Space’s Mark Shuttleworth coming to Uganda
BILLIONAIRE Mark Shuttleworth, the first African to go into space, is scheduled to visit Uganda early January 2006.
By Davis Weddi
BILLIONAIRE Mark Shuttleworth, the first African to go into space, is scheduled to visit Uganda early January 2006.
Shuttleworth, who is one of Africa’s richest people, is not just visiting for fun, but will attend a meeting of more than 100 computer geeks (experts) scheduled for January 8 on one of the Ssese Islands in Kalangala District.
The meeting, dubbed Africa Source II, is organised by Linux Solutions, a Uganda Free software company and the Women of Uganda Network.
James Wire Lungabo, the proprietor of Linux Solutions, said recently that Shuttleworth will also sponsor another 20 information technology experts in free and open source software to attend Africa Source II.
Shuttleworth is a South African entrepreneur with a deep interest in technology. This passion led him to Star City, Russia, where he trained for a flight to the International Space Station in April 2002, after paying a hefty US$20m.
Ironically, he shuttled into space for that money as other Africans suffered and perished from hunger and starvation. However, today he has created a non-profit organisation that supports innovation in education in Africa.
The Shuttleworth Foundation (www.tsf.org.za) seeks to fund projects that demonstrate a significantly better approach to some aspect of education systems that hope to improve both the quality and reach of education in Africa.
Shuttleworth was born in the South African gold-mining town of Welkom and grew up in Cape Town. He became fascinated with technology at a tender age. It was reportedly while studying for a Business Science degree at the University of Cape Town (UCT) that he encountered the Internet and quickly learnt the changes it would bring in business and society.
Ugandan open source software geeks stand an opportunity to meet some of the world’s best software engineers at the Africa Source II workshop in Kalangala. Previous Source meetings have been organised in Namibia, India and Croatia.
Participants of the Kalangala meeting will focus on planning, implementation, usage and localisation of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) applications. They will also learn how FOSS can increase efficiency, build capacity and assure compliance with software licensing laws in their organisations.
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BILLIONAIRE Mark Shuttleworth, the first African to go into space, is scheduled to visit Uganda early January 2006.
Shuttleworth, who is one of Africa’s richest people, is not just visiting for fun, but will attend a meeting of more than 100 computer geeks (experts) scheduled for January 8 on one of the Ssese Islands in Kalangala District.
The meeting, dubbed Africa Source II, is organised by Linux Solutions, a Uganda Free software company and the Women of Uganda Network.
James Wire Lungabo, the proprietor of Linux Solutions, said recently that Shuttleworth will also sponsor another 20 information technology experts in free and open source software to attend Africa Source II.
Shuttleworth is a South African entrepreneur with a deep interest in technology. This passion led him to Star City, Russia, where he trained for a flight to the International Space Station in April 2002, after paying a hefty US$20m.
Ironically, he shuttled into space for that money as other Africans suffered and perished from hunger and starvation. However, today he has created a non-profit organisation that supports innovation in education in Africa.
The Shuttleworth Foundation (www.tsf.org.za) seeks to fund projects that demonstrate a significantly better approach to some aspect of education systems that hope to improve both the quality and reach of education in Africa.
Shuttleworth was born in the South African gold-mining town of Welkom and grew up in Cape Town. He became fascinated with technology at a tender age. It was reportedly while studying for a Business Science degree at the University of Cape Town (UCT) that he encountered the Internet and quickly learnt the changes it would bring in business and society.
Ugandan open source software geeks stand an opportunity to meet some of the world’s best software engineers at the Africa Source II workshop in Kalangala. Previous Source meetings have been organised in Namibia, India and Croatia.
Participants of the Kalangala meeting will focus on planning, implementation, usage and localisation of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) applications. They will also learn how FOSS can increase efficiency, build capacity and assure compliance with software licensing laws in their organisations.
Ends