The Computer Society of Kenya

Since 1986

contentpxSATURDAY NATION By MOSES OMUSOLO

Saturday September 26, 2015

Kenya’s digital content providers are under pressure to deliver as the government plans to launch the Sh17bn Digital Literacy Programme for schools in January next year.

ICT Authority chief executive Victor Kyalo said time was long overdue for the Kenya’s education sector to go digital, adding that opportunities presented by the shift outweigh the costs.

“The next phase of the knowledge economy will require a smart society where people can exploit their talents, identify opportunities and be able to grow with those opportunities,” he said.

OPPORTUNITIES

Kyalo said that the ‘DigiSchool’ project will be rolled out in phases and called on the Kenya Publishers Association and other stakeholders to come up with a business model and the content to make the project sustainable in the long run.

Kenya Publishers Association chairman David Waweru pointed out that the initiative will only pay off provided that, among other things, freedom of the press is preserved by stakeholders.

“The spirit of digital is to provide more opportunities to readers, writers, and content creators; not limiting options. It is about greater liberalization of content creation and provision, not about consolidation,” he said.

Mr Waweru asked the ICT Ministry to train publishers and other content creators on aspects of digital content creation as well as use.

“As publishers, we must engage top gear in creating digital content. Having said that, we believe that the digital book will coexist with the physical book; the two are not mutually exclusive,” he added.

The two were speaking during the launch of the 18th Nairobi International Book Fair at Nairobi’s Sarit Center.  The four-day event themed Twende Digital (Let’s go digital) will culminate in the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature awards.

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