– Bankelele has a great write-up of this years first Skunkworks meeting held at the Google offices in Kenya. For more about Skunkworks, click here. There’s 3 points that resonate with me in Bankelele’s write-up:
1. The fear of sharing content online – or really just sharing information in Kenya. From government, to private sector, to NGOs they are all terrible. Google’s advantage (and stick which they should use with abandon) is that they can leverage their brand to convince (bully?) organizations to share information. Like the Nation-You tube idea, I’m sure some young techie within Nation had broached it before but was told that clips just can’t be shared for free. Enter Google and the possibility of other forms of monetization become apparent. And it should also really be about the futility of hoarding information – it drives me nuts. Why is everything so secret? I’ve been tearing my afro out trying to get biographical information for the new members of Parliament to upload onto Mzalendo…I might as well be searching for the Holy Grail.
2. The lack of cooperation among organizations regarding ethernet. Everyone thinks you are out to get them, or you have an angle (and from the way I’ve seen biashara guys operate in Kenya this is generally true, the deal is cut with the other guys after you leave the meeting..hehe). The idea of working together so that we can all benefit seems to be foreign. And we wonder why our leaders operate the way they do…
3. The point about companies shortchanging people as far as connectivity. I’ve heard numerous stories about people being lured to company xyz with promises of high speed and after a month or two, the high speed disappears. I agree that the shortchanging companies should be named and shamed. Maybe a Kenyan version of this website would help, though we don’t generally have a culture of consumer activism in Kenya – except when you asked for a cold beer and you are brought a warm one.
– Interesting idea – the Question Box.
– On a few rare occasions I question my decision to abandon practicing law in the U.S., this prompted one of those occasions. Frigging 29?
– Nice feature by Andrew Heavens on gay Africans and Arabs coming out online.
Hi Ory, LOL @ the Kendall Burman article. For me though, it’s not so much that she is only 29 (we both know that there are PLENTY of 30 year old lawyers who are more than qualified for the challenge/leadership) but as the interview clearly reveals home girl has connections that pretty much landed the job on her lap. I think this and millions of similar situations occur in the U.S, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Ethiopia. As the so called “baby boomer’s” children/grand children enter the workforce their interests and agendas (corruption/nepotism) test Plato’s philosophies. It’s about time for us to realize that systems based on ancient Greek philosphers/ early European philosophers may not be sustainable in present day.