Vice President officially launchs the Cisco Expo at KICC

Cisco Algeria Expo 2011 earlier this year. The same Expo was launched today at KICC in Kenya

Kenya's conducive business environment and investment in the ICT sector is turning the country into a regional center for international conglomerates seeking to expand their business in Africa like the two day Cisco Expo in Nairobi.

Starting today, the Expo with a theme of collaboration and virtualization beyond borders is running at Kenyatta International Conference Center (KICC) bringing together several exhibitors locally and internationally.

“The excitement of the internet connectivity has brought the aspect of a global village closer home by eliminating distance and borders in the world” Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka said at the official launch.

Mr. Musyoka said the government investments like the rolling out of 20,000Km fiber optics cable in the country has made broadband and ICT efficient which has not only attracted investors but also improved lives of Kenyans in attaining the vision 2030.

“This is crucial since studies show that a 10% increase of ICT equates a 2-3% increase in the GDP” He said.

The VP's sentiments were echoed by Samwel Poghisio, Minister of Information and Communication Technology who said government is investing and supporting projects like iHub and the 5,000 acres Konza Technology City in Machakos county which will be a regional ICT hub.

Declaring the Cisco Expo 2011 officially open, the VP thanked the company on behalf of the government and Kenyans in choosing the country for their expo.

Local Exhibitors

“We are seeking to seamlessly help communication between the devolved governments and the central office through networking by Cisco” Bob Collymore, the Safaricom CEO told guests who attended the event.

In addition, Collymore said Safaricom Business has used Cisco networks to roll out other ventures like Teleconferencing, Tele-Justice and Tele-Health to reduce time, money and resources used in the country.

Collymore gave example of the Tele-Health venture  which will reduce mortality by making it easier for Kenyans, especially in rural areas to access healthcare with paramedics sharing procedures and healthcare information easily in the clinics with others not only locally but also internationally.

“This will aid in checking the low ratio between patients and doctors in country especially in the rural areas” Collymore told guests.

Other local exhibitors included Zuku and Copy Cat amongst others.

Dan Smoot, the Cisco Vice President said through collaboration money is saved and carbon emission reduced by people meeting easily without travelling.

“People and communities in different context share the same content easily in a secure environment by using teleconferencing facilities” Mr. Smoot said after guest saw a live video conferencing from New York.

Founded in 1984 at San Jose, California Cisco Systems Inc employees over 100,000 people in 165 countries globally will use Kenya as a regional hub to enter the African market with over 500 million mobile subscribers.