Women'sNet, a non-profit women's organisation organisation based in Johannesburg, is hosting a SADC regional workshop to build awareness of and the potential use of Free and Open Source Solutions (FOSS) in the non-profit sector, and women's organisations specifically. The workshop itself will be held in Johannesburg, and is scheduled for 6- 10 September 2020.

WHY FOSS?

Being able to use information technology strategically and effectively is an important source of empowerment and skills development for women who often feel isolated and disempowered by rapidly advancing technological change. At the same time, there is growing awareness of the potential role of free/open source software

(FOSS) in particular in harnessing ICTs for socio-economic development.

Among the potential benefits:

• Open source software is royalty- and license free, which means that the cost of acquiring the software is lower than that of proprietary software.
• Because the source code is accessible, open source software can be modified to meet the needs of users in particular contexts and languages.
• Users are not trapped into ongoing dependency on a particular vendor for upgrades and support.
• The collaborative open source model of software development offers greater opportunities for local skills and economic development.
• Some free software is recognized as more stable and more secure  than its proprietary counterparts.
• Open source software is often less demanding on hardware resources than proprietary software, and can help break the cycle of constantly needing to upgrade hardware to accommodate "software bloat".

PURPOSE OF THE WORKSHOP

With the exception of certain Internet-related tools, open source software is not yet widely used in Africa, and there have been no initiatives aimed specifically at using open source to support women's organizations and networks. In order to realize the potential  of open source software it is necessary to

• Raise awareness of open source tools at a variety of levels: policy, management, technical staff and end-users.
• Provide easy access to open source tools.
• Develop skills among end-users, technical staff and potential open source developers.
• Ensure the ongoing development of support and
  training materials.
• Develop capacity for planning and decision-making around implementing open source solutions, including an awareness of factors such as total cost of ownership.

The workshop has two overall objectives:

1. stimulating awareness and adoption of free and open software source (FOSS) solutions among women's organisations in the region,  and
2. deepening understanding and skills among women technicians in providing technical support to women's organisations in the assessment, adoption and use of FOSS applications wihtin women's organisations.

STRUCTURE OF THE WORKSHOP

The workshop will run over 5 days, from Monday 5 September t to Friday 10 September 2020. The workshop will be structured into 2 parallel tracks, with some overlapping sessions.

Track 1:

During the 5 day event, Track 1 participants and facilitators will share technical skills and experiences, discuss key challenges in realizing F/OSS projects, and develop concrete strategies for supporting women's NGOs in their technology decision-making processes and efectively integating ICT into their operations and future plans.

Track 1 will target young women computer technicians - mainly technical support staff and system administrators - to build their capacity to support women's organisations in their assessments of technical hardware- and software-related needs and, where required,  in migrating to and implementing FOSS solutions.

The agenda will cover issues such as:

• Social and NGO context
• Customizing/configuring and deploying GNU/Linux distributions
• Configuring clients for desktop and network applications
• Open Source database and online publishing tools
• Existing desktop FOSS applications and application development
• Migrating to FOSS

Track 2:

This track is targeted at decision-makers and end-users in women's organisations, with a view to building their ability to asses and choose between different technical (especially software) solutions. This track will also demonstrate the use of some FOSS software solutions that faciliate web publishing and information-sharing, to illustrate the ease with which women's organisations can maintain their a web site - e.g. by pooling content and collaborative online publishing - at the regional level, using only basic word processing skills.

The agenda will include:

• review of different desktop and networking applications including FOSS
•  decision-making processes on technology options, including FOSS understanding theory and practice around use of ICTs for equality;  * developing inclusive ICT strategies
• measuring the impact of your ICT strategies on gender equality,  using Gender Evaluation Methodology
• collaborative online publishing, using FOSS applications like ActionApps

WHO CAN APPLY?

Track 1:

We encourage applications from (young) women who meet the following

criteria:

• a solid (3-4 years) ICT training and/or work background [troubleshooting, sysadmin, technical support staff )
  
• good communications skills
  
• programming skills desirable but not required

also:

• interest in doing work with the non-profit community, especially women's NGOs working towards gender justice and supporting them in effectively integrating ICTs into their daily operations
  
• interest in faciliating sound decision-making processes within women's organisations that consider all the possible technical - hardware and software - solutions including FOSS.

Track 2:

We encourage applications from staff within women's NGOs in the region, especially those with the responsibility to make decisions on technologies used within the organisation.

FEES AND SUBSIDIES

The costs of participating in the workshop is fully funded. Women'sNet will cover the costs of participants' return airfares (economy class), visa costs, as well as accommodation and a per diem (to cover the cost of dinners) for the duration of the workshop.

Accommodation will be shared.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

Please complete the questionnaire below and return to [email protected]

Deadline for applications:  is Friday, 16 July 2020. Please apply soonest as space at this workshop is limited. There are only about 10 spaces per track.

APPLICATION QUESTIONS

Please answer the following questions. Please provide us with enough information to understand your skills and interests, and to have a sense of why you want to attend this workshop, what you hope to learn, and what you can contribute to the event.

1) Basic personal information:

a. Name:

b. Gender:

c. Nationality:

d. Country where you live and work now:

e. E-mail address:

f. Telephone and emergency contact number(s):

g. Anything else we should know about you (allergies, diet, medical condition, special needs): h. Do you need a visa to come to South Africa?

2) Which track are you applying for?

3) What, if any, Free and Open Source technologies do you work with? Please describe your experience and expertise.

4) Have you been involved with any technology projects for non-profit or civil society organizations? If so please briefly explain them.

5) What is your current professional affiliation (organization you work for, mission of the organization, position you have in the organization, is your organization a non-profit, etc.)?

6) What FOSS applications are you currently implementing in your (non

profit) women's organisation? For which purposes? Which applications are you most interested in learning more about?

6) Why are you interested in attending the FOSS Workshop for women's organisations? What do you hope to learn?

7) We encourage participants to share their own expertise and skills during the workshop by leading discussion on topical issues such as - for example - ICTs for social development and gender equality, technology issues in running women's NGOs, the social/political contexts of where you operate and how that affects operations, issues in content development and information sharing, current strategies  for deploying ICTs in your work, etc. What tutorials, development  sessions or discussions would you like to lead (or help lead)?