Episode 47: Digital Citizenship In The Silicon Savannah
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Episode 47: Digital Citizenship In The Silicon Savannah
We are 18 days away from Kenya’s 2017 general election, and this week, we are joined by Nanjira Sambuli, Digital Equality Advocacy Manager at the Web Foundation and awesome digital citizen to talk about ICT (Information and Communications Technology) in Kenya, which is billed as the Silicon Savannah. Has the Jubilee Coalition delivered on its 2013 manifesto promises? Will we have an internet shutdown during/after this election? How is Kenya’s tech ecosystem doing? How does it compare to the rest of Africa? Is the KFCB overstepping its mandate? Is what Ezekiel Mutua is doing censorship? How about the NCIC and its work on “ending” hate speech? Is this approach the right approach? How do ICTs change what it means to be a Kenyan citizen? How do they affect our present and future? Press play to fins out! 
Resources
National Information & Communications Technology (ICT) Policy (2006)
Track, Capture, Kill: Inside Communications Surveillance and Counterterrorism in Kenya
Serianu Kenya Cybersecurity Report 2016
The Information Communication Technology Practitioners Bill, 2016
3 thoughts on “Episode 47: Digital Citizenship In The Silicon Savannah”
Hello,
This was a really lovely episode as usual. I particularly agreed with the sections on procurement and privacy. It is sad that government isn’t supporting local innovation eg outsourcing the govt. cloud to Huawei while a consortium of local companies could do the job just as well. Silicon Valley, India and Singapore are as much a result of government policy as concentrations of talent and funding.
On privacy, Safaricom set a terrible precedent. We regularly display our IDs to MPESA agents on every transaction. They are now set to use photos for identification. I think this has also bled into being asked for IDs at buildings and not knowing what will happen with your information. We really need to re-think privacy and how it fits into our mobile-first approach.
Keep up the good work!
Thank you M! Great point about local procurement vis a vis outsourcing. I also like what you said about Safaricom/MPesa. We rarely think about the day to day breaches of privacy we we experience, and I hope that changes sooner rather than later. Stay tuned!