New Media Lab

Africa's first-ever major blogging conference, The Digital Citizen Indaba (DCI), will take place Sept. 14-15 in Grahamstown, South Africa. The event is hosted by the New Media Lab (a project of the School of Journalism & Media Studies, Rhodes University, South Africa). It's part of the Highway Africa 2006 effort.

According to Dictionary.com, an indaba is "a council or meeting of indigenous peoples of southern Africa to discuss an important matter."

This indaba aims to bring bloggers, citizen journalists, media practitioners, industry experts, and representatives from civil society all under one roof. It will feature a diverse range of speakers and media professionals from across the globe.

The goal of the event is to "equip Africans with skills related to new media which empower them and the organizations they work for by creating a long-lasting and long-reaching digital voice." The conference also will tackle issues concerning Web 2.0, citizen journalism, intellectual property rights, online ethics and activism.

This indaba also aims to facilitate networking among fellow Africans in the hope of promoting further collaboration on the continent and build a strong online community.