Frederick Yeboah

Contact: fredericky@aiti-kace.com.gh

Phone: 0243679822

For Immediate release

REMEMBERING GUIDO SOHNE

The Advanced Information Technology Institute – Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in Information and Communication Technologies (AITI-KACE, http://www.aiti-kace.com.gh) in conjunction with the Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA, http://www.fossfa.net) and friends of Guido Sohne invite you to participate in a press conference scheduled for 3:00 pm on 22nd of May 2009. The venue is the AITI-KACE premises opposite the Council of State.

The Guido Sohne Fellowship

About Guido Sohne

Guido Sohne was legendary in his work of "developing information" and "writing code". His contributions range from his personal vision of our future to constructive criticism of regulatory and other technical policy frameworks. In the world of code writing Guido's work is recognised both in the Free and Open Source space as well as the proprietary space. From C to LAMP, his language proficiency is known. Experienced in the use of Operating Systems from Unix to Windows, he has played with Apache, XML, Chillispot etc. technologies. Above all these, Guido was known to have a blistering pace in delivering top quality software projects. Guido was, also, one of the pioneer founders of the Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa, the premier continental open source foundation in Africa.

About the Fellowship

To celebrate the memorial of Guido's passing, the Sohne family, friends and colleagues of Guido in conjunction with the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT and FOSSFA are instituting a Fellowship in honour of his personality, his vision and his ideals. The first edition is a web application development competition that seeks to encapsulate the dreams, visions, ideals and technological orientation of Guido Sohne.

The competition

Software

The competition is focused on Guido and the views he shares on technology, development, Africa and life in general. Participants are required to collect information on Guido and his work over the course of his life and then develop a unique web application with it. The web application must have functionalities that immortalize the work that Guido did over the course of his life. In memory of the extremely fast pace with which Guido produced quality work, we also pay attention to how fast the competitors are able to produce top quality entries.

Essay

As part of the competition, entries are required to include an essay on the the technological vision for Africa that Guido and his compatriots shared. The input for the essay should be Guido's blog posts, papers and other media both online and offline. Competitors are required to write an essay on the role of software and technology on the development of the African content. The essay should be at least 3,000 words long.

Eligibility criteria

In order to be eligible for the competition, you must:

1. Believe in yourself, in your capacity to effect change, and in leading your generation to do the same

2. Have a vision for the African continent

3. Be 35 years or less on the 23^rd May, 2009

4. Be resident on the African continent

Submission requirements

Eligible submissions must fulfill the following requirements:

1. All applications must be developed using Free software and open source development frameworks, languages and tools. Using any proprietary development frameworks, languages or tools automatically disqualifies the submission.

2. The submission must include a web interface which is powered by a web application.

3. The developer must be able to provide complete documentation of the web application.

4. Demonstrate a finished version of the application to the judges when called upon to do so.

The judging criteria

Judging would be based on the depth of research done on Guido and his work as well as uniqueness and sophistication of the Web application and how it immortalizes the work of Guido. Also the use of appropriate technology for the various parts of the application and its web interface would be a determining factor in selecting the winner. Guido was a strong proponent of choosing the right technologies for the right tasks and hence his strong desire to learn about a vast range of different technologies.

The reward

After all eligible submissions are received and the competition is closed, judges will assess all the received eligible submissions according to the reward criteria. Three(3) entries will be rewarded with the Guido Sohne Fellows for the year. Winners are entitled to:

1. Mentorship from senior developers from Africa and all over the world.

2. Publicity within all the major FOSS networks on the continent and beyond.

3. Free all-round passes to the 4^th African Conference on FOSS and the Digital Commons (IDLELO 4)  in May 2010

How to apply

Review information on the competition http://www.aiti-kace.com.gh/gsf

1. Make sure that you fulfill all the eligibility requirements

2. Develop your application, noting all the submission requirements

3. Write your essay

4. Submit your application at http://www.aiti-kace.com.gh/gsf

Details
The competition is onlin http://www.aiti-kace.com.gh/gsf and open from 23rd May 2009 (Guido's birth date) to 31st October 2009.