Name:      Dr. Shem J. OCHUODHO  

Nationality:  Kenyan  





Date of Birth:  29.12.60 

Languages:   Speaking Reading Writing

English    Excellent Excellent Excellent

Dholuo    Excellent Excellent Excellent

Kiswahili   Good  Excellent Good

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS 

2004: LLD (Honorary), Marlboro College, Vermont, USA for "Successful Contribution and Combination of Innovation, Business and Politics" 

1992: Ph.D in Computer Science, Specialising in Software Engineering and Database Technology, York University, United Kingdom. 

1987: MSc in Electrical Engineering, Specialising in Electronics and Telecommunications, University of Nairobi, Kenya. 

1984: BSc in Mathematics and Phyiscs, University of Nairobi, Kenya.

KEY QUALIFICATIONS (PROFESSIONAL)

Dr. Ochuodho is the ICT Advisor to Minister of State in Charge of Energy and Communications, Government of Rwanda (since May 2006). He also recently served as the Chairman of the NEPAD Inter-Governmental Working Sub-Committee (IG-WSC) mandated to evolve a common promotion strategy for the East African Sub-Marine Cable System (EASSy) among the policy makers, regulators, operators, development finance institutions (DFIs), and the civil society. 

He was previously the Executive Director of the Rwanda Information Technology Authority (RITA, June 2005 – May 2006).  

Dr Ochuodho is a former Managing Director of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) Limited (March 2003 – December 2004). KPC is the State Corporation charged with the transportation, storage, and handling of petroleum products. It operates and manages a 900-km pipeline network from Mombasa-Nairobi-Kisumu-Eldoret. Apart from handling more than 80% of Kenya's refined petroleum supplies, KPC also moves most of the products used in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Northern Tanzania, and parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). 

He is a past Chairman and Founder of the African Regional Centre for Computing (ARCC). ARCC is a research and training organization whose main purport is to promote the use and development of computing and communications technologies, and a pioneer Internet service provider in Sub-Sahara Africa. 

He has previously lead a team of Senior Consultants engaged by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on behalf of the SADC Telecommunications Operators Association (SATA) looking at network modernization and expansion with specific focus on the improvement of transmission, signalling and switching systems as well as the establishment of national and regional Internet exchange points (IXPs) within the SADC region. 

He has also previously served as the Lead Consultant in the UNESCO/UNDP National Information and Communications Infrastructure (NICI) Policy Framework Project, which seeks to work with the Kenya Government through the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Office of the Government Spokesperson, and the E-Government Directorate in the Office of the President to develop a NICI Policy Framework, realize and implement a National ICT Policy, facilitate the implementation of the E-Government Strategy, and support the related Capacity-building process. 

He was the Founding Convenor and Vice-Chairman of the Kenya ICT Trust Fund, an initiative of 20 leading Private and Public Corporates working under the aegis of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology that seeks to assist at least 80% of all public secondary schools to establish computer laboratories for educational purposes. As a related exercise, Microsoft contracted ARCC to oversee the establishment of a computer refurbishment centre to churn out about 4,000 computer units per month destined for 10 Eastern and Central African countries. During the time, ARCC was also contracted by MultiChoice Africa to train and support 10 identified schools, 6 of which were members of the NEPAD e-Schools programme. He continues to be a Member of the Kenya's e-Schools National Steering Committee. 

He is highly experienced in computing/software technology and information systems development. He is at the frontier of his profession in developing, promoting and spreading Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Africa particularly in Rwanda, Kenya (and the environs) in several sectors including trade and commerce, health, education, and international networking.  In the field of information systems development, Dr. Ochuodho has considerable consulting experience in advising and assisting Governments, businesses, institutions and other organisations to identify and define their data and information needs as well as in selection, installation and maintenance of software and hardware that best serve their needs at reasonable cost.  His previous clients include UN agencies, Governments of Kenya & Eritrea, Embassies, International Organisations (including the then European Commission), Donor Organisations, and the Private Sector. Dr. Ochuodho served as the Consultant to develop the UNCTAD sponsored Trade Point for Kenya and was designated by UNCTAD as the focal point to mirror it's Trade Point World-Wide Web Homepage in Africa. He has also worked with small scale producers and exporters to develop a database and trade information systems to enhance their business performance.  In addition, he has worked with the Office of the Attorney General to look at the legal aspects of IT (including intellectual property rights and trade laws) as well as application of IT in the administration of justice--legal informatics. 

In collaboration with the then Ministry of Research, Technical Training and Technology (MRTT&T), he spearheaded the development of the first draft National IT Policy for Kenya. At the turn of the Century, he was deeply involved with the Ministry of Finance on a pro-bono basis in seeking ways to stem the Millennium or Year 2000 Computer Bug (Y2K), being a Member of the National Y2K Steering Committee as the ICT industry representative. 

From 1997-2002, Dr Ochuodho was Member of Parliament for Rangwe Constituency. As the Lead Expert and Member of the Communications Committee, he was instrumental in the harmonizing and lobbying for the passage of the Telecom Bill, which liberalized the telecommunications sector and popularized Internet and mobile phone services. He was Founding Secretary of the ruling party's (NARC's) Co-ordinating Committee and Council. 

He previously worked with Eriteria's Ministry of Communications as a Consultant to develop a national communications policy. He has also served as External Examiner in Computer Science to the University of Zimbabwe. He has published extensively. 
 

WORK EXPERIENCE: 

Current Position:  ICT Advisor to Minister of State in charge of Energy and Communications (since May 2006). Immediate Past Position: Executive Director, Rwanda Information Technology Authority (RITA – between June 2005 & May 2006) 

Other Recent Responsibilities:

•  Chairman and Co-Founder of the African Regional Centre for Computing (ARCC, Nairobi). Senior Consultant in various UN projects – (January-June 2005).

•  Managing Director, Kenya Pipeline Company Limited (March 2003-December 2004).

•  National Chairman of the Computer Society of Kenya

• Member of the Planning Committee of ITU's Telecom Forums.

• Chairman of the Interim Committee of the African Internet Group (AIG).

• Founding Chairman of the Kenya Association for the Advancement of Computer Technology (KAACT, Incorp. USA).

• Chairman of the African Very Large Database Steering Committee.

• Member of Parliament for Rangwe, and Member of Parliamentary Communications Committee (December 1997-December 2002).

• Advisor to the UNESCO Intergovernmental Informatics Programme Committee.

• External Examiner in Computer Science for the University of Zimbabwe, Harare.

• Referee/Reviewer for several leading international and regional journals. 

1993-1994: Senior Lecturer in Computer Science, Kenyatta University, Kenya. Taught and supervised several undergraduate and postgraduate students. Started the Computer Centre at the University. With others, conceived the African Virtual University (AVU) idea. 

1987-1993: Lecturer/Tutorial Fellow, Institute of Computer Science, University of Nairobi, Kenya.  Supervised several projects by postgraduate and undergraduate students, and taught the following courses: 

• Fundamentals of Computer Science to Science & Engineering undergraduate students. 

• Computer Technology and Database Systems Design to Postgraduate students. 

• In the same period, the National Council for Science and Technology (NCST), in collaboration with the now defunct Kenya Posts and Telecommunications, funded his project, which culminated in a subscriber-based monitoring unit. 

• Research Assistant with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) attached to the African Institute for Higher Technical Training & Research, Nairobi (June - October 1988). 

1992: Post-doctoral research fellowship at York University, UK, and Visiting scholar, University of California (Berkeley, MSRI), USA. 

As part of Ph.D. training, worked with several research laboratories and institutions across the world, and gave tutorials or demonstrated to both undergraduate and postgraduate students in the Department of Computer Science, University of York. Courses involved included:

•    Digital Circuit Design and Microcomputer Project

•    Gates to Boards, Introduction to Databases, and Systems Analysis & Design 

1986-1987:  Lecturer, Eldoret Polytechnic, Kenya. 

On first appointment, was seconded to the Kenya Polytechnic to teach Electronics in the Departments of Applied Science and Graphic Arts & Design. At the same time, was assigned to a project sponsored by the then European Economic Commission (EEC) and the Kenya Posts & Telecommunications (KP&TC) to gain industrial experience. At the time, the Research Unit of KP&TC was involved in an ambitious programme of manufacturing simple telecommunication equipments. His responsibility in particular, was to study electrical characteristics (and implications) when manufactured instruments were interfaced with the public phone grid. He was instrumental in the conceptualization and setting up of the Polytechnic' Computer Centre. 

1986: Part-time Lecturer, Kenya Polytechnic, Nairobi. 

1984: Assistant Telecommunications Controller - Trainee: Kenya Posts & Telecommunications Corporation. 
 

LIST OF PUBLICATIONS [Attached as Annex] 
 

CONSULTANCY, PROJECTS, & NATIONAL/REGIONAL IT DEVELOPMENT 

• As Chairman of CSK/Kenya Computer Institute (KCI) and KAACT, has initiated a number of institutional, national or regional projects (eg. procurement and redistribution of computing facilities, evolution of a national/regional networking strategy, organization of ICT symposia and seminars, lobbying for review of taxes on IT products, telecom services, etc). June 1990 - to date. 

• Provided various types of consultancy and support services to major groups in the finance and export promotion sectors including banks (e.g. the PTA Bank, and the Central Bank of Kenya), trade facilitation and promotion associations/groups (e.g. Kenya National Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Kenya Employers, the National Association of Kenyan Women in Business, Kenya Rural Enterprise Bank (K-REP), Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), and the ILO small enterprise programme), and export promotion institutions (e,g, the Export Promotion Council, Export Promotion Zones Authority, and Kenya Industrial Estates). 

• Initiated the oldest real-time full Internet service in Kenya to date serving both the public and private sectors.  Served clientele in nearly 20 African countries.  

• Was responsible for networking Kenya-based participants in the USAID funded TradeNet project which interlinked small to medium enterprises. 

• Participated in a number of regional (mainly African) and Third World IT-related committees (eg. IFIP WG 9.4, UNESCO RINAF project, etc), and various discussion groups whose prime objective was to promote the development and use of computer technology. Many of these discussions led to initiation of vital projects, eg. the RINAF (Regional Informatics Network for Africa) project, the Commonwealth Secretariat's COMNET-IT project, and the USAID-supported Kenyan Education Network (KENET). 

• Participated in ad-hoc consultancy engagements for/with Telecom Australia (now Telstra), British Telecom (BT), GEC Plessey Telecom (GPT), GEC Marconi and CSELT (Italy) - among other leading telecom/computer companies.  1989-1992. 

• Consulted for the International Research Development Centre (IDRC) and the British Council, Nairobi. Was Principal Consultant to the World Health Organization's (WHO's) Health Learning Materials Network in Africa (HLMNet), and the International Republican Institute's (IRI's) African Democracy Network (ADN. 

MEMBERSHIP OF ASSOCIATIONS & TECHNICAL COMMITTEES: 

• Past Chairman of CSK, KAACT, Kenya Information Society (KIS – formerly Building Information Communities in Africa – BICA-Kenya), and the African Very Large Database Steering Committee. Corresponding member of ITU's CCITT Working Party X/3, member of the African Working Group on Research and Teaching in Computer Science, IFIP Working Group 9.4, and the Kenya UNESCO IIP Committee. 

• Member of the Institution of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE), and the British Computer Society (BCS). 

• Voted "Father of Internet" in Kenya by CSK in 2000. 

• Donned "Industry Pioneers' Award" by AfricaOnline in 2005. 
 

HOBBIES 

Internet browsing, reading, travelling, tennis, and fellowshipping.

REFEREES

1. Prof. Robert JALANG'O-AKELLO

      Professor of Electrical Engineering, University of Nairobi

      P.O. Box 30197, Tel: +254-334244, NAIROBI, Kenya 

2. Dr Ekwow SPIO-GARBRAH

Chief Executive Officer, Commonwealth Telecommunication Organization (CTO)

Clarville House, 26-27 Oxendon Street, London SW1Y 4EL

United Kingdom, Email: E.Spio-Garbrah@CTO.int , Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7930 5511 
Fax:+44(0) 20 7930 4248. 

3. Eng. John KIMBE

Manager, Technology and Policy

Southern Africa Telecommunication Association (SATA)

P.O. Box 2677

MAPUTO, Mozambique, Email: john.kimbe@sata-sec.net

      Phone: +258 21 302 196, Cell No: +258 82 417 7100 

4. Prof. Jack CROWELL

Professor of Mathematics & Computer Science & Co-ordinator of Kenya Rural Schools

Computer Project, Delta College, Michigan, USA, Email: jlcrowel@delta.edu 
 

ANNEX: PUBLICATIONS – DR SHEM J. OCHUODHO 

REFEREED JOURNALS, REPORTS AND BOOKS 

•  "Report on Proposed Institutional and Strategic Framework to Facilitate Accelerated Planning, Design, Development, Operation and Management of a Broadband ICT/Telecommunication Infrastructure in East Africa", Study Conducted for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Africa Office and the East African Community (EAC), January 2007. 

•  "A National Orchestra: the Many Songs and Strands in National ICT Policy Making in Kenya", in At the Cross-Roads: ICT Policy Making in East Africa, pp. 68-83, East African Educational Publishers, Nairobi (2005), ed. F. Etta & L. Elder, International Development Research Centre (IDRC). 

•  With J. Baraza and F. Josiah, "Report on SADC Regional Information Infrastructure Feasibility Study: Intelligent Nodes for SADC Countries and Transmission Networks for Angola and DRC", Study Conducted for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Africa Office and the Southern African Telecom Association (SATA), May 2005. 

•  "An Overview of PVC-M", Information and Software Technology, 34(6), pp. 1-8, Butterworth Heinneman (June 1992). Also appeared in Collected Papers in Databases, ed. D.G. Bridge, York Technical Report YCS 170, January 1992. 

•  "XDL: The Process Modelling Language of PVC-M", in Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Computer Systems and Software Engineering, eds. P. DeWilde and J. Vandewalle, pp. 648-653, IEEE Computer Society Press (May 1992). 

•  "Object-Oriented Database Support for Software Project Management Environments - Data Modelling Issues", Information and Software Technology, 34(5), pp. 1-25, Butterworth Heinneman (May 1992). Also appeared as York Technical Report YCS 165, ed. I.C. Wand, 1991. 

•  "An Object-Oriented Approach to Configuration Management", IEE Colloquium on Formal Methods and Notations Applicable to Telecommunications, pp. 7/1-7/4, IEE Electronics Division (March 1992). 

•  With A.W. Brown, "XDL: An Object-Oriented Extension to SDL", in SDL'91: Evolving Methods, eds. O. Faergemand and R. Reed, North Holland, pp. 35-47 (1991). 

•  With A.W. Brown, "A Process-Oriented Version and Configuration Management Model for Communications Software", in Proceedings of the 3rd International Workshop on Software Configuration Management, ed. P. Feiler, ACM Press, pp. 109-120 (1991). 

•  "An Object-Oriented Approach to Version Management", in Proceedings of the 4th DLSU Computer Conference, ed. J.E. Dayao, Philippines, Manila (1991). 

•  With P. Mwaniki and G. Karanja, "A National Networking Strategy for Kenya and the Role of the Kenya Computer Institute", in Electronic Networking in Africa: Advancing Science and Technology for Development, eds. A. Tindimubona and A.A. Wilson, pp. 87-95, AAAS (1992). Original manuscript presented at the African Academy of Sciences (AAS)/American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Workshop on Science and Technology Communication Networks in Africa, Nairobi, Kenya, August 1992. 

•  With J. Ochuodho, "AISY: An Integrated AIDS Information System", in Pre-Proceedings of the First International Working Conference on Health Informatics in Africa, HELINA'93, pp. 47-54, eds. S. Mandil and M. Korpela, WHO/IMIA (April 1993). 

•  "Electronic Networking and Delivery of Health Service: the Kenyan Experience", in Proceedings of the First International Working Conference on Health Informatics in Africa, 19-23 April 1993, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Eds. M. Korpela and S.H. Mandil. 

•  With I.C. Ezigbalike, "Developing Countries IT Research and Development: The Training They'd Rather Do Without", in Proceedings of the IFIP International Conference on Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries, eds. S.C. Bhatnagar and M. Odedra, Tata McGraw-Hill (1994). 

•  With J. Ochuodho, J. Elkin and S. Ojoo, "WHO for AIDS Come the Year 2000?", in Proceedings of the IFIP International Conference on Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries, eds. S.C. Bhatnagar and M. Odedra, Tata McGraw-Hill (1994). 

•  "A Configuration Management Model for Communications Software", Journal of Systems Integration (JOSI), Kluwer Academic Publishers (USA). (1998). 

•  "Object-Oriented Database Support for Software Project Support Environments: Process Modelling Issues", Information and Software Technology, Butterworth Heinneman. (1998). 

•  "A Database Perspective to SDL", Kenya Journal of Science and Technology, Kenya National Academy of Sciences. (1998). 

•  With I.C. Ezigbalike, "Email for Developing Countries: What They Never Tell You About IT", in Truly Global Communication, ed. L. Press, Academic Press (1995). Also presented at AITEC-South Conference, Harare, Zimbabwe, November 1991. 

•  "The Status of National Electronic Networking in Kenya", in Informatica, eds. S.J. Ochuodho & J. Kithinji, Kenya Computer Institute (KCI 1995). Also presented at a KCI National Networking Seminar, Nairobi, September 1992. 

•  "Database Support for IPSEs", Kenya Journal of Science and Technology, Kenya National Academy of Sciences. (1998). 
 

OTHER PUBLICATIONS: 

• "A Process-Oriented Approach to Configuration Management for Communications Software", Ph.D. Thesis, University of York (March 1992).  

• With D.J. Lumby (British Telecom), "Configuration Management in UXD5B: PVC-M on Trial", Technical Report YCS 166, ed. I.C. Wand, Department of Computer Science, University of York (November 1991). 

• With A.W. Brown, "Process Modelling in PVC-M: An Object-Oriented Approach", Technical Report YCS 157, ed. I.C. Wand, Department of Computer Science, University of York (August 1991). 

•  "KCI-Int'l: Kenyans Committed to the Advancement of Computer Technology in the Region", Presented at a KCI National Seminar, Nairobi, Kenya (September 1992). 

•  Email Demystified: Low-Cost Networking with FrontDoor, African Regional Centre for Computing/American Academy for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS 1995). 

•  With W. Okello-Odongo, "Empowering the Serious Kenyan Physicist", Proceedings of the Kenya National Association of Physicists (KNAP) Annual Regional Conference, October 1992, Nairobi, Kenya (1995). 

•  "An Electronic Telephone Monitoring Unit", M.Sc. Thesis, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, University of Nairobi (1987). 

•  "Trends in Telematics and Prospects for Africa", Lead article at the UNESCO-ROSTA High-Level Meeting of Informatics Experts in Africa, Nairobi, Kenya (July 1993).