I came to SXSWi this year, my first time, to be inspired. To look at things in a different way. On the first day (2 days ago) I went to the Rawking SXSW panel which was set up to give beginners tips on what to do and what to see. The fantastically funny Baratunde Thurston was on that panel and one thing he said that has really changed my experience so far was "Try to go to sessions that you would not normally be drawn to-- you are likely to learn more interesting stuff outside of your comfort or expertise zone.*

With that in mind I am sitting in a panel about Tech and dev. in Africa. I have traveled a lot but have no experience in Africa-- I only know the ngo stories there. The things that the news and aide communities talk about. The panel is amazingly talented, and their companies, links, and projects are completely amazing.

The sense from the panel is
1. There is incredible opportunity in Africa, and by working in tech in Africa-- you can do good and learn so much
2. You need to be in Africa to dev for Africa-- but if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.
3. Great testing bed for new stuff.
4. Tech inclusion can lead to social and global inclusion

Now talking about Ushahidi which is and has done amazing things with crowd sourcing crisis news.

Major sense, is that doing development ngo work only-- focuses on dealing with immediate needs but what is needed is building on innovation, on bringing solutions and tools from and to the people.

Open source has been huge for africa. For obvious reasons open source means that basic buy in is not a hurdle.

Gov. should use open source and local contractors to make a longer range difference.

Update: Appfrica panel is doing a great job of opening minds. Whiteafrican.com is a great place to read and learn about opportunities and information about this specific area both intellectually and geographically.

Great aggragator for the region at afrigator (oooh gator in the name AND logo!)