[Kictanet] WENT Africa 2005: Announcement and call for applications

[alice at apc.org]

Please respond to Fatima Bhyat on email fbhyat at sn.apc.org
>
> Deadline for applications - 1 November 2005.
>
> APC-Africa-Women : Announcing Women's Electronic Network
> Training (WENT) Africa 2005
>
> WENT Africa training workshops aim to build the capacities of
> women and their organisations in Africa to utilise new Information
> and Communication Technologies in social development work and
> policy advocacy. APC-Africa-Women held the first WENT Africa
> workshop in 2003 with a focus on the strategic use of ICTs .
>
> The focus of WENT Africa 2005 is Free and Open Source Software
> Solutions (FOSS) in women's organisations in Africa. Building
> awareness and support for the use of FOSS.
>
> APC-Africa-Women in partnership with WOUGNET, Women'sNet,
> Linux Chix Africa, Isis-WICCE and Bellanet Africa, is hosting a
> regional workshop to build awareness of the potential and use of
> Free and Open Source Solutions (FOSS) in the non-profit sector,
> and in women's organisations specifically. The workshop will be
> held in Kampala, Uganda 5-10 December 2005.
>
> Building on the success of the first FOSS for women workshop in
> the SADC region hosted by Women'sNet in 2004, APC-Africa-
> Women has partnered with organisations active in FOSS  for
> women's empowerment to continue and expand this work.
>
> WHY FOSS?
>
> Being able to use information technology strategically and effectively
> is an important source of empowerment and skills development for
> women who often feel isolated and disempowered by rapidly
> advancing technological change. At the same time, there is growing
> awareness of the potential role of free/open source software
> (FOSS) in particular in harnessing ICTs for socio-economic
> development.
>
> Among the potential benefits:
> * Open source software is royalty- and license free, which means
> that the cost of acquiring the software is lower than that of
> proprietary software.
> * Because the source code is accessible, open source software can
> be modified to meet the needs of users in particular contexts and
> languages.
> * Users are not trapped into ongoing dependency on a particular
> vendor for upgrades and support.
> * The collaborative open source model of software
> development offers greater opportunities for local skills and
> economic development.
> * Some free software is recognized as more stable and more
> secure than its proprietary counterparts.
>
> PURPOSE OF THE WORKSHOP
>
> The uptake of open source software is growing in Africa, and APC-
> Africa-Women and partner organisations are implementing more
> initiatives aimed specifically at using open source to support
> women's organizations and networks. In order to assist women's
> organisations to realize the potential of open source software it is
> necessary to
>
> * Raise awareness of open source tools at a variety of levels
> including policy, management, technical staff and end-users.
> * Provide easy access to open source tools.
> * Develop skills among end-users, technical staff and potential open
> source developers.
> * Ensure the ongoing development of support and
> training materials.
> * Develop capacity for planning and decision-making around
> implementing open source solutions, including an awareness of
> factors such as total cost of ownership.
>
> The workshop has two overall objectives:
> (i) stimulating awareness and adoption of free and open software
> source (FOSS) solutions among women's organisations in the
> region, and
> (ii) deepening understanding and skills among women technicians
> in providing technical support to women's organisations in the
> assessment, adoption and use of FOSS applications within
> women's organisations.
>
> STRUCTURE OF THE WORKSHOP
>
> The workshop will run over 5 days, from Monday 5 December to
> Friday 10 December 2005. The workshop will be structured into 2
> parallel tracks, with some overlapping sessions.
>
> **Track 1: **
>
> During the 5 day event, Track 1 participants and facilitators will
> share technical skills and experiences, discuss key challenges in
> realizing F/OSS projects, and develop concrete strategies for
> supporting women's NGOs in their technology decision-making
> processes and effectively integrating ICT into their operations and
> future plans.
>
> Track 1 will target women computer technicians - mainly
> technical support staff and system administrators - to build their
> capacity to support women's organisations in their assessments of
> technical hardware- and software-related needs and, where
> required, in migrating to and implementing FOSS solutions.
>
> The agenda will cover issues such as:
> * Social and NGO context
> * Customizing/configuring and deploying GNU/Linux distributions
> * Configuring clients for desktop and network applications
> * Open Source database and online publishing tools
> * Existing desktop FOSS applications and application development
> * Migrating to FOSS
>
> **Track 2: **
>
> This track is targeted at decision-makers and end-users in women's
> organisations, with a view to building their ability to asses and
> choose between different technical (especially software) solutions.
> This track will also demonstrate the use of some FOSS software
> solutions that facilitate web publishing and information-sharing, to
> illustrate the ease with which women's organisations can maintain
> their a web site - e.g. by pooling content and collaborative online
> publishing - at the regional level, using only basic word processing
> skills.
>
> The agenda will include:
> * review of different desktop and networking applications including
> FOSS
> * decision-making processes on technology options, including
> FOSS understanding theory and practice around use of ICTs for
> equality;
> * developing inclusive ICT strategies
> * measuring the impact of your ICT strategies on gender equality,
> using Gender Evaluation Methodology
> * collaborative online publishing, using FOSS applications like
> ActionApps
>
> WHO CAN APPLY?
>
> Track 1:
>
> We encourage applications from women who meet the following
> criteria:
>
> * a solid (3-4 years) ICT training and/or work background
> [troubleshooting, sysadmin, technical support staff )
> * good communications skills
> * programming skills desirable but not required
>
> also:
> * interest in doing work with the non-profit community, especially
> women's NGOs working towards gender justice and supporting
> them in effectively integrating ICTs into their daily operations
> * interest in facilitating sound decision-making processes within
> women's organisations that consider all the possible technical -
> hardware and software - solutions including FOSS.
>
> Track 2:
>
> We encourage applications from staff within women's NGOs in the
> region, especially those with the responsibility to make decisions on
> technologies used within the organisation.
>
> FEES AND SUBSIDIES
>
> The costs of participating in the workshop is fully funded.
> APC-Africa-Women will cover the costs of participants' return
> airfares (economy class), visa costs, as well as accommodation and
> a per diem (to cover the cost of dinners) for the duration of the
> workshop.
>
> APPLICATION PROCEDURE
>
> Please complete the questionnaire below and return to
> fbhyat at sn.apc.org
>
> Deadline for applications is Tuesday 1 November 2005. Please
> apply soonest as space at this workshop is limited. There are only
> about 8 spaces per track.
>
> APPLICATION QUESTIONS
>
> Please answer the following questions. Please provide us with
> enough information to understand your skills and interests, and to
> have a sense of why you want to attend this workshop, what you
> hope to learn, and what you can contribute to the event.
>
> 1) Basic personal information:
> a. Name:
> b. Gender:
> c. Nationality:
> d. Country where you live and work now:
> e. E-mail address:
> f. Telephone and emergency contact number(s):
> g. Anything else we should know about you (allergies, diet, medical
> condition, special needs):
> h. Do you need a visa to come to Uganda?
>
> 2) Which track are you applying for?
>
> 3) What, if any, Free and Open Source technologies do you work
> with? Please describe your experience and expertise.
>
> 4) Have you been involved with any technology projects for non-
> profit or civil society organizations? If so please briefly explain them.
>
> 5) What is your current professional affiliation (organization you
> work for, mission of the organization, position you have in the
> organization, is your organization a non-profit, etc.)?
>
> 6) What FOSS applications are you currently implementing in your
> (non profit) women's organisation? For which purposes? Which
> applications are you most interested in learning more about?
>
> 6) Why are you interested in attending the FOSS Workshop for
> women's organisations? What do you hope to learn?
>
> 7) We encourage participants to share their own expertise and skills
> during the workshop by leading discussion on topical issues such as
> - for example - ICTs for social development and gender equality,
> technology issues in running women's NGOs, the social/political
> contexts of where you operate and how that affects operations,
> issues in content development and information sharing, current
> strategies for deploying ICTs in your work, etc. What tutorials,
> development sessions or discussions would you like to lead (or help
> lead)?
>
> This event is organised by APC-Africa-Women, with training,
> strategic and logistic inputs from WOUGNET, Women'sNet, Linux
> Chix Africa, Isis-WICCE and Bellanet Africa. The workshop was
> made possible through support from HIVOS.
>
> http://www.apcafricawomen.org
>
> [END]
>
>
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