Avanti Web 2.0 in Africa! Web2fordev conference kicks off today in Rome

I am in Rome, where the long anticipated web2fordev conference is finally kicking off this morning with a day of hands-on seminars. I have been asked to demonstrate Kabissa's Time To Get Online Wiki today, and I am looking forward to the reactions. The formal proceedings start tomorrow and the lineup looks good! Anriette Esterhuysen from APC is giving the Keynote address, and many friends old and new are sharing experiences from within their organizations. I am pleased to see that a number of Kabissa members and training partners are here. What makes this conference particularly special is its focus Web 2.0 and rural development, as highlighted in the very first presentation: Leveraging Web 2.0 to Develop Better Applications for Rural Communities. Check out the conference wiki for the schedule and more.

My own presentation on Web 2.0 in African Civil Society is happening on Tuesday. I am looking forward to the opportunity to introduce Kabissa to this new community of development practitioners and to share our learnings regarding the use of blogging, wikis and other social web tools in the Kabissa network. It will be great also to give workshop participants a preview of the Kabissa 2.0 site which will be very much Web 2.0 enabled.