Software developers risk losing out on school laptops deal

Local software developers risk being locked out of the schools laptop project if the government awards the tender to Microsoft.

The Telecommunications Service Providers Association of Kenya (TESPAK) said that non-proprietary providers should be involved in the talks with the software giant.

“Who shall take on the role of the current programmers who are developing Foss (Free and Open Source Society) based applications in the country?” Tespok chief executive Fiona Asonga posed.

"Or is the arrangement that Microsoft gets us off the ground and handle only the first eight years and Foss the next eight years so as to meet the industry demand and international best practice?”

President Uhuru Kenyatta last month held a meeting with Microsoft global president Jean-Philippe Courtois during which the software giant agreed to provide hardware, connectivity and software to all schools.

Non-proprietary providers led by Foss have for years waged a battle against licensed vendors over software tendering procedures. This forced the government three years ago to amend its procurement rules to accommodate Foss and local software developers.  

However, inadequate technical capacity within Foss has limited its ability to secure big government contracts.

The schools computer project is set to kick off next year with the purchase of 1.35 million laptops for Class One pupils as well as building of computer laboratories for those in upper primary (classes four to eight).

Already, the government has allocated Sh17.4 billion for the laptop project this financial year.

This will include purchase of the laptops for Class One pupils, development of digital content, training teachers and rolling out the computer laboratory project in all schools in Kenya.

However, the scope could be revised as Parliament moves to scale the project down in order to allocate money to meet teachers’ demand for higher salaries based on a 1997 deal with the government.

The teachers early this week threatened to go on strike if their demands are not honoured.

The association also expressed concerns that Microsoft might prefer to work with its global partners and leave local entrepreneurs out of the lucrative deal.

They called on the government to give an assurance that Microsoft would work with developers of free open source software in the project.

“Knowing the level of competition there is between Microsoft and Foss, it will definitely be a dream comes true for Microsoft to agree to such an arrangement,” Ms Asonga said in a statement sent to media houses on Wednesday.