The web2fordev conference at FAO is currently in its 3rd and final day. The tagline for the event is "Participatory Web for Development", but in many ways I see it as a continuation of Netsquared.

I would love to see a mashup of web2fordev and net2! You can follow web2fordev via the blog, wiki, and streaming video. The tag for the conference is WEB2FORDEV on delicious and flickr. There is also a dgroup mailing list that might in fact be the best way to engage with the web2fordev community during and after the conference. The web2fordev facebook group might also be handy.

Kwami Ahiabenu from GINKS, a Kabissa member in Ghana, has just given a very interesting plenary talk about elearning (yesterday, his colleague Prince Deh demonstrated vlogging). The central message for elearning is SIMPLICITY - GINKS uses email and mailing lists for elearning and have had alot of success with that. Ethan Zuckerman gave the keynote address today and once again inspired and entertained everyone. I was particularly struck by his reference to IVR as an appropriate vehicle for getting information flowing to and from Africans using their mobile phones. It reminded me of my idea to provide voicemail to Kabissa organizations accessible via phone and the website - this might now be possible with our Online Community Platform using Drupal and Civicrm. I.e. leave/listen to voicemail for one organization, for one group, for groups in one focus area, for one city or town.

I had an opportunity to give a talk yesterday afternoon about Kabissa, African civil society and Web 2.0, which you can read about on the Kabissa blog. It was absolutely wonderful to see so many Africans in the room, some that I had last seen many years ago at Time To Get Online trainings. The response was staggeringly positive and motivating, and I see many possibilities for collaboration and sharing with the people in the room.