BarCamp Diaspora to focus on global African talent
Thursday, July 9th, 2009Ghanaians living in the US and around the world will be taking part in an initiative called “BarCamp Diaspora” on July 25. The event, taking place in Washington, DC, will allow the African diaspora to exchange ideas on doing business in Ghana, West Africa.
A barcamp is an open, participatory workshop event where the content is provided by the participants; the first barcamp was held in 2005, and in early years were focused on technology. The content is provided by the attendees, who can choose to speak on their own interests.
BarCamp Diaspora ’09 will be focused on “Investing our talent where it counts”. Organisers say, “BarCamp Diaspora ’09 is a FREE event for anyone who is interested in using their skills, talent, and resources to benefit Africa. It will provide a great opportunity for the African Diaspora to network and collaborate on projects.”
They list several possible breakout session ideas:
- Sustaining African NGO’s in the Diaspora
- Opportunities in open source
- Mobile payments; why is Africa leading the world
- African outsourcing; opportunities and risks
- African communications infrastructure; growth, trend, opportunities
- African women and technology
- African ingenuity; building, making and selling African products
- ICT Solutions for affordable health care in Ghana
- Renewable resources, green technology, biofuels and solar energy
- Social media: Where are the Ghanaian or West African bloggers?
BarCamp Diaspora grows out of last year’s BarCamp Ghana ’08, which was held in Accra to exchange ideas on entrepreneurship, innovation and development for the developing nation.
The idea has interesting potential for Ireland – while there have been several diaspora conferences in recent years, their formal organisational structure has limited audience participation. An Irish diaspora barcamp could be an energising way of channeling the power of the grassroots in the world-wide Irish community.
Scotland’s Homecoming reaches peak with Gathering, Diaspora Forum
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009Scotland will welcome 8,000 members of its diaspora later this month for “The Gathering”, the highlight of its Homecoming Scotland year. In Edinburgh on the weekend of July 23-25, there will be a gathering of 130 clans, a Highland Games festival, and a spectacular clan pageant called “Aisling’s Children”.
The Scotsman newspaper reports that cynics may scoff, but cites the rewards of Ireland’s cultivation of its diasporic links:
For political and business leaders who want to see the country thrive, the bond between Scotland and its diaspora is not just culturally significant. As Ireland has demonstrated, properly fostered, the emotional ties could reap dividends for all involved. Over the last decade or so, the Irish government has explored ways in which the country can tap into the economic, intellectual and social bounty of its ex-pat community. One particularly successful initiative is the Irish Technology Leadership Group, which is comprised of Irish and Irish-Americans in senior positions in Silicon Valley willing to invest in Irish companies.
There will also be a debate at the Scottish Diaspora Forum, open to the public, which will feature Scottish politicians, journalists, academics, and business people discussing the role of the diaspora in Scotland’s future. There will be a panel debate on whether the Scottish diaspora has a critical role to play in any potential new Scottish enlightenment. There will also be a “Dragon’s Glen” event, where several pitchers try to sell a panel ideas which would bring Scotland’s resident population of five million people together with its diaspora of 40 million people.
- Scotsman.com – Homeward Bound: Scotland’s diaspora heads to Edinburgh for the highpoint of the Homecoming celebrations this month
- Scottish Diaspora Forum
- Homecoming Scotland
- Irish Technology Leadership Group
- The Scottish Diaspora and Diaspora Strategy: Insights and Lessons from Ireland
Edited to add:
Mother writes of son’s impending emigration
Monday, June 29th, 2009Patricia Leahy has written an extremely powerful article in today’s Irish Times about her son’s upcoming emigration. Leahy herself moved to Ireland 28 years ago; she is the daughter of Irish emigrants who left for New York in the 1940s. Seven decades later, after being unemployed for a year, her son is following in her father’s footsteps.
Leahy knows that her son’s emigration isn’t likely to sunder his link with Ireland:
As for his future, whether he stays or returns to Ireland, I hope the experience for him makes him grow into a man he can be proud of. I also hope it will heighten an appreciation of his country, culture and kinship.
Maybe it already has. Since he made the decision to emigrate, his musical tastes have switched from rap, rock and house music to that of The Dubliners, The Furey Brothers and The Wolfe Tones.
I am quite sure that Ireland hasn’t lost another son.
A deeply moving piece.
Irish Times: Irishwoman’s Diary
Diaspora is ‘Facebook for the nation’, says McWilliams
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009An interesting snippet from David McWilliams on Youtube:
Absolutely. I think that if you look at the biggest phenomenon of the last few years… has been social networking. This is Facebook for the nation. It’s for the willing. You don’t have to coerce people. It’s not something that’s exclusive…The tribe in an era of services – the Irish and Americans, we’re not going to end up making stuff in the future. In an era of services, the most important thing is soft power…Branding, networking, contacts – all these issues… And if you look at this, what is more evocative than these ancient, ancestral ties, which are real, which are absolutely real? We could put together an extraordinary network of Irish people which would benefit both America and Ireland.
National emigration history centre given go ahead in New Ross
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009A national emigration history centre is planned for the Dunbrody Visitor Centre in New Ross, Co. Wexford, as part of a €2.5 million redevelopment plan for the Dunbrody Visitor Centre. The plan was given a go-ahead by the New Ross Town council last month, and the new visitor center could be completed as early as next year.
Related website:
Silicon Valley entrepreneur urges diaspora to transform NI tech sector
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009Northern Ireland’s diaspora can play a pivotal role in rebranding Northern Ireland as a “software destination”, says David Kirk, a Belfast-born executive in Silicon Valley.
Writing a call to action in today’s Belfast Telegraph, Kirk says it’s time to make a bold transformation to capitalise on the great talent and passion among entrepreneurs, technologists and potential business leaders. He sees the talent; what’s lacking in the North is the know-how to progress the ideas, talent and drive into “something that will make the world drop its jaw”.
He envisions the diaspora playing a key role:
Aggressively reach out to the diaspora. Invite them in. Listen to them. If you are reading this anywhere on the planet and you have a connection (or even feel you have a connection) to Northern Ireland, you are invited. If you are in Northern Ireland and can provide time, resources or expertise then you are invited. It’s no good just cheering (or sneering) from the sidelines anymore.
Kirk notes, “The most successful Northern Ireland technology entrepreneurs no longer live there, but almost all want to give back.”
This compelling call-to-action is the latest in a series of initiatives aimed at focusing the talent of the diaspora to help back at home. This is exciting stuff – technology is facilitating so many new ways of rapidly channelling the diaspora’s good will into effective action back home.
Related sites:
- Belfast Telegraph: Surely it’s now time to raise the game for our technology industries
- twitter.com/AAligNI
- Linkedin: AaligNI
- Facebook group: AAligNI