THE TRAINING FOLLOWED MY EXPECTATIONS

The training session was very useful and also very essential bearing in mind that journalism cannot be performed to its standards without the application of ICTs.
All the topics facilitated were interesting and marvelous. In regard to my expectations I can say that to a great extent they were met.
SUGGESTION: To improve the training I suggest that next time it should be much long for instance five days and that the venue should be outside Dar es Salaam - namely Morogoro. The venue should be well equipped with ICT equipment such as desk - top computers coupled with reliable, fast Internet service. 

RWANDA INTRODUCES WIFI FOR ALL

Smart Kigali

Rwanda introduces free Wi-Fi for very one to simplify business transactions

Kigali has been the first city in East Africa to introduce the use of Wi-Fi free wireless Internet in specific areas of the capital for all to make business transactions easier.

The service under the “Smart Kigali” initiative, joining the ranks of “digital cities” such as Toronto, Houston, Buenos Aires, Bangkok and Taipei.

This is a plastic card the size of a credit card with an embedded microchip that can be loaded with data used for telephone calling, electronic cash payments and other applications and then periodically refreshed for additional use.

The service can also be used to pay for parking at parking meters, to get on subways, trains, or buses, give hospitals or doctors personal data without filling out a form and to make small purchases at electronic stores on the web and to buy gasoline at a gasoline station.

Speaking at the launch of the service Philbert Nsengimana, Minister for ICT reassured the public that the project is sustainable because it comes with a business model that the government has plans to ensure more Rwandans have access to smart devices to tap into the opportunity.

The government has in the past launched projects in the ICT sector that crumbled before take-off because of lack of sustainability Rwanda did not have the critical mass of Internet users to make the projects viable.

But according to RDB reports, in the past five years, Rwanda has registered one of the highest Internet user growth rates in Africa with 8,900 per cent compared with the continent’s growth rate of 2,450 per cent and the world average rate of 444 per cent.

In 2010, more than 38.9 per cent of Rwanda’s public sector (ministries, agencies, provinces and districts) and 34.5 per cent of the private sector had a web presence. According to government statistics, there are over 3.1 million mobile subscribers, representing 32 per cent penetration of mobile usage.

The country’s Vision 2020 hopes to transform Rwanda into a middle-income country and transition from an agrarian economy into an information-rich, knowledge-based society by 2020.

Mr. Nsengimana argues that Smart Kigali is not a project to benefit only the elite who can afford smart gadgets but will extend to the majority of Rwandans after the government launched Vizio, a programme that will see it negotiate with manufacturers and banks to offer smart gadgets to low income citizens.

To improve financial services, the Electronic Payments Systems has been enhanced to promote efficient use of existing payments systems such as ATM’s VISA cards and others that facilitate electronic transactions.

All these services will position Kigali not only as a clean city but also a connected and smart city.

ENDS.

WHAT I LIKED MOST ON THE SECOND DAY

A the topics that were presented by the facilitator seemed interesting so what I can say is that I liked all the topics that we were taken through on the second day of the training session.

WHAT WE DID ON THE SECOND DAY

On the second day of the training session we were taken through a number of equally important topics as well as useful tools to empower an investigative journalist perform duties using the Internet. The most important topics are:-
1. The use of a pencil to edit or add a posting to your blog.
2. The essence of using some of the tools such as the tool bar - Language and formatting, an important tool in case you want to change the time zones shown.
3. The use of Google search to get information such as "What is the population" of a certain location.
4. The other equally important issue was to remember to apply the "publish" button to upload whatever is intended to be posted.
5. The use of posts and comments tool bar for changing the number of posts appearing for instance you can change from 7 to 15 posts.
6. The use of the "update" tool to include posts after editing or adding information that was initially not in the blog.

ESSENCE OF INTERNET IN JOURNALISM

From January 25 to 27, I and my fellow senior media practitioners underwent an intensive training in investigative Internet. there is a lot to learn in the context. I therefore encourage my fellow media practitioners to seek for such opportunities.
I therefore pledge that whatever I have gained from this training session, I am prepared to share with my colleagues be they of my own level or not because I believe that sharing of skills do multiply thereby spreading the scope of understanding.   

DAY ONE: WHAT I LIKED MOST

In regard to my first day of the training, I am of the view that all that was facilitated seemed interesting and fascinating. However the most interesting was in regard to the story of a young journalist who applied an extra ordinary mode to detect the disturbing smell by use of a Goggle map. This really touched my conscience.