Dakar – Balthas Seibold of InWent announced a new regional program called “ict@innovation” at the Pan-African Idlelo 3 Conference in Dakar on 17.03.2008. ict@innovation will focus on fostering small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in the field of Free and Open Source Software through regional networking and strengthening of consulting capacities of ICT associations and training institutions in Southern and East Africa. Seibold stressed the potential of FOSS for the promotion of the private sector in Africa and an enabling environment for sustainable economic development, a focus of Germany’s cooperation through the BMZ. The theme of Idlelo 3 was “Making the Knowledge Economy Work for Africa”. Other speakers included Nnenna Nwakanma and Fatimata Seye-Sylla of FOSSFA, Ibrahima Niang (representative of Abou Salam Sall, UCAD’s Rector), Mohamed Tidiane Seck from ADIE, Bassirou Guissé, the Secretary General of the ministry of Infrastructure, Land Transportation and Telecoms for Senegal, Pierre Ouédraogo from OIF, and Lewis Rabkin, representing the South African Minister Geraldine Fraser Moleketi. More information is available in the official report / InWEnt’s press release (eng) / the presentation of Balthas Seibold (eng) and a / feature article on Idlelo3 (eng) , which appeared in the Linux Pro Magazine (eng).