Trickles and Spouts: Translating Research on Intellectual Properties to Women’s Entrepreneurship
By Esther Ekong
I am currently conducting my PhD research about Nigerian women entrepreneurs in ongoing global debates about the role of intellectual property (IP)...
Innovation by “makers” in South Africa’s Gauteng Province
The “Makers” who come together to tinker and hack in the maker collectives of South Africa’s Gauteng Province display a wide range of innovation practices, our research for Open AIR has found.
Our study, Collaboration and Appropriation in Gauteng Makerspaces, investigated the activities of eight Gauteng maker collectives. The findings have now been published in Open AIR Working Paper 6, entitled The Maker Movement in Gauteng Province, South Africa.
Beyond the Poster Boy of the Maker Movement
Some people tour Europe’s finest vineyards others tour Australia’s sweetest surf spots—I tour South Africa’s pioneer makerspaces; part of the growing global maker movement. The movement is a culmination of people becoming “makers” (someone who uses their personal abilities to create anything from mechanical or electrical to visual or musical) and spaces becoming makerspaces (an interdisciplinary area stimulating people to create by providing resources and idea sharing).
“Making” Innovation Happen: Open AIR Hosts a Successful Workshop on the...
How the world evolves in the next decade (and beyond) may be dependent upon a new-age movement re-instilling age-old skills: the maker movement. In my ongoing research into the maker movement in Canada and South Africa (see earlier posts here and here), I recently co-hosted a workshop in Ottawa with attendees from the University of Ottawa, representatives of makerspaces in the community, and those with knowledge about makerspaces elsewhere in the world.
Africa’s Maker Movement: An Overview of Ongoing Research
Makerspaces are places where people gather to build projects, learn new technologies, and develop entrepreneurial opportunities. Open AIR is conducting research on makerspaces across the African continent.
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 insights retained from 2018 conferences,...
Maker spaces in developing countries: Sites of innovation despite simultaneous challenges
by Mohamed Hosny
In the past few years, there have been several initiatives to help entrepreneurs introduce new creative and innovative products that break from...
Secteur informel Sénégalais : après la crise, la survie
Par Aboubacry Kane
Le secteur informel ignoré par le plan de relance économique
La pandémie du Covid-19 continue toujours de sévir dans le monde. Après plusieurs...
OPEN AIR AND QES FELLOW EXPLORED THE IP, TK AND GENDER...
By Desmond Oriakhogba
Gender issues are increasingly being discussed with regard to intellectual property (IP) and traditional knowledge (TK), especially from an African innovation perspective. Generally,...
Museums and Women’s Empowerment in Zambia
By Charlene Tsitsi Musiza
There have been many efforts to empower women, but rural women continue to face unique socio-economic challenges. A suggested approach to...











