The main focus and objectives of the 2006 conference and exhibition are as follow:

Awareness-raising

The rationale and choices made by CSOs in relation to their ICT applications are influenced by their awareness and perceptions of available technologies and the need for such tools.

The 2006 conference will focus on the ICT challenges facing the CSO sector, highlighting and promoting practical benefits, opportunities and lessons learned to date. It will provide both CSOs that are ICT-enabled, as well as those organisations that are considering introducing ICT solutions to their work, with an important opportunity to discuss critical issues of common concern and learn from one another’s experiences.

A number of specific interventions will ensure that participants are exposed to important ICT developments of direct relevance to the CSO sector:

• An ICT Exhibition will run concurrently with the conference. The exhibition provides ICT service providers and CSOs with an opportunity to showcase their ICT products and the latest technological developments to a large captive audience. For many ICT companies this will most probably be their first direct exposure to the CSO sector.
• The conference will include a new research section on ICT-related issues, organised in conjunction with the Information Society Institute at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. A “Call for Papers” was made in December 2005.
• The conference will give specific attention to the role and relevance of free and open source software issues and applications in support of the work of civil society. Day two (8 March 2006) will be entirely dedicated to the topic of open source.
• As part of SANGONeT's overall strategic objective to increase NGOs' awareness of the importance of their websites, South African NGOs are invited to enter the "South African NGO Web Awards 2006". NGOs stand the chance to win prizes to the value of R50 000. The winners will be announced at the gala dinner on 8 March 2006, and will also be featured in one of the conference sessions on 9 March 2006.
• The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) will launch its new journal, Open Space, and other ICT initiatives during the informal dinner on 7 March 2006.
• The new and expanded NGO.ZA service will be introduced at the conference. NGO.ZA is SANGONeT’s online technology procurement platform that aims to deliver affordable hardware, software and ICT training to CSOs.
• Michael Gilbert, one of the main speakers at the 2005 event and an international expert in non-profit technology issues, will once again be invited to the conference. He will facilitate a number of in-depth workshops on how CSOs should maximise the online environment in support of their work.

All these interventions, as well as the conference as a whole, will hopefully result in greater awareness and adoption of ICT, thereby maximising the activities of CSOs and contributing to strengthening the sector as a whole.

Skills Transfer

The conference will bring together a large number of Southern African CSOs to discuss and debate a wide range of ICT issues in plenary and break-away sessions, and to participate in technology demonstrations and practical training sessions which will cover a range of topics to enhance the ICT skills of participants.

The varied and comprehensive programme will cater for all needs and interests, from basic introductory training sessions to the discussion of cutting edge developments.

The objective is to expose participants to a wide range of ICT policy and practical issues, and to empower them with information and skills to strengthen their understanding of the role and relevance of ICTs in support of their work, as well as their participation in ICT-related policy and advocacy processes. In this regard, the conference serves as a platform to engage with ICT policy issues from a development perspective and cultivate a culture of activism in relation to digital divide issues.

An important underlying objective of the conference is to introduce participants to various free and open source issues and applications, and as a result, encourage greater interest and uptake in the CSO sector.

Networking

The conference programme, exhibition and two social functions (informal dinner and gala dinner) will provide participants with much opportunity for networking and information-sharing.

The SANGONeT conference is a unique event on the civil society calendar and every effort will be made to ensure that it is a memorable experience for all participants.