@ Humphrey, thanks. But mine is not about slum upgardes as no ICT can fulfill that. InfoDev have many claims on the use of technologies to "as the byline goes". So basically you are confirming that InfoDev is really creating brokers, while itself a mother broker in the system?
 
But am not going to comment much, seems while we were all asleep or thinking of innovation, Google and World Bank funding has taken a kenyan project right under our noses and is digitizing. And one can view the Kenya Gazette in Google books? Did you know this, because I can only imagine a third world country always whinning about no money ( opps, sorry money lost through well, e.g. corruption ) and therefore inviting investments through loan which the kenyan public will have to pay back for? At the same time, we are being given lip service on innovative ways to improve KE? This is pure hypocrisy!
 


 
On Tue, May 31, 2011 at 4:34 PM, Humphrey Ngoiya <hngoiya@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
@aki, somethings are not always obvious, I work (code) in an NGO and one of those "obvious" questions that people get wrong is how do you upgrade a slum? If think the answer is in the pseudo code below then you are wrong.

<wrong way to upgrade a slum>
  • move slum dwellers to temporary shelter
  • upgrade the land they moved from with better facilities
  • move the slum dwellers back to their new and upgraded homes
</wrong way to upgrade a slum>

The best practice in development projects is before you spend your billions on a region, know what works and what doest.
  • Develop a fully connected SME network
  • Fill the skills gap in advanced business and technical knowledge
  • Provide start-up and early stage funding for companies
  • Enable job creation for knowledge workers, and
  • Upgrade the business environment
The above broad subjects can be very invaluable to a developer, country and donor who wants to invest its resources into a project.

P.S 
What is obvious to you is not obvious to a project manager in Worldbank. Consider using your knowledge to make money as an advisor or consultant for infodev or worldbank. But be warned if your knowledge will be based on opinion and not study, chances are you will be creating more problems than solutions