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{
    "id": 699513,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/699513/?format=api",
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    "content": "will be the future Minister for Information, Communication and Technology in the Republic of Kenya. The report that has been brought by the Committee has covered just three counties. I wish that this Committee will also make arrangements to visit the other 43 or 44 counties that have not been covered. I would be very happy to see a report on the state of implementation, oversight and networking on technology from Homa Bay County, a county whose people I represent. The responsibility for ICT management at counties is something that has not been standardised. In some countries, you will find that ICT is the responsibility of the Minister responsible for youth affairs and in some countries ICT is given to the Ministry responsible for culture and sports. I want to urge that ICT is so important that it should not be seen as an appendage to sports or culture or youth affairs or women affairs, as is the case in some countries. I am glad that in my county the responsibility for ICT has been lumped with education. That is good enough. However, I do wish and I do hope that in future, county governors will provide greater authority to Cabinet Secretaries or chief officers or County Executive Committees (CECs) responsible for ICT, so that it is not seen as an afterthought. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, one matter that I would like to bring to the attention of the Committee on ICT is that whenever we go round these counties we should interrogate whether the counties are adhering to the Government Enterprise Architecture Standards (GEAS). The Government has come up with what those of us who are experts in technology call Enterprise Architecture Standards which guide each county in acquisition of technology and in implementation of technology. For example, with 47 counties if we are not careful we will end up with 47 different revenue collection systems which will not be able to talk to each other or to talk to any other platform, including IFMIS. With 47 counties, there is a risk that we will end up with 47 human resource management systems or 47 attendant systems. However, if we went by the Enterprise Architecture Standards that have been developed for the Government – I have looked at them as a technology professional – I do believe that there is much that still needs to be done to make them operational because they do not look like standards, they look like policy statements which is a good starting point. It would be nice whenever the committees go out to the counties they pose that question; to what extent are we adhering to the Enterprise Architecture Standards? If you look at the financial perspective, whenever the Auditor-General goes to audit these counties, he always looks at the adherence of counties to certain financial standards. For example, in financial services, you could have things like International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). So, when it comes to implementation of technology, I want to encourage the Committee on ICT to use the Enterprise Architecture Standards as a benchmark. Whenever we get a report we are told that county “a” and “b” are fulfilling or adhering to the standards and certain counties are not so that we come up with corrective measures. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I also would like to encourage counties to look towards shared services. This is because in an era where data is moving to the cloud it makes no sense for a county government, the executive and the assembly to operate The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate"
}