Don Osborn: Short Bio / Courte bio :

Founder and director of Bisharat, Ltd. With a background in environment, agriculture, rural development, and African languages, he has developed an expertise in African language computing and localization issues with an eye towards applications for sustainable development. He is currently heading the PanAfrican Localisation project, an initiative funded by IDRC and managed with Kabissa.

Studied Fula (including 2 years speaking Fulfulde of Maasina [Mali] and 2 speaking Pular of Futa Jalon [Guinea]) and Bambara (studied in Mali and the US; 1 year residence in Bamako, Mali). Also published a lexical compilation (dictionary) of Maasina Fulfulde.

Eleven years' total experience in West Africa and travel elsewhere on the continent.

African localisation workshop participation (reverse chronological order):

Marrakech workshop, February 2007

Looking forward to building network on the basis of work various people have been doing...

Casablanca workshop, June 2005

What I got out of the workshop / Comment j'ai bénéficié de participation dans l'atelier:

Greater appreciation of and more information about localisation efforts in various parts of the continent.

Subjects I wished we had considered / Sujets que j'aurais voulu traiter :

More attention to:

• After localisation (issues of distribution, follow-up)
• Strategies for promoting localisation in areas where it is not yet being done.