Lwati September 2006, Number 27

* LWATI *

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

September 2006, Number 27

www.sangonet.org.za

"Lwati" is an isiSwati word meaning information.

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

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<> EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S COMMENTS

Dear reader

Welcome to the 27th edition of SANGONeT’s monthly e-newsletter!

A number of important developments and events have dominated the local ICT and telecommunications environment in recent weeks.

The long-awaited second national operator, Neotel, was launched on 31 August 2006, the annual meeting of the Presidential international Advisory Council on Information Society and Development was held in Mpumalanga, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications conducted interviews with shortlisted candidates for vacant ICASA councillor positions in Cape Town, the Convergence, Broadcast and Telecommunications Summit as well as iWeek Conference were held in Johannesburg, and the Telecoms Action Group launched its national consumer advocacy campaign to protest the lack of alternatives in the local telecommunications sector.

The relevance and potential impact of all these developments should be assessed against the backdrop of the need for competition and alternatives in the local telecommunications environment, the need to significantly reduce the cost of telecommunication services and the need for government and ICASA to play a much more active role in this regard.

It is impossible to effectively respond to South Africa’s vast socio-economic and “digital divide” challenges, build an inclusive information society or improve the competitiveness of the local economy unless the shortcomings in the telecommunications environment are addressed in a meaningful manner. The challenges are well defined, action is required.

Also refer to http://www.sangonet.org.za/url/4ae for additional views in this regard.

As far as SANGONeT is concerned, we have embarked on a number of new initiatives.

Various government, private sector and civil society stakeholders unanimously adopted a declaration in support of a National Open Source Strategy at the end of the Go Open Source Conference held from 22-23 August 2005 in Johannesburg. The Declaration recommended that the National Cabinet formally adopt a policy on free and open source software and open content (FOSS/OC).

A year has passed since the Declaration was adopted and very little progress has been made in meeting the commitments emanating from the conference. As ICT procurement by government accounts for more than 50% of the local ICT market, a change in government behaviour, policy and practice is a prerequisite for the benefits of FOSS/OC to be realised across society.

In conjunction with the Internet Society of South Africa, we are currently coordinating a civil society petition calling on the Minister for Public Service and Administration to adopt an open source policy and honour the government's commitments to the Declaration.

The petition is available at http://www.sangonet.org.za/url/46i and South African civil society organisations are invited to endorse the petition by 22 September 2006. Endorsements should be sent to - info@sangonet.org.za

Based on the success of the SANGONeT NGO portal and weekly NGO Pulse e-newsletter, we have issued a Call for Expressions of Interest in support of a study to assess the feasibility of introducing a quarterly NGO newspaper.

The idea of the quarterly newspaper is to complement SANGONeT’s online information initiatives, provide an information service to the large section of local NGOs which still relies on offline communication mechanisms, and ultimately strengthen the communication options available to the South African NGO sector. Refer to http://www.sangonet.org.za/url/4af for the terms of reference.

Expressions of interest should be sent to editor@sangonet.org.za by 15 September 2006.

We have also commenced with initial planning for the next SANGONeT “ICTs for Civil Society” Conference and Exhibition which will be held in March 2007 in Johannesburg. Building on the success of the first two events, we aim to expand the focus and scope of the conference with many exciting discussion sessions, product demonstrations and networking opportunities.

To assist us in shaping the programme for the event, we are inviting NGOs and other interested stakeholders to highlight specific topics that are of interest to them at http://www.sangonet.org.za/conference2007

On a sad note, we would like to express our sincere condolences to the family of Eugene Saldanha who passed away during the past week. As the former director of CAFSA and the Non-Profit Partnership, Eugene made an important contribution to the work of the local NGO sector. His presence will be missed.

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.

Best wishes

David Barnard (dbarnard@sangonet.org.za)

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<> STAFF NEWS

Two new managers have joined SANGONeT this month.

Neila Pillay has been appointed as the new Finance Manager and Matthew de Gale as the ICT Services Manager. Both have extensive experience in their respective fields, and SANGONeT’s work in this regard will definitely benefit as a result.

We would also like to acknowledge the contributions of Lucy More, Finance Manager, and Diane Babak, Project Manager: Knowledge and Information Systems, who are leaving SANGONeT this month. We wish them well with their future endeavours.

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<> CIVIL SOCIETY INFORMATION (CSI) PROGRAMME

# SANGONeT Portal

An important event hosted by SANGONeT’s CSI team in August was an online workshop for NGOs in South Africa. The workshop, which took place via a live video stream, was conducted by Seattle-based Michael Gilbert and focused on ‘Communication Centered Website Design’. It was definitely a first for participating NGOs from Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban who engaged in this capacity building initiative from the comfort of their local offices.

The feedback from participants was positive, however, levels of engagement at the event also highlighted that South African NGOs still have much catching up to do with respect to effectively using the online environment for communication. The CSI team and SANGONeT as a whole will continue to host similar events to nurture effective web communication within the local NGO sector.

Also during the month of August, the SANGONeT portal ran a poll seeking to establish from our visitors, if they believe that poverty can be eradicated. A significant 64% of the 200 respondents agreed with the assertion that it can. This result bodes well for interesting debates in the future as the poverty alleviation discourse is increasingly being challenged by a poverty eradication agenda. It is interesting to note that many of the most outspoken proponents of poverty eradication give expression to their views almost entirely in the online environment, demonstrating the power that has been delivered to ordinary people by simple communication tools made possible by innovative technology.

As always, the CSI team continued to produce relevant civil society and development-related content as well as keep the portal updated with related news, notwithstanding keeping the classifieds sections current. The editor’s choice for articles produced during the month of August includes the following:

Donor Interview: Nedbank Corporate
http://www.sangonet.org.za/url/4a2

Opinion Piece: Participation in the Budget Process
http://www.sangonet.org.za/url/4a3

NGO Profile: The Aids Law Project
http://www.sangonet.org.za/url/4a4

NGO Tips: Choosing a Web Designer
http://www.sangonet.org.za/url/4a5

Feature Article: Women and Poverty - A Statistical Story
http://www.sangonet.org.za/url/4a6

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 The SANGONeT portal 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 (011) 403-4935 or prodder@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 includes alerts for vacancies, events, campaign launches, conferences, meetings and services for the development sector.

Subscription to the SN-Announce service is free.

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

<> TECHNOLOGY SERVICES

# Network Operations: SME Server

As part of our strategy of building organisational capacity in the open source field, the Technology Services Programme has invested in identifying and testing an appropriate network server which would also serve the purpose of upgrading the office network.

The SME Server is a simple, powerful, secure Linux server which provides a friendly, free alternative to expensive proprietary networking software. The programme has acquired critical skills in installing and managing the SME server. It was deployed successfully in a seamless transition from the previous generation Linux box generic solution.

For more information about the SME server, please visit http://contribs.org/modules/news

# Open Source Desktop Applications

The process of rolling out free and open source software (FOSS) in the desktop environment within SANGONeT is now well underway with the installation of applications such as GIMP and Nvu on staff computers.

GIMP is used to process digital graphics and photographs. Typical applications include creating graphics and logos, resizing and cropping photos, changing colours, combining images using a layer paradigm, removing unwanted image features, and converting between different image formats. GIMP can also be used to create animated images using an improved layers method. The full capabilities of the GIMP extend much further, however, and include advanced image editing, manipulation and professional graphics creation.

For more information about GIMP, please visit http://www.gimp.org

Nvu is a powerful WYSIWYG HTML editor, intended to be an open source equivalent to proprietary software like Microsoft FrontPage and Macromedia Dreamweaver.

For more information about Nvu, please visit http://www.nvu.com

Both applications are available for Windows as well as the Linux operating system.

# 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 Regional ICT Discussion Forum

SANGONeT will host the third Southern African Thetha forums from 5-6 October 2006 in Gaborone, Botswana.

If you are interested in participating in this event, please contact Itumeleng Tsebe at BOCONGO on Tel: (+267) 391-1319 or tsebet@bocongo.org.bw and/or Nthabiseng Taole at SANGONeT on Tel: (011) 403-4935 or nthabiseng@sangonet.org.za.

You can also register online on the Thetha website - http://www.sangonet.org.za/thetha

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

SANGONeT will host its third annual "ICTs for Civil Society" conference in March 2007 in Johannesburg. Building on the success of the first two events, the next conference will focus specifically on how the NGO sector is adopting, using and implementing ICT applications in their work.

SANGONeT therefore 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 receiving information on any case studies, technology solutions, etc. which could be incorporated into the conference programme.

Refer to http://www.sangonet.org.za/conference2007 to assist us in shaping the conference programme.

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<> NETWORKING AND OUTREACH

# SANGONeT’s ICT Advocacy Manager, Nthabiseng Taole, attended the eIFL/OSISA Open Access Workshop from 21-22 August 2006 in Pretoria.

# SANGONeT hosted the fourth meeting of the CEO Circle on 25 August 2006 at the IEB in Houghton. The topic for discussion was "Governance in the NGO Sector", with Phiroshaw Camay of CORE as the guest speaker.

# SANGONeT's Executive Director, David Barnard, attended the Second Post-WSIS workshop on 25 August 2006 in Pretoria, as well as the launch of Neotel on 31 August 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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