Why experiment this new approach in Africa and why now?

there is a direct tie into product goals on FxOS -- we can test whether we can achieve a bump relative to prior launches with community involvement there is a specific opportunity with Orange that will give energy to this there is a lack of existing communities/volunteers which allows us to test new approach to community development/bringing value to the open web in a country (work across MoCo/MoFo, different functions, etc) there are links to many innovative participation ideas that have already or are currently being fleshed out across Mozilla (ie. local clubs, student chapters, FxOS launch teams, developer engagement for local content, etc.) there are a range of philanthropic partners and African learning institutions who want to work with Mozilla

Hypotheses:

We believe that by shifting our communication focus and value propositions onto the tangible benefits that Mozilla can provide for individuals and their communities (ie. new skills, work experiences, mentoring, tools, funding...):

we will be better able to capture people's interest in Mozilla and foster more relationships

we will inspire these communities to bring measurably more people to Mozilla's products -- specifically in 2015, we will be able to see an effect on FxOS usage numbers

we will make our products and programs better in ways that are locally relevant through building long-term relationships with people our communities will catalyze programs/efforts (education, governance, economic development, etc) that build their local capacity, strengthen local resources, and promote the value of the open web.

These communities will serve as a new model that lays the foundations for innovation, hyper-local content, distributed leadership etc -- realizing our Participation aim of having more Mozilla activities than employees can track, let alone control.