How big of an influence can a tech conference have in the world? Can it transcend political bickering and income boundaries? What if a tech conference could reach across an entire continent, say Africa for instance? Think it could never happen? Think again…

My new friend Colin Daniels flew to Gnomedex 2006 all the way from South Africa. He did so with one express purpose – meeting other like-minded individuals with the hope of furthering his own personal growth.

In working to bridge existing gaps in the world of technology, he has been instrumental in putting together what some folks might refer to as the African version of Gnomedex. Obviously there will be some differences based on culture and venue, however I must admit that I myself am very tempted to check out what the conference known as Digital Citizen Indaba will be like. Hey who knows, perhaps I will find a sponsor interested in making a community friendly footprint in a part of the world that is often times very misunderstood. At any rate, I am going to hand the “pen” to Colin and allow him to share a little bit about himself and the Digital Citizen Indaba event.

It should also be noted that contacting Colin with questions is not just alright, it’s definitely encouraged…

A hop-skip-and-a-jump from Seattle is this small, to some unknown, country called South Africa. This is where I travelled from in order to attend this year’s Gnomedex Conference. My name is Colin Daniels and I am a New Media lecturer at the School of Journalism & Media Studies, Rhodes University. I am also Head of Online Strategies for Highway Africa, an annual ICT conference for African journalists which also runs a free ICT news service featuring diverse content from across the African continent. In this capacity I am attending Gnomedex to meet cool people and get some pointers from the conference organizers for the upcoming Digital Citizen Indaba on Blogging that I will be co-ordinating in September before the Highway Africa Conference in Grahamstown, South Africa.

This will be the first Digital Citizen Indaba and it is my hope that it will be the first of many to come, with the theme possibly shifting each year, but continuing to focus on empowering citizens and democratizing media in the digital era. Ethan Zuckerman has been instrumental in the conceptualizing and planning stages of the Indaba and will also do the keynote. The format is likely to be very hands on and practical. Hopefully the bloggers and media practitioners that will be attending from across Africa will leave with new skills and a better understanding of how to utilize the blogosphere in their own countries. If you’d like to participate, my inbox is always open.

Colin Daniels