Aki,

For lack of a better euphemism, I can only describe this as technological inbreeding. We don't have *all* the competency to do everything... Not even the US has... (most of their products, though designed in the US are manufactured in China). 

Using technology someone else designed opens you up to their knowledge-base, pitfalls etc... Let me give an example, if I say decide to build upon Ubuntu, you will learn from Ubuntu which UI gaffes not to make etc, what largely does not work (given that you are targeting an international market). Most of the coders etc will open up and give you knowledge that you otherwise would not get. 

We don't have to re-invent the wheel to be a technological giant... Think about it, we are 1,700 thereaobuts on this mailing list, and 3,500 registered at the iHub. Microsoft alone has 89,000 employees... 

We need to focus on what we are good at. If the KIE had decided to build everything from scratch (given historical issues with proper sourcing of .ke contracters), this project would not have taken off.... Fact of the matter is, greater good is to have the content available ASAP. The reason people in the US etc had to build their OS/hardware etc is because there was no platform... India is a good example of how you can be a technological powerhouse without having to build your own computers etc... One of their largest tech firms is a system integration outfit, Wipro, that has revenues of 6 Billion USD (slightly 5 times what Safaricom makes) and employes 122,000 people.... really that's good for the economy... 

Additionally research etc to build our own platforms is *expensive* and with your previous disdain for VC, we really would be in a quandry as to how to proceed.... 

On Mon, May 30, 2011 at 8:50 PM, aki <aki275@gmail.com> wrote:
As a final contribute for a while as I need to focus on my other stuff, I'd like to put this forward to the listers.
 
- The Birth of a Kenyan High Tech Company ( in relation to this thread and why it is important to develop locally--something I thought of when stuck in traffic this evening )
 
Had KIE and content developer used a local company to generate the cd/dvd content management technology system, we would have been looking at the creation of a high tech kenyan company in the process. I've not had a look at the cd/dvd myself, but these points below would make the content management technology (CMT) system created locally by a developer/software company such a success for VCs, investors and eventually become a KE Silicon Valley company :
 
a) Anti-Piracy : How is the current content developer protecting the KIE syllabus DVDs discs from copyright abuse?
 
- The local developer/company would have created a Unique ID serial number that would be typed into a box when the DVD was inserted for installation of the viewer. This Unique ID can be locked to a MAC hardware address of the machine to be installed. Each machine has a unique MAC address, thus duplication is almost impossibe. For software developers and coders, you know that this procedure is not difficult to code probably into the Auto-Run script. The Unique ID can be burnt into the DVD upon creation, and the end user basically uses the external ID provided with the DVD disc. There are many ways to do this anti-piracy adaptation.
 
 
- The anti-piracy industry is big business. What is stopping us from developing a CMT system  to compliment the holograms and electronic signatures with serial numbers? Could we hold the future of digital media security? We only have ourselves to blame for not creating such platforms and holding patents for such. Imagine the future where Hollywood or other content makers use our CMT system as part or protecting their content rights. Can we make a deal with  DVD player manufacturers to chip our versions of the anti-piracy schemes implemented in the CMT.
 
- We could even produce a fully functional web system that integrates into the CMT for end user to upgrade and register for variuos future DVD media to be released by KIE.
 
 
b) The various languages option: How much is this benefit?
 
Since the entire coding of the CMT is done locally, we have absolute control over the structure of the code. We can code the way a computer thinks, works and even accepts the DVD discs. We can also customise the language options and the CMT system can be used globally on almost any Digital Media.
 
c) Security : Another big business industry
 
As an example, If we were to code a PG or parental block for DVD disc media, with our coded CMT, we are now able to provide granular access to the users of the medium. Imagine a DVD disc media inserted into a computer checking the status and prompting for the code to open the content.
 
 
So, in summary, I feel we have once again cheated ourselves of an opportunity to grow by not creating our own CMT system. While it may not matter to many, I hope the above provides a small insight of how much potential we have missed out on a single product. Sad day for KE developers and the local ICT community to move towards high tech companies.
 
Thank you.
 
 
 
 
 
 

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With Regards,

Phares Kariuki

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