UNIVERSITY ROLES IN MEETING
ASPIRATIONS FOR ICT & ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
PRESENTATION BY:
PROF. OLIVE M. MUGENDA Ph.D
VICE-CHANCELLOR
KENYATTA UNIVERSITY
19-21st November,2006
Copyright © Prof. Olive M. Mugenda 2006
MAIN TOPICS
1) Characteristics of ICT
2) ICT for Education- Applications of ICT
3) ICT initiatives in Kenyatta University
4) Main Challenges
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Copyright © Prof. Olive M. Mugenda 2006
1) Unique Characteristics of ICT
ICT is pervasive and cross-cutting
 From personal use to business and Govt.
 Can be tailored to meet personal, local,
diverse needs.
 ICT creates networks
 Those connected benefit from the network
 The Network externalities increases as it
grows
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Copyright © Prof. Olive M. Mugenda 2006
Characteristics cont’
ICT disseminates information and
knowledge
Separates content from its physical location
Makes knowledge available to remote
communities
ICT allows for zero or declining
marginal costs
Replication of content is free
Distribution of marginal cost is near zero
ICT reduces transaction costs
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Copyright © Prof. Olive M. Mugenda 2006
Characteristics cont’
ICT enhances efficiency
 Has power to store, retrieve, sorts,
filter and distribute information
 Makes processes and transactions
leaner and more effective
ICT reduces the need for intermediaries
 Links consumers directly to producers
 Allows users to acquire products and
services directly
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Copyright © Prof. Olive M. Mugenda 2006
Characteristics cont’
ICT is global
Transcends cultural and linguistic
barriers
Allows local communities to be part
of the global network
Summary
These characteristics suggest that ICT
can be a powerful enabler of
development
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Copyright © Prof. Olive M. Mugenda 2006
2) ICT for Education
Applications of ICT
Distance Education
 Affordability and geography have been barriers to
access
 ICT has enhanced the quality of distance education
 Six largest Distance Learning Universities are
located in developing countries: Turkey, Indonesia,
China, India, Thailand and Korea
 Distance Education facilitated by ICT has mainly
been applied to tertiary education
 ICT has enabled cross-border education
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Copyright © Prof. Olive M. Mugenda 2006
Applications cont’
Scientific Research
Development of networks over the
internet empowers indigenous research
& development (R&D) in developing
countries
Existence of virtual research groups
allows databases and information to be
shared
ICT enhances North-South and SouthSouth collaborations
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Copyright © Prof. Olive M. Mugenda 2006
Applications cont’
 Technical and vocational training
 ICT is being employed to train workers in many
functional areas e.g Health care,IT services,
teachers
Education Administration
 Enhances day-to-day management of institutions
•Timetabling
•Student admission &Tracking
•Financial Management
•Medical services
•Procurement & store management
•Data distribution & management
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Copyright © Prof. Olive M. Mugenda 2006
3) ICT INITIATIVES IN KENYATTA
UNIVERSITY
 Open Learning
Before 2003 Kenyatta University offered residential
programmes only
In 2003 an Open Learning programme was launched
Eight Regional Centres were established
The Learning Management System (Blackboard) was
procured to facilitate e-learning
Open Learning Centres have access to internet
Open learning programme has enhanced access to
university education
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Copyright © Prof. Olive M. Mugenda 2006
ICT Initiatives cont’
Virtual Learning
 Kenyatta University is a member institution of the
African Virtual University
 Programmes are offered collaboratively between
Kenyatta University and other universities,e.g.
Curtin University,Royal Melbourne Institute of
Technology
 Courses are delivered through chat rooms, email,
bulletin boards, tele & video conferencing
 Kenyatta University’s AVU is well equipped:
internet connected computer rooms, video and
tele conferencing halls, VSAT etc
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Copyright © Prof. Olive M. Mugenda 2006
ICT Initiatives cont’
 University Management
 Kenyatta University recently recognized the need to
make key administrative and management activities
more efficient
 With financial support from Rockefeller
Foundation,the following areas are being
computerized:
•Student admission &Tracking
•Financial Management
•Medical services
•Data management
•Networking
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Copyright © Prof. Olive M. Mugenda 2006
ICT Initiatives cont’
 Other initiatives
University Strategic and Vision Plan
• Plan Targets a computerization
programme that will support all the
activities of the University
University ICT policy
• ICT policy acts as framework for
ICT initiative in the University
• Operates under the umbrella of
national ICT policy
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Copyright © Prof. Olive M. Mugenda 2006
ICT Initiatives cont’
 Increased Bandwidth
• For e-learning to be effectively used, there
is need for increased bandwidth of internet
access
• Bandwidth has been increased from
1mbps to 2mbps this year
• This has enhanced up loading of elearning course materials and faster
downloading
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Copyright © Prof. Olive M. Mugenda 2006
ICT Initiatives cont’
 Increased number of computers
• Kenyatta University currently has 1,787
computers
• The projection is to have over 2,772 by 2008
• Laptops to be provided soon to members of
senate to facilitate e-senate meetings
ICT training for staff and students
•Training to target all students and teaching and
non-teaching staff whose work require computers
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Copyright © Prof. Olive M. Mugenda 2006
ICT Initiatives cont’
 Building a University internetwork
•Project for networking all the campuses developed
•Proposed network will create an intranet to enhance
information sharing within and outside the University
•Project to reduce paper work and increase
efficiency
 Security of ICT
• A unit to be established to deal with:
•Data security
•Data network security
• Software development & Systems administration
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Copyright © Prof. Olive M. Mugenda 2006
4) Challenges
Limited Infrastructure
 Africa has only 2% of the global telephone
network with over half of the lines in cities
 In Africa, telephone density is less than 2
lines per 1,000 inhabitants, compared with:
• 48 per 1,000 in Asia
• 280 per 1,000 in America
• 314 per 1,000 in Europe
• 520 per 1,000 in high-income countries
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Copyright © Prof. Olive M. Mugenda 2006
Challenges Cont’
 Low speed & frequent breakdowns of
servers
Sometimes it takes too long to download a
single big document
 Frequent internet interruptions
Frequent power interruptions
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Copyright © Prof. Olive M. Mugenda 2006
Challenges Cont’
 Inadequate ICT skills
 A percentage of teaching staff do not have
adequate ICT skills for teaching and research
 Some staff unwilling to try out the technology
 Inadequate technical support
 Inadequate technical support in areas of
installation, operation, and maintenance of
technical equipment (including software),
network administration, and network security.
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Copyright © Prof. Olive M. Mugenda 2006
Challenges Cont’
Prohibitive costs
 ICTs require large capital investments
 Universities in Africa generally have
limited budgets
 This leads to high student and staff
computer ratio
 Even where basic infrastructure has been
provided by development partners,
sustainability is still a problem
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Copyright © Prof. Olive M. Mugenda 2006
THANK YOU
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Copyright © Prof. Olive M. Mugenda 2006