Justus Ondari
13 March 2008
Nairobi — A technology firm will spend Sh210 million on a project to improve information and communication services in all of Kenya's 210 constituencies.
The Kenya Data Networks (KDN) project kicks off on Monday next week, with a pilot launch in 40 constituencies, and aims to expand the reach of information and communication technology (ICT) and its benefits to rural areas.
This will be achieved through the establishment of digital villages, at a cost of Sh1 million per constituency.
"We want to embark on a countrywide set up of one digital cluster for each constituency by the end of the 2008," Mr Kai Wulff, KDN managing director, told reporters at the company's Nairobi offices.
Under the project - dubbed the 'Digital Village Constituency Cluster', the telecommunication infrastructure provider will set up a Vsat (Very Small Aperture Terminal) base station in each constituency.
Each cluster will consist of a minimum of eight digital units, serving commercial, developmental and educational activities within a 15 km radius in the rural areas.
"Our aim is to ensure that while we help Kenyans harness the untapped potential in the rural areas, they also get an opportunity to be part and parcel of the quest to impart relevant ICT skills for the sake of development," said Mr Wulff.
According to Mr Ian Kamau of ICTvillage.com, a private members lobby, the digital village clusters will be market magnets, able to attract other investors to Kenya's rural areas.
The company is partnering with other organisations, including the ICTvillage.com and the Youth Enterprise Development Fund, among others.
The government is running a similar project through the Ministry of Information and Communication, with support from the World Bank through the Kenya Transparency and Communication Infrastructure Project (KTCIP). A similar project has been running in South Africa's Soweto township for several years, providing technological access and training in computers to the previously disadvantaged communities of Soweto.
The Soweto Digital Village project is run as an initiative by the private, public and the community sectors. Surrounding communities, schools, students and local entrepreneurs get a chance to develop their computer skills and businesses using the internet.
It is housed in a community centre owned by the local municipality, and pays for some of the services it receives from it.
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