REPUBLIC OF KENYA

MINISTRY OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATIONS AND

TECHNOLOGY



SPEECH BY DR. FRED MATIANGI, CABINET SECRETARY MINISTRY OF
INFORMATION, COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY AT
IDC EAST AFRICA CIO SUMMIT 2014,
Tuesday, JUNE 17
TH
2014 AT INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL, NAIROBI





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Distinguished Guests,
To all our visitors, colleagues from IDC etc., I would like, on
behalf of our government to welcome you to Kenya. We are very
grateful that you chose the Capital of our country as the venue of
this important meeting.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The business landscape and the technologies that businesses rely
on continue to rapidly transform. This forces us to continuously
engage in new ideas and solutions for todays business
environment. I believe the theme of this conference Being a CIO
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in the New Business World of Tech + Innovation lays the stage
for constructive dialogue on how innovative ideas can shape our
various new roles as CIOs.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Kenya has embarked on the digital transformation of government
with 16 key projects listed in the SMART Kenya master Plan. It is
thus important that Kenya invests on high level ICT executives to
manage the strategic processes of supporting e-government by
providing analytical support for tactical execution and
implementation of public service delivery.
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The Ministry of ICT through ICTA and in partnership with the
International Data Corporation (IDC) will support the
development of the requisite knowledge base to create scalable
ICT business by providing strategies, appropriate best practices,
frameworks, and advice around the most important issues on a
CIO's agenda.
The role of a CIO is gradually transforming from one primarily
defined by technical knowledge and experience to one mostly
expected to enhance management, service delivery and ensuring
deployment of innovative solutions to the same.
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Rapid changes in ICT are fundamentally changing how we as
government do business. This is further complicated by the rapid
increase of internet users. According to ITUs report on 2014
ICT Facts and Figures, by the end of 2014, there will be almost
3 billion Internet users, two-thirds of them coming from the
developing world, and that the number of mobile-broadband
subscriptions will reach 2.3 billion globally. Fifty-five per cent of
these subscriptions are expected to be in the developing world.
This leads to an automatic increase on the demand of
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rd
platform technology i.e. technologies of mobility, built on
mobile devices and apps, cloud services, mobile broadband
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networks, big data analytics, and social technologies that
represent a new technology platform not only for growth and
innovation but for providing service delivery. According to IDC,
By 2020, when worldwide ICT spending reaches $5 trillion ($1.7
trillion larger than it is today), at least 80% of ICT industry's
growth will be driven by these 3
rd
platform technologies.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The next generation user will demand services on non-traditional
platforms. The emergence of hand held devices demands that
even government has to get in the business of new app-
development for public service. This calls for Innovation!
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According to IDC in the next two years, over 70% of CIOs will
change their primary role from directly managing IT to become
an innovation partner.
In the new ICTA structure each ministry will be supported by a
CIO. The CIO should not only offer strategic ICT advise to the
ministry but should provide a platform to engage in innovative E-
Systems that support the various Ministries core service delivery
mandates. The CIOs will also drive initiatives in their
respective ministries that will focus on service delivery
from the end user perspective. In addition, the CIOs will be
expected to connect with their various sectors and be
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informed about how technology can help their Ministries achieve
their goals.
I must emphasise that the CIOs will be expected to focus more
on innovative solutions to effective service delivery and less on
operational issues such as vendor relations and management.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The digital transformation of government will not only occur at
the user experience and application level, but also on how we
manage our data and in particular the management of big data.
The National Digital Registration of Persons is set to roll out in
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the coming weeks and will introduce a data bank for Kenyans.
This initiative will strengthen national security and reduce crime,
drive efficiency, effectiveness and accountability in government
and facilitate a one stop shop for public services with an aim of
providing public- centric services that are accessible, available
and affordable. The government plans that this data be and will
indeed be managed safely especially because we have just
completed the development of a cybersecurity strategy that
supports the framework for keeping our data safe.

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The big data and analytics (BDA) technology and services market
is estimated to exceed $100 billion in revenues in 2014. As a
country we have to expand our thinking on how to harness this
industry. Through this collaboration it is my hope and desire that
we can engage in dialogue that will provide knowledge
enrichment and ideas on how to harness data growth for
optimum public service delivery and economic development.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In conclusion I am glad that IDC is partnering with the Ministry
through ICTA to address the most critical concerns of senior ICT
executives in the region. We look forward to continued
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collaboration in knowledge empowerment and research that will
assist technology professionals and influencers in mitigating
technology risks, maximizing the effectiveness of IT investments,
identifying and capitalizing on new opportunities, and creating
solutions that are aligned with our governments objectives in
providing services to our citizens.
To the organizers at IDC, we are grateful that you chose Kenya
as the venue for the 1
st
East Africa CIO Summit. I welcome all
our visitors to Kenya, please feel at home and free to visit our
numerous attractions within and beyond Nairobi.
Thank you.
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