Lwati June 2006, Number 24

* LWATI *

The monthly e-newsletter of the Southern African Non-Governmental Organisation Network (SANGONeT)

June 2006, Number 24

www.sangonet.org.za

"Lwati" is an isiSwati word meaning information.

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

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<> EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S COMMENTS

Dear reader

Welcome to the 24th edition of SANGONeT’s monthly e-newsletter!

During the past week I had the opportunity to participate in the Netsquared Conference, “Remixing the Web for Social Change”, in Silicon Valley in California.

The conference focused on how NGOs in different parts of the world use various new Internet tools, referred to as Web 2.0 or the social web, to collaborate, build relationships, share information and mobilise support. These tools include blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, podcasts and social bookmarking. With more than a billion Internet users worldwide, Technorati is already indexing 42 million blogs.

Although the lack of and/or high cost of connectivity in developing countries has a significant impact on NGOs’ ability to benefit from new Internet applications, the Internet presents the local NGO sector with a wide range of opportunities to transform its capacity and impact.

My participation in the Netsquared conference was very timely from a SANGONeT perspective as we embark on the next phase in development of the SANGONeT portal. Having established the portal as the primary information resource on the NGO sector in South Africa, the next challenge is to transform it into an interactive online community space for the sector. As much as SANGONeT will continue to rely on its current online and offline strategies to achieve this objective, maximizing the potential of various web applications holds the key to aggregating relevant online content, interacting with a wider range of NGOs and presenting the sector with platform for online communication and engagement.

In addition to our ongoing work on the SANGONeT NGO portal, we are also embarking on the following five new strategic projects:

1. Southern African Thetha Forums - based on the success of the more than 20 Thetha ICT discussion forums that we have hosted in South Africa during the past three years, from July-December 2006 we will host five two-day Thetha forums in Namibia, Swaziland, Botswana, Lesotho and Namibia. The objectives of these events are to create awareness amongst NGOs in the mentioned countries about various ICT policy issues and applications, as well as to build the capacity of local NGO coordinating bodies to convene similar events in future.

2. Techsoup Stock South Africa - as of September 2006, we will be implementing TechSoup Stock (www.techsoup.org/stock), a project of San Francisco-based Compumentor, in Southern Africa. This online product donation service connects NGOs with technology product donations from various IT companies. The project will result in significant cost savings for NGOs in terms of their software requirements.

3. Telecentre.org Entrepreneurial Training Project - SANGONeT, in conjunction with telecentre.org (www.telecentre.org), an international telecentre support initiative based at the IDRC in Canada, will pilot a 28-month telecentre entrepreneurship skills training and networking project in South Africa. The project aims to build the entrepreneurial capacity of telecentre managers, create a support network between participants and contribute to the sustainability of telecentres in South Africa.

4. Telecentre Train-the-Trainer Project - SANGONeT, in conjunction with the Universal Services Agency (USA), Microsoft and Torque-IT, is implementing a project aimed at improving the capacity of IT trainers based at telecentres in South Africa.

5. Dimitra - SANGONeT will once again act as a regional partner to the FAO Dimitra Project (http://www.fao.org/sd/dimitra) in profiling the work of organisations working on rural women’s issues in Southern Africa.

We will highlight progress with the implementation of these initiatives on an ongoing basis on the SANGONeT portal and in our Lwati and NGO Pulse newsletters.

I would like to formally welcome and introduce Aadila Molale, our new Project Manager: Databases. She will oversee, amongst other things, the implementation of PRODDER: The South African NGO and Development Directory.

SANGONeT made its contribution to “Take a Girl Child to Work Day” on 25 May 2006 when we hosted two young women for the day, giving them the opportunity to experience an office environment and the work that we are involved in.

As always, we are very interested in how you think we could best serve the NGO sector with relevant information and ICT products and services. Please send us your views, comments and suggestions. Also visit my blog at http://davidbarnard.blogspot.com/

Best wishes

David Barnard (dbarnard@sangonet.org.za)

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<> CIVIL SOCIETY INFORMATION (CSI) PROGRAMME

# SANGONeT Portal

The SANGONeT NGO Development Information Portal was chosen as a best practise knowledge management model by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). SANGONeT's Knowledge and Information Systems Project Manager, Diane Babak, made an input at the Humanitarian Information Network (HIN) Workshop in Kenya to 104 delegates keen to hear about the portal's content development and management systems. This workshop took place from 29-31 May at the Panari Hotel in Nairobi.

The CSI team is extremely honoured to be chosen by OCHA as a best practise model at the young age of seven months and are doubly pleased by the fact that 20 674 visitors came to the SANGONeT portal in May 2006, viewing 137 096 pages. Since its launch in October 2005, 109 254 visitors have been to the portal, viewing 857 904 pages.

For SANGONeT, the increase in page numbers is tremendously encouraging as it indicates that our visitors are staying on the site for longer periods, viewing more information. This demonstrates that we are achieving the broader capacity and institutional development objectives of the portal as visitors explore the portal in greater detail.

To visit the SANGONeT portal, please refer to http://www.sangonet.org.za

The CSI team has worked hard to ensure that we increase the development of original local content as we attempt to contribute to the building of an indigenous knowledge base.

The following list of original SANGONeT pieces has been compiled especially for Lwati readers:

Guide to Children's Rights NGOs
http://www.sangonet.org.za/url/3mq

NGO Profile: Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation
http://www.sangonet.org.za/url/3ng

Opinion Piece: World Telecommunications Day, Time to Take Stock
http://www.sangonet.org.za/url/3nh

Feature Article: Choosing a Connectivity Option
http://www.sangonet.org.za/url/3ni

Editorial: The Harrowing Tale of NGO Human Resource Management
http://www.sangonet.org.za/url/3nj

For more information about the SANGONeT portal, kindly send a query to SANGONeT's Deputy Director and Editor of the portal, Fazila Farouk, at fazila@sangonet.org.za or editor@sangonet.org.za.

# PRODDER: The South African NGO and Development Directory Is your NGO listed on the PRODDER NGO and Development Directory? Take five minutes to update the details for your NGO, CBO or other development-related initiative in this online directory.

For more information about NGOs, donors and development organisations in South Africa, please visit http://www.prodder.org.za

# 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, grantmakers 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.

For more information about how to subscribe to SN-Announce or post an announcement on it, please contact Diane Babak at SANGONeT on (011) 403-4935 or diane@sangonet.org.za. \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

<> TECHNOLOGY SERVICES

# Central Case Management System (CCMS) on Wikipedia

The CCMS for the paralegal sector in South Africa is now listed on Wikipedia, an international web-based free-content collaborative encyclopedia operated by the Wikimedia Foundation.

Information about the CCMS can be found on Wikipedia by searching for “CCMS” or “Central Case Management System”.

The fluid nature of Wikipedia sometimes results in content getting lost. In order to avoid this, a permanent link has been created for this entry at http://www.sangonet.org.za/url/3nn

For more information about the CCMS, please visit http://www.ccms.org.za

# Technology Resource - NGO.ZA

The NGO.ZA portal now features a Technology Resource section. This section will enable users to access technology-related presentations and publications in one place. The section is under development but already has a list of downloadable presentations. More resources will be added soon.

Visit the NGO.ZA portal at http://www.ngo.za

# Technology Consulting

SANGONeT offers a wide range of customised technology solutions, including open source software consulting, facilitation of web workshops and developing a technology plan for your organisation.

For more information on how we can assist you, please contact Joseph George on Tel: (011) 403-4935 or joseph@sangonet.org.za

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<> ICT ADVOCACY

# Thetha - The SANGONeT ICT Discussion Forum

SANGONeT, in conjunction with the Rossing Foundation, SchoolNet Namibia and NANGOF, will host the first Southern African Thetha forum from 5-6 July 2006 at the Ligthart Training Centre in Windhoek, Namibia.

If you are interested in participating in the Namibian Thetha, please contact Nthabiseng Taole at SANGONeT on Tel: (011) 403-4935 or nthabiseng@sangonet.org.za or Anna Jantjies at the Rossing Foundation on Tel: (+264) (61) 21-1721 or AJantjies@rossing.com.na.

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<> VACANCIES

SANGONeT is currently recruiting for the following three positions:

ICT Services Manager.

SANGONeT would like to appoint a Manager to provide strategic leadership in support of all its internal operational and infrastructural IT requirements, and external service delivery obligations and initiatives. This position is a challenging opportunity for someone passionate about the potential role and contribution of ICTs in support of the NGO sector in Southern Africa, with a keen interest in developing, promoting and introducing new applications relevant to the work of the sector.

Project Manager: Telecentres.

SANGONeT requires the services of a project manager to manage and coordinate the implementation of the telecentre.org entrepreneurial training project in South Africa. The successful candidate will have a strong background in community development and ICT-related initiatives, including understanding of the community development and telecentre sectors.

Project Manager: Techsoup Stock South Africa.

SANGONeT would like to appoint a Project Manager to oversee the planning and implementation of this project. This position is a challenging opportunity for someone with a strategic understanding of the role of technology in support of organisations’ operational requirements, as well as to market the project and introduce technology solutions to the NGO sector in Southern Africa.

Detailed information about the requirements for all three positions is available in the Vacancies section on the SANGONeT portal.

The deadline for applications is Friday, 23 June 2006.

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<> NETWORKING AND OUTREACH

# SANGONeT's Executive Director, David Barnard, made a presentation at the “Connecting Up” Conference, organised by Community Information Strategies Australia (CISA), from 1-2 May 2006 in Adelaide, Australia.

He also made a presentation at the 2006 Australian Society of Association Executives' National Conference from 3-4 May 2006 in Adelaide, Australia.

# SANGONeT’s CSI Programme Assistants, Cecilia Yuyi and Refilwe Rakhibane, attended an Energy Policy workshop hosted by Earthlife Africa on 5 May 2006 in Johannesburg.

# SANGONeT’s Technology Services programme team, Joseph George, Mzwakhe Makhalemele and Botswang Kgeledi, attended Futurex 2006 from 16-19 May 2006 in Sandton.

# SANGONeT’s Information Coordinators, Badumile Duma and Butjwana Seokoma, attended the Ceasefire Campaign's AGM on 23 May 2006 in Braamfontein.

# SANGONeT’s Knowledge and Information Systems Project Manager, Diane Babak, attended the launch of the OECD Development Centre’s African Economic Outlook Report 2005/6 on 25 May 2006 in Braamfontein.

She also made a presentation at the United Nations Humanitarian Information Network Africa Workshop from 29-31 May in Nairobi, Kenya.

# SANGONeT's Executive Director, David Barnard, attended the launch of the FNB Enablis Business Plan Competition on 25 May 2006 in Johannesburg.

He also made a presentation at the Netsquared Conference, “Remixing the Web for Social Change”, from 30-31 May 2006 in San Jose, United States.

# SANGONeT’s Technology Services Manager, Joseph George, attended the launch of Connect Africa's Mobile Communication Unit on 31 May 2006 in Midrand.

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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. 2006. SANGONeT.

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

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