Global Scenario On Sustainable and Resilient Coconut Industry by Dr. Jelfina...
ICT Development Northern Uganda
1. ICT for Development and collaboration in Northern Uganda
Achievements 2008-2009
Organizational structure achievements
(1) Established Organizational Structure and Hierarchy
· The bishop of Gulu Archdiocese acts as the trustee of the organization locally.
· Under the Bishop, a local Board of Directors operates on broad organizational matters
· Executive Director collaborates with local BoD and Archdiocese; also oversees staff and
makes management decisions
· 5 local staff positions filled: Executive Director, Finance Administrator, two Project
Coordinators, and a Technical Assistant
· Horizont 3000 (Austrian Organization for Development Cooperation) and BOSCO-USA act
as consulting and oversight partners; H3000 supports the work of one full time Technical and
Organizational Advisor and BOSCO-USA supports the position of one full time Communications
envoy
(2) Expansion of human resources
· In mid 2008 BOSCO had no local full-time staff; Currently we have 7 full time staff
(3) Establishment of permanent office space
· Were sharing a small space for our server at Caritas office previously.
· Moved in to our own spacious office, attached to Catechists Training Center, Gulu, which
houses our staff and our server equipments
(4) Completed Strategic Planning Document for 2009-2010
· Available for viewing here: http://www.bosco-uganda.wikispaces.net/
BOSCO+Uganda+Strategic+Plan
(5) New Accounting system and Bank Accounts put in place locally for Gulu office
(6) Finalized Organizational Policy Documents
· Financial Regulations policy document completed
· Staff policies document completed and implemented
2. technical achievements
(1) Redeployment of Original BOSCO Pilot Network
· Transferred radios and antennas from UTV tower in mid 2008
· Redeployed network equipment on Coope Water Tower
· Connected Gulu Town to network via Radio Maria Tower
(2) Transfer of Network Server
· Server was formerly stored in Caritas Office
· Implemented use of new, upgraded server and transferred it to BOSCO office
(3) Technical Capacity Building
· Local Technical Assistant attended Inveneo wireless network training in Kisumu, Kenya
· On site technical duties have been handed over to local technical assistant
(4) ADSL Internet bandwidth is doubled
· Upgraded from 256 kbps to 512 kbps
· Uganda Telecom (UTL) remains Internet Service Provider for BOSCO-Uganda
(5) Doubled the number of sites we operate in
· 22 sites in operation as of February 2010
· Site map available at www.bosco-uganda.wikispaces.net
(6) Planned 2 year network expansion plan
· 12 new sites planned over next two years as part of our Unicef partnership
· Entry to Kitgum and Pader Districts (Easternmost districts of Acholi sub-region)
· Strengthening existing sites: adding low power lap tops to create mobile labs with WiFi
connection
BOsco site administration achievments
(1) Signing of Site Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) between BOSCO and administration
from each site
· MoU established site managers at each of the 22 site locations to maintain equipment
security and oversight
· MoU established site training volunteers at each site; 39 training volunteers registered
3. (2) Signing of 2nd round site MoU’s
· Clarified roles of site managers and volunteer trainers
· Renewed commitments of site managers and volunteer trainers
(3) Development of income generation projects at sites
· Solar cell phone charging business implemented to help communities raise money for
future equipment purchases and ADSL bandwidth fees
Ict training achievements
(1) Designed and published Web 2.0 training manual and curriculum
· Manual used at all sites to guide volunteer trainers in their ICT lessons
· Covers Web 2.0 skills: BOSCO Intranet; email; Wikispaces; blogs; social media; Google maps,
and others
(2) Continued implementation of Web 2.0 Training of Trainers (ToT) ICT programming
· Training ongoing throughout the year at 8 community sites, including rural primary and
secondary schools
· Curriculum centered on teaching people functional Web 2.0 ICT skills that can fuel
collaboration in their communities with various stakeholders
(3) Developed and guided user-generated Web 2.0 content
· Two functional Web 2.0 collaboration hubs developed
o BOSCO Intranet page: www.bosco.home (only locally available on BOSCO
network)
o Public BOSCO Wikispaces page: www.bosco-uganda.wikispaces.net
(4) Implemented Unicef small-scale funding for Web 2.0 ICT training
· 485 total people trained during project period (6 months), including 374 youth trained in basic
Web 2.0 ICT skills
· Level 1 Web 2.0 certification awarded
· Increased usage of network corresponding advent of community trainings
(5) Hosted Advanced Training Web 2.0 ICT workshop for lead site volunteers
· 14 participants from 7 community sites attended our 4 day workshop
· These site leaders will then return to their communities and become advanced ICT trainers
4. (6) Launched “Bridging Classrooms and Cultures” online school-to-school collaboration project
· Connecting classrooms in Uganda to classrooms in the US via our Wikispace site
· Students collaborate on educational projects at: www.bridgingclassroomsandcultures.bosco-
uganda.wikispaces.net
Partnerships and fundraising achievements
(1) UNICEF
· Partnered with Unicef in 2009 on small-scale funding proposal to expand to 5 new sites
and implement Web 2.0
· Finalizing a 2 year partnership with Unicef to expand network to 12 sites and strengthen
current sites; will into Kitgum and Pader Districts to the East
· 2 year Unicef grant worth approximately $300,000 USD
(2) Horizont3000
· Have maintained partnership with Horizont3000 (Austrian Organization for Development
Cooperation) for past 3 years
· They provide: A full time advisor for organizational development; technical training/
capacity building; technical installation assistance; project funding
(3) BOSCO, Inc. (USA)
· BOSCO-USA board of directors in South Bend, Indiana, USA
· Funding and technical support
· Full-time communications envoy in Gulu
(4) War Child Holland
· Partnered with War Child Holland to provide Internet connectivity to Pagak ICT center
(5) Strategic partnerships with local institutions
· Providing Internet connectivity to the following local institutions to help facilitate their
work and allow them to collaborate with local and international stakeholders:
o Caritas Gulu
o Archdiocese of Gulu
o Radio Maria
o Bardegge Division Local Government
o Justice and Peace Commission (JPC)
o Women and Children First Organization (WACFO)
5. (6) University of Notre Dame
· Established student intern program with Notre Dame
· Student interns come for summer holidays to assist in rural Web 2.0 training
· Also receive opportunity for intercultural exchange
(7) H & S Italy
· Hardware and software company in Italy
· Provided BOSCO with Euro 20,000 in funding support
(8) Completed fundraising and public relations awareness tour in U.S.
· Visited and spoke in Minneapolis, Chicago, Toronto, Washington D.C., and South Bend, IN
· Spoke at various Catholic parishes
· Rotary Clubs
· Knights of Columbus
· University of Notre Dame
· Resolve Uganda
· Africa Faith and Justice Network
· Christians in Commerce
· York High School Community
· Canadian Center for Victims of Torture
Contact information
Executive Director: Rev. Fr. Dr. Joseph Okumu
Catechist Training Center, PO Box 603, Gulu, Uganda
Tel: +256 0 772613517 Email: lagwok54@yahoo.it
Horizont3000 Partner:
Stefan Bock
Tel: +256 0 774710313 Email: Stefan.bock@horizont3000.org
BOSCO Uganda/USA Organizational and Communications Envoy:
Kevin Bailey
Catechist Training Center, PO Box 603, Gulu, Uganda
6. Tel: +256 0 753241011 Email: kpbailey3@gmail.com
BOSCO-USA Partner:
Tom Loughran, University of Notre Dame
Email: Thomas.loughran@gmail.com
Gus Zuelhke, St. Bavo’s Church
Email: GusAZ@aol.com