Free Software, accessible and open to all without restriction, enables the rapid prototyping of business ideas using open and modifiable source code building blocks. Let us give every young African the possibility to create their own work!
Free software now permeates every aspect of our daily lives: open digital mapping, value-added mobile services, SMS and mobile applications, collaboration platforms, collective intelligence systems, open electronics, low-tech home automation, SMS-based remote irrigation, territory management via online participatory democracy platforms, telemedicine — nothing is beyond its reach.
Our vision of development must change — and urgently. We must move toward a dynamic of digital inclusion.
Across Africa, young people have already created applications from scratch using free software tools. Their achievements should inspire us — and inspire others to take action.
The free software culture has also given rise to a new kind of training: horizontal learning — learning together through experimentation. During these peer-to-peer learning sessions, participants build individual skills, but collectively. Each of these experiences brings a new dimension to education: instead of passively receiving knowledge, the learner shares experiences, offers dedication, and contributes their skills for the benefit of others.
This is the approach we must promote and democratize in Africa.
Another essential driver of digital emergence is open data, made possible through the culture of free software. Public data must be freely and easily accessible and reusable — not only because transparency is a legal obligation, but also because open data represents a true goldmine of opportunities.
African capitals evolve within complex environments that require constant adaptation through better appropriation of technology. Exploring new directions — far from the weaknesses of the industrial model, resource overconsumption, and the creation of tools disconnected from real user needs — is also a crucial path for Africa’s development.