Idlelo 3

1. CONNECTIVITY- network access for people in Africa.
Contact: Dapo Ladimeji dapo@ladimeji.co.uk

Connectivity is an abbreviation for issues related to network access for people in Africa. Within issues of ICT in Africa many consultants from the West propose strategies that can only leave Africa for ever in the rear of human development. The current proposals for ICT development by focussing solely on pc for every African child ignore the fact that without network access these machines will be largely useless. It has often been said that the 'network is the computer' and this is far truer in Africa than it was ever true in the West.

All aspects of future development in Africa require network access but this issue is largely under appreciated. In Western countries the importance of network access led to massive government intervention to ensure that the appropriate investments were made, whereas in Africa such important issues are meant to be resolved by the 'market'.

This sub-theme has five topics:

1.1. Universal Access: the importance of networks is that the benefit of everyone being networked arises to the society as a whole and often to large organisations such as business and government. This implies that serious economic analysis is required to show how the public goods aspects of network access should affect national policy.

1.2. Access Providers: the scale of access requires substantial investment in hardware etc. It is essential that such an economic opportunity be used to generate substantial African business and not merely a boom for Western and Asian exports. Papers evaluating the economic opportunity would be welcome.

1.3. FOSS Capabilities: FOSS plays a major role in network infrastructure and the creation of universal access implies the supply of very large numbers of FOSS engineers. Capacity development in terms of personnel, education and training will become a major issue.

1.4. Network Infrastructures: The changes required for the future mean that we need to divert the major parts of foreign investment into developing networks infrastructure. China is offering to assist with infrastructure and we should insist that African governments prioritize network infrastructure. Papers developing these possibilities will be welcome.

1.5 Supercomputing & Clusters/ Thin Clients: With developments in mobile computing devices the future of universal access will be in the direction thin clients. Developments in virtual machines and implementation of large clusters has created an environment where the large scale roll out of thin client/large server becomes the option with the highest cost/benefit ratio. FOSS has always played a major role in supercomputing and clusters. Evaluations of the options for cluster servers/thin clients, the technical issues, the cost/benefits and the social implications of such network access and availability would be welcome.



2.GOOD GOVERNANCE
Contact : Maria Farelo mariaf@dpsa.gov.za

Good governance has eight major characteristics. They are participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follow the rule of law. It assures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society. The use of open source in governance advocates the application of the philosophies of the open source movement to democratic and good governance principles. The lack of these principles can leads to a loss of freedom.

Government and other public sector organizations interest in Open Source Software (OSS) is intensifying as many turn to freely available software because it is quick and inexpensive to implement, and that it can be tailored to their needs. Most importantly OSS can assist in bridging the digital divide between developed and developing countries. In promoting public sector that is just, effective, transparent and accountable, OSS provides an opportunity to achieve this through the use of inexpensive technologies.

This topic is divided into the following sub- themes

2.1 Using ICT’s to curb corruption if government

A number of software applications are available to assist in the fight against corruption such as the anti-corruption management system. A system used to store and update data relating to fraud cases reported, cases under investigation and so forth. When ICT applications are used to fight corruption it is critical that four key anticorruption strategies such as prevention; enforcement; access to information and empowerment; and capacity building are integrated in the design and implementation process

2.2. Open Systems for e-Government

While open source software has achieved growing acceptance in the marketplace, open standards are also increasingly seen as key enablers of the transfer of information across organizations, systems, and devices. Now an open standard for document formats, ODF, has emerged that promises to deliver greater access, choice and innovation among office suites. What does ‘open’ mean in the context of software, standards and document formats, and is it relevant to the experience and challenges faced by developing and transition countries? Can open source, open standards and ODF be leveraged to maximize the impact of ICT investments in public sector reform and modernization efforts? And most importantly can these systems assist in enforcing and sustaining good democratic governance?

2.3. Open Source and Security

Whereas organizations have to consider many factors when implementing information systems in software, including flexibility, features, scalability and cost, security is a paramount concern for government. Information systems that are used to capture, create, store, process or distribute classified information must be properly managed to protect against unauthorized disclosure of classified information, loss of data integrity, and to ensure the availability of the data and system. The state has a strong obligation to its citizens that it does not compromise in these areas. The perception that FOSS is less secure than “professionally” developed closed source proprietary software is a common one, but is substantially flawed. As many governments are concluding, including most of the governments of the European Union (who are almost all considering greater FOSS deployment), the security argument against FOSS is largely without merit.


2.4. e-Participation

The adoption and implementation of e-government across public service has made the availability of government information accessible to citizens through different access channels. Citizens can now communicate directly with government and take part in formulating and reviewing government policies through e-participation. Government is therefore pressured to become accountable and transparent. With innovation looming in open source communities, applications are made available to enhance this participatory democracy.


3. HUMAN CAPACITY, CAPABILITIES & COMPETENCIES: skills & development
Contact : Derek Keats (dkeats@uwc.ac.za)

Human capacity, including skills and competencies, is vital to success in a knowledge economy, and FOSS provides a basis for building such skills because of low barriers to entry and innovation. This is being addressed under the sub-theme Human Capacity, Capabilities & Competencies. Papers are invited in three areas related specifically to human capacity building:

This sub-theme has three topics:

3.1. What are the competencies and skills needed to grow the FOSS ecosystem in Africa so that the knowledge economy can work for Africa? Here we seek papers that may be based on surveys to address existing capacity and identify gaps, personal experience or case studies that identify needs, opportunities or gaps, as well as theoretical or practical experience from outside of Africa that may have a bearing on Africa.

3.2 What is being done to grow competencies and skills within the FOSS ecosystem in Africa? Here we seek papers based on case studies of actual capacity building initiatives in Africa, or from outside of Africa that might have a bearing on Africa. Case studies should include analysis of critical success factors, and make suggestions for other initiatives to build capacity within Africa.

3.3 How can education institutions, government, the private sector and civil society cooperate to build capacity, grow the FOSS ecosystem within Africa, and contribute to making the knowledge economy work for Africa. Here we seek papers providing practical examples from Africa and elsewhere, as well as theoretical considerations of how to make such an alliance work to build Africa's knowledge economy.


4.BUSINESS MODELS & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Contact: Wire James Lunghabo: lunghabo@linuxsolutions.co.ug

A lot of debate has gone into the viability of FOSS in the commercial
world. So many individuals and companies have ventured into FOSS
business with mixed results. Most of the stories we read about are from
out of Africa. It is time for us to work our minds and find out whether
it is viable in Africa too.

Using FOSS for community development is a key argument that keeps coming
up to justify FOSS and indeed there are case studies that keep arising.
Does FOSS really address community Development?

Papers are therefore invited to address the following sub‑themes:

4.1. Profit worthy FOSS business models
4.2. Can FOSS answer Community ICT needs?
4.3. Challenges of doing FOSS business in Africa
4.4. Non Governmental Organisations and FOSS adoption in Africa?

5.DEVELOPERS
Contact: Bob Jolliffe bobj@dst.gov.za

One of the most important potential benefits of Free Software is that it provides the possibility for innovative, creative and entrepreneurial people to develop new software to meet immediate needs as well as the needs of others. The Free Software developer community acts as a massively distributed university for experienced and aspiring developers to create, learn and display their skills.

Despite a number of notable exceptions, the contribution and participation of African developers in this phenomenon remains far below what it could be and what it needs to be if Africans are to fully realize the potential, as well as shape the future, of Free Software.

In this track we are looking for concrete experience papers from African developers which illustrate successes, failures, challenges and/or recommendations faced by Free Software developers in Africa. Papers should describe an existing Free Software development project as well as some critical reflection on the experience.


6.FOSS COMMUNITIES & LOCALISATION (WOMEN, PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, YOUTH, CHILDREN)
Contact: Dwayne Bailey dwayne@translate.org.za

The word accessibility is used to describe the degree to which a system is usable by as many people as possible. In the social model of disability a disability is seen as the barriers that cause or maintain disability, such as accessibility that favours the majority.
Women constitute over half of Africa's population, by far a majority yet their numbers are not evident in ICT applications and the ICT industry. Although estimates are difficult, the WHO places the number of people with disabilities at around 10% of the worlds population, with higher number in developing countries and thus Africa. Predominantly technology is supplied in European languages yet for many African's this is not their mother tongue and they are limited to accessing either later in life or through a second language.
Accessibility is about inclusion of all people. Is it therefore even possible to talk of Making the Knowledge Economy work for Africa if the majority of the economy is excluded? Within the theme FOSS Communities & Localisation (Women, People with disabilities, Youth, Children) we will explore the issues of inclusion and explore the potential of FOSS to allow wider inclusion of all Africans in technology and economic activity.
This sub-theme has four topics:
6.1. Communities: FOSS is famously a community effort. How is FOSS affecting African communities, establishing new intra-African communities and extra-African communities and how are African's contributing and participating in the broader FOSS community model.
6.2. Localisation: How can localisation improve access to technology? Papers are invited that look at the extent of the language problem, that present innovative uses of FOSS to address the language technology barrier.
6.3. People with disabilities: A large community that is at times excluded by technology but is also assisted by technology. What impact is FOSS having on assistive technologies and what African adaptations or localisations has brought power to many people and can offer many opportunities into the future?
6.4. Youth & Women: How, if at all, is FOSS helping these two communities participate in the knowledge economy? Where is FOSS playing a role in breaking down barriers that traditionally exclude these communities from the mainstream economy? Or how is it helping empower the informal economy.