Idlelo 3[1], hosted by the Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA) was held on March 16-20 in Dakar, Senegal. The bilingual plenary and exhibition was hosted at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD II), and the workshops and hands-on training were held at Campus Numérique de la Francophonie. The conference brought together more than 400 representatives across Africa who are actively involved in practical implementation projects. The theme of the third conference builds on the original intent of the first two Idlelo conferences. Idlelo is a Xhosa (a southern Africa tribal language) word that means a common grazing ground. This common ground for all was the exchange between and among the small to medium business sector.

The uniqueness of Idlelo 3 was the presence of African IT associations, IT small and medium-sized enterprises, and IT training institutions, along with the cast of regulars from the public and civil sectors. The current Patron for FOSSFA is the South African Minister of Public Services and Administration, Ms. Geraldine Fraser-Moloketi, who could not make the proceedings. She provided a video feed espousing the virtues of FOSS to the delegates.

One of the major themes of Idlelo 3 was Human Capacity Development, which was sponsored by InWEnt, a German non-profit organization that has taken a leadership role in FOSS business development in emerging nations of regions such as Africa and Southeast Asia. InWEnt has been commissioned by the German government through its Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to assist in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations through advanced training and capacity building. InWEnt and FOSSFA jointly organized two conference tracks that included "Human Capacities, Capabilities, and Competencies" and "Business Models and Community Development," bringing together best practices across Africa of successful FOSS businesses. To learn more about InWEnt's ict@innovation program, see http://www.it-inwent.org/.

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