The Free and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA) has endorsed Nigeria’s quest to host its fifth African conference on FOSS and Digital Commons, known as IDLELO 5.The conference which has been slated for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja will be held on March 19, 2012 and hosted under the auspices of the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Open Source Foundation for Nigeria (OSFON).
A press statement made available to ITRealms Online endorsed by the FOSSFA chairperson, Ms Nnenna Nwakanma and OSFON chief proponent and Managing Director, Mandriva Linux Africa, Mr. Dele Ajisomo said IDLELO 5, will be held on the theme “Open Source Solutions for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).”
They also said that IDLELO 5 is coming on the successful series of conferences held in Cape Town, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya; Dakar, Senegal and Accra, Ghana.
Equally, they noted that IDLELO is the premier African continent’s open source gathering, which held every two years, the continent dedicates a one-week period to appraise its open source and free software initiatives, expertise, community, challenges and experiences.
“This March event is the continent’s rallying point for critical issues in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as they are directly related to the development of its people, governments and business enterprises,” they said.
IDLELO 5 will be one event for FOSS practitioners, developer and advocates as well as governments, education and businesses to showcase results, share experiences and challenges, review progress on the continent in diverse domains and chart a way forward for an African future grounded in true ownership of technology that will help achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
The FOSSFA and OSFON leadership pointed out that IDLELO 5 will consist of hackathons, awards, tutorials, hands-on trainings, demos, field visits and presentations on key FOSS and information technology areas.
“It will welcome a diverse number of parallel events, an exhibition and a business round table. The conference will welcome FOSS and IT keynote speakers, project, companies, solutions and innovations, not just in Africa, but across the global FOSS community,” part of the statement revealed, even as IDLELO 5 will mark the 10 years FOSSFA.
Therefore, they said, IDLELO 5 offers a real 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.
Remmy Nweke
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D
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