Lwati February 2008, Number 44

* LWATI *

The monthly e-newsletter of the Southern African NGO Network (SANGONeT)

February 2008, Number 44

http://www.sangonet.org.za

"Lwati" is an isiSwati word meaning information.

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<> EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S COMMENTS
<> CIVIL SOCIETY INFORMATION
<> ICT SERVICES
<> NETWORKING AND OUTREACH
<> CONTACT DETAILS

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<> EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S COMMENTS

Welcome to the 44th edition of SANGONeT´s monthly e-newsletter!

The fourth annual SANGONeT “ICTs for Civil Society” conference and exhibition will be held in August 2008 in Johannesburg. This year’s event will be co-hosted with MobileActive.org and branded as “MobileActive08”.

MobileActive.org (http://www.mobileactive.org) is a global network of activists using mobile phones for civic action and engagement. It convenes mobile activists, shares knowledge and skills, and provides a peer network, training and resources to those interested in exploring mobile phones in their civic engagement, mobilisation and action campaigns. MobileActive05 and ’07 were held in Canada and Brazil, respectively.

The theme of the 2008 event is "Unlocking the Potential of Mobile Technology for Social Impact”.

The three-day conference will convene approximately 250 civil society, development and technology practitioners interested in the use and application of mobile technology in support of social impact.

Participants will include non-profit practitioners using mobile phones in innovative and creative ways or considering mobile applications in support of their activities, mobile technologists, researchers studying the use of mobile phones, government officials, donors and representatives from the telecommunications industry.

There are approximately 3 billion mobile phones in circulation around the world. In many countries, especially the developing world, mobile phones are the easiest and least expensive medium to communicate and are far more pervasive than the Internet. Mobile phones are also bridging the digital divide in developing countries at a rate much faster than most other interventions to date.

The recently released UNCTAD “Information Economy Report 2007-2008” states that there were 50 million new mobile subscribers in 2006 in Africa, and in 2007 the total number of mobile subscriptions reached an estimated 200 million. As a result, there are more than 20 active cell phones per 100 people in Africa, with mobile telephony practically replacing fixed lines in many countries. Increasingly, the impact of mobile technology on economic and social development is becoming more evident.

Based on these developments, NGOs and other development practitioners in various parts of the world are increasingly using mobile technology in support of their work. However, there is a dire need to share lessons learned to date and explore the most effective use of this technology.

At MobileActive08 participants will explore how mobile phones are used to advance civil society and development work, assess the current state of knowledge in the use and effectiveness of mobile technology to advance social action, and investigate trends, needs and investment opportunities.

The conference is intentionally designed to be cross-disciplinary as learnings and experiences span various disciplines in this emerging field. However, specific attention will be given to the role of mobile technology in health, human rights, economic development, advocacy, education, citizen journalism and democratic participation.

This will be the largest international civil society event to date focusing on this topic.

The conference website with detailed information about the event will be available by the end of March 2007.

SANGONeT invites anyone interested in participating in the event as a speaker or
participant to register their interest at - info@sangonet.org.za. We are especially interested in research, case studies, new applications and other interventions highlighting the impact and potential of mobile technology for social change.

As always, we are very interested in how you think we could best serve the NGO sector with relevant ICT products and services. Please send us your views, comments and suggestions.

Best wishes

David Barnard (dbarnard@sangonet.org.za)

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<> CIVIL SOCIETY INFORMATION (CSI) PROGRAMME

# SANGONeT NGO Portal

In the past two years the SANGONeT portal (http://www.sangonet.org.za) established itself as a strategic media platform to disseminate, communicate and access information of relevance to the institutional capacity of the NGO sector in South Africa.

In 2008 a number of changes will be introduced to the portal to expand the scope and focus of its contents. Visitors can also expect to see changes to the look of the portal. Notwithstanding the changes, we guarantee to strengthen our engagement with development practitioners and activists to gauge perspectives and views that can be shared through the portal.

We are also in the process of moving Prodder to a new technical platform which will replace the database currently available on http://www.prodder.org.za. For the next few weeks visitors will not be able to register or update information on the existing platform. This process should be finalised by the end of February 2008. In the interim, we encourage development organisations to review their information listed in Prodder and to forward any changes to prodder@sangonet.org.za. We will update and change your information accordingly.

In line with the portal’s objective to increase its focus on civil society strengthening and capacity-building issues, the January 2008 poll aimed to determine whether South African NGOs are characterised by weak leadership.

The results of the poll, which was taken by 140 voters, are as follow:

• 43.6% (61 Voters) Not at all
• 30% (42 Voters) Yes, to a significant degree
• 15%  (21 Voters) Yes to a limited degree
• 11.4% (16 Voters) Not entirely

As always, the CSI team continued to produce relevant civil society and development-related content for the portal. Key articles produced during January 2008 include the following:

2008 Forecast - Now What Do Them Bones Say This Year?

CSI and the NGO Sector in Modern Times

South African Social Mobilisation Leads the World

Social Networking Trends in South Africa

Small-Scale Grant Schemes

Prodder: the book is back

For more information about the SANGONeT NGO Portal, please contact Butjwana Seokoma at SANGONeT on Tel: (011) 403-4935 or butjwana@sangonet.org.za.

# Prodder - NGOs and Development in South Africa 2008

The 2008 Prodder directory is now available from SANGONeT’s office in Braamfontein.

To order your copy, please refer to the information about the book on http://www.prodder.org.za or send an e-mail to prodder@sangonet.org.za, specifying your interest to order the book (R350 VAT inclusive plus postage).

# SN-Announce

SN-Announce is an e-mail advertising service that provides an invaluable service to the NGO sector in Southern Africa. With a potential readership of more than 10 000 people, it remains one of the most cost-effective and efficient ways to reach non-profit organisations, development practitioners, funders and others working in the development sector.

All members of the development sector can advertise on SN-Announce. The type of information distributed includes alerts for vacancies, events, campaign launches, conferences, meetings and services for the development sector. Subscription to the SN-Announce service is free.

Refer to http://www.sangonet.org.za for copies of past announcements.

For more information about how to subscribe to SN-Announce or post an announcement, please contact Neila Pillay at SANGONeT on (011) 403-4935 or neila@sangonet.org.za.

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<> ICT SERVICES

# SANGOTeCH Online Technology Donations Portal

SANGOTeCH assisted South African NGOs in saving over R800 000 on their purchases of Microsoft software during the first six weeks of 2008.

SANGOTeCH will launch a new product, Mailshell, on 22 February 2008. Mailshell Anti-Spam Desktop is a spam-filtering solution for Windows users.

SANGOTeCH will expand its offerings to Botswana in the next few weeks. Working with the Botswana Council of NGOs (BOCONGO), SANGOTeCH will provide donated Microsoft software to the Botswana non-profit sector. A wider range of donor products will be added at a later stage.

The SANGOTeCH product catalogue can be viewed at http://store.sangotech.org/directory

For more information about SANGOTeCH, as well as to receive regular updates about new products and services, please refer to http://www.sangotech.org or contact us on 086 110 6443 or support@sangotech.org

# Citizen Journalism in Africa Project

SANGONeT and Hivos are collaborating on a project aimed at developing Citizen Journalism in Africa, with a specific focus on South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda and Mozambique.

A practical training workshop was held for 24 South African civil society representatives from 11-13 February 2008 in Johannesburg. The workshop introduced participants to using new media tools such as blogs and podcasts, as well as how to work with equipment such as digital cameras and digital voice recorders.

For more information about the project, please refer to http://ww.citizenjournalismafrica.org

# Microsoft/USAASA Telecentre Training

SANGONeT is assisting Microsoft and the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA) in the training and accreditation of telecentres. ICT training is one the key opportunities for telecentres to support their financial sustainability, and is one of the most valuable services that they can offer communities in areas underserviced by traditional ICT service providers.

The project has already trained over 50 telecentre staff members to become trainers of Microsoft's Unlimited Potential Curriculum, as well as 10 people to become accredited assessors. In January 2008 a further 10 people received training to become assessors, and 15 to become moderators. The 10 assessors were also trained in assisting telecentres to become accredited with ISETT-SETA.

# Technology Consulting

SANGONeT offers a range of customised online applications that include social networking portals, online directories, and constituent relationship management solutions. We also offer a linked technical support desk service.

For more information on how we can assist you, please contact Matthew de Gale at SANGONeT on Tel: (011) 403-4935 or matthew@sangonet.org.za

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<> NETWORKING AND OUTREACH

SANGONeT’s Information Coordinator, Butjwana Seokoma, attended the South African Civil Society Preparatory Workshop in support of the SADC International Consultative Conference on Poverty and Development from 24-25 January 2008 in Johannesburg.

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<> CONTACT DETAILS

SANGONeT
P O Box 31392
2017 Braamfontein
SOUTH AFRICA

29th Floor, UCS Building
209 Smit Street
Braamfontein

Tel: (+27) (11) 403-4935
Fax: (+27) (11) 403-0130
E-mail: newsletter@sangonet.org.za
WWW: http://www.sangonet.org.za

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CopyLeft. 2008. SANGONeT.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and modify this document. Please provide an acknowledgment to SANGONeT.

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