By: John Kariuki
Worth Noting:
- Phase four of the project is on course aimed to cover county headquarters. This entails connecting a total of 455 where 279 sites from the primary sites with active equipment and 176 sites to be served from the primary one. Upon full implementation, a total of 78 kilometers of fiber optic,595 outdoor, and 138 indoor WIFI points will be enabled to serve as public WIFI-spots.
- “Phase 5 is the final stage of the last mile connectivity designed to connect government offices down to sub- country level. Kenya has trained a total of 800 youths under the presidential digital talent program. Cumulatively deploy a total 12,087 virtue desktop infrastructure devices. “Mwaura said.
Kenya is at the forefront of technological innovation in the East African Region as the government continues to invest in Information Communication Technology (ICT) which is the key contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Government Spokesperson Dr. Isaac Mwaura said the Government has already trained 390,968 youth on digital skills through the Jitume and Ajira programs in 2023/2024 The government had already established 136 Jitume sites. 192,462 young men and women have been connected to online jobs.
Access to ICT remains a major way of contributing country’s economic growth as has been proven by the many services put online. Mobile money payments have become easy as Kenyans now save time that was initially spent on queues in the banking hall. This ICT potential has given the government the reason to expand internet coverage with the main aim being to enhance ease of business transactions and create employment for youth through online jobs.
The government is undertaking to expand internet coverage and bridge the digital gap: the last mile of county connectivity. This project is set to connect county and national government offices in 47 counties with telephone service complete with handset video conferencing application and internet service.
With the completed three phases of the project Kenyans can enjoy intercommunication through uninterruptible voice services for browsing video and call conferencing Zoom meetings as well as deployment of application services.
Phase four of the project is on course aimed to cover county headquarters. This entails connecting a total of 455 where 279 sites from the primary sites with active equipment and 176 sites to be served from the primary one. Upon full implementation, a total of 78 kilometers of fiber optic,595 outdoor, and 138 indoor WIFI points will be enabled to serve as public WIFI-spots.
“Phase 5 is the final stage of the last mile connectivity designed to connect government offices down to sub- country level. Kenya has trained a total of 800 youths under the presidential digital talent program. Cumulatively deploy a total 12,087 virtue desktop infrastructure devices. “Mwaura said.
Microsoft and Amazon Web Service (AWS) centers have employed 500 and 100 soft engineers, cumulatively laying 13,712 kilometers of fiber cable. Increase the number of public wifi by 40 in 2022 to 1,222 in 2023.
The government’s main goal of Jitume is to empower 1 million youths in Kenya to access reasonable and sustainable income. Provide infrastructure and over 23,000 digital services to the centers. Facilitate Kenya’s economic growth through digital technology initiatives.
On matters of universal health care digital technology and innovation have played a significant role in improving health care outcomes in Kenya by improving efficiency, cost saving, transparency, effectiveness, and seamless in delivery if health services. Applications like Tel-medicine, e-learning, electronic health records keeping and Mhealth have all contributed to making healthcare more accessible and effective.
The administration had further promised to strengthen Konza Technopolis to bring together industries academic institutions and other innovations to co-invest in emerging technologies. This is set to create high-quality jobs that leverage artificial intelligence robotics and other technologies thus enhancing regional and global competitiveness.