Last week, free and open source software (FOSS) mentors from five African countries got trained at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), as part of a project called the Mentored Internship Programme (MIP).
According to MIP, this initiative is a way to help build capacity for African developers while at the same time trying to develop solutions for the society around them.
The project is the result of a collaborative effort by the UWC, ICT@innovation - a partnership between the Free and Open Source Software Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA), and Capacity Building International (Germany) - and the Africa Virtual Online Initiative and Resources (Avoir) - an alliance of 16 African universities which aim to build capacity in software engineering in Africa using FOSS.
These partners have joined efforts to host the internship programme, to support programming skills development and strengthen capacities in small and medium-size enterprises. This is with the aim of contributing to business development with FOSS in African IT sectors.
The initiative brought together some of the most talented and well respected software developers in Africa, in order to strengthen the free and open source ecosystem, making use of the pan African Avoir network, says lead trainer Paul Scott. He is also the manager of the Free and Software Innovation Unit at UWC, as well as the chief software architect for the Avoir network.
“It is through initiatives like this that we as a continent can create the next generation of ICT and networked business opportunities by working together,” he says. “I am extremely excited about this training workshop and personally cannot wait to see the fruits of it in all of the participating institutions.”
James Njenga, the MIP manager based at UWC, says the training, which ended on Friday, was the first in a series that will see a number of mentors trained and assigned to prot'eg'es.
“Currently, all the 14 participating mentors have been paired with potential prot'eg'es who they will work with for the next six months. The mentor and mentees have worked on very exciting and detailed project plans for free and open source software development,” he adds.
The FOSSFA executive treasurer, Milton Aineruhanga, commended the trainers and trainees, saying: “We are looking to you as pioneers in this project, and its success and future expansion depends on your success.
“FOSSFA will support you in any way it can and I invite you to formally join FOSSFA to build this and other initiatives that we are involved in with regard to extending the development, deployment and use of FOSS across Africa,” he said.
According to ICT@innovation, it has been involved in capacity-building programmes which support small and medium-size ICT enterprises in creating a business model with FOSS. It aims to encourage the growth of African ICT industries through three main actions: spreading FOSS business models for enterprises, fostering FOSS certification, and supporting innovative local FOSS applications for social and economic development.
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