The National Information, Communications, and Technology (ICT) Policy was presented in 2019. Its formulation was motivated by the need to facilitate universal access to ICT infrastructure and services in Kenya.
It has since been gazetted (August 7, 2020).
To recap, and as explained in the policy that can also be read here, its entire agenda is to realize the potential of Kenya’s digital economy by creating an enabling environment for all citizens and stakeholders.
The policy was first reviewed in 2006, following unprecedented growth in the ICT space in Kenya. The re-assessment of the policy sought to include key elements that matched global trends and fast-changing public needs.
On the whole, the policy looks forward to defining forward-thinking positions of the government and various aspects of the robust ICT sector in Kenya.
In verbatim, the policy targets to meet the following goals:
- Create the infrastructure conditions that enable the use of always-on, high speed, wireless, internet across the country.
- Facilitate the creation of infrastructure and frameworks that support the growth of data centres, pervasive instrumentation (Internet of Things), machine learning and local manufacturing while fostering a secure, innovation ecosystem.
- Grow the contribution of ICT to increase the overall size of the digital and traditional economy to 10% of GDP by 2030, by using ICT as a foundation for the creation of a more robust economy, providing secure income and livelihoods to the citizenry. Leverage regional and international cooperation and engagements to ensure that Kenya is able to harness global opportunities.
- Position the country to take advantage of emerging trends such as the shared and gig economy, by enhancing our education institutions and the skills of our people and by fostering an innovation and start-up ecosystem that is able to lead in the adoption of emerging trends on a global scale.
- Gain global recognition for innovation, efficiency, and quality in public service delivery. Government services will be delivered in a manner that ensures we have a prosperous, free, open, and stable society.
The policy will also focus on: A. mobile-first approach by investing in infrastructure required for works such as data centres and telecoms (among many others); B. market by seeking to increase the size of ICT contributions in the economy; C. skills and innovations by supporting and enabling the development of a solid technology entrepreneurship ecosystem in Kenya via an ICT Co-Fund that will support the adoption and use of local innovations; and lastly, D. public service delivery by enforcing activities such as collaborations between the national and county governments to ensure that all digital services are availed to people
