To: ke-users <
ke-internetusers@bdix.net>
Cc: Erik Hersman <
erik@zungu.com>
Folks,
Mkanda umefika pwani yetu!! Ndugu zanguni, wacha tukague hii speech ya
mzee kwanza, halafu tujadiliane kesho.. asanteni sana...
thank you all,
----
SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA HON.
MWAI KIBAKI, CGH, MP, DURING THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE EAST AFRICAN
MARINE SYSTEMS CABLE (TEAMS) ON 12TH JUNE 2009 IN MOMBASA.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am gratified to be with you today at an event of truly historic
proportions. The landing of this fibre-optic undersea cable project in
Mombasa is one of the landmark projects in Kenya’s national
development story. Indeed some have compared this to the completion of
the Kenya-Uganda railway more than a century ago.
This comparison is not far-fetched, because while the economies of the
last century were driven by railway connections, the economies of
today are largely driven by internet and other I.C.T. connections.
The East African Marine Systems project is an innovative
public-private partnership between the Government of Kenya and
corporate stakeholders. The project has connected our country with the
rest of the world and harnessed the power of Information Communication
Technologies. This is a great enabler for growth, and development of
our country.
The arrival of this cable in the penultimate year of the first decade
of the 21st Century signals the beginning of a new beginning in the
telecommunications sector, particularly data services, in our country
and the region. Until now, the Eastern Africa coast was the longest
coastline in the world without a fibre-optic cable connection to the
rest of the world.
This project comes with many attractive benefits. The TEAMS project
marks a crucial turning point in our efforts to bridge the Digital
Divide. It will empower Kenyans and other East Africans to become
fully digital citizens of the 21st Century. It redefines modernity and
efficiency and is a big step in the delivery of quality service in the
I.C.T. sector.
I am confident that the people of our region, especially the youth,
will be the first to rush to savour the joys and high resolution
qualities of the fastest Internet connections that will be offered by
the undersea cable project.
The TEAMS project will be a great boost to the worlds of learning,
work and play. I.C.T. serves all generations. Those of the older
generation will recall that the world rocked by the first global
economic meltdown, the Great Depression of 1929 that lasted deep into
the 1930’s was soon followed by the World War that started in 1939.
Today we are witnessing the global recession that began with the
American sub-prime mortgage and banking crisis of last year. But there
is a crucial difference this time round: the prevailing worldwide
recessionary conditions are the first such downturn to happen in the
age of I.C.T.
As such, I believe that a world equipped with I.C.T. and
interconnected by fibre-optic cables has much better disaster
preparedness and turnaround capabilities than the world of the 1930’s.
Thanks to I.C.T. the world now is truly a global village with better
communication and now better informed.
I am confident that timely solutions to the ongoing economic crisis
will be found using the crucial tools of I.C.T.. Future downturns will
be easier to foresee, contain and overcome, in good time.
With the TEAMS project, Kenya and the Eastern Africa region are
finally joining what the American author Thomas Friedman called a
flattened world in his bestselling book “The World is Flat. In his
book he analyses the convergence of technology and events that saw
China and India become global centres of the supply chain for services
and manufacturing. Mr Friedman explains how a seamlessly
interconnected world is making a positive impact on nations,
companies, communities and individuals.
In addition to the marine installation that we are celebrating here
today, the next step is the full completion of the construction of
land-based infrastructure. This will make I.C.T. the main pillar of
our national economic blueprint for the new millennium, VISION TWENTY
THIRTY.
The opportunities that are about to be opened up by the TEAMS project
are tremendous. Readily accessible bandwidth will not only lower
telecommunications costs but also provide new opportunities
practically in all sectors. The concept of a working nation will
translate into a much stronger economy befitting this millennium.
To address these challenges, I am directing the Ministry of
Information and Communication to come up with programmes for the
training and development of youth nationwide, to catch the first
generation of truly digital Kenyans. Similarly, I direct all the
Ministries to speedily adopt I.C.T. in their strategic plans in order
to realise the full benefits of technology, for the good of our
country.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Affordable telecommunications technologies and infrastructure are
critical to our nation’s development. The phenomenon of business
process outsourcing which is a mainstay of the I.C.T. sector, is
something that the Government wishes to see take hold in Kenya as soon
as possible.
Under business process outsourcing, engineering and scientific
research, computer programming, accounting and telemarketing, the new
global enterprise, can be based anywhere in the world. This is what a
knowledge-based society is about. And it is possible because I.C.T.
enables you to deliver services and products anywhere in the world.
I.C.T. therefore is a necessity that we must embrace as it helps Kenya
to move with the changing times in a rapidly evolving world. With the
launch of this project Kenya is now equipped with one of the most
advanced and cost effective, nation-building tools.
With these remarks it is now my pleasure to officially launch the East
African Marine Systems Cable.
_______________________________________________
ke-internetusers mailing list
ke-internetusers@bdix.net
http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers