An article in collaboration with the Tactical Technology Collective

African software developers face many obstacles as they struggle to grow professionally in their chosen field. But these "coders", as a group, form a community marked less by their frustration and isolation than by their perseverance and resolve. This theme dominated AfricaSource, a workshop held in Namibia in March, 2004. The meeting of 40 developers from 25 countries in the small town of Okahandja was the first chance many of the coders have had to collaborate and compare notes. Bridges.org, in cooperation with Tactical Technologies, has written an article airing the views shared by the workshop participants and looking at ways in which the field of software development could grow in Africa. The article is based on interviews and contains quotes from many of the delegates.

You can see a summary of the article here, or download the full piece above.

The article focuses on the following points:

• The lack of access to the means and tools of production is the issue African programmers most commonly identify as the greatest barrier to success in their work.

• The prohibitive cost of bandwidth and hardware is an obstacle most programmers face, but it has the greatest effect as they are preparing to enter the job market. Without the opportunity to earn salaries so they can afford equipment of their own, market entrants eager for work face the prospect of successive unpaid internships -- and must accept all the unwelcome conditions that come with this kind of "student work".

• Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) typically lack the kind of expertise in technology that might help them increase their impact in their chosen sector, and need help from outside the organisation. Many hope that software developers, especially those who work with free and open source software (FOSS), will be the ones to produce the applications and localise the solutions appropriate to NGOs.

Tactical Technology Collective
Tactical Technology Collective is an Amsterdam-based NGO working to strengthen social technology movements and networks in developing and transition countries. Its ultimate aim is to promote civil society's effective, conscious and creative use of new technologies.

It does this through bringing together activists and NGOs with local technology experts and social software developers, demystifying technology for NGOs especially those linked to low-cost and do-it-yourself technology, and promoting the use of information as a strategic tool for monitoring, campaigning and organising.

For more information please see: http://www.tacticaltech.org.
For specific information on the Africa Source conference please see: http://www.tacticaltech.org/africasource