Publication: ICT Regulation and Policy at a Crossroads: A Case Study of the Licensing Process in Kenya
dc.creator | Kerretts, Monica | |
dc.date | Tue, 22 Jan 2013 18:52:29 | |
dc.date | Tue, 22 Jan 2013 18:52:29 | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2015-03-18T11:28:48Z | |
dc.date.available | 2015-03-18T11:28:48Z | |
dc.description | Regulatory reforms in the telecommunications sector in Africa and the rest of the world have been necessitated by the convergence of information and communication technology industries. Given the relative newness of the sector in Africa, information and communication technology implementation problems persist. Research in the sector has tended to attribute implementation problems to technological issues. While not contesting this, this paper contends that information and communication technology implementation in Africa warrants a re-evaluation from the perspective of policy making processes. Drawing on two case studies, this paper critically examines the licensing policy option as documented in the Kenya Communications Act and as implemented by the regulator in Kenya. This analysis is situated within public policy frameworks that highlight the function of domestic institutions and patterns of politics as highly critical filters in policy making, thus influencing actor behaviour and impacting on implementation outcomes in the policy making processes. The findings are that policy making and information and communication technology implementation in Kenya are influenced by institutional/policy arrangements and the contextual forces of ideological, political, social and economic interests. This has significant implications for Kenya, particularly as the study reinforces the call for a critical examination of the policy actors and policy choices that govern information and communication technology regulation and implementation. The study findings also have implications for other African countries, in that the study questions the viability of such policy choices for creating information/knowledge societies in Africa. The analysis in this paper is based on document research and fieldwork, and forms part of a wider study on policy options and implementation processes as enacted through the regulation of the telecommunications sector in Kenya. | |
dc.description.abstract | Regulatory reforms in the telecommunications sector in Africa and the rest of the world have been necessitated by the convergence of information and communication technology industries. Given the relative newness of the sector in Africa, information and communication technology implementation problems persist. Research in the sector has tended to attribute implementation problems to technological issues. While not contesting this, this paper contends that information and communication technology implementation in Africa warrants a re-evaluation from the perspective of policy making processes. Drawing on two case studies, this paper critically examines the licensing policy option as documented in the Kenya Communications Act and as implemented by the regulator in Kenya. This analysis is situated within public policy frameworks that highlight the function of domestic institutions and patterns of politics as highly critical filters in policy making, thus influencing actor behaviour and impacting on implementation outcomes in the policy making processes. The findings are that policy making and information and communication technology implementation in Kenya are influenced by institutional/policy arrangements and the contextual forces of ideological, political, social and economic interests. This has significant implications for Kenya, particularly as the study reinforces the call for a critical examination of the policy actors and policy choices that govern information and communication technology regulation and implementation. The study findings also have implications for other African countries, in that the study questions the viability of such policy choices for creating information/knowledge societies in Africa. The analysis in this paper is based on document research and fieldwork, and forms part of a wider study on policy options and implementation processes as enacted through the regulation of the telecommunications sector in Kenya. | |
dc.format | Number of Pages:110 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11071/3417 | |
dc.language | eng | |
dc.rights | By agreeing with and accepting this license, I (the author(s), copyright owner or nominated agent) agree to the conditions, as stated below, for deposit of the item (referred to as .the Work.) in the digital repository maintained by Strathmore University, or any other repository authorized for use by Strathmore University. Non-exclusive Rights Rights granted to the digital repository through this agreement are entirely non-exclusive. I understand that depositing the Work in the repository does not affect my rights to publish the Work elsewhere, either in present or future versions. I agree that Strathmore University may electronically store, copy or translate the Work to any approved medium or format for the purpose of future preservation and accessibility. Strathmore University is not under any obligation to reproduce or display the Work in the same formats or resolutions in which it was originally deposited. SU Digital Repository I understand that work deposited in the digital repository will be accessible to a wide variety of people and institutions, including automated agents and search engines via the World Wide Web. I understand that once the Work is deposited, metadata may be incorporated into public access catalogues. I agree as follows: 1.That I am the author or have the authority of the author/s to make this agreement and do hereby give Strathmore University the right to make the Work available in the way described above. 2.That I have exercised reasonable care to ensure that the Work is original, and to the best of my knowledge, does not breach any laws including those relating to defamation, libel and copyright. 3.That I have, in instances where the intellectual property of other authors or copyright holders is included in the Work, gained explicit permission for the inclusion of that material in the Work, and in the electronic form of the Work as accessed through the open access digital repository, or that I have identified that material for which adequate permission has not been obtained and which will be inaccessible via the digital repository. 4.That Strathmore University does not hold any obligation to take legal action on behalf of the Depositor, or other rights holders, in the event of a breach of intellectual property rights, or any other right, in the material deposited. 5.That if, as a result of my having knowingly or recklessly given a false statement at points 1, 2 or 3 above, the University suffers loss, I will make good that loss and indemnify Strathmore University for all action, suits, proceedings, claims, demands and costs occasioned by the University in consequence of my false statement. | |
dc.subject | ICT policy | |
dc.subject | regulation | |
dc.subject | Kenya | |
dc.title | ICT Regulation and Policy at a Crossroads: A Case Study of the Licensing Process in Kenya | |
dc.type | Article | |
dspace.entity.type | Publication |
Files
Original bundle
1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
- Name:
- ICT Regulation and Policy at a Crossroads.pdf
- Size:
- 121.95 KB
- Format:
- Adobe Portable Document Format
- Description:
- Book Chapter