German Development Organization InWEnt is partnering with FOSSFA (The Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa" ) on a new training and networking programme called "ict@innovation". Both partners signed an according Letter of Intent at the third African Conference on FOSS and the Digital Commons – Idlelo 3.

The Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA) recently elected a new executive which will sit for two years until the Idlelo 5 conference in 2012. Tectonic spoke to the newly elected officials about the successes of the past, new challenges and hopes for the future.

That major computing companies are unlikely to want to invest heavily in Africa is not lost on the continent's brain trust.Sure, there could be some investment in major cities, but for the most part, the continent's on its own. The Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa is fine with that.

"2008-05-27 Workshop on [free software] of the Economic Community of Southern and Eastern Africa COMESA began yesterday in Tripoli.. During the workshop, specialized professors will deliver lectures on the history and future of [free software], utilizing software in education and trade and its advantages."

The successful deployment of free and open source software (FOSS) in projects in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe and Latin America are described in a publication entitled "Breaking Barriers" by UNDP's Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme.

FOSSFA and OSIWA, in their Free and Open Source Software for West Africa and Beyond (FOSSWAY) project are set to invest in FOSS research in West Africa.

At a meeting on Sunday, South Africa's minister of public services, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, accepted an invitation to be a patron of the Free and Open Source Software Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA).

Two EU-funded projects in the area of Free and Open Source Software (F/OSS), namely OpenTTT and FLOSSMETRICS, have recently published a F/OSS guide for SMEs. Different types of software applications and businesses are addressed, making this guide useful for most SMEs that wish to simply use F/OSS or even build a F/OSS-based business approach.

IBM and Canonical are introducing an Ubuntu Linux-based distribution and related cloud services for netbooks and thin clients in Africa. The IBM Client for Smart Work works locally or via "VERDE" virtualization to make IBM's Lotus-based software "affordable to new, mass audiences in Africa," says IBM.