tension cable-harnessed camera dubbed the "Spidercam" was making its World Cup debut. The Spidercam is normally suspended 20 meters above the pitch and capable of being pulled back and forth to provide live, overhead images. This camera was used at four of the 10 tournament venues in South Africa.

The 2010 World Cup?s television coverage used a standard 30 cameras for each match, four more than during the 2006 tournament in Germany, and included two ultra-motion cameras that can record up to 1,000 frames per second to dramatically slow down the action for replays.

Twin-lens 3D cameras were also used at every game, along with "steadicams," which are fitted to the bodies of film crewmembers, and crane-operated cameras at pitch-level. Important matches got two additional cameras: one mounted on a helicopter and a Spidercam. 

Then, the logistics and successful delivery of the event was totally hinged on technology and this is where Gill and his team were involved in. The event management system that Satyam built had several mission critical systems, relating to accreditation, volunteer, event staffing and transport. All these are critical to a delivery of any such event.

Satyam were also responsible for installing a private network connecting event locations, FIFA delegation, staff, the organizing committee and media personnel, as well as claiming oversight of the deployment of IT related equipment. They managed and tracked over 33,000 assets worth a billion dollars, which were loaned to FIFA for the 2010 bonanza.

So, like Gill, I tend to agree that technology is and maybe should remain the hidden hand in delivery of such high quality events ? business or sporting. How I wish FIFA could actually go a step further and utilize this rich technology to assist in curbing refereeing errors. But that?s a story for another day.

As for now, it is my hope that the local organizing committee of the Senior Africa Athletics Championship, which kicks off later in the month will have picked some lessons from the FIFA 2010 experience and that again, technology will deliver another superb experience. This time, in Nairobi.

Let's forget e-Government and embrace m-Government

With mobile device penetration hugely outstripping computer penetration and the increased uptake of mobile Internet in the region, mobile services are quickly emerging as the new frontier in public service transformation. This in essence makes public services more accessible and citizen-centric by extending the benefits of remote delivery of government services and information to those who are unable or unwilling to access public services through the traditional Internet.

This emerging trend in public service delivery, or as fondly referred to as m-Government, is part of a broader phenomenon of mobile-enabled development (m-development) leveraging the mobile revolution to enable development impact.

m-Government takes public services and makes them available via mobile devices such as mobile phones and PDAs, bypassing the need for traditional physical networks. As more advanced mobile devices become more common, and faster rates of data transfer become possible, more useful and higher value-added mobile services will be possible and expected from all levels of governments (especially municipal), in different areas and sectors.

In the last two years, we have seen the public sector coming up with innovative mobile applications. Simple Short Message Services (SMS) database queries have made a huge impact saving people time, money and long journeys to government offices. For instance parents who had children who sat the Kenya Secondary Certificate Examination, could get the results of their by sending a simple SMS from their mobile phone to a designated number and get the results instantly.

The same service has been extended to many other departments including the immigration department where one can query the status of their passport application; one can also get information on their voting status through a similar service from the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC).

A recent study commissioned by the Kenya ICT Board and conducted by TNS Research International indicated that 45% of Internet users in Kenya access it through their mobile phones. What this means is, we have the potential to make e-Government more inclusive if we choose to use mobile devises as the delivery channel. And this is especially so in the Government to Citizens (G2C) realm of e-Government.

And with the increased numbers and the sophistication in mobile applications witnessed in the region lately, there is no doubt that at the G2C level, m-Government will have a bigger impact than e-Government. This in itself is a good thing, as it brings government services not just closer to the people but personal and everywhere.

From a governance point of view, deploying m-Government should be part of the larger government transformation programme. This can then be used to strategically broaden public service access and impact on its citizenry. Its implementation should involve the utilization of all sorts of wireless and mobile technologies, services, applications and devices. for improving the benefits of the parties involved in e-Government including citizens, businesses and all government units.

Granted, there are already m-Government services in some ministries, but these again are outcomes of "successful accidents" than planned deployments. It is my considered opinion that the Government should spend at least 50% of its technology budget in developing and deploying m-Government applications, this will result in increase and efficient access to public services and a happy tax paying citizenry.

IIEC shows m-Government at work in Matuga

The Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) has done it. They have effectively demonstrated the use of mobile technologies in public service delivery, in technical terms – m-Government. This is what this column has in the past advocated for as the best way forward for an inclusive public-centric service delivery.

Just over five hours after the closing of the 101 polling stations in Matuga, the tallying center at Matuga Government Training Institute had already received about 50% of the results thanks to the newly implemented National Election Management System, which allows for electronic transmission of polling station results.

This to me is the sign of maturity of mobile technologies to handle mission critical and sensitive national tasks. On interesting facto about the system used by the IIEC is that its locally developed and, therefore, customized to the specifics of the requirements of the IIEC.

Unfortunately, this technological innovation is stranger to the existing election laws, which require that the results have to be confirmed by the submission of the infamous Form 16A. This means that the results that have been received will only act as provisional results until the said forms are submitted and approved by the Commission.

So, we still have some work to do. With this success, its time therefore that the law is changed to allow for the submission of an electronic version of Form 16A enough documentation required by the Commission to declare the office results of a polling station. When that happens then we can expect instant official election results as they stream into the big screens at the tallying centers.

But when you look at the application used to transmit the results, its actually a digitized Form 16A. It has all the details that are required by law to be included in the form. The fields included in the form include the number of votes cast, the number of spoilt votes and the number of valid votes per candidate.

Like in many other legal environments, the acceptability of electronic records as authentic documents that can stand the test of time has been growing. We have seen, the admissibility of electronic records such as spreadsheets and emails and even SMSs in court as evidence. This means we are ready to move to the electronic space and do all that we do in the physical world electronically with all legal certainty.

So with this showing in Matuga, I am sure even the techno-phobs out there are convinced that that’s the way to go. The onus is now on the IIEC to move to the next level and implement the system nationwide. I am not sure how ready they may be in terms of infrastructure acquisition and system ability, but it would have been a good thing to test this system in a live environment during the August 4^th referendum.

Having used the system in Mugirangu and now in Matuga, I am certain the bugs that could have been in the system have since been removed with enough time to clean it further should there be need to, to have seamless technology enabled referendum results transmission system. So, a double thumbs up to the IIEC and congratulations to the Matuga MP Elect, Hon Chirau Ali Mwakwere.

A big thumbs up

There has been a deep silence in the industry after the three Ministers in charge of the Finance Dockets in East Africa read their 2009/10 budget. Even the pre-budget analysts, who had predicted doom and pain, have sort of vanished or tried to curve some clever come back arguments on what can qualify as surprise budget speeches to everyone in the region.

The three were probably the most pro-ICT budget speeches ever read in the history of East Africa. This writer has in the past insisted that there needs to be serious allocations for serious ICT projects; and that if there are insufficient resources to initiate the ICT projects we intend to implement, then we either scale them down or just don’t start them.

It was encouraging to see the kind of attention that ICT got from all the three ministers in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. In my considered opinion, Kenya benefited the most with both Uganda and Tanzania almost maintaining the status quo.

Honourable Uhuru Kenyatta, the Kenyan minister for Finance, had the largest bag of goodies for the sector. First there was the exemption of value added tax (VAT) for mobile phones, which touched everyone; then ISP were given reason to move to fibre - ISPs can now offset against corporate tax, costs they incurred in acquiring the right to use the fibre optic cable over a period of 20 years.

The minister further allocated US$ 17million to purchase Mobile Computer Laboratories for each constituency for use by our high schools. This initiative is meant to serve as a pilot project, since there are plans to expand the project to primary schools.
The minister also gave a mention to the now famous Digital Villages – which have since been re-branded Pasha Centres - that will be rolled out in partnership with the World Bank. In the same speech, Hon. Kenyatta announced the immediate launch a one million laptop/computer campaign countrywide in partnership with the private sector. This is also meant to increase access to ICT.

In Uganda, Honourable Syda Bbumba, rest her eyes on connectivity. She said the priority in the financial year 2009/10, is in completion of the interconnectivity of the entire country. This project involves laying of over 1500 km of optical fibre to link most major towns in Uganda. She went on to announce that the government will computerize the land registry starting Q1 of the 2009/10.

Most of the taxes were maintained but duty on printers used with computers was waived. This has been a big problem negating the benefit of removing duty on computers. Accessories that accompany computers are still vat-able and some attract taxes across the region.

Hon Mustafa Mkulo in Tanzania had something to hand out to the sector too, reduction on duty on camcorders and digital cameras and he made a tactical adjustment where excise duty on mobile phone services will now be charged at the point of sale of scratch card or airtime at full face value rather than at the point the actual use takes place.

The minister sought to generate revenue from mobile services when he directed VAT on mobile services to be charged on the face value of vouchers at source rather than on discounted wholesalers’ value. This is probably the only hit that the sector suffered this year.

In fact most of the pre-budget analysts had predicted heavy taxation on mobile airtime. Overall, I think the three ministers provided the much-needed relief for the sector to grow and kept clear of the punitive taxation measures that could stunt its growth and development.

For that, I give then a big thumbs up.

Fix the KCA Law

Last month something very interesting happened, the realization by the ICT community that the there was something amiss with the Kenya Communication Amendment (KCA) of 2008 Bill that was passed into law and became an Act December last year . The media fraternity who were accused of trying to hijack the Bill were up in arms using all tricks in the book to stop the Bill’s ascension to law and wanted it booted out of parliament for clauses that they baptized “draconian”.

While this was happening, the ICT community sat pretty and became spectators as the duel between the Government and the Media industry intensified and at some point even cheering the Government to go ahead and pass the bill into law. The wishes of the IT industry were heard and rewarded with the Kenya Communications Amendment Act of 2008 which sort to legislate the entire communication sector including IT, Telecoms, Media and Postal sectors.

Now, like the Media sections of the law, the IT section had some very dangerous clauses that had been proposed initially and other serious weaknesses on e-Transactions. It was sort of agreed in one of the stakeholders meetings that the IT sector should support the Bill its flaws notwithstanding. Reason; the law making process was long and winding, and therefore it would be a major blow to the industry should the KCA Bill be thrown out of parliament. It had already taken two solid years to get the Bill on the parliamentary calendar.

So the compromise position was that the Bill should be allowed to go through and then work towards amending the weak areas through ministerial regulations, a practice that is allowed in law. In fact, it was agreed that since there was an existing draft e-Transaction Bill, all the articles on Electronic Commerce in the KCA would be expunged and form a new Bill to be pushed through parliament. This is why most of the IT players and advocates voted with the Government when it came to the KCA Act. But it appears that the proposed amendments and regulations will require time to be in place, meanwhile, the law is in place and is already becoming a challenge to the industry.

The industry was in shock last month when they realized that the Kenya Information Centre (KENIC), a public-private-partnership entity that has been managing the country’s ccTLD was operating illegally, sort of. According to the new law, KENIC needs to be registered by the country’s communications regulator, Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) for them to continue managing the .KE name space. The law has also opened up competition on the second level domain name registration, an area that until now was a reserve of KENIC.

This is a classic case where global best practices and local laws clash. KENIC is the only body recognized by the International Council for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) as the bona fide managers of the .KE. The law did not take cognizance of international arrangements neither did it provide explicit guidance on how to manage the introduced competition. So as the stakeholders pull in different direction and taking different positions on this, it is paramount that the holes in the KCA Act are sealed urgently.

As agreed, the law needs to be placed under a microscope again, with all stakeholders alert and engage in panel beating it to acceptable conditions. Otherwise what we are seeing now, is just the tip of an iceberg.

Can we please get real!

To gain sustainable competitive edge, especially in this period of global economic mess, a country has to leverage technology in a big way. This is what the Obama administration knows and is doing. They are aware of the power and catalytic effect that ICT has to other sectors of the economy and in this realization, they are pumping a whooping US$ 71 Billion on IT in addition to appointing the first federal CIO in the person of Vivek Kundra to control this massive budget. Kundra’s main responsibilities will be to manage technology interoperability among agencies that will make the government transparent and efficient.

It is this sort of commitment that makes IT work, where a solid investment is made and mapped to a specific measurable outcome. In East Africa, we have never really seen this kind of commitment to investing properly in IT and yet we expect technology to work for us. Having worked with various government departments in the region, requested budgets are normally cut by more than 50% without due consideration of the kind of impact that this may have on the proposed projects. This is one of the reasons why many government initiatives never see the light of day.

For starters, just look at the budgetary allocations that IT has been receiving from the exchequer in the past years. I think in the Kenyan context, last year could have as well be know as the IT bumper harvest, the sector received what is the largest ever allocation, KSh 1 billion. This is thanks to the persistence of one Dr. Bitange Ndemo and the architects of the East African Marine System (TEAMS). That cash went to underwrite the commissioning of the feasibility study of the East African Marine System (TEAMS).

I did not get a chance to participate in the pre-budget hearing for the sector this year, however, I have some documents that have indicative figures that have been put forth by the Ministry of Information and Communication for consideration in the 2009/2010 budget estimates. My suspicion is, these figures are indicative of the region, given that Kenya is the largest economy in the region.

Under the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) 2009/10 – 2011/12, ICT falls in the Research, Innovation and Technology sector. This sector is made up of two ministries, Ministry of Higher education and Technology and the Ministry of Information and Communication together with thirty-three semi-autonomous government agencies including the Government IT Services, Directorate of e-Government and the Kenya ICT Board.

Total requirement for the sector in 2009/10 amounts to KShs. 92.4 billion up from Kshs.45.6 billion in FY2008/09. These comprise of KShs.53.4 billion required for financing recurrent expenditures while KShs.37.9 billion will be required for development expenditures. This budget financed from external resources and internally generated revenue from the institutions to the tune of KShs.10.9 billion leaving a net of 81.4 billion to be financed through the exchequer. However, the Government allocation to the Sector is only KSh 37.5 billion, less than 50% of the sector requirements.

If you dig into the numbers you realize that the core IT budget is about 24.3 billion, 50% of which is recurrent expenditure. Looking at it closer, you get to realize that most of the development allocation (10 billion) goes to a sub-programme titled, Data Management with 9 billion allocated to statistical management system. Then you start to see the gaps. 24 billion, less 10 billion for a statistical managemnt system, less 9 billion for infrastructure, less another 4 billion for training and your are left with 1 billion for everything else outside those areas. As if this is not complicated enough, the sector will only receive 50% of this allocation.

We certainly need to get serious and do things right. Under-budgeting is a sure way of having white elephants in the name of stalled projects which in itself is a waste of resources. So lets start by scoping what we really need and that can be accomplished with the available resources. I would strongly advise that we should not get into any new projects if we do not have the necessary budgetary allocations. Trying to implement a 10 billion project with 5 billion will not have the desired effect, so lets get real.