On Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 12:45 PM, Walubengo J <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote:

just been working backwards thro this thread...it appears Al Kags asked some qtns, and despite his many disclaimers - that his question was personal - the ICT Board still got some bashing...;-)

Nway, my take is that in general the techies in Kenya are extremely good at an individual level. But we are yet to see them organise and take on the big (corporate/govt) jobs (yes, a few at KRA did that, but thats more an exception than the norm)...

but again, its not entirely the Techies fault. Flash back to 1980 @ M$ - Bill Gates the techie needed Steve Ballmer to setup the institutional framework that he needed to break into the corporate world. I think there are some institutions (IFC, Govt Incubators, etc) that are trying to play Steve Ballmer for the young and technically savvy. What I dont know is how successful this has been.

walu.

--- On Mon, 6/29/09, Gakuru Alex <alexgakuru.lists@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Gakuru Alex <alexgakuru.lists@gmail.com>

Subject: Re: [Skunkworks] Can you build teams... if?
To: "Skunkworks forum" <skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke>

Date: Monday, June 29, 2009, 1:28 PM

On Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 11:05 AM, Al Kags<alkags@gmail.com> wrote:
> Colleagues,
>
> From Alex's rejoinder and from Barrack's response under a variated subject
> line, I am left with no choice but to think that this team does not have the
> capacity to work together as a team viz my specific questions - not without
> government leadership from what I understand.

I think this might be considered summarily harsh and conclusive...
Hope the Board is not out to prove "how fragmented skunks are":-(
It has happened before, and severally... ask why skunkwork@innovation
got to be organised

Board should not get touchy when their own capacity needs are pointed
out...

> I notice that no one bothered to answer the questions as asked and so on the
> specific matters I raise, I am not able to know whether or not this team has
> any capacity that I or the organisations I mentioned may need. Please
> correct me if I am mistaken, but the following questions have not been
> addressed:-

> a) Can you form a team consisting of Project Manager (to assure
> everything is done in time, guide the proposal making etc); Designer
> (who does outstanding designs in CSS); Developer(s) who can work well
> with Google Aps - integrate Gmaps etc into the site; mobile developer
> to develop mobile apps, etc; integrator to ensure that the site is
> seamless?
>
> b) Can your team come together and bid for the project in detail -
> including what you can put together, timelines, budgets,
> documentations etc? (Each member of the team would sign a contract and
> would be paid as an individual for their quoted rate)
>
> c) Can the team that wins the bid implement the project in such a
> seamless and timely manner, delivering such high quality that the
> project can stand up as a model that the government, organisations and
> companies can use to contract you?
>
> d) Being that this is such an untried model, would the other
> developers in the skunkworks arena support the winning team to ensure
> that they succeed in delivering the project at the highest possible
> quality and within the exact time they promised to do so? If yes, what
> is the structure that skunkworks would use to do this?
>
> To this end, it occurs to me that the easiest option is to simply ask for
> companies to express interest and go that "usual route"? Interestingly a
> number of companies have been quick to send me expressions of interest
> (which defeats the purpose, if the original proposition was to give
> developers who are freelancers a chance?
>
> By the way: I really do think we should not create an impression that
> government should hand-hold the ICT industry in terms of enterprise
> development. That should be the role of entrepreneurs. Government should be
> following the money makers - not the other way round. My views.
>
> Cheers.
>
>
> Al Kags
> -----------------------
> Founder, The Desturi Trust
> http://www.alkags.com
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 6:29 AM, Gakuru Alex <alexgakuru.lists@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> Actually it's the ICT Board that needs a senior staff member with
>> knowledge on the subject in order to offer leadership. This has been
>> lacking for a long time.
>>
>> On Sun, Jun 28, 2009 at 5:59 PM, Al Kags<alkags@gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Hi all.
>> >
>> > Much has been said on this forum about government, organisations and
>> > companies not giving much work to developers who do are not
>> > companies. having spoken to a few people who could give the contracts
>> > etc., i understood them to say that the concerns were that their
>> > concerns are:-
>> >
>> > 1. They cannot be assured of the freelance developers level of quality.
>> > 2. They cannot be assured of the freelance developers delivery time -
>> > that they will deliver everything they say they will at the appointed
>> > time
>> > 3. That they require too much supervision
>> > 4. That they over promise.
>> > 5. The development of a website/application requires several
>> > competences - designer, IA, developer, integrator etc. The contention
>> > is that you guys don't/won't work together as a team.
>> >
>> > Here's a question:
>> >
>> > If an organisation/ company was to decide to do a call for entries/
>> > tender of sorts for a significant web project to be delivered by a
>> > team of freelance individuals from this forum, can it be done?
>> >
>> > The sub-parts of these question are:-
>> >
>> > a) Can you form a team consisting of Project Manager (to assure
>> > everything is done in time, guide the proposal making etc); Designer
>> > (who does outstanding designs in CSS); Developer(s) who can work well
>> > with Google Aps - integrate Gmaps etc into the site; mobile developer
>> > to develop mobile apps, etc; integrator to ensure that the site is
>> > seamless?
>> >
>> > b) Can your team come together and bid for the project in detail -
>> > including what you can put together, timelines, budgets,
>> > documentations etc? (Each member of the team would sign a contract and
>> > would be paid as an individual for their quoted rate)
>> >
>> > c) Can the team that wins the bid implement the project in such a
>> > seamless and timely manner, delivering such high quality that the
>> > project can stand up as a model that the government, organisations and
>> > companies can use to contract you?
>> >
>> > d) Being that this is such an untried model, would the other
>> > developers in the skunkworks arena support the winning team to ensure
>> > that they succeed in delivering the project at the highest possible
>> > quality and within the exact time they promised to do so? If yes, what
>> > is the structure that skunkworks would use to do this?
>> >
>> >
>> > Here's my thinking. A lot of the developers and other related
>> > professionals here are passionate and really good at what they do, and
>> > they often just need a chance. Not everyone can be employed by the
>> > 3mice etc of this world and so its a challenge to give everyone a
>> > chance.
>> >
>> > Given the concerns expressed by the client group, the onus is on
>> > interested people here to prove to them that the model of contracting
>> > individual freelance professionals here is a workable one.
>> >
>> > I know one organisation that would be interested in trying it out. So
>> > before they make a further move, I bring the idea here to you and ask,
>> >
>> > what is possible?
>> >
>> > --
>> > Al Kags
>> > -----------------------
>> > Founder, The Desturi Trust
>> > http://www.alkags.com
>> > _______________________________________________
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