FOSSFA line of activities in 2011

Hello there! As the Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa - FOSSFA, continues to grow its membership, activity and partnership base, we are happy to share with you the Foundation's key activities for the year 2011.

The Foundation has used the first part of the year to work on its strategic plan for the next 3 years. Most of its activities shall concentrate on:
1. Advocacy
2. Community building
3. Capacity building
4. Community and knowledge management
5. Building the organisational capacity of FOSSFA
6. The African Conference on FOSS and the digital commons.

The 44 page document is available on demand.

At the end of April and beginning of May, FOSSFA will be actively engaged in The Committee on Development Information Science and Technology (CODIST-II). Under the theme:"Innovation for Industrial Development in Africa" with conferences from 2 - 5 May 2011,United Nations at the Conference Centre(UNCC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Among others, FOSSFA will be holding an exhibition, launching the Guido Sohne Fellowship and taking active part in bilateral and multi-lateral partnership side meetings. Information on CODIST is on http://repository.uneca.org/codist/

FOSSFA will also be holding trainings, workshops, exhibition and side meetings at the 6th edition of the International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training (E-Learning Africa)at the Mlimani City Conference Center at Dar es Salam in Tanzania in the last week of May. FOSSFA executive shall also be holding a steering committee meeting on the ICT@INNOVATION project 2 days before the conference. It is expected that FOSSFA and GIZ, the Foundation's project partner on the ICT@INNOVATION project shall be launching the Innovation Award. The conference will not only be a great meet-up for FOSSFA members but also will be a very important platform for you to discover the diverse activities of the FOSSFA family in the domain of education. Information on the conference is on http://elearning-africa.com

For fifteen years the Highway Africa conference has been at the centre of Africa’s debates on journalism, media and Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The conference has over the years become the largest annual gathering of African journalists in the world. In the last seven years Highway Africa has evolved into a multi-pronged programme. For its 15th anniversary, FOSSFA will be supporting the media professionals with possible hands-on trainings. It will be an opportunity for South Africa-based FOSSFA members to touch base. Look out for the launch of the "Africa FOSS reporter" Award. Get more information on http://www.highwayafrica.com

The Sixth Annual Global Internet Governance Forum Meeting will be held in Nairobi, Kenya on 27-30 September 2011 at the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON). The proposed main theme of the meeting is: 'Internet as a catalyst for change: access, development, freedoms and innovation. FOSSFA intends to be actively involved, as one of the key Internet Governance stakeholders on the continent. The Foundation shall be hosting at least two workshops and an open forum. It will also launch the "FOSS Community Award". All the information on this meeting is available on http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/ FOSSFA hopes to continually lend its support to all African IG initiatives in all the countries and sub-regions that will lead up to the global meeting.

The 5th African Conference on FOSS and the digital commons will continue to receive attention all through the year. Though scheduled for March 19 - 23 of March 2012, the bulk of the work on Idlelo 5 will be accomplished in 2011. Under the theme of Open Source Solutions for Achieving the Millennium Development Goals and taking place in Abuja, Nigeria, IDLELO 5 is poised to receive some 2000 participants. Keep an eye on http://idlelo.net/ for the updates.