3070 THE KENYA infrastructure components in Kenya. To this end, the government has provided in various sections of this policy, incentives and various measures to achieve this objective, such as: 1. Ensuring that a percentage of rare earths mined in Kenya are kept for domestic consumption and manufacture. 2. Providing fiscal manufacturing plants. 3. Providing enterprises. for incentives technology for the licensing creation of assistance to local Kenyan 4. The provision of free government funded consultancy mentoring services especially to the ICT manufacturing sector. 5. Regional amongst others. and and continental trade assistance and market access, 6.1.3 Universal Access It is the policy of Government to ensure that ICT services both public and private, and the requisite knowledge to deploy and use them are available to our citizens at the time, place and manner that they are required, and also that all citizens can and will participate in the knowledge economy. The Government will seek to ensure that: High quality internet access is available everywhere in Kenya. 3. Every Kenyan can afford a device that they can use to access the Internet. 4. Every Kenyan has access to free advice digital technology choices for their needs. about appropriate 5. Every Kenyan has the skills they need to use their choice of digital technology appropriately. 6. Kenya receives global recognition as a safe place to do digital business. This requires a multidimensional approach to the tri-fold challenge of ubiquity, utility and participation. Ubiquity: The challenge of equipping the entire geography of our nation with the infrastructure and connectivity to make data everywhere available is variously addressed in this policy document. It is the government’s policy to treat all populated areas of our country equally and provide equivalent infrastructure per capita. Participation: To achieve the full participation of every Kenyan it is the government’s policy to provide every citizen with the Tools, Attitudinal change support, Skills and Knowledge (TASK) necessary to participate in our joint digital future. The plan is to ensure that a significant proportion of Kenyans’ life, work and play will be digital. Tools: The tools provide the environment through which people can access, use and enjoy the technology in their work, community and recreational activities. These include services, devices, access and applications. It is the government’s policy to provide: 1. A Digital Identity (Universal Personal citizen: for the safe and lawful use of services. Identifier) for every 2. Public Key Infrastructure: To provide for security transactional data, party recognition and contractual validity. of 3. Legal framework and technical securely record all transactions. to support for blockchain: framework 6. Recognition and enforcement confidence in online transactions. 7. Cyber legislation. and computer crime for the delivery of digital and The policy envisages that citizens will use a wide variety of devices: smartphones, tablets, computers and Internet of Things devices. However, the basic properties required of all these devices are that they should be affordable, secure, internet-enabled, identifiable and should promote mobility. Since internet-enablement is a basic principle of participation this policy seeks to facilitate connection to the network with a secure digital identifier and the delivery of a mandated minimum bandwidth (defined in the Broadband Strategy) to enable reasonable quality of interaction. Attitudinal Change: Support Purely online transactions for nondigital goods foundationally require a degree of trust and trustworthiness combined with an openness to change and innovation. This policy recognizes that there are certain attitudes and behaviours that should be encouraged in order for Kenya to maintain and grow it’s leadership in the African and global digital space. It is the government and people of Kenya’s confident viewpoint that Kenya is a leader and not a follower in this realm. We have observed what this confident attitude has done for Kenya in the world of sports, especially athletics and team sports, and we believe that it can have similar a dramatic result in the realm of technology. This policy seeks to promulgate a digital culture wherein citizens Skills: It is the Government’s position that all Kenyans should become proficient users of appropriate digital technology so that they can benefit from the sea-change currently underway. This policy seeks to build on the already universal use of mobile digital money and inculcate widespread adoption of cognate digital services, goods and activities. 6.1.4 Accessibility The Government will provide an ICT environment fully accessible to persons with disabilities. The Government of Kenya is fully committed to providing equal treatment to people with disabilities with respect to the use and benefit of ICT services, programs, goods and facilities in a manner that respects their dignity and that is equitable in relation to the broader public. Kenya is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), adopted by the UN General Assembly on 13th December 2006. The Convention stipulates that Persons with Disabilities have a right to access to information through different mediums with Article 9 covering accessibility including ICTs while Article 30 covers television programmes, films, theatre and other cultural activities. The World Health Organization estimates that about ten per cent of the world’s population has some type of disability. This policy mandates full accessibility for persons with disabilities. All public and government communications will be suitably instrumented. The Government will take measures to: 1. Ensure that ICT services and emergency communications made available to the public are provided in alternative accessible formats for persons with disabilities (PWD); to enable of physical 3. Promote the design, production and distribution of accessible ICT at an early stage; build 4. Ensure that persons with disabilities can exercise the right to access to information, freedom of expression and opinion; infrastructure 5. Require both public and private entities that render services to the public to provide information and services in accessible and usable formats for persons with disabilities; contracts critical and / or facilitated through technology and where all strata of society integrate digital technologies into their lives as a natural way of performing all the activities necessary for life and happiness. The policy will encourage integration of digital technologies into the educational and vocational system at all levels to ensure that our current and future workforce is prepared for the changes that are happening now. 2. Review existing legislation and regulations to promote ICT accessibility for PWDs in consultation with organisations representing PWDs among others; 4. Regulatory and Legal support for digital payments: safe financial transactions. 5. A delivery services goods and services. 7th August, 2020 have a preference for activities, goods and services that are channelled 1. The Universal Service Fund is prudently managed to drive universal access and that service is provided in areas service providers do not consider economically viable. 2. GAZETTE to