BarCamp Swaziland

BarCamp Swaziland will bring together 100 technology and media practitioners on 27 June 2009, the first conference, or “unconference”, of its kind in the Kingdom of Swaziland. Unlike a conference, at a BarCamp everyone is both a speaker and a participant. The content is provided by all attendees based on their interests.

This BarCamp will also work to engage youth as reporters of the conference – conducting interviews and microblogging sessions with their impressions.

Swaziland recently created a new Ministry of ICT, and local technology is rapidly emerging. With 90% of the Swazi population within range of a mobile phone network, the first BarCamp Swaziland will be focused on mobiles. Local youth will be participants and report from the conference – conducting interviews and blogging.

BarCamp Swaziland aims to encourage local technology by sharing best practices and building partnerships; identifying technology interests and trends in Swaziland; and providing a platform and opportunity to test the capacity of mobile phones for mobile registration, data collection, and real-time international mobile reporting.

Schedule
9:00h – 10:00h Sign in and registration
10:00h - 10:30h Opening Session and Initial Networking Activity
10:30h - 11:15h Agenda Building
11:15h – 11:30h Tea
11:30h – 12:15h First Break-Out Session of participant generated topics
12:15h – 13:00h Second Break-Out Session
13:00h – 14:00h Lunch
14:00h – 14:45h Third Break-Out Session
14:45h – 15:30h Fourth Break-Out Session
15:30h – 16:30h Closing Session and Word from Sponsors


YouthAssets (www.youthassets.org), a non-profit which focuses on empowering youth in Southern Africa, is a main sponsor of the event.

Contacts

For more information on this event, please contact Jennifer Sly at  Jennifer@youthassets.org. Please check our blog on <www.barcampswaziland.org> and our presence on Facebook and Twitter @barcampswaz.