Webwort is about Balthas Seibold. About his points of view (see articles such as "The global digital divide is an innovation and learning divide / Die globale digitale Kluft ist eine Lern- und Innovationskluft"), about his work in Africa and Asia, as well as selected news and op-eds (see below).

You can also search this site or learn more about Balthas Seibold (Parts of webwort are in German, translation is work in progress). Finally, webwort provides reference to previous work such as "Klick-Magnete" a volume on selection of online-news.

24.10.2011

[EN] ict@innovation programme moves to West Africa: Balthas Seibold opens training in Abuja, Nigeria - "Free your IT Business in WEST Africa!" This was the motto of the first Training-of-Trainers of ict@innovation held in the West African region. Balthas Seibold and his colleagues Petra Hagemann & George Nyambuya officially welcomed more than 26 FOSS experts from Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, Cameroon and Senegal, who engaged in 10 intense days of peer-discussions and peer-learning. The training was held in Nigeria's capital town Abuja and featured senior FOSS experts from all over Africa as facilitators. More on the event is online on ict@innovation, including the presentation held by Balthas Seibold, see the ict@innovation blog entries on West African capacity building action.

05.06.2011

[EN] Open Educational Resources and Open Licensing for Capacity Building - In a recent presentation for GIZ e-learning staff, Balthas Seibold gave an introduction to "Open Approaches to educational provision", stressing the potential of Open Educational Resources and Open Licensing for Capacity Building. The presentation gives an overview of the changing educational landscape, introduces Open Education and Open Educational Services in practice (openSE, openEd 2.0 (UNU-Merit), ict@innovation (GIZ)) and looks at Open Licensing for Human Capacity Building. The presentation heavily draws on work by Dr. Andreas Meiszner – Senior Researcher & Project Manager at UNU-MERIT, CCG and its of course openly licensed :-). Download as pdf and odt at the publications section of this website.

25.05.2011

[DE] GIZ präsentiert Bildungs-Innovationen auf eLearning Africa - “Qualität, Offene Innovation und die GC21 E-Academy”- dies waren die Hauptthemen der GIZ auf der diesjährigen eLearning Africa. Die größte kontinentale Konferenz für „Information and communication technology (ICT) for development, education and training“ fand vom 25. bis 27. Mai in Dar es Salaam, Tansania, statt. Die GIZ präsentierte ihre Capacity Building Arbeit vor mehr als 1.700 afrikanischen und internationalen Teilnehmern. So informierten sich zahlreiche IT Experten und e-Learning Entscheidungsträger am Stand über Innovationen der GIZ im Bereich von Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien für die Bildungsarbeit. Dazu zählt etwa das neu eröffnete M-Learning Portal, die GC21 E-Academy, das Afrikanische Open Source Business Netzwerk ‚ict@innovation‘ sowie die Blended Learning Kurse im Bereich Gesundheit, Statistik, Dezentralisierung und IT-Wirtschaftsentwicklung. Der Schwerpunkt der Arbeit von Balthas Seibold auf der e-Learning Afrika lag auf der Stärkung der Netzwerke von afrikanischen Programmpartnern wie die “Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA)” und der Einführung von Capacity Building Produkten, wie etwa den “ict@innovation Training Guide on Linux System Administration” von GIZ/FOSSFA. Weitere Informationen zum Gesamtprogramm der GIZ auf der at eLearning Africa 2011 findet man auf dem IKT-Blog der deutschen EZ .

03.01.2011

[EN] InWEnt, DED and gtz are now "GIZ"- Balthas Seibold is now with the "Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)" - the successor of a merger of InWEnt - Capacity Building International and the two other bilateral technical cooperation agencies of Germany DED and gtz. The slogan of the merger is "Broad-based expertise for sustainable development – under one roof". And this is how GIZ describes itself: "Working efficiently, effectively and in a spirit of partnership, we support people and societies in developing, transition and industrialised countries in shaping their own futures and improving living conditions. This is what the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) is all about. Established on 1 January 2011, it brings together under one roof the long-standing expertise of the Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst (DED) gGmbH (German development service), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH (German technical cooperation) and InWEnt – Capacity Building International, Germany. As a federally owned enterprise, we support the German Government in achieving its objectives in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development. We are also engaged in international education work around the globe." For Balthas Seibold's new e-mail (the rest stays the same ...), check the ICT4D page. For more information on the merger, check the GIZ main page.

09.09.2010

[EN] Just published: "Unleashing Open Innovation Systems" - The working group on 'Promoting Innovation Systems' of Germany's development cooperation just published a documentation on "Strengthening Innovation Systems in the Context of Development Cooperation". An article by Balthas Seibold gives an overview of the potential of open innovation for developing countries. Taking the capacity building programme commons@ip as an example, the paper enumerates important impact indicators, which demonstrate, how a move towards open innovation in developing countries might positively influence innovation systems. Read the article "Unleashing Open Innovation Systems" in the documentation (page 87 to 92) available as a pdf-download at the publications section of this website. For more information on the InWEnt programme commons@ip, please check the InWEnt Train for Trade Portal.

21.05.2010

[EN] Talk on open innovation and book launch of "Free your IT-business in Africa" at Africa's FOSS gathering "Idlelo 4" - This biennium's Idlelo (four) conference on Open Source and the Digital Commons in Africa organized by FOSSFA had the theme of "Development with ownership" and took place in Accra, Ghana from 17.04-21.04. Balthas Seibold was there to launch with FOSSFA a training book resulting of the joint regional capacity building programme "ict@innovation - creating business and learning opportunities in Free and Open Source Software". The guide with the title "ict@innovation: Free your IT-Business in Africa!" compiles advanced training materials on African FOSS business models for small and medium enterprises in the IT-industry and brings together a wealth of examples and case studies of FOSS entrepreneurs from all across the African continent plus model presentations, assessment tests, exercises and assignments. Free download is available on the ict@innovation site. Balthas was also speaking on Idlelo's panel on "Standards, Patents and Copyrights", where he presented thoughts on the knowledge commons and copyleft licensing for open innovation (see agenda and news below). More information on ict@innovation is available at the the Africa and Open Source section of this website.

15.04.2010

[EN] Freedom to innovate ! Article in D+C Journal - Germany's international Development + Cooperation Journal just published an article by Balthas Seibold, which looks at open innovation and the knowledge commons in the framework of business development in developing countries. The piece argues, that innovation is key to private sector development, so stringent protection of intellectual property rights can hamper businesses in poor countries. To close the innovation divide, it makes sense to bank on open innovation and digital knowledge commons. Read the full article online at D+C or find more information and a pdf of the print edition within the publication section of this website.

15.04.2010

[DE] Freiraum für Innovation ! Artikel in D+C Journal - In der internationalen Fachzeitschrift "Entwicklung & Zusammenarbeit" erschien soeben ein Artikel von Balthas Seibold, der die Bedeutung von offenen Innovationen für nachhaltige Wirtschaftsentwicklung in Entwicklungsländern beleuchtet. Der Artikel stellt dar, wie strenges Abriegeln von geistigem Eigentum das Wachstum in armen Ländern behindern kann, da Innovation wesentlich für die Entwicklung des dortigen Privatsektors ist. Das Konzept der "offenen Innovation" in Verbindung mit der digitalen Wissensallmende bietet eine Alternative und hilft, globale Innovationsklüfte zu Überbrücken. Der Artikel ist online verfügbar auf den Seiten von E+Z sowie als pdf der Printausgabe auf derPublikations-Seite von Webwort.

13.11.2009

[EN] Silang - the Philippines: Asia Source 3 Meeting Reinforces Asian Free and Open Source Software Movement While most technology conferences happen as swanky, slick, and well-rehearsed events, the recently concluded Asia Source 3 took the opposite track and ran a camp that was spartan yet spontaneous. From November 7 to 12, 2009, Asia Source 3 gathered 150 representatives from Southeast Asia to discuss developments in open source. For those six days, the campers lived in a communal environment that married fun and relaxation with exchange of ideas. "We are honored to be part of this movement through our training and network program it@foss" said Balthas Seibold, Senior Project Manager of InWEnt. Asia Source 3 marked the official highlight of five years of regional FOSS support by InWEnt in Southeast Asia. InWEnt has trained and connected more than 1000 experts from Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and the Philippines in more than 30 training courses under its it@foss program. Check more about Asia Source III at http://www.asiasource3.net, meet Balthas at the online community of AS3, check the programme at the Camp Wiki, including an afternoon track session of Balthas Seibold on "From Open Source to Open Innovation / a brainstorming on open-everything". Or learn more about InWEnt's work in Asia.

08.10.2009

[EN] Dortmund: Balthas Seibold speaks at seminar on "Strengthening Innovation Systems in the Context of Development Cooperation" - Innovation: What role for ICTs and for Open approaches? This has been a guiding question for a joint talk by gtz's Thorsten Scherf and InWEnt's Balthas Seibold at a symposium and seminar organized in Dortmund for gtz staff and other experts on innovation systems promotion. Balthas Seibold pointed out, how we might be moving from the Digital Divide to an Innovation Divide, how ICTs and „Open Innovation“ is linked to the example of Free and Open Source Software and what role the knowledge commons may play for innovation. For an overview of the seminar's programm, see the agenda, for details on the input, see the presentation slides.

14.07.2009

[EN] Johannesburg: Balthas Seibold opens first regional course on Business and Open Source in South Africa - "How can Southern African IT-businesses make money with Free and Open Source Software?“ - this one of the questions discussed at the regional course on "Advanced African Business Models with Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)“. The two-week event started on July 13 at University of Witwatersrand, (Wits) in Johannesburg and is the first in a series of training-of-trainer (ToT) events in Southern and East Africa related to the programme "ict@innovation - - Creating Business and Learning Opportunities with Free and Open Source Software in Africa". More on the course is online at the ict@innovation website, more on the programme, FOSS and Balthas' work in Africa is in the section InWEnt: Africa & Open Source.

01.03.2009

[EN] From snowball to avalanche. Article on impact research published - And yet another publication to promote on this page. It's published at the international magazine "D+C Development and Cooperation / E+Z Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit 2009/01", and it's about impact measurement in development cooperation. In the article Balthas Seibold takes the ICT capacity-building project it@coops of InWEnt to illustrate that it makes sense to examine what works – and how as many people as possible can be reached. The article is online both in English and in German.

01.03.2009

[DE] Vom Schneeball zur Lawine. Artikel zur Wirkungsforschung veröffentlicht - Schon wieder Werbung für eine Publikation. Der Artikel von Balthas Seibold ist in der E+Z Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit 2009/01 erschienen. Er behandelt das Thema Wirkungsmonitoring in IKT-Projekten. Anhand eines Capacity-Building Projekts von InWEnt werden u.a. folgende Fragen beantwortet: Wie schafft es ein einziger IT-Trainer, 200 Mitgliedern einer Kooperative beizubringen, mit dem Computer zu arbeiten? Wie wird aus einem Schneeball eine Lawine? Wie kann man Trainingsprodukte breit und nachhaltig streuen? Der Artikel ist online, sowohl auf Englisch als auf Deutsch.

23.02.2009

[EN] The global digital divide is an innovation and learning divide! - This article examines some of the ethical challenges and solutions related to the digital divide with a focus on how capacity building is crucial to bridge the different divides. The article is part of the volume "Internetökonomie und Ethik" (= The Economy of the Internet and Ethics) published by the renowed German editing house "Duncker & Humblot" in Berlin. In the article, Balthas Seibold postulates that from an ethical perspective, access to internet is not optional in developing countries and that four layers of Internet (physical layer, logical layer, content layer, learning layer) need to be kept open in order to allow for innovation and global digital equality ("Gütergerechtigkeit"). The article is online in German here: Publikationsseite.

23.02.2009

[DE] Die digitale Kluft ist eine Lern- und Innovationskluft! - Gerade im Sammelband "Internetökonomie und Ethik" erschienen und nun hier online: Der Artikel "Die globale digitale Kluft ist eine Lern- und Innovationskluft. Ethische Herausforderungen und Lösungsansätze durch Fokus auf Aus- und Weiterbildungschancen" von Balthas Seibold. Der Artikel beschreibt zunächst den „digital divide“ auf globaler Ebene. Zweitens werden Herausforderungen und Lösungsansätze herausgearbeitet als Überwindung der „learning divide“ und „innovation divide“. Drittens wird die These vom „Bedingungsgut“ Internet aus entwicklungsethischer Perspektive kritisiert sowie Lösungsansätze skizziert als "vier Schichten des digitalen Kommunikationssystems & offene Wege für Innovation und globale digitale Gütergerechtigkeit". Mehr Information und Download auf der Publikationsseite.

Previous news can be found in the archive. / Weitere Nachrichten bietet das Newsarchiv.