Regulations and consumer protection in a converged environment

1. Alex Gakuru
17 May, 2016
“ICT Entrepreneurship for Social Impact”
Regulations and Consumer Protection
In a Converging Environment

2. Overview
● ICT Entrepreneurship
● Social Implications
● Consumer Protection
● Converging Environment
● Regulations

3. ICT Entrepreneurship in Kenya
Prior to 25 October 1995
involved…...

4. Hardware, Software, Training
● Hardware merchandising
– Computers,
– Cabling(LAN),
– Disks
– Modems (store & forward retrievals)
– Pagers
● Computer Programming, Computer Colleges
● “Computer people” were “a distinct few”
● “IT” lacked “C”ommunication...

5. ● A paging service was introduced within the Nairobi area in 1980. The installed
system had a capacity of 570. By the end of 1992, there were 647 subscribers,
mainly physicians and businessmen, using an expanded system.
● A full cellular service covering eight regions in southern Kenya was
introduced in 1992 in collaboration with the NEC Corporation. At year-end
1992, cellular subscribers numbered 1,100.
● Mobile services, and radio-based telecommunications in general, could play a
far more important role in Kenya and all of rural Africa than anyone expected in
the 1980s.
● Although the initial infrastructure costs are high, the subsequent advantages
from reduced maintenance costs and enhanced reliability are significant, not
least because it eliminates thefts of copper overhead plant, a real problem in
rural areas.
● A cellular service in Kenya could easily attract 5,000 to 10,000 subscribers
in its early years, with the numbers rising substantially as costs are
reduced and the scale of operations increased. It could perhaps even lead to
a low-cost personal communications network (PCN) service, such as the
Japanese "Personal Handyphone." Such radio- based services could be
widely used for fixed communication (i.e. "wireless local loop") as well as for
mobile applications once advancing technology and increasing scale make them
cost-competitive with "wired" technology.
● http://www.vii.org/papers/tyler.htm ( believed published in 1994)

6. Distinct Difference
● People went to telephones

7. PHS Japan 1997–2003 (Willcom, NTT DoCoMo, ASTEL)
In 1994, Digital Phone Group and Tu-Ka Group, both of which later
became SoftBank Mobile, started mobile phone service. In the same year,
DDI Pocket, a subsidiary of KDDI, started PHS mobile phone service.

8. Social Impact
● Enabled long distant telephony
– including rural areas and abroad
● Business opportunities opened
● Health management improved
● Farming services improved
● Security services improved
● Social welfare improved

9. ICT Entrepreneurship in Kenya
After 25th October 1995

11. Converging Environment
“Globally 3.2 billion people are using the Internet of which 2 billion
are from developing countries.”-ICT Facts &Figures, ITU(2015)
https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/facts/ICTFactsFigures2015.pdf

12. Source
SourceSource

13. http://b.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/slideshow_large/slidesh

15. Source: New York Times

16. http://www.techlicious.com/tip/the-worst-apps-for-privacy/

17. http://privacygrade.org/
“Self-Help” Initiatives

18. Constitutional Right to Privacy
Article 31.
“Every person has the right to privacy, which
includes the right not to have—
(a) their person, home or property searched;
(b) their possessions seized;
(c) information relating to their family or private
affairs unnecessarily required or revealed; or
(d) the privacy of their communications infringed.”

19. Protecting Consumers
● Laws & Regulations currently?
● Fate of the Data Protection Bill?
● Fate of Access to Information Bill?
● Pointers to “self-help” interventions?
● Or is anyone doing anything about?
“IoT” = The Internet of Things
● Everything connected to the internet
● Cars, fridges, home lights,doors, security
cameras, offices, all streets, everywhere...
● Add: AI (Artificial Intelligence)

20. Cyborgs
Source: Wikipedia By Dr. Avishai Teicher Pikiwiki Israel, CC BY 2.5

21. US Protecting their Consumers

22. Regulations

23. Information Transparency

24. Editorial Transparency

25. Regulations
● Philosophical underpinning, commitment?
● Elicit comprehensiveness, or lack thereof?
● Opp: Overly heavy vs legislative legitimacy?
● Process, content, communication transparency
● Published Expired, Timely, or Future-proof?
● Relevant jurisdiction, regulatory sovereignty?
● Regulatory effectiveness, other challenges?
● Regulating conflicting/competing interests

26. Conclusions
● Are consumers Constitutional rights observed?
● Is the National ICT policy futuristic enough?
● Are all the necessary laws in place?
● Are regulations ready for the future?
● What opportunities await ICT investment
● Are local ICT entrepreneurs ready?
● Or stuck in an “innovation dilemma”?
::I don't have the answers::Be The Jury::

27. end