Stakeholder Workshop in Dar es Salaam

In conjunction with the eLearningAfrica conference, Spider held a one day workshop with a number of organizations in Tanzania, to explore possibilities for collaboration and partnership. Only half of the representatives present had heard of Spider before and no one had received funding. Spider emphasized collaboration between several organizations and underscored that Spider can only provide catalytic seed funding and that additional funding must come from other sources. The discussion was structured by Spider’s thematic areas: education, health, and democracy.

ICT for Democracy Workshop

Recently, we have seen a number of projects, pilots and tools where ICT is used in various ways to promote democracy. Many of these initiatives have been launched in East Africa: crowd-sourcing platforms such as Ugandawatch2011, uReport and Ushahidi (and variations thereof such as Uchaguzi, Huduma and Map Kibera); innovative SMS applications such as Grid 6464, CU@SCHOOL, 3356 shortcode by City Council in Nairobi and Trac FM; and of course the widespread use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

Democrazy Workshop

On 9 June about 40 representatives from government agencies, civil society organizations and academia gathered in Kista Science Tower to discuss the influence of ICT on democratic processes. Those who could not make it in person could follow the workshop online.

The inception of the workshop was the popular uprisings that have swept North Africa and the Middle East throughout the spring. Twitter and Facebook were widely recognized as key elements in enabling popular movements. Indeed, social media have become an important tool in the mobilization of crowds, by enabling people to share information with friends, friends of friends and so. The consequences have been unprecedented.

Umoja Session at eLearning Africa – Together for youth

During the eLearning Africa conference in Dar es Salaam 25th-27th May 2011 Spider hosted an Umoja session (Swahili for ‘unity’) that focused on the problems faced by African youth. The session was well attended and attracted more than the 10 participants allotted by the organizers, as people came and joined the discussion during its course.

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