Africa
See the following -
Nairobi's iHub Seeks Investment For New Hardware Hackspace, Gearbox
One of the stalwarts of the Kenyan tech scene wants to move beyond its focus on software and apps by offering hardware workspace for design and rapid prototyping. Read More »
- Login to post comments
Need For Access To Academic Knowledge Is An Open And Shut Case
ACCESS barriers to published research "result in critical, relevant knowledge and research outputs in Africa being published in overseas journals — journals that are not affordable to African academic libraries", Science and Technology Minister Derek Hanekom said at the Berlin 10 Open Access Conference last week. Read More »
- Login to post comments
New Ideas About Online Community.. From Africa
President Obama's pledge to mobilize more than $30 billion of investment for Africa reflects the consensus of a continent on the move. Certainly, the rapid spread of mobile technologies has piqued the interest of telecom and internet companies...
- Login to post comments
NEXTGEN Cassava Project Sets Precedent For Open Access Data Sharing In Agricultural Research
Six months after the launch of the $25.2M NEXTGEN Cassava project at Cornell University, scientists on the project have released Cassavabase, a database that promotes open access data sharing. Read More »
- Login to post comments
Nurturing Health Innovation In Africa: 13 Ways To Boost Research
...One continent-wide approach to investing in research in Africa will not suit the needs of every country. In 2009, approximately one third of all African scientists or people with engineering degrees were working and living abroad...
- Login to post comments
Omidyar Network Releases African Entrepreneurship Report, It’s A Must Read
We have the pleasure of presenting the Accelerating Entrepreneurship in Africa report compiled by the Omidyar Network, the philanthropic foundation established by Pierre Omidyar — the founder of eBay — in partnership with global strategy consulting film, Monitor Group. Read More »
- Login to post comments
Online, Off The Grid: The Promising New Tech Tool About To Hit African Markets
An African tech company is gearing up to unleash a brand new tool that will help people across the continent get connected to the Internet, even in the most remote places. Read More »
- Login to post comments
Open Access Africa Wrap-up
Last week was a significant time for open access in Africa. BioMed Central’s third Open Access Africa conference at the University of Cape Town (UCT) was so rich in content that it is hard to do it justice in a blog.
- Login to post comments
Open Access Africa: Showcasing African Research
In November 2012 the third Open Access Africa event, hosted by BioMed Central and the University of Cape Town, will discuss the implications of open access for African research. Read More »
- Login to post comments
Open Access Comes To Africa
Hundreds of scholars gathered in Stellenbosch, South Africa, last month to build a stronger case for making the results of scientific research freely accessible worldwide. Calling scientific knowledge the motor of economic development, delegates to the international gathering, the Berlin 10 Conference on Open Access, urged scientists to radically change how they evaluate and communicate their work. Read More »
- Login to post comments
Open access is a development issue – the status quo needs to be challenged
South Africa is doing some amazing research but cannot share it globally because of restrictive copyright laws or unreasonable policies and embargo periods set by publishers. South African authors cannot become known and cited if their works are locked up behind expensive paywalls, accessible only to a limited audience. South African students and researchers also need access to the best international and local up-to-date journals, books and other research to be able to contribute new knowledge in their fields. This is the reason open access is so crucial for South Africa and other developing countries.
- Login to post comments
Open Access Is The Future For Africa’s Science Media
The physical publishing of books, newspapers and magazines is as outdated as the concept of notebook journalism represented by Clark Kent — instead of Superman giving us our daily dose of news, we are now just as likely to receive it online from “citizen journalists” with no formal training. Read More »
- Login to post comments
Open Data Key To Tackling Neglected Tropical Diseases
Open data access could promote collaborations among researchers in Africa and help in the fight against malaria, tuberculosis (TB) and neglected tropical diseases such as sleeping sickness, also called African trypanosomiasis. At a time when demand for open data in health and drug discovery is dominating the digital space, some researchers say the model could work for Africa and alleviate the sufferings of many from these diseases. Following the call on 23 April this year from the WHO for the disclosure of all results from clinical trials of new medicines, there is a push towards greater transparency.
- Login to post comments
Open Data, Open Development
Last week I attended the Open Knowledge Festival (OKFest) organized by the Open Knowledge Foundation in Helsinki Finland. [My] interest and reason for attending was to find out as much as I could about open Data, Development as I could from people that had already started on the open journey in their countries and some even gotten their governments to sign on... Read More »
- Login to post comments
Open Development And Open Data: What Next?
The Kenya Open Data Portal was launched by President Mwai Kibaki in July 2011, making Kenya the second country in Africa, after Morocco, to launch an open data portal and the first in sub-Saharan Africa. [...] Read More »
- Login to post comments