SxSW (South by South West) is an experience, and a half. It’s unlike any other conference I have ever attended. There is no focus, there are no tracks. What there is a plethora of choice of session after session after session. If one is diligent and committed to the cause, one can attend up to 6 sessions per day, each lasting an hour. There is a choice of at least 15 sessions to choose from during each time slot, and no session is repeated. Simple math will tell you that that is a) a lot of talks and b) we are missing out on too many.

What amazes me is how little overlap there is on session attendance among the South African team. Each morning, we summarize for each other what each one of us is attending, while eating breakfast and catching up on work. My friends tend to get excited by talks that would put me to sleep. That’s a good thing: it means we are a diverse bunch, and our skills and interests are wide spread. That translates into a bigger pool of more diverse talent, and also suggests that each one is honing an area of expertise that the others can tap into as needed.

As I said, there is no specific track. So the attendees are 100% responsible for shaping their SxSW experience. That is a bit daunting, but also a lot of fun. It is also very challenging, since I find myself floating all over the space moving from one discipline to a completely different one. The downside of that is that there is a suspicion that I am not getting as much from the conference as I should be, since I touch on subjects briefly (one hour session) rather than going in deep and dirty with a full day track. So, today, my chosen talks are:

• Beyond LAMP: Scaling websites past mySQL
• Merchandising: The other white meat of monatization
• Coding for pleasure: developing killer spare time apps
• System Design and Inspiration (this is a keynote, with no other alternatives. Might give it a miss)
• Crowdsourcing Innovative social change
• Gmail: Behind the scenes

It’s taken me a couple of days to adjust my expectations of SxSW: it is a “conference” that should be used for inspiration, to kick start a creative process, to accelerate your success, to change your approach to your work day, to give you confidence to think out the box. That is very different from a conference that gives you expertise in a specific, narrow discipline that you can translate quickly into increased revenue for yourself. There should be a place for both types of conferences in your annual schedule. I suspect SxSW is the most inspirational, “general” conference out there, and you would be better off if you attend it.

Also, the diversity of the talks ensures that you meet, or at least see in action, the most diverse bunch, of the most amazing people. I saw Chris Brogan having a coffee this morning, listened to Clay Shirky give a talk, am meeting the BBC to talk about Crowdfund. Where else, but here, I ask you?

This Colloquium aims to establish tangible and immediate programs to build the South African software industry and create value through engineering.

“One of our primary aims is to put local software engineering on the map,” explains Jenny McKinnell, CITi’s executive director. “And to help achieve this, we have asked some very high-level individuals in the industry to partake in the Colloquium.”

Some of these role players include Prof Sonia Berman, Head of Computer Science Department at the University of Cape Town; Prof Johannes Cronje, Dean of Informatics & Design at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT); Prof Nico Beute, Former Dean of Engineering at CPUT; Jo-Ann Johnston, Chief Director of Trade and Sector Development for the Provincial Government of the Western Cape; Jenny McKinnell, Executive Director of CITi; Dr Joseph Balikuddembe, Systems Analyst for Sanlam Personal Finance; Dr David Hislop, CTO of Korwe Software, and Sian Evans, Attorney at Michalsons, Sian Evans & Associates, among others.

Attendees will include professors, lecturers and students from UCT, the University of Stellenbosch, the University of Western Cape and CPUT, as well as representatives from industry and government.
The technical advisory committee has been meeting extensively over the past few months, and has identified pertinent issues through a series of conversations and eight multi-stakeholder roundtable discussions.

While the Colloquium is not exclusively aimed at software engineers, the agenda is being driven by them. The engineers believe that without the software engineering profession being adequately recognised and accredited, there cannot be a continued growth of world-class software creation locally.

“The bottom line, is there are real people doing real work in this country in terms of software engineering,” says Dr David Hislop, CTO for Korwe and IEEE Senior Member. “They need to be not only recognised, but empowered in the industry.”

Some of the key issues that the technical team believes need to be addressed include the reference model of the Cape software industry; the ICT skills crisis and skills pipeline; innovation, research funding and access to capital; rewards and recognition for software innovators, inventors, designers and architects; legal compliance, IT governance and King III; and the professional recognition of software engineers. Agile development, cloud computing,and open source (FOSS) will also be discussed.

In a survey commissioned prior to the 2007 Colloquium which included input from SMEs based in the Western Cape, as well as software customers and development partners from the bigger enterprises, government departments and training institutions, issues surrounding a shortage of skills arose. “In terms of the supply of skills locally, it has been stated generally by respondents that there is definitely a shortage of adequate skills from the local employable workforce and that it hence makes sense to hire expatriates or even sometimes repatriate skilled workforce from overseas,” the report stated.

The report also highlighted a gap between what is being taught and what is needed by industry identifying “intellectual laziness for innovation and continuous learning” as a major cause of the brain-drain of the ‘gems’ and stagnation of average skills locally.

“Today, three years after the Second Colloquium, the ICT skills crisis remains an issue of critical concern to our industry and academic institutions,” says McKinnell. “It is clear that addressing the issue requires that we speak as one voice and take action. We are hoping that the discussion at the Colloquium will result in the creation of a multi-stakeholder initiative to grow the skills pipeline.”

These issues and more will be addressed and explored at this year’s Colloquium.

As a final “push” to push S Africa on the unsuspecting attendees, I would like to give each SAfrican delegate 30 badges of South African startup logos (one badge=one logo; one delegate=30 badges). They can do with them as they wish…put it on their computer bags, tshirts, give away. Whatever.

If you have a startup, and a logo, and want to send it SxSW…send it to me as a file. We’ll make it happen.

(Well, I hope we’ll make it happen. Someone has to foot the R3,000 bill. If anyone wants to sponsor this, and get a *big* badge of *their* start up at SxSW…give me a call!)

The Crowdfund concept is simple:

Pool the money of 1000 South Africans who invest R1,000 each towards a R1 million angel fund to help online start-ups get off the ground.

There is hardly any decent angel investment network, or even an angel investment culture, in South Africa. That has had devastating consequences the local online industry, and we are paying the price by not launching many (hardly any?) online applications with global appeal.

An angel network is crucial, because it provides the capital to startups to develop ideas into prototypes. Those ideas can then be taken to a more formal investment vehicle, like a venture capitalist, who is eager to invest more money, but only toward a proven concept.

The logic goes like this: Out of 10 companies in which a Venture Capitalist (VC) will invest, about six will fail. Two or three might break even. And one or two will be hugely successful, and will make the entire investment in the ten companies worthwhile. Problem is: you really do need to hedge your bets. Which is difficult to do, if there are no startups to choose from.

The Crowdfund aims to fix that. Not only do we want to change the investment mindset of an angel investor, but we want to encourage the development of good, solid, viable and huge-potential ideas, that can then be launched on the global scene with the help of local or international VCs.

It won’t happen if you don’t get involved. We need a crowd to make the Crowdfund work!

If you are intersted to find out more, please visit the website www.Crowdfunding.co.za .

A consortium of Garden Route based companies is ready to launch an IT technology hub in George which will create jobs and train up new skills.

George’s IT company owner Imel Rautenbach is currently drumming up support for the initiative at provincial and national level. The consortium aims to use the Western Cape Province’s business arm to market and develop in order to get launched nationally and internationally. IT technology and electronic centred businesses will be the engine that will drive this local initiative. “The idea behind pooling resources and skills is to keep all our software and hardware developmental work in the Garden Route. We already have around 30 businesses on our data base that have all the necessary skills and technology to form the nucleus. “

“We plan to link up our efforts with that of the Province. By collectively marketing and taking on projects jointly we can land contracts which may otherwise have been outsourced to companies outside the region. With the skills data base we now have we can take on big contracts, and the risk of one small company folding, is eliminated because collectively we can pool our skills to ensure continuity” says Rautenbach who was recently elected the Vice President of the George Chamber of Business.

On www.gardenrouteconsortium.co.za you can read more about their quest to “Provide project management and quality control services during the full lifecycle of large and complex projects. To define, enable, and manage key technology growth areas in the region.”

Provincial government support

Rautenbach has just returned from a very successful round of meetings with Western Cape Government on how the IT Consortium can link in to and benefit from the Western Cape’s own IT strategy and marketing initiatives. Alan Winde, MEC for Finance and Tourism is very excited about the potential the consortium holds for the Garden Route region. He has committed to bringing a high powered delegation of provincial officials to the region to further explore this potential.

”This initiative fits perfectly with our own plans for the growing of the Technology industry within province”, said Jo-Anne Johnston, Western Cape’s Chief Director of Trade and Industry Development. She has committed her department’s full support for the initiative and is exploring ways of bringing other government departments onboard as well.

Jenny McKinnel, Executive Director of the Cape IT Initiative (CITI), is equally excited. Citi is a non-profit organisation established in 1998 to develop and support the information and communications technology (ICT) cluster in the Western Cape. “CITI is keen to support the Garden Route IT Consortium as their goals are directly in line with our own”, said McKinnel. CITI are going to be working together with the Garden Route IT Consortium to unlock government funding and help promote the region as an IT destination, especially focussing on the impressive line-up of currently supplied services and R&D projects the various consortium members are working on.

Research and Development

The Consortium also has a strong focus on Research and Development (R&D), with several innovations currently in the works. These includes projects like fridge magnets that will show the current water level in your rain tank, a stock theft project that tracks animal and vehicle movements on farms in real time and alerts the farmers the moment the animal’s movements indicates distress, as well as a project to track hikers in remote mountain hiking trails.

CITI’s McKinnel is putting her full support behind the formation of a new R&D Lab in the Garden Route, which will help accelerate these R&D ventures. The Western Cape Agriculture department has also been tasked to get involved in some of these projects. DTI and other government funding for R&D spending will be applied for to cover the lab setup and initial phases of some of these projects. Talks with the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) on how it can assist the consortium in its R&D and marketing initiatives is ongoing.

Wireless technology is ready to be unfolded

As part of the R&D venture a state of the art wireless network is being set up. This network will eventually cover the entire Garden Route but is currently being rolled out in the George area. The network uses the latest wireless technology which promises much faster speed than traditional networks.

The network will be non-commercial and completely free to join. The network will not supply internet access but rather will be a backbone for R&D projects and educational programs. Through wireless technology business can monitor activities through CCTV camera link-ups and WEBCAMs. Regional weather and water consumption monitoring can be done for instance through wireless technology. “The potential of the new network is limitless. With remote monitors farmers can even check-up on where their cattle is grazing, or see what vehicles are accessing their farms.” said an excited Rautenbach.

Western Province Government is busy drafting a policy on City based networks and will be liaising with the consortium to learn from the initiatives taken in the Garden Route.

Training
On of the consortium’s major aims is to boost education in the Southern Cape. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT University) in the USA, has made available to the consortium around 2000 online programs focussing on science and technology. These programs will be made available to local schools completely free of charge, once they have connected to the new network. “The beauty of this is that it is all so achievable. Video conferencing can be set up so that children in a small rural school can also listen to and view someone in the USA giving a lecture and so be brought into the world of science and technology.” Students can do courses as well through internet. Ms Johnston from Western Cape Government is currently exploring ways of unlocking government funding to get all the region’s schools connected to this initiative.

Virtual hub

“By creating a virtual hub, we want to create a momentum which will bring about enough technology based work here in George which will mean that those people who are currently commuting to bigger centres, and living in George, can in future work here as well.
“We are having a road show to launch the roll-out and we are pleased that Western Cape Finance and Tourism Minister Allan Winde’s revitalization programme happens to coincide and slot in with our initiatives, and we hope to tap into those being rolled out.”

Sheraan’s story is one of those that any budding South African entrepreneur has to love: the concept of Personera is innovative, unique and has global potential and reach (in fact they do have customers from around the world). It is the first project launched under the SiliconCape banner, and they have a bridge to the global markets via Vinny Lingham who is an investor in the startup. They have been covered in the international media, including Techcrunch.

I will be watching them with keen interest, mainly because we really do need success stories, don’t we? And they have managed to overcome the hurdles that most local startups face, mostly with ingenuity and hard work. So it can be done Mostly, though, I will want to see where they go from here…and I mean “where”, literally. Will they stay in Cape Town and manage to run a global startup from Africa’s tip, or will they consider it worth their while to move to San Francisco (for instance)?

Either way, I am keeping tabs Think I will create a separate category about “Companies to watch”, and will then follow my own advice.

Oh, and the conference is FREE. So register now!

This off their website:

Take the most innovative/successful/creative/ambitious thinkers and entrepreneurs in the Internet space, and ask them to share their stories, ideas and predictions for the future in a format that is fresh, relevant and engaging. The result: Net Prophet.

Planning is well underway for our 2010 event. Although the date is set (so you can clear your schedule for that time) we can’t give away all our secrets just yet. What we can predict however, is an event double the scale of Net Prophet 2009, new prophets, appearances from previous prophets, an after-party of epic proportions and some interesting surprises along the way…

Similar in style to 27Dinners, BarCAMP and MobileMonday. QuadCAMP will be a great place to come and network with industry leaders from around the world. Come and see first hand how the severely disabled members of our society manage to live semi normal lives thanks to the marvels of modern technology. See the quads in action and learn much from their sad experiences.

The main goal of this years Camp is to empower disabled members of the Ama Wheelies NPO (www.amawheelies.co.za). Helping them to reach their full potential through informal computer, cellphone and techno educational workshops.

Companies will be invited to demo new techno gadgets designed to improve the lives of the disabled. A select group of quadriplegics and paraplegics from the Ama Wheelies NPO will be on hand to demo these gadgets.

Attendees will be asked to donate unwanted old working computers, cellphones and all other techno gadgets which can be used to improve the lives of these previously and currently disadvantaged individuals.

BOOKING:
We are currently putting together a list of at 100 individuals from the blogging, media, and internet world who are interested in attending. Once the attendance register has been finalised we will provide the exact date and venue info. If you would like to attend QuadCAMP 2010 please add your name to the list and get your friends to come.

Companies who are interested in sponsoring meals, drinks, Accommodation, Transport and or anything else at this the first ever QuadCAMP should email or call Simon (friends@amawheelies.co.za Cell: 083 240 7796) for more info.

We look forward to seeing you at QuadCAMP 2010

Basically, it’s a weekly digest of the best startup events happening in the Cape area, emailed to you every Monday. It’s the fastest and easiest way to know what’s happening in the tech/web/startup community.

Personally, I think it’s a fabulous idea, and I hop it takes off. Ideally, I think we should have one for the entire country, but I guess doing it by city is the default.

If you want to receive the digest, please sign up at thestartupdigest.com, and if you know of events happening, please send Sharon the link or additional info.