Climate Change Injustice: Technology, Innovation and the Politics of Climate Change
By Olanrewaju A. Fagbohun, Ph.D, SAN In charting a future course where the goal is about equitable and democratic end to fossil fuel production, we may begin…
AFCTFA: A Potential Boost for African Economies
By Eslam Shaaban In March 2018, the African Continent Free Trade Agreement (AFCFTA) was unveiled as the world’s largest free trade area since the creation…
Empowering Indigenous Craft Women in Africa
By Desmond Oriakhogba As an Open AIR NERG and QEScholar, I have been conducting research since June 2018 on the empowerment of indigenous craft women in Africa.…
Open AIR Research into 4th Industrial Revolution Technologies and Artificial Intelligence: Southern Africa & Canada
By Nagham El Houssamy and Nadine Weheba This is part three in a three part series. For part one, click here. For part two, click here. Monumental…
Open AIR Research into 4th Industrial Revolution Technologies and Artificial Intelligence: Eastern Africa
By Nagham El Houssamy and Nadine Weheba This is part two in a three part series. For part one, click here. For part three, click here. Monumental advances…
Artificial Intelligence in Africa: An Overview of ongoing Open AIR Activities
By Nagham El Houssamy and Nadine Weheba This is part one in a three part series. For part two, click here. Part three can be read here. Monumental advances…
Shifting Horizons Conference
By Michael Dao On March 28th, 2019, the University of Ottawa hosted the Shifting Horizons: Managing Your Research Data Conference, a day-long series of workshops…
The Blue Economy and The Need for Open IP
By Eashan Karnik, cross-posted from Smart Prosperity Institute The need to adopt clean energy technologies is a pressing issue not just in Canada, but…
Makerspaces et émancipation des femmes en Afrique : Briser les préjugés !
Par Thomas Hervé Mboa Nkoudou Au cours de mon séjour de recherche, je me suis intéressé à la place réservée aux femmes au sein des Makerspaces d’Afrique…
Feminine Wisdom as an Axis to Traditional Knowledge in Africa
By Michael P.K. Okyerefo* The pivotal place of feminine wisdom in Africa may surprise a good many outsiders! As one of my friends would always say, “women…
Invention in Africa: Open AIR shares its Model at CAAS 2019
By Uchenna Felicia Ugwu Presenting at the CAAS 2019 conference Africa is becoming recognized as an important hub of informal innovation, which should not…
40th WIPO IGC: Mixed Impressions as Experts Seek a New Mandate
By Chidi Oguamanam, cross-posted from ABS Canada. Pre-session Strategy Meetings Experts and delegates gathered in Geneva for the 40th session of the…
Financing of innovations in Egypt: Barriers and Potential
By Eslam Shaaban Innovators, especially in the start-up stage, are facing the problem of financing their projects. In Egypt, there is great potential to develop…
OMMIC: A Personal Perspective
By Uche Ajuonuma Last fall, I attended the Ontario Makers and Mentors Innovation Conference (OMMIC) at uOttawa. The event was held at the new STEM (Science,…
IP, Gender, and South Africa: a Student's Visit to Open AIR's Cape Town hub
By Akkila Thirukesan This blog is part one of a series into Akkila’s during her visit to Open AIR’s South Africa hub – the IP Unit at the University…
Focusing on Indigenous Data Sovereignty as Part of ‘Shifting Horizons’
By Toni Valenti On Thursday, March 28th, Open AIR attended the Indigenous Data Sovereignty panel at the Shifting Horizons research data conference at the…
Reconciling Copyright with Creativity: New Insights from 2018 Conferences (Part II)
By Helen Chuma-Okoro and Nicole Tumaine This is part two of Helen Chuma-Okoro and Nicole Tumaine’s’ blog post on the isnights retained from 2018 confereces,…
Reconciling Copyright with Creativity: New Insights from 2018 Conferences (Part I)
By Helen Chuma-Okoro and Nicole Tumaine Access to knowledge (A2K) is necessary to further innovation and creativity. Due to the exclusive nature of intellectual…
Empowering Rural Craft Women through Social Entrepreneurship and Open, Inclusive Innovation
By Desmond Osaretin Oriakhogba My Engagement with the Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa As part of my on-going project as a Queen…
Depicting Reality in the African Context
By Menna Badreldin It is challenging to quantify a phenomenon in the same method across countries. Indices are generally a tool to represent a certain issue…
The Open African Innovation Research Partnership Transition Workshop
By Dana El Bashbisy On the 8th of February 2018, members of the Open African Innovation Research Partnership (Open AIR) gathered in Accra, Ghana to share research…
WIPO IGC 39: Unraveling the Tiered Approach to TK/TCEs
By Chidi Oguamanam WIPO IGC negotiations One of the major innovations of the IGC, in its long-running search for international legal instruments for the effective…
Researching Maker Communities and Socio-economic Inclusion
By Chris Armstrong As part of our Maker Movement research theme, we at Open AIR are trying to build understanding of how participation in maker communities…
Challenging Power Structures in the Context of Global Change
By Esther Ekong As part of its Solutions for Gender Equality speaker series, The International Development Research Centre (IDRC), hosted a special panel…