NAIROBI, July 31 – A new market structure for the ICT industry is to be gazetted on Friday.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Communication Dr Bitange Ndemo said the new changes would reflect the convergence of licenses in the industry, from 46 to three.
“Market Operation under the new license structure was supposed to take place on July 1, but it was delayed because we had to come up with a new one that will suit this license regime,” Ndemo said.
According to the PS, effecting of some of these changes is what has led to the delayed publishing of the Draft ICT Bill, which keeps undergoing changes to suit the dynamic industry.
The draft Bill has been under discussion for more than five years and is yet to become law despite the increased use of new technology in the country.
Speaking at a stakeholders meeting on Thursday, Ndemo announced that his ministry was in the process of setting up a blog that should be in place by September to facilitate better communication between the government and the public.
“The blog will allow the government to respond to everyday issues being raised by the mwananchi,” Ndemo said.
“More and more people are turning to the internet to read, write or say whatever they want to say and if such forums were properly utilised, especially during the election period, we would not have experienced the kind of problems we had in the country at the beginning of the year.”
The blog will first begin as a month-long pilot project under the Communications Ministry before being incorporated in all other ministries.
