SADC-WIDE WORKSHOP: BUILDING AWARENESS OF, AND SUPPORT FOR USE OF
FREE AND OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS (FOSS) IN WOMEN'S
ORGANISATIONS

Women'sNet, a non-profit women's organisation organisation based in
Johannesburg, is hosting a SADC regional workshop to build awareness
of and the potential use of Free and Open Source Solutions (FOSS) in
the non-profit sector, and women's organisations specifically. The
workshop itself will be held in Johannesburg, and is scheduled for 6-
10 September 2004.

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.
* Open source software is often less demanding on hardware resources
than proprietary software, and can help break the cycle of constantly
needing to upgrade hardware to accommodate "software bloat".

PURPOSE OF THE WORKSHOP

With the exception of certain Internet-related tools, open source
software is not yet widely used in Africa, and there have been no
initiatives aimed specifically at using open source to support
women's organizations and networks. In order to realize the potential
of open source software it is necessary to

* Raise awareness of open source tools at a variety of levels:
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 wihtin women's organisations.

STRUCTURE OF THE WORKSHOP

The workshop will run over 5 days, from Monday 5 September t to
Friday 10 September 2004. 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 efectively integating ICT into their operations and future plans.

Track 1 will target young 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 faciliate 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 (young) women who meet the following
criteria:

* a solid (3-4 years) ICT training and/or work background

* 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 faciliating 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.
Women'sNet 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.

Accommodation will be shared.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Please complete the questionnaire below and return to
[email protected]

Deadline for applications is Friday, 16 July 2004. Please apply
soonest as space at this workshop is limited. There are only about 10
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 South Africa?

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 Women'sNet, with inputs from APC Women's
Networking Support Programme, Meraka, and Ungana-Afrika. The event is
sponsored by the Open Society Initiative Southern Africa (OSISA) and
and the Information Programme of Open Society Institute (Hungary).