Tactical Technology Collective (www.tacticaltech.org) is an international NGO that provide human rights  advocates with guides, tools, training and consultancy to help them develop the skills and tactics they need to increase the impact of their campaigning. 

The following guides and toolkits are available online, as downloadable files or they can be posted to not-for-profits in a book/CD format, free of charge.

Bar Camp Ghana will be held in Accra on December 22nd

USAID are offering a $10,000 grant to expand existing mobile technology projects. The deadine for submission is 5th December. For more information on the project see Netsquared/USAID

USAID is proud to announce the launch of the 2008 USAID Development 2.0 Challenge. Brought to you by the Global Development Commons.

Mobile technology, including everything from inventive applications for smart phones to simple text messaging, is increasingly ubiquitous in the developing world. USAID challenges you to explore its potential through an innovation for maximum development impact in areas such as health, banking, education, agricultural trade, or other pressing development issues.

This video shows some practical examples on how Web 2.0 tools can improve people's lives in rural farming communites. Brosidi is....

Busoga Rural Open Source & Development Initiative is an not for profit organization that works with government and the civil society in improving rural livelihoods. This is through the use of ICT and open development mediums that include effective knowledge sharing, information management and use of FOSS in rural settings.

Jon Gosier's excellent African Tech blog, AppAfrica (African IT News & Culture) has two "top ten" posts, "Who's Blogging About Africa Tech"and the other "Top Ten Social Entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter". Jon gives the name, location and why we should follow. I am already following /sbramley who tweets from the field on water for people from Uganda and then there is /maratriangle who is a conservationist working in Massai Maria, Kenya. Why I particularly like these two Twitters is they are "action" based posting from the field. Mara Triange which is written by Joseph Kimojino recently twittered about a fund raising campaign for a toilet in a Massai vilage. With over 2,000 followers raising $200 should not have been a problem. It's also great to see so many people following the work of people on the ground. Also worth following is Jon himself, @jongos and the blog @appfrica.

Who's blogging African technology? The usual suspects are listed but here are 3 that are new to me:

This multi-author site features interesting reviews of pan-African startups.

Sample Content - Log your trips & keep track of distances traveled via SMS

Project Diaspora

I love the writing style of this one which offers a tongue-in-cheek look at various current events while still being accurate and insightful. I love their use of colloquial language and slang right along heavy tech babble.

Sample Content - Google’s O3B Networks versus EASSy. Fight!

Tech Masai

When TM has an opinion he doesn’t hold back! It’s that kind of candidness that make his reviews of African startups entertaining.

Sample Content - Profile: Bundublog

iRevolution comments on a new iniative to investigate media freedom across the world. Global Internet Freedom Index, (IGIF) will start with a 15 country pilot study covering the following:

The index is comprised of three general themes, each of which includes a number of (weighted) sub-indicators. The key components of the themes below is access to technology and the free flow of information/content.

1. Obstacles to access
2. Limits on content and communication
3. Violation of individual online rights

One of the sub-indicators, for example, focuses on activism in order to capture local resistance and activism in addition to government restrictions.

Finaly some new ideas on remittances "The Diaspora Gives Back" Mandeep Hotha suggests going further than the personal onto the community and further than the financial to skils, knowledge and talent and even democracy?

Much has been written about the environmenta pollution of electronic waste particularly as much of the waste has been dumped in Africa in the form of second hard computers and mobiles. This video highlights the worst practicies and worst effects of recyling and e-waste. How do you choose between poverty and poison?

Links:

Startups Nigeria announces Bar Camp Ghana on the 22nd December 2008 and Bar Camp Nigeria will be held in January 2009.  Full details will follow but meanwhile here is some preliminary information.

What's in a name? Web 2.0 and the internet in general has a habbit of renaming - in this case web statistics measuring news and blogs is called "political streaming". As someone who enjoys reading data and information graphically rather than textualy, "Political Streams" is a great find. The process of organising information on "news" and "blogs" is called "mining".

There is a tendency to view technology as gender neutral and very little discussion really takes place on the social, gender, cultural and organisational implications of technologies include the mobile phone. Here Kutoma Wakunuma discusses whether women how women are using mobile technology including what are the barriers and social implications...