Kenya’s ICT Village Concept

One of the projects that will most likely change the way we perceive the ICT sector is the development of the so called Digital Villages Project (DVP) that is being implemented by the Kenya ICT Board through the Kenya Transparency Communications Infrastructure Project (KTCIP). The key objective is to establish a network of information facilities especially in the rural areas of Kenya by making ICT more accessible and cheaper to the folks living in the bundus. This is also expected to create economic activities and in the process hopefully reverse the rural-to-urban migration.

Digital villages are e-centres that will provide a suite of services to the public through computers connected to the Internet, digital cameras, printers, fax machines and other communication infrastructure in rural or peri-urban areas. These services include, but are not limited to: e-mail and Internet access; e-banking (e.g. money transfer services such as Posta Pay); e-government (e.g., police abstract forms, tax returns, P3 forms, and driving license applications); e-business (e.g., franchised postal and courier services); e-learning; e-health; e-markets (e.g., agricultural commodity pricing and exchange); and e-monitoring (e.g., real-time local level monitoring of development funds and projects). There are three types of digital village facilities:

• Digital centres – development hubs with 10 to 20 PCs
  
• Digital schools – educational facilities with 5 to 10 PCs.
  
• Digital kiosks – commercial facilities with 1 to 5 PCs.
  

Each digital centre is expected to support a minimum of two digital schools and four digital kiosks. To assist the owners to set-up, expand, and sustain their operations, funding will be obtained from the following sources:

• Commercial banks,
  
• Youth Fund,
  
• Women's Fund,
  
• Investment Groups,
  
• Constituency Development Funds,
  
• Other sources.
  

The biggest worry among some of us who have been following the developments was the low penetration rate by the state power distribution that is estimated at only 3%! With the swearing in of the coalition government, Minister Kiraitu in charge of power (I think so) promised power distribution to all hospitals, schools and trading centres in the rural areas in the next 2 years.

As part of these efforts, the Kenya ICT Board put out an advert invite all stake holders on the DVP implementation that will be focus on four main activity areas:

• Training for the entrepreneurs who will start and manage the digital villages
  
• Technical support – including direct IT support services such as computer servicing and the like at no cost to the entrepreneur
  
• A bandwidth subsidy to enable the digital villages to charge the lowest possible rates for internet services – therefore allowing more people access to the services
  
• A revolving fund of US$ 4 Million to provide soft loans for the entrepreneurs who want to start or expand their digital villages.
  

Designated Digital Village Managers will undergo an intensive 3weeks training programme designed to stimulate, motivate and prepare them to manage (as businesses) Digital Villages. A special training programme will be developed by consultants to equip potential entrepreneurs to start and successfully manage their own business.

The programme is designed for:

• The entrepreneurial youth
  
• Retrenched / retired employees who want to start their own businesses and require training in business creation, management end growth
  
• Practicing businesspeople who want to expand into a new field.
  

The aim of this programme is to prepare unemployed, practicing and potential entrepreneurs to take charge of their lives and their future.

After training, the participants:

• Will be capable to start and manage Digital Villages
  
• Will be capable of preparing business plans, sourcing for funds using such business plans, implementing their business plans and successfully managing their businesses.
  

More information can be obtained the ICTVillage site