In order to continue to make the ict@innovation platform an interesting and enriching experience for our you, the ict@innovation community, the ict@innovation-team is planning to introduce a new feature section. Every month, we will feature FOSS-organisations, projects and news from one of our 10 partner countries. This new website section will give us and you the chance to share your FOSS experiences more prominently. For the next ten months, we will dedicate one month per country to highlight national FOSS projects and initiatives, academic institutes, and interesting individuals.

To publicise the launch of the new ict@innovation Training Handbook "Free your IT-Business in Africa!" we have written this press release and are currently spreadind the news that the materials can be downloaded for free here on the website on different mailinglists and relevant repositories. We want to make sure everyone interested in the materials knows about them so please feel free to help us spread the word and pass on this press release and most importantly the link to the materials!

Medaase to everyone who has put there thought and energy into the training materials!The Idlelo Gala Dinner last night was the perfect location to launch the training handbook: “ict@innovation : Free your IT Business in Africa! ” in a befittingly festive atmosphere. The training guide compiles all the advanced training materials on African Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) business models for small and medium enterprisers in the IT-industry.

The first day of sessions at this years Idlelo has evoked some interesting discussions. Different country perspectives are being shared from all over the African continent and even from Brazil. The day began with a welcoming of the IT Minister and the organisers. ict@innovation is represented by a booth and a number of sessions.

This years Idlelo conference on FOSS and the Digital Commons is taking place from  May 17th – May 21st, 2010 in  Accra, Ghana. The IDLELO Conference, themed „Development with Ownership“, is a premier international forum on Free and Open Source Software in Africa and is therefore an especially important event for any ICT programme. It presents the opportunity to discuss new issues, tackle complex problems and find advanced enabling solutions able to shape new trends in FOSS and related technologies on the African continent.

On the 28th and 29th of April, 2010 representatives from nine AVOIR nodes gathered at UWC for a two day workshop to plan a joint mentored internship programme of ict@innovation and the African Virtual Open Initiatives and Resources (AVOIR) Network.

The call for "FOSS Certification Manager for the project ict@innovation" has officially closed. We are happy to announce that we have received a number of very interesting applications and are currently reviewing these. We thank everyone who applied for the position!

After the review process selected candidates will be interviewed before a final choice is made and all candidates notified personally via email.

Linux Fund and the Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA) have pledged to work together to promote Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in Africa.

[origionally published on http://linuxfund.org/press/fossfa/]

Portland, Oregon – December 14, 2009 – Linux Fund and the Free Software and Open Source Foundation of Africa (FOSSFA) have signed a landmark agreement to promote Free Software and Open Source in Africa.

CENFOSS is currently supporting SOCREMO (www.socremo.com)a micro finance bank. SOCREMO have branches trough all Mozambique (South and Center to be specific), and is the first bank in Mozambique, and perhaps in all Southern Africa, that has migrated more than 300 computers from Windows to Linux. For the project CENFOSS is using Ubuntu 8.04. The banks servers, configured by CENFOSS, run on Debian.

This year, to celebrate SFD, InWEnt hosted a virtual event to connect its programme partners in Asia and Africa working to promote FOSS.