International Workshop in Dar Es Salaam Approves Adequacy of Open Content Model

2004-04-07. After more than two years of operation, the Southern African IT capacity building project it@ab under the leadership of the German InWEnt Capacity Building International presents itself as a widely accepted instrument for the advancement of African business. An international Workshop in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, recently discussed the state of the project and future benefits to be expected. Over all, the open content model that provides the it@ab members with state-of-the-art knowledge and skills in the IT sector has been appreciated as a promising chance to interlink Southern Africa with the global trends in IT development.

In the African developing countries, much like in the industrialized nations, communication and the free exchange of information is one of the fundamental prerequisites of business growth and progress. Therefore, the creation of a reliable IT infrastructure plays an important role in the development strategies of these countries. it@ab offers a framework for the development of a competitive national e-business in the respective countries by means of an international knowledge and service network, services and professional education.

Today, more than 30 participating members in seven southern african countries, amongst them e-business companies, universities, institutions, and governmental bodies, form the it@ab network. They all function as multipliers in an area where national and local capacities of business and education are much needed but still not always available, thus beginning to bridge the “digital divide”, as Tanzania’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jakaya M. Kikwete, put it in his opening speech at the beginning of the workshop.

A Network with Strong Business Orientation

Like with it@ab’s sister network in Asia (it@asia), InWEnt mainly contributes to it@ab by providing capacity building activities on all aspects of e-business, including essential technical know-how, practical management, organisational skills, and related legal issues, thus enabling the participating members to add to a sustained growth of their sector. The project relies on three major components: long-term training programmes for junior staff organized by InWEnt in Germany, the compilation of the training programmes in self contained e-learning products freely available to all members, and a strong interregional and international network of the members, including partner organizations in Germany and Europe.

Being strongly commerce and business oriented, trainings are always closely connected to existing e-business projects of the members. This very practical rather than academic approach showed clearly in the latest it@ab workshop in Dar Es Salaam.

The Dar Es Salaam Workshop – Focus on the Benefits of Open Content Models

In November 2003, 31 participants representing 19 companies and institutions from Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, and Germany, met in Dar Es Salaam for a one week workshop on Network Development and Network Products.

The focus clearly set on the Collaborative Learning Environment (CLE), the computer and web based (CBT/WBT) Blended Learning Programmes – a mix of face-to-face education and individual computer based training –, and an authoring kit for the development and customization of interactive trainings, the workshop itself was a good demonstration of networking and international cooperation. Besides, throughout the workshop the intent to put the outcomes to an immediately practical and commercial use was always stressed.

Developed under the auspices of InWEnt, a range of elaborated IT-products like the presented blended learning modules are available for the it@ab network members for commercial use which makes them valuable multipliers in their respective regions.

it@ab Website – a Future Marketing Instrument

Most of the workshop was dedicated to the presentation and evaluation of the newly introduced revised network products, i.e. the network’s internet website at www.it-ab.net, the Collaborative Learning Environment, and the training programme named Business Related IT Training and Consulting.

Based on a Content Management System, the network’s internet website is currently basically being used as a small range news forum. In Dar Es Salaam, a special working group was formed to generate propositions for the advancement of the site into a marketing platform to promote it@ab and its members, both for lead generation and the recruiting of new members. Reasonable pricing models for the basically open content services played a major role in this respect.

Collaborative Learning Environment –
a Future Platform for Network Partners

A preliminary version of the forthcoming CLE, maintained and provided by InWEnt, was presented at the workshop; according to the mileage, it should be completely implemented by December 2005. The working group on this subject developed outlines of a concept for a collaboration platform for network partners that can easily be customized and adapted to the needs of the users.

The specific advantages of the system when used as a full featured e-learning platform, including upload rights for every user and the much encouraged two-way communication channels the system provides, were also demonstrated. The future use as a hosting, management and control platform for marketable products of the network – i.e. learning and education media for junior experts and professionals – was was also embraced by the participants.

Business Related IT Training and Consulting – Open Content Model for Quick Market Penetration

One of the main elements of the it@ab activities discussed in Dar Es Salaam is a 12 months training programme for junior executives from African organizations on Business related IT Consultancy and the Blended Learning products that are based on it. The programme comprises 28 learning modules, representing some 1900 hours of face-to-face language training, classroom training on IT consultancy, internships and workshops, and a strong e-learning component.

On behalf of 21 LearnLine AG, Germany, the InWEnt partner company that is in charge with organizing the training courses, Peter Miez-Mangold presented the current state of the Blended Learning Product on Business Related IT Consultancy, related business models, and an authoring tool that can be used to customize and alter the training contents.

The workshop participants were presented three basic business models which had been outlined by 21 LearnLine AG beforehand. The participants agreed to distribute the Computer and Web Based Training modules, respectively, under an Open Content Licence in order to yield a wide coverage and penetration of the market in a short time. Any other business model was discarded, the main criteria being free access to crucial knowledge without any economical or technical obstacles.

The Blended Learning product presented thus meets three objectives: first, it serves as a high quality content and didactical elaborate means for the training of young professionals; second, the participants can make use of the product themselves when training members of their home companies or customers, thus becoming multipliers and proliferators of ITCs in their own countries. Third, it promotes and stimulates success oriented business models for the it@ab partners.

Sister Networks in Asia, South East Asia and the Near East

The workshop in Dar Es Salaam showed a growing and lively network of IT related companies and institutions in Africa that will certainly influence the building of a reliable IT infrastructure in the near future. A partner network it@asia currentely exists for the South East Asian developing countries, and another network covering the Near East is going to be launched soon. The consensus of the Dar Es Salaam workshop members that the benefits the network offers are significant. The underlying concept is a successful approach for the SADC region and was a much appreciated acknowledgement of InWEnt’s capacity building strategy.

it@ab in Short – the Profile of the Network

it@ab - The Southern African Knowledge Network on “Information Technology in African Business” was founded in 2001 in order to support the participation of Small and Medium Sized Companies, Institutions and Governmental Bodies in global e-commerce and e-business developments.
More than 30 distinguished multiplying institutions in seven SADC member states are already connected under the umbrella of it@ab. The new knowledge network is dedicated to providing state of the art e-commerce knowledge, experience and international contacts. it@ab consists of Universities, Consultancies, IT- Training Institutions, Internet Providers, Internet Application Providers and Trade Promotion Organizations in Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Tanzania. Through its multi-structure it@ab integrates all relevant aspects of e-commerce and e-business.

Contact:
Siegfried Karwatzki
Senior Project ManagerInWEnt
Capacity Building International, Germany
4.03 Urban Development, Infrastructure and Communication

Weyerstr. 79-83
D-50676 Köln
Germany
+49 (0)221 / 2098-253
+49 (0)221 / 2098-113
ict@inwent.org
www.inwent.org

Contact:
21 LearnLine AG / Freiburg
Herr Rainer K. Kasemir
rainer.kasemir@21LL.com