ICT week 2016 speeches

1. SPEECH BY MR. SAMMY ITEMERE, PRINCIPAL SECRETARY, STATE
DEPARTMENT FOR BROADCASTNG AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS
DURING THE CELEBRATIONS OF THE WORLD TELECOMMUNICATION
AND INFORMATION SOCIETY DAY, AND THE COMMUNICATIONS
AUTHORITY OF KENYA ANNUAL ICT WEEK AT THE LAICO REGENCY
HOTEL, ON 17TH
MAY, 2016.
Mr. Joe Mucheru, ICT Cabinet Secretary
Mr.Ngene Gituku, chairman, Communications Authority of Kenya
Members of the Board of the Communications Authority of Kenya
Mr. Francis Wangusi, Director General, Communications Authority of Kenya
The Management of the Authority,
Distinguished licensees,
The Fourth Estate,
Ladies and gentlemen.
It is my pleasure to join you on this occasion of the World Telecommunication and
Information Society Day (WTISD), and opening of the 2016 ICT Week organized by
Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).
The WTISD theme - ‘ICT entrepreneurship for social impact,’ avails to us, an
opportunity to reflect on how investments in ICTs are contributing to the transformation
of societies. The ICT sector in Kenya remains vibrant and as sector growth indicators
reveal, considerable gains have been made in bringing ICTs to our people. This is a
sector that continues to be a critical component of Kenya’s economic growth performing
strongly in the area of mobile money, infrastructure expansion and equally in the
emerging area of ICT innovations. The ICT service coverage in the country is changing
the face of the country’s internet and smartphone usage, all of which are fuelling the
appetite for new innovations, both from the supply and demand side.
This event comes at a time when efforts are being made to align the sector legal
framework to make the sector more responsive to the demands and challenges of our
times, with the diversity of innovations is evident in our sphere.
Incubation centres have now sprung up and are churning out one innovation after the
other, a phenomenon that has dramatically transformed how we work, live and interact,
in proportions never witnessed before.
Ladies and gentlemen,
As policy makers, our pre-occupation is to ensure there is an enabling environment for
innovators and SMEs to maximize on the opportunities presented by ICTs. The ICT
Master Plan aims to see the sector create up to 180,000 jobs and contribute even more to

2. the GDP of Kenya’s economy. It is our desire to see greater demand while availing the
right environment for local software and services to flourish. A number of incubators
and accelerators have emerged in recent years, but with the promising future, we must
place every effort to enhance the potential, and more importantly fill the domestic skill
gap for ICT and business innovation.
Let me pause to mention here that even with this promising sector, growing interest in
innovation and the entrepreneurial space has not yet been matched by funding from the
private sector. Support for start-ups tends to remain concentrated at the higher levels of a
business trajectory. This leaves small players aside and lacking in access to the much-
needed capital for take off. As a country, we must support tech innovations through
increased collaboration between public and private sectors, within the ICT space. I wish
to underscore here that we equally need to maintain this momentum if we indeed want to
harvest. In 2010, Kenya had only one start-up hub. Today, we had over 20 with several
more coming online. With this kind of bright outlook, the ICT sector is poised to become
one of the country’s prime growth engines, but only if we do our part to nurture it.
The government remains committed to constantly engaging stakeholders developing
infrastructure, undertaking relevant policy reforms and other initiatives, which can help
to increase our ICT competitiveness. By putting our ideas together in a forum such as
this, we can move the sector forward.
Let me wish you fruitful engagements throughout the ICT week. Allow me to now invite
the ICT Cabinet Secretary, Mr. Joe Mucheru to address you.
Asanteni.