WIPO-IGC 45: Bold and Strategic Moves Toward TK and TCE Text(s)

By Chidi Oguamanam Buoyed by the July 2022 WIPO 62nd General Assembly decision that endorsed a Diplomatic Conference on Genetic Resources (GR) and Associated Traditional...

Quelle est la place de la femme dans l’écosystème digital au...

Par Aboubacry Kane et Dominique Diouf Depuis plusieurs décennies, les technologies de l’information et de la communication (TIC) ont connu une croissance exponentielle en...

How Women’s Economic Empowerment Is Tackling Poverty in Southwest Nigeria

By Esther Adekunbi Mobolayo I started my QES in January 2020 but, within months, the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. At first, it appeared as if...

Recognizing Informal Sector Innovation: Implications for Traditional Knowledge Development in Africa

In 2012, a civil society group called the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), raised concerns about a draft Africa Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) plant variety protection protocol. AFSA was concerned,

Highlighting Inclusion of Marginalized Voices at International Conferences: A NERG’s experience

By Nicole Tumaine Over the past four months, I have had the privilege of attending three international conferences as a panelist thanks to the generous...

Policy Support for Makerspaces in Africa and Europe: mAkE Project Publishes...

By Chris Armstrong The EU Horizon 2020-funded African European Maker Innovation Ecosystem (mAkE) Project, in which Open AIR is an African partner, has published its flagship policy...

New Funding for Research on African Innovation and Gender

The Open AIR network has received funding from the Canadian Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Advanced Scholars Program (QES) to create new opportunities for emerging scholars to explore African innovation through the lens of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

WIPO IGC 39: Unraveling the Tiered Approach to TK/TCEs

By Chidi Oguamanam One of the major innovations of the IGC, in its long-running search for international legal instruments for the effective protection of TK/TCEs...

Expedited COVID-19 R&D: Indigenous Knowledge and ABS Imperative

With the world on edge as the COVID-19 crisis progresses, the scientific community has sprung into gear in search of an effective treatment. Research and Development (R&D) is progressing at unprecedented speeds. Amidst this rapid development, traditional knowledge plays a significant role in scientific endeavours. Through traditional knowledge, medical researchers can gain guidance and inspiration and bypass prolonged and expensive scatter-gun approaches to R&D.

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 University of Ottawa....