Www.IST-Africa.org Africa - Ireland Economic Forum Copyright 2002 - 2011 IST-Africa Initiative...

www.IST-Africa.org Africa - Ireland Economic Forum Copyright 2002 - 2011 IST-Africa Initiative

IST-Africa InitiativeRegional Impact of Information Society Technologies in Africa

ICT Related Opportunities for Irish Companies in Africa

Paul Cunningham

Founder & Co-ordinator, IST-Africa Initiative

IIMC Ltd, Ireland

Presented at Africa – Ireland Economic Forum13 September 2011, Dublin


IIMC and IST-Africa Initiative

IIMC is a technology and strategic consulting company headquartered in Ireland• Designs and delivers technology, consulting, research and community building

solutions that support ICT adoption and research cooperation • eGovernment, eDemocracy and eParticipation• eHealth, eInclusion and ICT4D• eSkills and Technology Enhanced Learning

• Established IST-Africa Initiative in 2002, with government ministries/national councils responsible for ICT and STI adoption, policy analysis and national research capacity

• Supported by European Commission (EC) and African Union Commission (AUC)• Secured co-funding from European Commission under FP6 and FP7

• 3 Countries (2005); 7 Countries (2007); 14 Countries (2009); 19 Countries (‘11)

IST-Africa now has Strategic Government Partners in 19 African Countries• North Africa (Egypt, Tunisia)• Southern Africa (Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia,

South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia) • East Africa (Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda)• West Africa (Ghana and Senegal)• Central Africa (Cameroon)


IST-Africa Initiative (Phase 4: 2012 - 2013)

• IST-Africa (Phase 4: 2012 – ’13) Supporting Strategic Engagement

Between Africa & EU in the areas of Information Society, ICT & STI

19 Ministries/National Councils for ICT & STI participating partners across Africa

Partners Supporting 12 Additional African Countries (Future Partners)

• ObjectivesSupporting Implementation of 8th Africa-EU Strategic Partnership (Science, Information Society, Space)Analysis of African ICT Policy and Research Priorities to Identify Collaboration/Cross-Border Implementation OpportunitiesRaising Awareness of African Research Capacity and Promoting Participation in FP7 and FP8Supporting European engagement with African organisations including Living Labs &Living Labs NetworksSource funding to implement joint projects including Living Labs


IST-Africa Consortium Continues to Grow

IST-Africa Consortium (Phase 4: Oct 2011 – 2013)• IIMC International Information Management Corporation Limited (“IIMC”, Ireland)

• Department of Science and Technology (“DST”, South Africa)

• Ministry of Education, Division Research, Science, Technology & Innovation (“MOE”, Namibia)

• Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology (“MCST-L”, Lesotho)

• Unidade Technica de Implementacao da Politica de Informatica (“UTICT”, Mozambique)

• Ministry of Infrastructure, Science and Technology (“MIST”, Botswana)

• Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (“COSTECH”, Tanzania)

• Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (“UNCST”, Uganda)

• Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (“MOHEST”, Kenya)

• Ministere de l’Enseignement Superieur et de la Recherche Scientifique (“MESRS”, Burundi)

• Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur, des Universités et des Centres Universitaires Régionaux et de la Recherche Scientifique (“MESUCURRS”, Senegal)

• National Computer Board (“NCB”, Mauritius)

• Agence Nationale des Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication (“ANTIC”, Cameroon)

• Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (“MCIT”, Egypt)

• Ministry of Communications and Transport (“MCT”, Zambia)

• Ministere de l'Enseignement Superieur et de la Recherche Scientifique ("MHESR", Tunisia)

• Ministry of Science and Technology (“MoST”, Ethiopia)

• Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (“MEST”, Ghana)

• Ministry of Information Communication Technology (“MICT-S”, Swaziland)

• National Commission for Science and Technology (“NCST”, Malawi)


Qualification of IST/ICT Research Priorities

• IST-Africa Methodology Driven By National Partner Requirements– ICT Research Priorities must be Aligned with National Policy Priorities– Consultation Undertaken across 14 IST-Africa Partner Countries (Phase 3)– National IST-Africa Partners (Each Responsible for ICT Adoption, and/or

Science, Technology & Innovation Policy & Research) Undertook Consultation with National Universities & Research Centres to Identify Research Priorities as Part of National Strategic Review

– Undertook Survey of IST & ICT Research Currently Being Undertaken at National Level Across Partner Countries & Identified Funding Options

– Identified National Research Strengths, Potential Areas of Specialisation

• Findings To Date– Quality & Maturity of Research Undertaken at National Level is often at very

different levels within countries and from one country to another– Understanding of what Research involves can also be quite different from

Department to Department (based on their prior experience of Individual Research Projects, Team Work & Cross Border Research)

– Common Priorities Identified Include Technology Enhanced Learning, eHealth, eAgriculture, Digital Libraries, Trustworthy ICT, eInfrastructures

– National Research Expertise Mapped to FP7-ICT Challenges


White Paper on Living Labs in Africa

• Second Action Plan (2011 – 2013) of 8th Africa – EU Strategic Partnership (Science, Information Society, Space) identified number of priority areas for public sector, private sector and research community collaboration

• Complimenting investments in ICT infrastructure deployment and exploiting synergies with African Union ICT development frameworks

• White Paper “Supporting the Evolution of Sustainable Living Labs and Living Labs Networks in Africa” initiated by EU – AUC Living Labs Taskforce for Africa and authored by IIMC and LLiSA Network

• By reading this White Paper, relevant stakeholders will better appreciate:(a) the basic concepts behind Living Labs;(b) the different forms and focus that Living Labs can take;(c) diversity of Living Labs related activities that already exist in Africa;(d) the potential socio-economic, socio-cultural and quality of life benefits

and opportunities presented by applying Living Labs Methodologies adapted to an African context; and

(e)potential impact of supporting replication across Africa• Contributions invited by 30 September• http://www.ist-africa.org/home/default.asp?page=livinglabs


What are Living Labs in an African context?

• Based on an integrated Developed and Developing Country perspective, Herselman and Cunningham [2011] propose this definition:

• “Living Labs are environments, a methodology or an approach which caters for user-driven open innovation within real-life rural and urban settings/communities, where users can collaborate with multiple committed stakeholders (whether NGOs, SMMEs, industrial, academic/research, government institutions or donors) in one or more locations, to become co-creators or co-designers of innovative ideas, processes or products within multidisciplinary environments. Successful deployments can result in improved processes or service delivery, new business models, products or services, and can be replicated (with necessary socio-cultural adaption) to improve overall quality of life and wider socio-economic impact (including entrepreneurship) in participating and other communities”.

• Leveraging Living Labs methodologies and Living Labs Networks in Africa provide an important opportunity to collaborate, co-create, prototype and test new products and services, technologies, processes, business models or ideas customised for developing markets


Socio-Economic Context in Africa I

• ROXBURGH C., DOERR N., LEKE A., TAZI-RIFFI A., van WAMELEN A., LUND S., CHIRONGA M., ALATOVIK T., ATKINS C., TERFOUS N. & ZEINO-MAHMALAT T. 2010. Lions on the move: The progress and potential of African economies. McKinsey Global Institute

Diagram 1 – Africa Transforms into 3rd Fastest Growing Region in the World (2000 – 2008)


Socio-Economic Context in Africa II

• United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and African Union Commission (AUC). Economic Report on Africa 2011: Governing development in Africa - the role of the state in economic transformation. March 2011. ISBN: 978-92-1-125116-6

Diagram 2 – Regional versus Average Pan-African Growth Performance (2008 – 2010)


Socio-Economic Context in Africa III


Diagram 3 –Segmentation by Sector of African GDP Growth and % of Total Growth (2002 – 2007)


Socio-Economic Context in Africa IV

Diagram 4 – Exports Per Capita versus Level of Economic Diversification Achieved (32 Countries)



Socio-Economic Context in Africa V

Diagram 5 – Growth in Discretionary Income and Socio-economic Independence of African Households



Socio-Economic Context in Africa - Summary

• Africa’s Economically Active Population (also known as Working-Age Population – all persons between 15 and 64) increased by 32.6% between 2000 and 2010 to 413.5 million out of a total 2010 mid-year African population of c. 1 billion

• 2006 – 2008 Literacy levels for African Youth (15 - 24 year olds) were higher than the equivalent Average (74.9% Vs. 69.1%) and Median (79.3% Vs. 70.5%) for Adults

• By 2020, c.128 million African households (52%) will have discretionary income. Increasing per capita income directly increases discretionary spending

• Only 25% of growth in African GDP per capita was as a result of productivity gains, which slows the development of households with discretionary income. With skills transfer and investment in education and eSkills to leverage youth literacy, Africa’s future workforce could become a significant engine of global consumption

• By 2040, Africa’s Economically Active Population will be the largest in the world, and at still growing at over 1.1. billion. As the proportion of households with discretionary income continue to grow, Africa will become the most important market in the world

• Targeting countries and RECs where ICT adoption and skills development are priorities will facilitate faster adoption of Living Labs methodologies and Networks.

• Botswana. Egypt, Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda are amongst those African countries who understand the requirement to invest in eSkills to actively target opportunities in Sectors including Services, ICT, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Knowledge Economy


Living Labs in Africa

Diagram 6 – Living Labs in Southern Africa

Diagram 7 – Living Labs in East Africa


Key Success Factors of Living Labs in Africa

• Success factors from developed countries are subject to adaptation within Africa• Active, early engagement with community leaders, gatekeepers & key influencers is

key to manage expectations and clearly explain responsibilities & potential benefits • While universities, research institutions and industry have an important role to play,

and are major beneficiaries of participation in Living Labs (research results, real-life based market intelligence), when Living Labs are properly aligned with local, provincial, national or regional policy goals, government and international donors can also be important beneficiaries, with a key role to play in achieving sustainability

• Government and donors see eSkills Development Programmes, Incubators and Living Labs as important mechanisms to support socio-economic impact through multi-stakeholder partnerships - particularly in rural and disadvantaged communities, by supporting capacity building, job creation and growing an entrepreneurial culture

• Living Labs must focus on organisational culture, business model(s), potential sources of start up capital, recurring revenue streams, non-financial contributions, priorities for investing and reinvesting capital, income and non-financial contributions, mechanisms to reward management, staff and participating stakeholders (based on contribution to success of the enterprise) and how to incentivise and reward active community participation


IST-Africa 2012 (09 – 11 May, Dar es Salaam)

• Hosted by COSTECH and Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology (MCST), United Republic of Tanzania

• Supported by European Commission and African Union Commission• Call for Papers Deadline: 30 November 2011• Applied ICT Research Themes include

– eHealth and Health Information Systems– eInfrastructures– Living Labs, ICT for eInclusion and eAccessibility– Technology Enhanced Learning and ICT Skills (eSkills)– ICT for Environmental Sustainability– RFID and Networked Enterprise– eGovernment, eDemocracy & eParticipation– Mobile Applications (including mEducation and Social Networking)– Transformation of Research Results into Local Innovation– Cloud Computing , IPv6 and Cyber Security

• Submission of Papers – www.IST-Africa.org/Conference2012• Highlight level of innovation, actual or expected impact• Case studies, Analysis of initial or final research results

– Double Blind Peer Review – papers accepted based on quality and relevance– Feedback on papers submitted: 31 January 2012– Advance Programme: 31 January 2012


Next Steps

Action Points• Join the IST-Africa Community at www.IST-Africa.org• Collaborate with IIMC/IST-Africa to explore African market opportunities• Participate in validation of new products and services via Living Labs• Indicate Your Interest in Research Collaboration with Qualified African

Research Organisations in North Africa (Egypt), Southern Africa (South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Mozambique, Botswana and Mauritius), East Africa (Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Burundi and Rwanda), West Africa (Senegal) & Central Africa (Cameroon)

• Leverage the IST-Africa Portal as a Community Hub to Share Relevant Content, Increase Awareness and Reduce Duplication of Effort

• Raise awareness - Submit paper/workshop proposal for IST-Africa 2012 www.IST-Africa.org/Conference2012

Contact Paul Cunningham (IIMC)– Email: [email protected] [email protected]

– Phone: +353-1-8170607 (O)

Www.IST-Africa.org Africa - Ireland Economic Forum Copyright 2002 - 2011 IST-Africa Initiative...

Documents

Transcript of Www.IST-Africa.org Africa - Ireland Economic Forum Copyright 2002 - 2011 IST-Africa Initiative...