In pursuit of a Coalition of the African Innovation Agencies: Doing...
Caroline Wanjiru Muchiri
On Friday 1st March 2024, a group of individuals drawn from various sectors gathered at the University of Johannesburg Business School to...
IP Implications for Food Security in Africa
Cross-posted from U of S Plant Phenotyping and Imaging Research Centre
By Uchenna Ugwu
Can you tell me a bit about yourself?
I am a PhD student...
Reliving the “Transforming Africa: Innovating Our Way Towards Sustainability” 2024 Conference
Khadiga Hassan
The Department of Science and Innovation and the South African National Research Foundation (DSI/NRF) Trilateral Chair in Transformative Innovation, the 4IR and Sustainable...
Bridging the Gender Gap between contributions to STEM Fields and their...
By Natalie Chodoriwsky
The Government of Canada’s 2019 Intellectual
Property Strategy has committed to “conducting IP awareness and use
survey to identify how Canadians understand and...
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...
Open AIR Welcomes South Africa’s Department of Science, Technology, and Innovation
The Open African Innovation Research (Open AIR) Network recently hosted officials from South Africa’s Department of Science, Technology, and Innovation (DSTI) at the Centre...
June Open AIR Network Meeting in Cairo
When SSHRC and IDRC awarded sizeable, prestigious grants to support Open AIR in its third phase of research, the Network’s leadership promptly organized a face-to-face meeting at its North African Hub, the American University of Cairo. While a great strength of Open AIR is its ability to coordinate its research and administrative tasks remotely across its various hubs, personal meetings are invaluable when the Network needs to deal with specific overarching strategic issues.
How DIY Biology can Improve Access to Digital Agricultural Technologies
By Vipal Jain
Digital agricultural research is transforming the way crops are developed. New tools can speed up the ability to produce crops with higher...
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).
Meet our New and Emerging Researchers Group
Open AIR’s New and Emerging Researchers Group (NERG) embodies Open AIR’s commitment to the mentorship and development of students and early career researchers. Open...













