Many people wonder why we need to carry out advocacy activities targeted at Government policy when it comes to promoting FOSS. Those whose interests are put on the line by the rapid march of FOSS argue that we should let the government decide for itself what kind of software it will use in its departments. They say that if government should develop and adopt FOSS policy, then it will be going against the principles of having a level playing field.

FOSSFA, InWEnt and AVOIR are pleased to announce the vacancy for the "MIP Network Manager".

The article “Best Practices for Creating an Open Source Policy” gives a thorough guidline for the development of a FOSS Policy in businesses. The problem with the creation of an open source policy is explained as follows:

As announced this is the first in a series of Country Feature we are going to publish on the ict@innovation website. The feature highlights projects, organisations, initiatives and individuals working with FOSS.

I have just been talking with Belinda Lopez, the Training Project Manager at Canonical (the company behind Ubuntu), and learned about her work on business models in the FOSS training area. Quite a good timing, since we are currently at the roll-out phase of the national trainings and as we would be delighted if trainers would manage it to implement business models that make their trainings financially sustainable in the long run!

In order to continue to make the ict@innovation platform an interesting and enriching experience for our you, the ict@innovation community, the ict@innovation-team is planning to introduce a new feature section. Every month, we will feature FOSS-organisations, projects and news from one of our 10 partner countries. This new website section will give us and you the chance to share your FOSS experiences more prominently. For the next ten months, we will dedicate one month per country to highlight national FOSS projects and initiatives, academic institutes, and interesting individuals.

To publicise the launch of the new ict@innovation Training Handbook "Free your IT-Business in Africa!" we have written this press release and are currently spreadind the news that the materials can be downloaded for free here on the website on different mailinglists and relevant repositories. We want to make sure everyone interested in the materials knows about them so please feel free to help us spread the word and pass on this press release and most importantly the link to the materials!

In my wildest dreams, I never thought that I would ever get to sit down with Jon ¨maddog¨ Hall over breakfast and discuss open source. This happened during the just concluded Idelo4 conference in Accra, Ghana. I was totally blown away by his humility, taking into consideration that he is one of the foremost open source evangelists in the world. I got to discuss many issues with him and his presentations at the conference were extremely inspiring. In terms of the Idlelo being a time and place for the open source community to refresh and refuel, this one was way up there.

Medaase to everyone who has put there thought and energy into the training materials!The Idlelo Gala Dinner last night was the perfect location to launch the training handbook: “ict@innovation : Free your IT Business in Africa! ” in a befittingly festive atmosphere. The training guide compiles all the advanced training materials on African Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) business models for small and medium enterprisers in the IT-industry.

The first day of sessions at this years Idlelo has evoked some interesting discussions. Different country perspectives are being shared from all over the African continent and even from Brazil. The day began with a welcoming of the IT Minister and the organisers. ict@innovation is represented by a booth and a number of sessions.