The Web Foundation starts work on the Web-alliance for Regreening in Africa (W4RA) during the first week of February, with Steve Bratt and Stephane Boyera doing field investigations and planning with our partners in Burkina Faso.

Leveraging the Web, mobile phones, community radio and local expertise, W4RA will expand the collection and sharing of knowledge on how to grow trees and crops in the desert using local ideas and tools.  A handful of innovative farmers possess this knowledge now.  The Web Foundation train local experts to spread this knowledge to thousands of farmers across the Sahel and beyond. Farmers, families,  communities and the environment will benefit.

The Web Foundation’s visits to Africa focus on learning how the information technologies are being used, to understand the barriers and opportunities for Web usage, and to connect with people, projects and organizations active in the region.

Tim Berners-Lee and Daniel Dardailler of the Web Foundation visited Ghana in September 2009. Tim, Daniel, Stephane Boyera and Rosemary Leith recently completed a trip through Egypt, Kenya and Uganda, talking with Prime Ministers, Web developers and users.

The Web is young. We do not fully comprehend how this complex and expanding Web of “humanity connected by technology” really works. But what we do know, is that the Web works best when the underlying technologies are globally agreed, free and open.

The Web Foundation, working with the Web Science Trust and the World Wide Web Consortium, is working toward One Web for all people.  We work to advance our understanding of the Web, explore next-generation technologies, and develop open standards to make the Web an increasingly powerful tool for all people, around the world.

Only a quarter of the world today is able to use the Web, and benefit from its power. Among the other three quarters of the population, most live on less than few dollars a day, are fighting for their basic needs, and have poor access to life-critical services.

The Web Foundation and Center for Digital Inclusion will work together to train young people living in impoverished sections of major cities in Latin America, the Middle East and elsewhere how to develop Web applications that work on simple mobile phones, and how to use the power of the Web to improve their lives.