Wrap-Up: Our pick of main stories, Monday March 2, 2015

The new month kicks of on a high note both locally and globally. What with the much-anticipated Innovation Forum (#InnovKE) finally taking place as well as the Mobile World Congress (MWC15) going in Barcelona. For this and more, read on..

ICT sector to contribute upto 8% of Kenya’s GDP by 2017

Kenya’s ICT sector is set to contribute up to 8 per cent to the country’s GDP through IT-enabled services (ITES) and create 180,000 jobs by 2017. This was said by Victor Kyallo, CEO, ICT Authority, in his opening remarks at the Innovation Forum, “ICT Authority is keenly observing the ICT Masterplan into developing Kenya within which this forum lies. Among the key things that IT innovations can do is the contribution up to 8 per cent to the country’s GDP by ITEs as well as create 180,000 jobs in 2017 and we are working towards achieving this,” he said.

Kenya among markets set to receive Orange’s Firefox OS smartphone

Kenya is among thirteen of Orange’s markets, that will be first to receive the newly launched 3G Firefox OS smartphone. The phone is exclusive to Orange and will be available from Q2 in thirteen of Orange’s markets in the region, including, but not limited to, Egypt, Senegal, Tunisia, Cameroon, Botswana, Madagascar, Mali, The Ivory Coast, Jordan, Niger, Kenya, Mauritius and Vanuatu. The phone comes as part of the launch of a new digital offer across Orange’s significant African and Middle Eastern footprint.

Vodafone ‘Instant Classroom’ is digital school in a box for refugees

The Vodafone Foundation has unveiled a portable “Instant Classroom” that it hopes will give 15,000 child refugees across Africa access to tablet-based education. The digital school in a box, which has been unveiled at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, can be set up in 20 minutes and can be used in classrooms where there is no electricity.

The Foundation has partnered with UNHCR to bring the Instant Classroom to 12 schools in Kenya, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the next 12 months.

Regulator gets go-ahead for digital switch, told to give media houses permit

The object of the mention before the Supreme Court was to determine whether and to what extent its orders had been complied with. On September 29, 2014, the Supreme Court had issued the following orders:

That the first appellant (Communications Commission of Kenya) in exercise of its statutory authority, shall, in consultation with all the parties to the suit, set the timelines for the digital migration, pending the international analogue switch-off date of June 17, 2015.

That CCK shall, in exercise of its statutory powers, and within 90 days, consider the merits of applications for a BSD licence by the first, second and third respondents, and of any other local private sector actors in the broadcast industry, whether singularly or jointly.

Airtel Kenya to sponsor this year’s BAKE awards

Airtel Kenya has recently announced that it will sponsor this year’s BAKE Kenyan Blog Awards scheduled for 2nd May 2015. The awards aim to single out bloggers with great creative and innovative, useful and regular content and posts. This year’s awards themed “Content is King” will bring together various online content creators including corporate organizations, celebrities, SMEs, county governments, and national government agencies for an evening to celebrate the growth of the Kenya blogging space.

Airtel Kenya illuminates schools in Machakos County

Bharti Airtel, has donated 40 solar lamps to Tala SA primary school and St Mary’s Tala primary school in Machakos County. The solar-powered lamps will give over 1,200 students from the two schools the freedom to extend their study hours, allowing them to revise and complete their coursework. This will enable them to succeed in their education.