Employment: There was a marginal decline in the level of employment by telecommunication
operators from 6,201 in 2014 to 6,147 in 2015. Over the same period, employment in the ISPs
increased by 25.3 per cent to 7,817. This was partly due to the laying of fiber optic in the country.
Newspaper Circulation and online Newspaper Readership: In 2015, the circulation of daily English
and Kiswahili newspapers continued to decline due to online readership of newspaper as the English
and Kiswahili daily circulations declined by 3.4 per cent and 10.2 per cent, respectively. Similarly, the
number of weekly English newspapers in circulation decreased by 5.8 per cent over same period.
However, the average online users went up by 53.7 per cent in 2015.
Challenges: The ICT sector is faced with the following challenges:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
(i)
(j)
(k)
(l)
4.5
ICT services in unserved and underserved areas and for persons with disabilities.
How to harness ICT for efficient and effective government, economic growth and job creation
for the youth.
High cost and unreliability of Telecommunication.
Small talent of BPO/industry specific skills.
Lack of standardization of components and systems being procured and applied across the
Government.
Limited country-wide ICT awareness that hinders cultural and attitudinal change.
A wide internal digital divide between rural and urban areas as well as low bandwidth.
High costs of migration from analogue to digital broadcasting.
Cyber-crime.
Regional disparities in adoption and utilization of ICT services slowing speed of regional
integration.
Inadequate policies and legal frameworks.
Inadequate competent and skilled human capacity.
Overarching Policy Objectives
The main policy objective is that the government will ensure that the entire public sector, including
service delivery in health, education, and infrastructure, is fully supported by high-quality ICT
infrastructure.
4.5.1
(a)
(b)
(c)
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
Broad Strategies
Encourage Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) for ICT-enabled systems.
Promote the local-assembly ecosystem that will spur the light manufacturing industry in
order to guarantee affordable communication devices.
Institute innovation clusters that will generate a critical supply of highly-skilled technical
personnel required to drive the information society.
Facilitate broadband access to all citizens and ensure Broadband connectivity of all public
facilities by 2020.
Promote investment in the ICT sector.
Ensure availability of spectrum resources to support the development of ICT infrastructure
and accessibility countrywide.
Support human resource development and capacity building.
Facilitate access to devices and development of local content.
Encourage innovation and competition in the ICT sector.
Provide ICT training of all relevant public officials and service providers.
Facilitate ICT-based delivery systems for healthcare, education, and infrastructure.
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