Lwati March 2007, Number 33

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

March 2007, Number 33

www.sangonet.org.za

"Lwati" is an isiSwati word meaning information.

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

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<> EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S COMMENTS

Welcome to the 33rd edition of SANGONeT´s monthly e-newsletter!

The third annual SANGONeT “ICTs for Civil Society” Conference will be held from 17-18 July 2007 at the Wanderers Club in Illovo, Johannesburg.

The theme of the event will be “Applications for the Development Sector”.

The 2007 event is of special significance to SANGONeT as it coincides with our twentieth anniversary. As part of the overall focus of the event we will not only reflect on SANGONeT’s achievements since inception, but also the progress that South African NGOs have made over the past 20 years in adopting and integrating ICTs in their work.

Very little is still known about how South African NGOs are adopting, using and managing ICTs. The objective of the 2007 event is therefore to develop a deeper understanding of this situation by focusing on both past and present experiences, as well as expected future developments. This will be accomplished by two interrelated approaches.

Firstly, the conference programme will be strategically informed by the findings of the “State of ICTs in the South African NGO Sector” research project that we are implementing in conjunction with World Wide Worx. The opening plenary session will be dedicated to presentations and analysis of these findings. Secondly, the conference will be used to showcase specific ICT experiences and expertise of local NGOs, thus creating an environment for peer-learning and support.

The conference will cover various key ICT issues relevant to the work of the NGO sector, including online fundraising, monitoring and evaluation, building online communities, open source migration, open content, mobile applications, ICT procurement, CRM, and the ICT experiences of NGOs in rural areas and the rest of Southern Africa.

Furthermore, the winners of the South African NGO Web Awards 2007 will be announced at the gala dinner on 17 July 2007.

The conference is aimed at senior managers, communication and information officers, and technical employees in the NGO sector, as well as individuals who work with these organisations, including international funding agencies, the private sector, parastatals and government.

Detailed information about the event will be published on the conference website by the end of March 2007 - http://sangonet.org.za/url/5q4. SANGONeT invites anyone interested in participating in the event as a speaker or participant to register their interest at - info@sangonet.org.za.

Reflecting on other important ICT developments, on 22 February 2007 Cabinet approved a policy and strategy for the implementation of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in government. All new software developed for or by the government will in future be based on open standards and government will migrate all current software to FOSS. This important Cabinet decision has the potential to transform the software landscape not only in government, but in South African society at large.

Refer to http://sangonet.org.za/url/5pv for information about this announcement.

Although the adoption of a FOSS policy has been on the government agenda for the past few years, civil society played an important role in advocating for government to bring finality to this issue. In September 2006 SANGONeT and the Internet Society of South Africa coordinated a civil society petition (http://sangonet.org.za/url/5m2) which called on the Minister of Public Services and Administration to adopt an open source policy.

Civil society will closely monitor the FOSS implementation process and continue to make critical inputs as required. It is therefore encouraging to notice that Cabinet has also approved the creation of a partnership with ICT NGOs, to be called the Information Society and Developmental Intergovernmental Relations Forum (ISADIGRF). This initiative will form part of the implementation of the National Information Society and Development (ISAD) Plan, aimed at building an inclusive information society in South Africa.

This development and will provide a much needed platform for regular engagement between government and civil society about national ICT issues, including the implementation of the FOSS policy.

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

SANGONeT’s CSI programme hosted an annual planning meeting during February 2007 to determine how best to develop content for the SANGONeT portal, including the PRODDER Directory.

An upshot of this planning exercise was the identification of a number of offline activities that we are planning for the latter half of 2007. An activity worth noting is our planned focus group discussions in three provinces, namely Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the North West Province. The CSI team hosted similar meetings in other parts of South Africa in the run up to the launch of the SANGONeT portal.

The month of February also witnessed two national events of great importance for all South Africans, especially for development practitioners and activists. On 9 February 2007, President Thabo Mbeki made his annual State of the Nation Address, which SANGONeT reflected upon in our monthly portal editorial. Arguing from a social justice perspective, our editorial contends that the President’s address did not deal with the problem of inequality in an adequate manner. Find the link to the article below in the editor’s choice listing.

The second important event in February was the Minister of Finance’s annual budget speech. The CSI team released a special edition of NGO Pulse on 22 February 2007 which covered a civil society response to the budget.

To coincide with these two events, the SANGONeT portal hosted a poll which attempted to generate a response to the following statement - “The South African government is making adequate progress delivering basic services to the poor.”

The results of the poll, which was taken by 202 voters, are as follow:

- I strongly disagree - 37.6%
- I disagree - 30.7%
- I strongly agree - 16.3%
- I agree - 15.3%

As always, the CSI team continued to produce relevant civil society and development-related content for the portal. The editor’s choice for articles produced during February 2007 includes the following:

Opinion: A Civil Society Response to the Budget Speech
http://www.sangonet.org.za/url/5mp

Toolkit: 18 Ideas for Avoiding a Funding Crisis!
http://www.sangonet.org.za/url/5mi

Toolkit: NGO Technology Planning
http://www.sangonet.org.za/url/5mm

Editorial: A Social Justice Response to the State of the Nation Address
http://www.sangonet.org.za/url/5mj

Analysis: Understanding South African Civil Society
http://www.sangonet.org.za/url/5mk

NGO Profile: People Opposing Women Abuse
http://www.sangonet.org.za/url/5mn

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

# PRODDER: The South African NGO and Development Directory

SANGONeT continues to house the most up-to-date online directory of NGOs and development agencies in the form of PRODDER, and we remind you to list your organisation on this free and searchable database.

The directory is available at http://www.prodder.org.za.

For more information about PRODDER, please contact Aadila Molale at SANGONeT on Tel: (011) 403-4935 or aadila@sangonet.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 covers vacancies, events, new publications, funding opportunities, tenders and services for the development sector. Subscription to the SN-Announce service is free.

Refer to http://sangonet.org.za/url/55u for copies of past announcements.

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

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<> ICT SERVICES

# SANGOTeCH Online Technology Donations Portal

SANGOTeCH has recently updated its Microsoft product line to include new versions of Windows and other server products. Windows Vista Business
Upgrade is now available, as is Microsoft Office 2007 Professional Plus.

South African NGOs interested in ordering software available on SANGOTeCH should first check their general eligibility for the programme at http://www.sangotech.org/eligibility. If an organisation fulfills these requirements, then check the specific eligibility requirements of our initial donor partners, Cisco and Microsoft. If you qualify for at least one of these, then register for the programme at http://www.sangotech.org/user/register.

The 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 www.sangotech.org or contact us on 086 110 6443 or support@sangotech.org.

# Technology Consulting

SANGONeT offers a wide range of customised technology solutions around online application development and programme support.

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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<> ICT ADVOCACY

# Thetha - The SANGONeT ICT Discussion Forum

The first South African Thetha forum of 2007 will be held in May 2007. The event will focus on the issue of e-Waste, and will be held in conjunction with the Information Technology Association of South Africa (ITA).

If you are interested in participating in this event, please contact Nthabiseng Taole at SANGONeT on Tel: (011) 403-4935 or nthabiseng@sangonet.org.za.

# Third Annual SANGONeT "ICTs for Civil Society" Conference and Exhibition

SANGONeT will host its third annual "ICTs for Civil Society" conference and exhibition from 17-18 July 2007 at the Wanderers Club in Illovo, Johannesburg.

SANGONeT invites anyone interested in participating in the event as a speaker or participant to register their interest at - info@sangonet.org.za.

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NETWORKING AND OUTREACH

# SANGONeT's Executive Director, David Barnard, attended the Cisco Community Knowledge Centers workshop on 12 February 2007 in Netanyah, Israel. He also attended The Edge Institute’s Harold Wolpe Seminar on “The Developmental State at the Local Level” on 14 February 2007 in Johannesburg.

# SANGONeT’s Portal Editor, Fazila Farouk, attended a presentation about “How to Make Markets Work for the Poor”, hosted by the Building Communication Opportunities (BCO) Alliance, on 19 February 2007 in Johannesburg.

# SANGONeT’s Information Coordinator, Badumile Duma, attended the Gauteng Department of Community Safety’s "Crime Sector Summit for NGOs and Civil Society" on 26 February 2007 in Johannesburg. Refer to http://sangonet.org.za/url/5nz for more information about this event.

# SANGONeT’s ICT Advocacy Manager, Nthabiseng Taole, and ICT Services Manager, Matthew de Gale, attended the OSISA ICT Cluster meeting from 27-28 February 2007 in Randburg.

# SANGONeT’s Information Coordinator, Butjwana Seokoma, attended an Open Society Foundation (OSF) event on 28 February 2007 at Gallagher Estate in Midrand during which a series of publications dealing with “Sentencing in South Africa” was launched.

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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. 2007. SANGONeT.

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

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