Cape Town, 28 Jan 2005
The University of the Western Cape`s (UWC`s) Free Software Innovation Unit has released a public beta preview of its Kinky application framework and KEWL.NextGen e-learning system.
Kinky and KEWL are free software licensed under the GNU General Public Licence.
UWC vice-chancellor, Brian O`Connell, says UWC is committed to free software, citing the importance of collaboration within the developing world and Africa in particular.
Speaking at the launch of the KEWL.NextGen beta, minister of science and technology, Mosibudi Mangena, noted the importance of free and open source software as it lowers the barriers to innovation.
"Through access to the source code, local entrepreneurs can build on the wider world`s best and soundest technologies in software tools and platforms," Mangena said.
Kinky is a recursive acronym that stands for "Kinky Is Not KEWL Yet", referring to the fact that the application framework is not the application, and indeed, Kinky can be used to build any kind of application that requires a Web interface.
"Work on a system for use in a local hospital has already begun using Kinky, so Kinky clearly has applicability beyond the field of e-learning," says project manager Melisse Benn.
The release coincides with the first workshop of developers involved in the African Virtual Initiatives and Resources project, who have gathered from 10 African universities to develop application modules based on the Kinky framework.
Aside from UWC, the developers come from the University of Jos (Nigeria), Universite Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar (Senegal), Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (Kenya), University of Nairobi (Kenya), Makerere University (Uganda), University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Catholic University of Mozambique (Mozambique) and The University of Eduardo Modlane (Mozambique).
"This is an early beta release, and KEWL.NextGen is an ongoing project. What we are able to show now is simply the base from which to proceed," says project leader Derek Keats, UWC`s executive director of information and communications services.
Keats heads up the information and communications services department at UWC, which oversees the university`s Free Software Innovation unit.
"If there is something that you would like to see added or improved, then please let us know. We can`t guarantee it, but there is a very high chance that we will implement it if it is a good idea," he says.
This phase of the project has been funded by grants from the Department of Science and Technology (SA), Carnegie Corporation of New York, the United States Agency for International Development, Unesco and Microsoft.
Share