The Infonet Program as an idea was conceived from Sodnet’s experiences as a network and its central role as the host secretariat for the World Social Forum 2007. As a learning institution, Sodnet had developed the niche of providing synergy in an open environment for convergence and interaction different civil society and social movement entities. Africa’s capacity to constructively engage within global discussions and other transformative processes was hugely impaired by the lack of technological capacity, its culture of sectoral fragmentation and the inability of movements to network, share resources and appreciate the strength of diversity.
Infonet on the outset proposes to proffer an open and democratic information and communication infrastructure to enable communities to develop social capital for democratic social action.
An informed society is a knowledgeable society– therefore, having a means of communication, access to pertinent information by all social groups, documentation and archiving of knowledge from all levels of the community will contribute towards the strengthening of society.
More specifically, INFONET is currently:
- developing open, accessible and democratic online spaces for the visibility of local knowledge, content and development practices;
- providing affordable and accessible open source tools and training to social movements within an aim of strengthening civil society;
- creating accountability tools and monitoring systems such as budget tracking tool;
Quick Facts:
INFONET is a programme of the Social Development Network initiated in July 2007;
Since the inception of the programme, INFONET is the leading local technology provider and support for ngos and social movements in Kenya;
The Team comprises of eight Kenyan young women and men;
All solutions developed by INFONET are based on Free and Open Source Technology;
Adopting the principles of technology transfer, INFONET readily shares technology and knowledge with all not-for-profit groups;
INFONET is Open to partnerships with Civil Society, Government, Private Sector, Academic and Research Institutions within the area of improvement of service provision;
