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Mr. Chairman
Hon Minister of public Works transport and Communications
Dr. Hamadoun Toure, ITU Secretary General
My Colleagues Ministers
Distinguished Delegates
Ladies and Gentlemen
All Protocols Observed
First I take this opportunity to thank the Portuguese Government
for hosting this 4th World Telecommunication Policy Forum in
Lisbon and for extending invitation to all of us. On behalf of
my delegation, it is indeed a great pleasure to be here and to
participate in this World Policy forum. I am gratified to note
that the forum aims to discuss the challenges and opportunities
arising from the rapid technological advancements especially
convergence. This is indeed most befitting considering the role
of ICT in the socio economic and political development of our
country and as we strive to achieve our Vision 2030.
On behalf of my delegation, I feel honored to be part of this
August Assembly which is reviewing the issues presented in the
Secretary Generals report and examine the role governments
and policy makers need to play in order to address these
critical issues.
For this forum to address the issues adequately, there is need
for ITU on behalf of its members to ensure the cooperation of
all stakeholders both private and governments including the
international community and address the following key issues.
- Ensure existence of effective legal and regulatory
policies that addresses the issues of Next Generation
Networks, Cyber security, digital divide, Digital
Broadcasting Migration,
- Development of competition Laws and policies and
management of the same,
- Development of relevant skills and competencies,
among other issues.
Distinguished delegates Ladies and Gentlemen, Kenya supports
current issues being discussed and recommendations contained in
the Secretary Generals report tabled in this forum. We do
recognize that there are a number of challenges that may not be
resolved during our three days of deliberation but do hope that
we shall start the building blocks that will see a long journey
start today.
On our part in Kenya we have undertaken a number of initiatives
such as:
- E Governments programs
- National Optic Fiber Backbone Infrastructure
project
- Submarine cables – TEAMS, SEACOM, and others
expected to land in the port of Mombasa.
- Digital Villages
The above initiatives are aimed at ensuring that Kenya taps
the benefits of emerging ICT technologies. Critical to this is
the issue of accessibility and affordability across the entire
spectrum of the population.
However, even as we position ourselves to take advantage of
these new developments, we are also aware of the numerous
potential challenges and sometimes threats that we may face in
terms of exposure risks such those associated with data
insecurity. These challenges we believe are not unique to our
county but indeed affect all nations. Further these challenges
equally affect governments, the private sector, international
organizations and the general public and therefore the need for
us all to take collective action.
As we embrace ICT to tackle unemployment, address poverty,
ensure contribution to economic development and more so help our
economies to resolve the current financial crisis, I have no
doubt that we can achieve these if we work together. I therefore
call upon all of us to engage constructively and come up with
recommendations that will be sustainable in the future as we
embrace the developments including; Next Generations Networks,
Internet evolution, technological convergence, digital
broadcasting among others to inform our Global strategy in
ICT development.
In view of the numerous challenges we are faced with, let ours
be a Strategic Dialogue that will continue to inform and educate
us all as we face the world in confidence with the hope to turn
them into opportunities.
I thank you all.
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