"How can African IT-businesses make money with Free and Open Source Software?" This is one of the questions that will be discussed at the regional Training of Trainers course on "Advanced African business Models with Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)". The two-week course will run from 31st August - 11th September 2009.

The East African Center for Open Source (EACOSS) will host the event in partnership with InWEnt. This workshop is the second in a series of training-of-trainer (ToT) events in Southern and East Africa. The course is organized by the pan-African Open Source federation FOSSFA as well as the German non-for-profit, "InWEnt – Capacity Building International“. Main training and facilitator partners are the Advanced Information Technology Institute of the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Center for Excellence in ICT (AITI-KACE), the United Nations University, UNU-MERIT of The Netherlands and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA).

This advanced course will bring together over 20 experts from universities, training institutions and private sector in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda. Its main goal is to form a corps of trainers and advocates who are equipped to spread the word on Free and Open Source and its potential for IT-companies in Africa. The course inter alia builds on more than eight practical case studies of African IT companies, who use FOSS to generate income drive innovation, add local value and provide legal, low-cost and high quality software solutions to businesses and administrations in their countries.

The second regional Advanced African FOSS Business Models is part of the multi-year ict@innovation programme, which builds capacities in African small and medium ICT enterprises to make a business with Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). ict@innovation aims to encourage the growth of African ICT industries and private sector development, particularly in Southern and East Africa, through three main actions: spreading FOSS business models for enterprises in Africa, fostering FOSS certification and supporting innovative local FOSS applications for social and economic development. ict@innovation is a partnership of FOSSFA (Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa) and InWEnt - Capacity Building International (Germany). Funding partners are the German Ministry Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA).

The programme focuses on Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) as a key technology to drive innovation, add local value and create sustainable and affordable ICT-solutions. ict@innovation aims to enhance regional networking and to strengthen consulting capacities of regional and national ICT associations and training institutions as well as of other relevant change agents.

For more information visit ICT@Innovation online.
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WOUGNET is a founding member of FOSSFA and has served on the governing council of the foundation since inception in 2003. We currently also serve on the Executive for the period 2008 - 2010.