The day I went to the ICT expo was quite funny. I went with my pal Omosh who runs disabilitykenya.org and as we passed by the Law courts, there was this huge crowd. Omosh explained to me that some fellows had been paid to mobilise this crowd outside the courts. Their task, believe it or not, was to shout, "Wanjiru juu, Kamangu chini". I have never heard of such a funny thing in a long while. So we ignored our amazing Kenyan soap and went into the KICC to check out this expo of ICT village that Kimacia had asked me to drop by.

Outside at the area were these tents written e-banking, e-education etc with several chairs. I guessed there were meant to be used for lectures. There was also this evil Celtel bus that I encountered at the Impala during the new years. That is a hot bus and I always try to avoid it. I always have this bad feeling that I might go in and start praising them, hoping to get free credo and then nesh. I have enough trouble with the Arsenal and their bloody comeback without being let down by the Celtel.

The most interesting thing about this expo for me was the lack of the geeks. In the olden days, ICT or comp exhibitions were awash wish bespectacled fellows who I guess were the only fellows who had a clue in as far as comps or technology was concerned. However, at this event, they seemed to have been hidden in the server rooms of their companies. All the stands were personned by extremely attractive young women who had a serious clue as to the ins and outs of the tech industry.

3mice for instance had this lovely lass who explained to me what they do which is not designing websites but digital solutions; intranets, sms et al. Nice. Kenyaad.com also explained how their new site to be launched next month made it easy to advertise your products for sale. Digital Age institute had a geek explaining stuff though. The pal showed me this prototype for software they were developing that would solve all the payment issues we have. Should that system be implemented, I would never darken my door at a utility company. I can't wait. Can someone invest in it already?

The highlight for me was meeting the ICT ministry Bitenge Ndemo. The man gave a presentation on some of the plans the ministry had to bring the digital revolution to the wide majority of Kenyans such as the introduction of a Madaraka PC. The idea for this one is really good. Within a few years, we shall be developing PCs from scratch. Not just importing parts and assembling. Good stuff. The Q&A session was an eye opener as well. People would stand up and ask what the government was doing to support ICT. And the good PS would basically return the question right back as a call to see the problems as opportunities to make money. Nice. That dude is officially my favourite government official.

Watch Kenya people. If even one third of things being talked about are implemented, it will be good to be in Kenya for all.

>> Related Links
:: disabilitykenya.org
:: ICTvillage.com
:: Celtel
:: Safaricom
:: Telkom Kenya
:: 3mice

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