NAIROBI: Kenya has dropped in global rankings of technology competitiveness. Some of the contributing factors include poor connectivity rates, ICT regulatory frameworks, and underdevelopment of ICT infrastructure. “Kenya suffers from low levels of ICT readiness due to underdevelopment of ICT infrastructure and lack of a widespread skill-base that would enable society to make optimal use of technology,” reads the report. They measured the capacity of countries to influence growth of economies by the use if ICT by analysing key pillars such as education, political environment, ICT usage, and the socio-economic impact of the technology. According to the Global Information Technology Report of 2012, Kenya was ranked 136th out of 142 countries in the broadband subcategory. Rwanda beat Kenya to come in at 82nd position. This performance is greatly attributed to the fact that Rwanda is striving to gain a strong foothold and to become a market leader by the use of ICT in innovation and development. Uganda came in at 110th position while Tanzania and Burundi were ranked 123rd and 137th respectively. Despite these results, mobile use in Kenya has reached 67.2% and many subscribers rely on their phones to access the Internet as compared to gaining access to broadband subscriptions for their business purposes.
