Category: News

Reflection: Government Responsiveness in The Age of ICTs

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By Nasubo Ongoma |

On this post, I will share key insights from our research on Government responsiveness in the Age of ICTs.

In 2013, the Kenyan government started an ambitious plan to digitise public services by adopting ICTs. On paper, the setup is perfect for democracy to be upheld, we read digital strategies and guides that would transform Kenya into a digital nation. Democracy calls for responsiveness from all stakeholders, manifesting in two way communication. Is this the case on all the digital platforms? Ourresearch question was, how has Kenya fared over the years after the adoption of digital tools?

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Bridging the Digital Divide: Internet User Journey

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By Nasubo Ongoma |

Digital divide is mostly linked with access, the means to bring more people online. The Merriam Webster dictionarydefines it as “the economic, educational, and social inequalities between those who have computers and online access and those who do not”. To bridge the gap, requires a proper interpretation of what it means to go online and what prevents one from going online. Economic inequalities involves the cost of access, devices used, pricing and network availability. Educational inequalities are the skills needed to go online and how to communicate it. Social inequality entails how different populations differ in their ideologies. According to ITU, there are several factors to consider to bridge the digital divide, 1) readiness in terms of the network infrastructure, 2) intensity, measuring the level of ICT usage and 3) impact, which are results and outcomes.

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Kasese Journalists Trained on Using ICT to Report on Public Accountability

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By Loyce Kyogabirwe |
 
As society’s watchdog, the media plays the important role of documenting people, events and developments for purposes of public informing the public. This includes the task of educating and mobilising communities through their content. However, there is a growing concern whether the media is playing these roles to its full extent including in promoting good governance and public accountability at community levels.
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Privacy & Protection: Do Ugandans Care What Happens to Their Data?

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By Neema Iyer |

Let’s be honest.

When was the last time you read the “Terms and Conditions” before you signed up for a new service online?

We don’t blame you. It’s easy to get lost in the legal jargon.

But do you know what happens to your personal data every time you click on “I have agreed to terms and conditions”? Did you know at the mere click to accept, you could have given a way a portion of your vital information and put your data privacy in absolute jeopardy?

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Reimagining iTax – Key Findings and Outcomes of the Design Sprint

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By Kennedy Kirui |

With that done, we called it a day.

Tuesday 17th – Generating solutions

We kicked off the second day of the sprint by reviewing the activities from the previous day. From this, we quickly realized we couldn’t solve the four problems we had identified during the sprint. The first exercise was to decide on the challenge to focus on for the remainder of the sprint. Using the voting dots, each participant selected a challenge they felt if solved would have the most impact. With just one voting round, we identified iTax’s usability as an issue that would be tackled during the sprint.

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The Role of ICT Community Centres As Anchors Of Participatory Online Civic Engagements

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Daniel Mwesigwa |

Over two-thirds of Uganda’s population lives in rural areas where information flows and access are limited leaving many left out of the digital economy and its potential socio-economic dividends. However, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) community centres promise to reduce the digital divide by facilitating knowledge sharing, information access, in such areas thus paving way for transparency and social accountability. 

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Promoting Public Accountability in Education and Agriculture Sectors in Rwenzori Region

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News Update|

The agriculture and education sectors are identified among the primary growth sectors in the Uganda’s National Development Plan. However, despite consistent state budget allocation increments in recent years and high absorption rates, various challenges persist at implementation and service delivery. For instance, in the Financial Year 2015/16, the education sector under primary education, planned to construct 22 primary schools and 200 classrooms but only one school and two classrooms were constructed. Indeed, in the Rwenzori region in western Uganda, citizens are decrying poor services under government programmes.
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