Towards an integrated framework for rural development in Kenya

Information Communication Technology (ICT) is a powerful tool which can accelerate socio-economic development in developing nations. The growth of information is the main compelling reason for new cutting edge technologies through ICT to be assimilated in commerce and trade, health, education, governance, research and development in rural development. Regardless of the great advantages offered by ICT, rural areas still stagger in embracing ICT as a developmental tool. Major efforts are being made by major stakeholders: government institutions, international/local NGOs, private institutions, businesses foundations, developers to promote sustainable development in Kenya with little impact. This implies that despite the increase in the number of institutions rendering ICT services, none of these services are yet to reach a greater scale. Arguably, the key hindrances to progress are not only on access and enabling environment but also lack of cooperation from stakeholders. To address this challenge, there is need to achieve the scale and sustainability required by integrating the major stakeholders. Cooperation among stakeholders will address isolated investment and integrate information required by the consumers (beneficiaries) from diverse sources into a single information access point. An adoption of the proposed integrated framework will ensure collaboration among main stakeholders into meaningful partnerships.