Programmes and Activities

SANGONeT’s activities centre around the following three interrelated programme areas:

Civil Society Information;
ICT Services;
ICT Advocacy.
In addition, Support Services incorporate all financial management, human resource and office administration issues, and functions under the leadership of the Finance Manager.

During the past few years SANGONeT has conceptualised and implemented the following important new ICT initiatives in support of the NGO sector in South Africa, and increasingly, the rest of Southern Africa:

- Thetha: The SANGONeT ICT Discussion Forum - launched in March 2003, Thetha forums provide NGOs with the opportunity to discuss ICT issues of common concern at both provincial and national levels. SANGONeT has already organised more than 20 Thetha forums in South Africa, and in 2006 expanded this initiative to five Southern African countries. A further six Southern African countries will be covered as of 2008 (www.sangonet.org.za/thetha).

- SANGONeT “ICTs for Civil Society” Conference and Exhibition - this annual event, first held in March 2005, presents NGOs with an important opportunity to reflect on the challenges and opportunities presented by ICTs in support of their work. The most recent event was held from 17-18 July 2007 in Johannesburg (www.sangonet.org.za/conference2007) and the next event will be held from 13-15 October 2008 (www.mobileactive08.org).

- SANGONeT NGO and Development Information Portal - launched in October 2005, this portal provides a gateway to the South African NGO sector. It includes the Prodder NGO and Development Directory, as well as the weekly NGO Pulse e-newsletter (www.sangonet.org.za / www.prodder.org.za).

- SANGOTeCH - this online technology donation portal, launched in December 2006, aims to assist NGOs by providing software and hardware for very low or discounted fees in conjunction with ICT donor partners, as well as by supporting NGOs to maximise their ICT purchases and infrastructure. This project will be expanded to the rest of Southern Africa in 2008 (www.sangotech.org).

- South African NGO Web Awards - first held in 2006, this annual competition is run in conjunction with the SANGONeT Conference and aims to raise awareness among NGOs about the benefits of having a web presence, stimulate interest in the application of web solutions and applications, and showcase best practices in website creation and maintenance. To read about the 2007 winners, click here.

- The State of ICTs in the South African NGO Sector - this annual research project, first implemented in 2007, aims to analyse the South African NGO sector’s application and awareness of ICTs in support of achieving its strategic objectives. The outcomes of the project will inform and guide the development of SANGONeT’s future ICT products and services, and assist NGOs, funders and other strategic stakeholders in understanding the role and relevance of ICTs in support of the sector (www.sangotech.org/ict-survey).

- Citizen Journalism in Africa project - this three-year project, implemented in conjunction with Hivos in six African countries, aims to improve the technical and journalistic capacity of African NGOs to use a mixture of traditional and digital media strategically and with journalistic professionalism to support democratic processes and a diverse and independent media environment (www.citizenjournalismafrica.org).

- NGO CEO Circle / NGO CEO Summit - SANGONeT initiated the CEO Circle in 2006 to create a space within the leadership of the NGO sector in Gauteng to discuss common institutional and strategic development issues on a regular basis. Building on the success of the CEO Circle, SANGONeT hosted the first NGO CEO Summit on 29 November 2007 at the Balalaika Hotel in Sandton, attended by 40 NGO leaders.

All SANGONeT’s activities are geared towards optimising resources and outputs, and increasing its impact on ICT uptake in the Southern African NGO sector.