SANGONeT Conference 2009: Social Media and the NGO Sector in South Africa

Press Release

9 October 2009

The relevance and use of social media for South African NGOs will be explored at the 5th Annual SANGONeT “ICTs for Civil Society” Conference taking place from 15-16 October in Johannesburg and from 20-21 October 2009 in Cape Town. The annual SANGONeT conference is the premier ICT event dedicated to the work of the NGO sector in Southern Africa.

“Social media and web-based applications are transforming the way in which non-profits accomplish their missions in many parts of the world,” says SANGONeT executive director, David Barnard.

"With South Africa’s high mobile phone penetration, as well as the eagerly awaited increase in local broadband capacity in the next few years as a result of the arrival of various undersea cables, we might be on the verge of an exciting period of growth and development in social media uptake in the NGO sector,” says Barnard.

Social media are tools that allow groups to generate content, engage in peer-to-peer conversations and exchange content. The key features of social media are participation and interaction, connecting people and providing the tools necessary to have a conversation - all important components of NGOs' day-to-day work.

The conference will give specific attention to three key related issues:

• How NGOs are and/or should be using social media tools (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc) in support of their work;
• How social media tools are used on 'Africa's computer' - the mobile phone;
• Identify and reflect on NGOs' future technology needs and requirements.

The SANGONeT conference will explore these issues by drawing on the experience of local and international experts, showcasing innovative projects and facilitating the transfer of skills.

The programme of the event will be strategically informed by the 2009 “State of ICTs in the South African NGO Sector” research project which SANGONeT is implementing in conjunction with World Wide Worx. The research findings will be presented during the opening plenary sessions of both events.

Refer to http://www.ngopulse.org/node/10279/Overview for detailed information about the conference objectives, programme and speakers.

Vodacom, in collaboration with Vodafone, will launch its Betavine Social eXchange (BSX) pilot project on 15 October 2009 at the Johannesburg event, while the winners of the South African NGO Web Awards 2009 will be announced on 20 October 2009 at the Cape Town event.

The two SANGONeT events will convene approximately 300 NGO practitioners, government officials, donors and representatives from the IT and telecommunications industry interested in the use and application of social media in support of the NGO sector.

More information about the event is available at www.ngopulse.org/conference2009.

For additional comment or media accreditation, please contact:

David Barnard, Executive Director, SANGONeT

Tel: (011) 403-4935 / Mobile: 082 870 8968 / E-mail: dbarnard@sangonet.org.za