ICTworks by Inveneo

Someone asked me, so what about NITA-U, what is special about it? I don't understand this whole hussle. Lets look at it this way;

What is the mandate of NITA-U? To coordinate, promote and monitor IT development within the context of national, social and economic development. This implies that the body shall in effect be in charge of steering the entire nation when it comes to IT.

As you may already have seen, IT is becoming a key player in all our activities today. Banks are able to avail you money from any branch because of IT, ATMs do what they do because of IT, you can pay the National Water bill from any town and it is instantly updated because of IT, you can study distance learning cheaply because of IT, money transfers are possible because of IT, all these and more are issues that touch us as laymen on a daily basis.

This actually implies that this body will play a visionary role and needs to be well constituted and not turned into a political/financial playing ground.

Read More: Why NITA-U Matters

At Inveneo, we've never been big fans of second-hand computers. We often find that the maintenance and support of older systems is more expensive (greater Total Cost of Ownership) than buying new computers better suited to the needs of African users.

Second hand computers for sale

In fact, we often find that second-hand computers become e-waste, as James Wire saw during an ICT research study with secondary schools in Uganda

One school that I visited in particular, Mwiri Secondary School had received about 100 second hand computers as a donation from old students in the diaspora. I was shocked to find less than 10 of these computers working with the rest heaped like a man-made mountain – totally useless. Not even the keyboards could be redeemed. Ever since then, I fell out with the Second Hand PC bandwagon.

So we're excited to hear that the government of Uganda has banned second-hand computer imports, and that the Kenyan and Nigerian governments will keep duties and impose taxes, respectively, on second-hand computer imports.

Jonathan Gosier of App+frica has recorded James Wire of Linux Solutions talking about his decade of experience in the ICT industry in Uganda.

James talks about FOSS, mobile solutions, and "the village well approach to computing,” - building shared use models where the entire community can become stakeholders.

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