Developing A Knowledge Based Economy Bitange Ndemo, PhD. Honorary Chair Alliance for Affordable Internet

Today’s Agenda A4AI and how it relates to the knowledge economy – Mission and why affordability is Important? – Focus on Policy and Regulation – Global Sponsors – Other Organizations Role of global/regional connectivity Strategy and policy Drivers of transition to knowledge economy Pillars of a knowledge economy Role of innovation hubs

WHO IS A4AI?

A4AI: Mission Meet UN Broadband Commission Broadband Target of entry-level broadband services priced at less than 5% of average monthly income. Thereby: Enabling the next two billion users to come online (with a particular focus on low-income countries) Raising Internet penetration rates to least 40% in all countries

A clear focus on policy and regulation…

Strength in diversity… Global sponsors Private sector

Public Sector / Academia Strength in diversity… Civil Society / Foundations

Strength in diversity… Local partners

All committed to best practices… All of these 50+ organisations have signed up to promote, support and implement agreed best practices to drive down price of access Practices designed to ensure open, competitive market and lower cost structures for industry. Includes areas of focus such as infrastructure sharing, taxation, open access and spectrum management.

CONNECTIVITY FOR A KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY

What we know to be true?

SEA ME WE 3 SAFE SAT-3/WASC Africa Connectivity Teams

National Optical Fiber Backbone Infrastructure (NOFBI)

The strategy for a knowledge economy Reducing Cost of Access - Hardware - Software (Global Licenses, Open Source) Connectivity (urban fibre optic, Last mile) Digitization (records, payments, Cadastral Survey) Outsourcing Rural Enterprise (Digital Villages) Open Data

The Policy Universal Access; Fair Regulation; Re-investing ICT resources into ICT projects; Rationalized Resource Utilization, Education, Health and agriculture; Electronic Records; and Cyber crime etc.

Major demographic shifts Demographic shifts affect the government workforce skill levels and expectations for workplace services and technologies.  Increase in brain-drain as Kenyans seek for opportunities elsewhere  More than 70% below age of 35, yet Government workforce is older  Members of the younger net generation coming into the workforce have greater expectations of technology availability and automation

Unprecedented Pressure on Organizational Performance Adapting to Technology Innovation More… …data …risk …complexity …pressure for change Rising Citizen Demands Falling revenues These factors converge to create an increasingly challenging environment Major demographic shifts

Rising citizens demands Government-wide collaboration around outcomes Flexible and tailored service delivery strategies Technology-enabled citizen participation Open, transparent and accountable government Increasing citizen expectations: Citizens demand more flexible, personalized public services Social media revolution: Citizens can engage with government as never before Increasing citizen participation: Citizens are no longer content to be passive consumers of services Citizens expect more transparency, ease and quality of service, accountability and government efficiencies DriversTransition to e-governance

Four pillars of the knowledge economy The World Bank identified the following four pillars as critical requisites for a country to be able to fully participate in the knowledge economy: Education & Training Information Infrastructure Economic Incentive & Institutional Regime Innovation Systems

Education & Training Kids working together on a computer in Haiti. Source: A4AI member Inveneo An educated and skilled population is needed to create, share and use knowledge.

Information Infrastructure Photo by A4AI member, Intel A dynamic information infrastructure-ranging from radio to the internet-is required to facilitate the effective communication, dissemination and processing of information.

Economic Incentive & Institutional Regime Picture by A4AI member World Pulse A regulatory and economic environment that enables the free flow of knowledge, supports investment in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and encourages entrepreneurship is central to the knowledge economy.

Innovative systems A network of research centers, universities, think tanks, private enterprises and community groups is necessary to tap into the growing stock of global knowledge, assimilate and adapt it to local needs, and create new knowledge. Photo by A4AI’s member The Grameen Foundation

Recommendations Investment in ICT infrastructure; Automation to enable sharing and distribution of knowledge; Regulatory and policy interventions on affordability and access to ICT resources; and The triple Helix – Partnerships between the Government, Private sector and Universities to foster innovation

Thank you! Bitange Ndemo, PhD. Honorary Chair Alliance for Affordable Internet