Just to put this workshop in perspective: as far as we know, this is the first time anyone has tried to run a one-week workshop on volunteer computing - anywhere, let alone in Africa. The teachers are focussing on practical hands-on experience, rather than theoretical knowledge.
And they're setting the bar very high. Today is day three, and the participants are already working on getting a real science project, malaria control.net, to run on a BOINC server (the map shows computers around the world contributing to malariacontrol.net). In the past, it has taken some of the scientists teaching the course weeks or months to get this far. The participants installed the BOINC server themselves yesterday, and played around with BOINC clients on the first day.
So why do this, anyway? Can volunteer computing really help Africa? Wouldn't it be more relevant to spend time, money and effort on the 'one computer for every child' initiative? Or on getting more - and cheaper - bandwidth to Africa?
Maybe. But volunteer computing could help African scientists leapfrog the challenge of building big computing centres, and plug directly into the massive resources of all the PCs out there on the Internet. It could give African scientists a lot of visibility in the international science community. Homegrown volunteer computing projects could be a source of pride and provide a role model for young Africans. A bit like getting your national football team in the World Cup.
So is volunteer computing for Africa a pragmatic solution, or an idealistic daydream? You tell me!
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