Plans are at an advanced stage to roll out services of the National Data Centre, located at Konza Technopolis, the Ministry of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) has said.
This follows the completion of Phase One (1) of the project that is expected to support immediate government requirements, business enterprises and provide an environment for implementing and piloting initial smart city services.
The project was commenced in June 2019 is being implemented by the Government of Kenya through the Ministry of ICT, with Konza Technopolis Development Authority as the project implementing agency and Huawei as the contractor.
In a media statement after a site visit yesterday, principal secretary ICT Jerome Ochieng said there has been great progress.
Phase one of the Data Centre is ready for utilization. Most of our data will be resident here. With more emphasis being put on the use of technology, the storage of data will be useful,” he added.
It is expected that Government ministries and other agencies will be the early movers to migrate their data to the centre whose services will also be available for private entities as part of the commercialization plan.
Among the beneficiaries of the Data Centre is the Covid-19 Contact Centre located at Nurses Complex, Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) which was recently launched to offer front line workers psycho-social support.
Additionally, innovators that will be incubated by KoTDA will be provided with hosting services. Phase two of the project will incorporate smart city facilities and services.
The Kilome MP Thaddeus Kithua who accompanied the PS said KoTDA had made great progress on the project, adding that over 1,000 individuals from the neighboring community have benefited from the Konza project both directly and indirectly.
He added that soon the Technopolis will be hosting a university, specialized medical facility, stadiums, schools, shopping malls and churches.
''Also in the pipeline in Konza is the Agritech Center of Excellence to support Kenya’s agriculture sector in areas such as precision farming, automation, and adoption of technology through Global Positioning System (GPS),’’ Kithua said.
In November last year, President Uhuru Kenyatta on approved a data protection law that complies with European Union legal standards as it looks to bolster investment in its information technology sector.
The law sets out restrictions on how personally identifiable data obtained by firms and government entities can be handled, stored and shared.
