Great news for you developers and tech entrepreneurs! we have a couple of investors coming into the country this month of Janaury and next month February and they would like to meet with you.

Please send me your email address to barbara@appfrica.org, i will contact you with details of how you can meet with the investors and pitch your ideas to them. Also if you have an idea but have not had the time or expertise to come up with a business plan, Also do let us know and we can work with you on coming up with one!

Lets get more creative because the investors are on the look out!

Africa Gathering: Kampala 2012

The conference for sharing ideas for positive change is coming to Kampala this January. Don’t miss your chance to attend this extraordinary event.

 Our Theme: “People and Technology in Uganda”: The Future is Bright!

Africa Gathering brings together thinkers, entrepreneurs, innovators and many others to talk about positive change in sustainable development, technology, social networking, health, education and good governance in Africa.

Africa Gathering 2012 begins in Kampala, Uganda, where we will bring together Ugandans who are embracing technology to put their country on the map.

If you have attended previous Africa Gathering events, you will know that we assemble a diverse community of people who care about Africa and want to share ideas for positive change in the areas such as sustainable development, new technology, social entrepreneurship, health, education and good governance.

Our one-day-only Ugandan event aims to develop relationships and highlight grassroots progress, emerging technologies, and solutions that are relevant to Africa. We hope to encourage the active involvement of Africa-focused businesses, investors and strategists, whilst also offering a new perspective. We also seek to re-frame the debate around technology in Uganda, looking at how people are currently taking the lead in this sphere of African life, and the obstacles that still lie ahead.

The programme will include keynote speakers, panel discussions and breakout groups. A highlight will be a brainstorming session, followed by an interactive afternoon with our amazing guest speakers.

Read more on our website www.africagathering.org 

Africa Gathering January 30th 2012, 9:00am – 7:00pm

Monday January 30th 2012 – 9AM-7.00PM

Curator: Marieme Jamme – Co-Founder of Africa Gathering

Partners : Hive Colab and Barbara Buringi – Women in Technology Uganda

Agenda coming soon!

Are you interested in business sponsorship?

If you are interested in business level sponsorship of Africa Gathering, which guarantees a speaking slot at our event, then please contact us at: info@africagathering.org

please visit our eventsbrite page and book yourself a ticket! or contact us on 0782861382 or email us on barbara@appfrica.org

Dear Colleague,

WITU is meeting this afternoon 5:30 PM, Friday 16th at the Hive Colab. Read below the Vision, Mission, Aims and Objectives of our special focus forum for Women who are interested in technology.  This meeting is focusing on apps.   .  Come share your ideas with us.

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VISION

A forum focused on finding real solutions to the long-standing problems of how to attract, retain and advance more women in the IT industry. Inspiring, leading and influencing the action to increase the number of women in IT.

MISSION

The mission is to encourage women into the IT field and help women advance their careers in technology through networking, mentoring and professional development.

OUR AIMS:

Through collaborative partnerships and alliances to:

Promote and realize the benefits of diversity in the industry to improve the recruitment and retention of women in the IT industry and IT related jobs.

Work in an open and collaborative manner to inspire, lead and influence action being taken to increase the number of women in IT.

Promote dialogue in the workplace, through the engagement of employers and employees, to fully utilize the IT and management skills of women in the industry. This will include technical and professional knowledge sharing and support.

Undertake research and disseminate conclusions regarding the impact of the IT working environment on the careers of women.

Raise the profile of women in the industry in partnership with IT, electronics and telecommunications industry employers, suppliers, and the Government.

OUR OBJECTIVES are to:

Increase the number of women in IT and their representation in senior positions.

Provide networking opportunities for women working in the IT industry, expose support

mechanisms to sustain women in the network and disseminate best practice.

To use this forum to reach out to gals/ladies in community and encourage them to pursue careers in the field of technology.

To integrate use of technology in solving life’s problems.

To facilitate collaboration and communication among the tech ladies.

To inspire women to be transformational leaders.

To enlighten the community on the technology sphere.

To motivate the gal community to continue in their technology development.

You are invited to the 2011 Apps4Africa: Climate Challenge Brainstorming Session taking place at
the Hive Colab in Kampla on the 25th of November, 2011.  To register see link below.

The 2011 Apps4Africa: Climate Challenge builds on the success of the 2010 Apps4Africa: Civic
Challenge in which civil society challenged program developers to find innovative technological solutions
to everyday problems on issues ranging from transparency and governance to health and education.
The 2011 competition begins in Western and Central Africa in October, with Eastern and Southern
Africa to follow shortly thereafter. Winners will receive prizes, including cash awards totaling $25,000
USD, gadgets and travel. Private partners, including TED and Indigo Trust, may contribute technical
assistance, prizes, and follow-on support for the new partnerships created by this platform.
The Apps4Africa Challenge began in late 2009 when several individuals, organizations, and private
companies joined together to propose a competition that would reward local innovators for their ideas and
projects.

The 2010 challenge winners received prize money, media attention, and a special congratulatory
message from the US Secretary of State, Hilary Rodham Clinton.

With coordination with software developer Appfrica International, Apps4Africa will bring civil
society, academia and private sector organizations together with African technology innovators to
develop applications that address local climate change adaptation challenges. In doing so, we seek
to raise African public awareness of climate change adaptation in Africa on these issues; support the
development of civil society and private-sector networks; and highlight African solutions to local climate
change challenges.

The Climate Challenge centers around several strategic themes that coincide with policy decisions that
will be debated and decided upon by world leaders at the 17th United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (COP17) conference in Durban, South Africa. The benefit of this is that it increases
the chance that competition participants will find very willing decision makers eager to try, recommend,
and otherwise support the applications and projects developed for the competition.
The Apps4Africa brainstorming sessions are workshops where software developers, students, policy
makers, decision makers and others come together to discuss challenges, propose solutions and submit
their apps to the Apps4Africa Climate Challenge.

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CONTEST DATES & INFO
Eastern Africa (Begins October 20th - December 20th)
Categories for Entry - Agriculture (Distribution), Early Warning and/or Disaster Preparedness, Resource
Management, Forestry/Deforestation, Transportation/Traffic/Emmissions, Food Security, Livestock,
Health & Sanitation

Application Types - Mobile (Feature phone), Mobile (Smart Phone), Web, Desktop
Countries hosting Eastern Africa Regional Brainstorming Sessions - Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania,
Rwanda, Ethiopia.

Contact: Darlyne Komukama (Shakai Media) - darlkom@gmail.com
Barbara Birungi (Hive Colab) - birungibarbs@appfrica.org

Register for the Kampala event here. http://apps4africakampala.eventbrite.com/ The event is free but
space is limited.

For more information, visit the Apps4Africa website at www.apps4africa.org

REPORTING ON THE WITU LAUNCH

The Women in Technology Uganda Launch was a true stamp that women in Uganda are tired of taking the back seat while men take full charge in the technology and information technology sector. It was nice to see that despite the heavy down pour and terrible traffic, many still made it to the Hive Colab without a worry about their hair getting wet. (LOL) A lot of great ideas were shared in an atmosphere that encouraged all the ladies to freely speak their minds. Barbara Birungi shared WITU’s mission which is to empower women in technology and discussed a number of ways in which this would be done which included Annual ICT camps to empower young girls, high school drives to encourage the young girls to take up technology and ICT courses, hands-on workshops for lady programmers that will enable them to share and learn of new tools they can use, to mention but a few. Maureen Agena took women through a brainstorming session where the ladies came up with many great ideas to push WITU’s vision forward. These included volunteering as mentors at events WITU will hold and other technology events, raising WITU’s presence on universities, starting projects that will sustain WITU financially and much more. Maureen asked for commitment from the ladies which I know will not be a problem since the ladies showed perseverance in making it to the launch despite such terrible weather. Darlyne shared with the ladies the apps4africa Climate Challenge where she encouraged the ladies to take part.  It was exciting to see ladies who share the same passion come together to share and come up with ways to change our community and once again prove the stereotype wrong, that women in Uganda cannot take the lead in taking ICT and technology to the next level in our great country. It was also great to know that its not only women who showed up for this great Launch but also a few gentlemen were there (Daniel Stern, Elijah Bee and a few others) a great thank you for the support and also to the Hive Colab for Offering WITU a home. The ladies shall continue to communicate over a forum that was created,  also through the WITU websitewww.witug.org that should be up soon, and of course during the monthly meets at the Hive Colab.

With WITU’s vision and the commitment the strong women have already shown, I speak confidently when I say, women will play an important role in the future of technology in Uganda.  And I, as a  member of  WITU, am  prepared to be a crusader for this cause.  We are the future.

By Ampaire Christine
Bsc. Software engineering Makerere University Year II
Google student ambassador
WSP water ambassador
Project manager Mafuta GO (http://3.mafutago.appspot.com)
Proud member of WITU