Ethiopian Telco Liberalization

The Government of Ethiopia has announced earlier this year to share the ownership and  privatize the Telecom sector. The news at that time was very generic and professionals in the sector was discussing formally and informally what is best for the sector. The initial news was not detailed on clarifying the issue whether the sector is thought to be open to shareholders to privatize partially or to liberalize it fully. Both approach will have pros and cons for the case of Ethiopia considering the size and reach of the current state owned operator and of-course the issue is debatable. There are some professionals arguing that moving step-by-step from partial liberalization to full liberalization is best for the country, but others equally worried how this gradual movement will lead to a full liberalization quickly.  Apart from that, most people that are engaged in the sector supports the splitting of the current telecom operator so that the current company can survive the stiff computation that may come when the sector is full liberalized.  

Nevertheless, the recent official announcement through press conference by Ministry of Finance indicated that the current state owned operator will split in to an infrastructure provider and telecom services provider. In addition, the share of the private ownership will be less that 50% by putting the muscle of the government stronger.  The other major information in the news is allowing two other independent operators to work along with the partially government owned telecom services provider in the Ethiopian telecom market. Certainly, this move will have a flavor of both thoughts, partially liberalizing and opening the sector for full computation.  

The above major decisions came from policy makers, while in parallel the Ethiopian Communications Regulatory Authority (abbreviated as ECA), is under establishment. It is true that some policy directions are mandatory for a sector to follow so that there will be a coherence to the overall national development plan of the country. But in this regard, there are some professionals thinking that the decision on the number of international telecom companies that will join the telecom market could have been first studied and decided by ECA latter on. There may be some preliminary studies and analysis already done on the availability of the spectrum to bring new operators in the market. But, to decide on the number of operators, an exhaustive assessment and planning could have been prepared by the telecom regulatory agency. As an autonomous and independent body, following these processes will facilitate to the agency the full ownership of the result of the assessment and also the output/outcome that will be derived from the engagement in the future.

In general, the announcement and the policy direction towards the full liberalization of the telecom sector in the country is appreciated by people in the sector by noting that future discussion is mandatory to make the transition more efficient.
... by Mesfin Belachew (PhD).  

Ethiopia to host World Telecommunication Development Conference, WTDC-2021

The World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) is a conference hosted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) every four years that sets the development agenda for the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D). WTDC give the membership the opportunity to debate the latest trends in telecommunication/information and communication technology (ICT) development and to establish the priorities of the ITU-D for the interval between two WTDCs. They also provide the opportunity to compare the initiatives developed at the regional level during the preparatory process and to integrate them into worldwide development efforts and plans. 

WTDC-17 took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 9 to 20 October, WTDC-14 in Dubai, UAE from 30 March to 10 April, WTDC-10 in Hyderabad, India from 24 May to 4 June, WTDC-06 in Doha, Qatar from 7 to 15 March, WTDC-02 in Istanbul, Turkey from 18 to 27 March, WTDC-98 Valletta, Malta from 23 March to 1 April, and WTDC-94 Buenos Aires, Argentina from 21 to 29 March.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Council approved Ethiopia 's request to host the World Telecommunication Development Conference in 2021 (WTDC-21).  The conference will bring more than 5, 000 participants drawn from across the world, according to the report from the Ethiopian Ministry of Innovation and Technology (MinT).

See the 3 minute promotional video presented in ITU Council meeting for selection of Ethiopia to host the WTDC-21.

Options for Telecoms Regulators to Encourage Consumers to Engage with the Market

An article published on analysysmason.com written by Chris Nickerson and Ian Streule is exploring the options how telecom regulators, specifically telecoms national regulatory authorities (NRAs) have to intervene to encourage consumers to bring the awareness and knowledge so that they can decide to select one operator from the another. This article assesses the list of tools that NRAs have available to them under two headings – those that enhance the ability of customers to access information, and those that enhance their ability to switch provider.

The Ethiopian telecom market is envisioning to go from total monopoly step-by-step to full liberalization in the near future (hopefully) and it worth reading this article and understand the market on how to regulate the sector effectively.  As a latecomer in the telecom liberalization world, there are many things that we have to learn from other. 

Read the full article using the link below. 

Predictions for Science and Technology; in the year 2019

The article on NBC News by David Freeman and Gwen Aviles discusses around 19 predictions of known scientists that ranges from quantum computers and the world's first 'empathy bot' to a better understanding of black holes.  They indicated some reflections of thought that leaders across a variety of fields answering the question;  What science - and technology - related innovations and trends will come our way in 2019? 

Read the full article following this link.

Oracle CEO's Predictions About The Use Of Artificial Intelligence

According to the article from Chris Murphy, director of cloud content at Oracle, hosted on forbes.com, the three predictions from Oracle CEO Mark Hurd about the use of Artificial Intelligence are explained.  According to this report, artificial intelligence will change the global economy and tech industry so fast in the coming years that 60% of the IT jobs that we’ll have in 2025 haven’t even been invented yet, Oracle CEO Mark Hurd predicted during his keynote session at Oracle OpenWorld 2018.

The three predictions are:

1. By 2025, all cloud applications will include AI. AI is most valuable when it’s embedded into an application, and therefore into the work people do every day: helping a finance person know which accounts payable need the most attention, helping a recruiter know which job candidates to assess more closely, helping a supply chain manager know which shipments are in trouble without having to manually run a report.
2. About 85% of companies’ interactions with their customers will be automated. “You won’t have to deal with the, ‘Who are you again? What’s your number again? Where you from? What’s your problem?’” Hurd said. “All of that will get automated as we move forward.”Instead of having to do that that kind of low-level support work, employees can spend their time solving the most difficult customer problems and thinking about better ways to serve customers, he said. and
3. Roughly 60% of the IT jobs that will exist in 2025 haven’t been invented yet. Hurd’s key prediction here for IT pros: “This is not going to be less people in IT. I frankly believe there will actually be more people in IT, but more people in IT working on a different set of tasks.”

Read more on this article using this link.

Offline Map for Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, South Sudan and Kenya

The offline map for Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, South Sudan and Kenya is programmed with similar look and feel. The Apps are  designed to access map offline and also route between two points in the specific countries. Each App includes also major city-maps in the specified country so that users can see the map by zooming it. Users can even long-press two points on the map and route to find-out the distances between the two points in the shortest path possible.  There are options to select one specific city or the whole map using the buttons from welcome window. Once the two points are selected and routed, there is also an option to move to a Google Map in case users are connected to the internet.

Once the App is downloaded,  there is no need to be connected to internet to use the Apps. The only drawback of the Apps is initial downloading time is relatively longer, because of the memory-size of the Apps is higher than the standard Apps. This is because of the map-data that has to be downloaded along with apk file.  After the App is downloaded and installed, the application is running normal. For more apps by the developer, please visit this link.

Books: Programming Principles and Evaluating eGovernment Portal Functionality in KM Perspective

I have published two books; Programming Principles (2009) and Evaluating eGovernment Portal Functionality in KM Perspective (2015) discussing some aspects in the area of Information Communication Technology. 

The first book,  Programming Principles (2009), gives an overview what a programmer should consider for developing a software package to solve a particular problem. The Book describes a Software Process starting from requirement analysis up to delivery of the software and maintenance,Software Engineering Principles, Software Project Management Concepts, defines the managing process in Software project Management, discuss the software matrix, assess the risk involved in software projects including the management techniques and the mitigation. At the end, some practical examples are also included. Paperback: 152 pages, Publisher: VDM Verlag (August 12, 2009), Language: English, ISBN-10: 3639137957, ISBN-13: 978-3639137958

The second book is titled  Evaluating eGovernment Portal Functionality in KM Perspective (2015) : Evaluating and Enhancing Ethiopian E-Government Portal Functionality in Knowledge Management Perspective and I am a co-author with Wondaferaw  and Girum. Knowledge Management (KM) is an important consideration in e-Government portals to ensure that knowledge flows efficiently between Governments, individuals and organizations. A crucial aspect of e-Government portals that has not been addressed adequately is, the extent to which KM have been implemented and identifying the direction to enhance e-Government portal in KM perspective. In this research evaluation model known as KM model for e-Government with three KM broad mechanisms for portals: Knowledge Collection, Organization and Application were employed. Using this model, evaluation checklist was developed based on analysis of the literature and best experience of other countries e-Government portal and used to evaluate ministry level organization e-Government portals with the objective of investigating the extent to which KM mechanisms have been implemented and to identify direction to enhance portals. Moreover, survey questioner and interview guide was used to investigate the degree of application of ICT for KM in research entities and its contribution to support e-Government portal enhancement. Paperback: 156 pages, Publisher: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing (March 23, 2015), Language: English, ISBN-10: 3659664650, ISBN-13: 978-3659664656