ICTworks by Inveneo

The Free and Open Source Software Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA) in cooperation with InWEnt Capacity Building International, Germany, invites to participate in a Linux administration Training of Trainers (LToT1) workshop in Nairobi, Kenya as well as in Johannesburg, South Africa.

This course prepares participants for Linux Professional Institute (LPI) certification Level 1 as well as to become Linux trainers in their own right. After the training, the trainers will sit for examination to be certified as Level 1 Linux professionals. LPI is a distribution and vendor-neutral standard for evaluating the competency of Linux professionals

Participants will receive intensive training on LPIC-1, and will also commit to book and sit the exams at the end of the training. They will also receive pedagogical training and how to effectively train others in the subject, as well as training materials that will be developed under the project.

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The 1st Regional Training of Trainers in Nairobi, Kenya will take place from 1st - 12th November 2010 (following an online learning phase from 4-29 October). It is part of the ict@innovation programme which aims at building capacities for African small and medium ICT enterprises to do business with Free and Open Source Software (FOSS).

The 2nd regional training of trainers will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa and will take place between 14th and 25th February 2011, following an online e-learning phase between January 10, and February 4, 2011. The application deadline for the 2nd ToT is November 15, 2010.

We seek professionals and institutions, who have firm plans to make trainings on FOSS Certification a part of their regular business and/or teaching activities or upgrade existing certification efforts. Successful applicants will convincingly demonstrate how they plan to carry out at least three trainings on the subject in their own country during 2011-12, and make LPI Certification training a permanent part of their business and/or teaching activities in the future.

Why become an LPIC trainer?

A major barrier against adoption and deployment of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in sub-Saharan Africa is the lack of human resources with FOSS skills. This programme aims to address the problem by qualifying trainers, so that these trainers in turn will be able to multiply their expertise for a self-sustaining development of FOSS human resources.

The training of trainers is offered to institutions with a strong commitment to introduce the knowledge of Linux to their staff members and communities. This should be done by implementing trainings by the LPI 1 certified representatives within three months after this programme.

Congrats to ict@innovation for launching the first East African Regional FOSS Business Models Course that seeks to answer the key question of "How can African IT-businesses make money with Free and Open Source Software?"

This advanced course will bring together over 20 experts from universities, training institutions and private sector in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda. Its main goal is to form a corps of trainers and advocates who are equipped to spread the word on Free and Open Source and its potential for IT-companies in Africa. The course inter alia builds on more than eight practical case studies of African IT companies, who use FOSS to generate income drive innovation, add local value and provide legal, low-cost and high quality software solutions to businesses and administrations in their countries.

Inveneo Certifed ICT Partner, James Wire of Linux Solutions was moved to tears by the opening ceremonies:

"On August 31st 2009, on a good Ugandan monday morning, I was invited to address the participants as the General Secretary of the Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa, I could hardly hold back my tears of excitement. Not only did I appreciate how far we have come, I also quickly made a mental comparison of how we used to previously confine our Open Source discussions to evening drinking sprees in dimly lit dingy pubs and now here we were in a state of the art four star hotel with Open Source being the reason. The two weeks training has brought together participants from Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.

The most unique aspect about this training is that all the content was prepared by Africans with African experiences in mind. This was intentionally done to ensure that the skills and knowledge passed on does not become a white elephant for the participants. With many African countries having lots of similarities in terms of society setup and management, I believe a lot of fruit will come out of this training."

See more about FOSSFA and InWEnt launching first East African regional course on Business and Open Source in Kampala, Uganda