Dear friends,

I just returned from a fascinating trip to Morocco, where, among other things, I helped to organize this event on language localization in Casablanca. I thought this statement might be of interest. Take note in particular of the project homepage (http://www.bisharat.net/PanAfrLoc). This announcement is also posted on the Kabissa site at http://www.kabissa.org/gong_gong/ict_news/casablanca_statement.html

It would be interesting to discuss where Mailman fits into this picture.

Best wishes,

Tobias

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Donald Z. Osborn" dzo@BISHARAT.NET Date: June 21, 2005 10:52:57 AM EDT To: AFRIK-IT@LISTSERV.HEANET.IE Subject: Casablanca Statement on ICT Localisation in Africa Reply-To: "African Network of IT Experts and Professionals (ANITEP) List" AFRIK-IT@LISTSERV.HEANET.IE

The PanAfrican Localisation workshop held in Casablanca, June 13-15, brought together localisation experts and representatives of localisation projects from various countries in Africa and some beyond. We considered the state of localisation on the continent, key issues, and ideas for facilitating and advancing localisation efforts. The meeting also produced a brief declaration (below). URLs for the sponsoring and collaborationg agencies and for the project webpage follow. (Pardon the cross-posts.)

Don Osborn Bisharat.net Coordinator of the PanAfrican Localisation Project

Pan African Localisation Workshop

Casablanca Statement

African localisation experts met in Casablanca in a workshop organised by Kabissa with Bisharat under IDRC funding, and in collaboration with MTDS and the Casablanca Technopark centre. The event benefitted from contributions from the Moroccan Minister-Delegate to the Prime Minister in Charge of General and Economic Affairs, the Canadian Ambassador to Morocco, and experts from other continents.

After three days of work, the participants in the meeting reached the following conclusions:

• Limiting people to the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in a foreign language tends to exacerbate the digital divide; makes ICT adoption long, difficult, and expensive; and impoverishes local culture.
• Localisation makes ICT more accessible to everybody, including users from rural areas and young students, reinforcing the importance of our culture and helping us preserve our identity.
• Localisation of ICT into indigenous African languages is therefore key to rapid and fair development in Africa.
• For localisation to succeed and have its maximum impact in society,

collaboration among governments, civil society, educators, linguists, computer professionals, standards organisations and development agencies is necessary.

We, the participants, commit ourselves to promoting this vision and working towards social development in Africa through ICT localisation.

Casablanca, 15 June 2005

IDRC http://www.idrc.ca/ Kabissa http://www.kabissa.org/ Bisharat http://www.bisharat.net/ MTDS http://www.mtds.com/ Casablanca Technopark http://www.casablanca-technopark.ma/ PanAfrican Localisation Project http://www.bisharat.net/PanAfrLoc

For further information, write: bisharat@bisharat.net