Free Knowledge Workshop to promote education and knowledge for all
21 September 2005

Enabling communities to empower themselves with knowledge is the theme of the second International FLOSS (Free/Libre and Open Source Software) and Free Knowledge Workshop to be held at the Centurion Lake Hotel, Pretoria, from 21-23 September 2005.

Some 50 invited delegates representing organisations and Free Knowledge initiatives in Europe, Africa and South Africa will meet to build on the outcomes of the first workshop, held in April 2005. They will collaborate on developing a comprehensive strategy towards a common vision: “Education for all, Knowledge for All - towards Wisdom”.

This workshop is part of an ongoing process to produce comprehensive proposals towards realising this vision and having a real impact on capacity building and quality of life.

Examples of free knowledge available currently includes the Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia (that anyone can use and add content), MIT’s OpenCourseWare (freely available lecture material), and Project Gutenberg (launched to provide free electronic versions of existing printed books).

“The real crisis in education in the developing world has prompted a new approach,” says Kim Tucker of the Meraka Institute’s Open Source Centre who is convenor of the event. “The initiative acknowledges and amplifies the innovation potential of individuals and communities in the developing world, and facilitates global networking to leverage knowledge on contemporary thinking relating to the science of teaching and learning. The workshop is a step closer to a suite of collaborative projects towards realising the vision.”

The workshops will have several tracks to address different facets of the challenge: technical, policy and government, education and capacity building, pilot communities and research.

The Free Knowledge initiative stemmed from discussions with the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), the Meraka Institute of the CSIR, the Shuttleworth Foundation and other parties on raising ICT awareness and capacity building in southern Africa.