Open AIR presents at ATRIP
The Advancement of Training and Research for Intellectual Property (ATRIP) Conference provides a yearly opportunity for international experts and other academics in the field of intellectual property (IP) to come together and exchange current research. The set-up of ATRIP’s conference enables for ease of networking with similar speakers separated into common sessions. Tana Pistorius, ATRIP President, and her team of organizers, did a superb job in ensuring a diversity of, yet connection between, sessions. Sessions covered a range of topics from new ideas for leveraging traditional knowledge (or “innovation knowledge” as Susy Frankel stated), to plant breeder’s rights, to diversity, art and culture in IP and innovation.
Makerspaces and Creativity
Looking back at Open AIR’s ‘Making’ Innovation Happen roundtable
By Sean Boots
In mid August, Open AIR hosted a roundtable discussion on makerspaces and innovation hubs in...
Le réseau Open AIR, phare de l’innovation inclusive en Afrique, est décoré...
C’est dans un contexte réglementaire favorable à l’innovation qu’on peut trouver les solutions aux problèmes sociaux les plus pressants. Mentionnons à titre d’exemples la...
Making at AFRICAOSH Summit 2018
By Outlwile Maselwanyane
The first gathering for Africa Open Science & Hardware (AfricaOSH) was hosted by Kumasi Hive innovation hub, Kumasi, Ghana, on April 13-15...
Prof. Osei-Tutu speaks at the University of Ottawa
Too often, scholarly work and debates relating to Intellectual Property (IP) have focused on the protection and profits of the IP holder, as opposed to promoting open-access and the broader interests of the community. In her talk at the University of Ottawa on February 9th, Professor Janewa Osei-Tutu suggested we readjust the lens through which IP innovation is examined, using human development as the standard.
Open AIR Case Study Nairobi Workshop
In the first week of April 2016, the Open African Innovation Research and Training (Open AIR) network held a three-day workshop at our Nairobi hub, Strathmore University. The workshop included the Open AIR team and was primarily organized to bring together all the successful case study researchers in order to review, refine, and brainstorm about their upcoming research. There was also significant activity on Twitter, which can be read about here. All the case studies that Open AIR is funding fall under at least one of our major research themes: high technology hubs, informal sector innovation, indigenous entrepreneurship, and metrics and policies.
Open AIR North Africa Distinguished Speaker Series: Ibrahim Al-Safadi on Makerspaces...
On 10 December 2016, as part of the RiseUp Summit in Cairo, Open AIR’s North Africa hub hosted their first Distinguished Speaker event with Ibrahim Al-Safadi, the CEO of Luminous Education. The Access to Knowledge for Development Center (A2K4D) invited Al-Safadi to speak about the role of “makerspaces” to tackle unemployment and to share his experiences in how to create a makerspace that ensures that the individuals involved end up with jobs.
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...
The Open African Innovation Research Partnership Transition Workshop
By Dana Elbashbishy
On the 8th of February
2018, members of the Open African Innovation Research Partnership (Open AIR) gathered
in Accra, Ghana to share research...
Waiting for An Inclusive Pathogen Access And Benefit Sharing Policy
By Anthony Oguguo, QEScholar and PhD Student, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, Canada
The inadequacies of the global health law framework during the pandemic...













