Implications of Oracle buying sun on MySQL - authorities' view

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The Economist's story of the tussle between the anti-trust authorities.

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What is the 'real' value of certifications to companies and their customers?

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 In the current Kenya setup, there are a number of companies that are aspiring to get coveted international certifications like ISO for quality management systems, environmental or security requirements compliance, etc. but how many are actually striving to improve their service offerings to their customers? Few. Many just want to flaunt them to their competitors and prospective customers but not on improvement of their service delivery. Take the example of some public universities (I think almost all of them). They have ISO 9001:2008 certification. But how many lecturers and administrators in these universities appreciate that students are their most important customers? Very few. This is precisely the reason why you will have an ISO certified university that does not have a clear policy (or is it direction?) of where admission forms should be ‘deposited’ or returned to! I had a nasty experience the other day where I had to shuttle between two university campuses trying to con...
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Road accidents - how can technology help?

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The other day I listened to the Police Commissioner releasing the grim statistics about road accidents during this festive season. The only question that kept popping in my mind is: what can we do? Surely, I believe that the road infrastructure is improving courtesy of Government interventions, there is no drinking in the wee hours of the morning... then the question is 'What more can be done to reduce the road carnage?' As a technology person, I wonder why we cannot ( specifically the Traffic Department ) use technology to help curb the growing list of accidents on our roads. Take the example of AccessKenya (AK) Initiative of installing cameras monitoring traffic on major highways. Why can't the government contract AK to monitor any misbehaving traffic offenders on the road? Such guys should be informed ( preferably through an SMS) to report to the nearest police station for onward 'towing' to the court and they should be fined promptly. Even the government can ...
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The Safaricom IPO

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The much awaited Safaricom IPO is here at last: the going has been ridden with many challenges - legal as well as investor confidence. But I believe, the Minister for Finance, can at last heave a sigh of relief and say 'It is done man!' We all accept, including myself, that even now the IPO is not correctly timed; bearing in mind that Nyaga Stockbrokers are under statutory management - but when might have been the correct time to bring this to the market? An ideal time? I don't think that this exists in the investment world: every investment opportunity has its risks which an investor will have to bear before you sink you money into it. The question right now is: what is going to be the effect of this IPO on the capital markets in Kenya and the whole of the East African Community's economies? As with the Kengen IPO where some Kenyans emerged millionaires, I hope that also come 9th June (when the Safaricom shares start trading at the NSE) some Kenyans and East Africans ...
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