2024 Global Health Security Conference Event
By Charlotte Galvani and Jeremy de Beer
Negotiations toward a new international treaty on pandemic preparedness and response have failed to reflect a rights-based consensus...
Open Data’s Effect on Food Security
Agricultural data is a vital resource in the effort to address food insecurity. This data is used across the food-production chain. For example, farmers rely on agricultural data to decide when to plant crops, scientists use data to conduct research on pests and design disease resistant plants, and governments make policy based on land use data. As the value of agricultural data is understood, there is a growing call for governments and firms to open their agricultural data.
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...
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.
Twitter Recap of the Nairobi Workshop
Last month, Open AIR launched our inaugural case study workshop at the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology (CIPIT), part of Strathmore University’s Law School in Kenya, and one of Open AIR’s hubs. The workshop sought to provide successful case study participants with an opportunity to present their proposals and brainstorm with their colleagues.
Open AIR initie un débat intra-africain sur l’informel à l’ère de...
Par Abdelhamid Benhmade
En collaboration avec le Centre de recherche en droit, technologie et société (CDTS), DST/NRF/ Newton Fund Trilateral Research Chair in Transformative Innovation, et,...
Strengthening Canada-Africa Relations: What Way Forward?
By Jeremy de Beer and Yvonne Ndelle
The recent conference hosted by the Canada Africa Parliamentary Association (CAAF) served as a pivotal platform for discussing...
Open AIR researchers present early findings at the Canadian Association of...
On June 10th, at York University’s Glendon Campus, the Canadian Association of African Studies hosted their annual conference. Dr. Tesh W Dagne and Dr....
Inclusive Innovation: Lessons from Africa for the World’s ICT Policymakers
Information communication technologies (ICT) can play a crucial role in promoting development, making societies more just, equitable, and inclusive of marginalized communities. To see how, some of the brightest young researchers from the “global South” met with established field leaders at the IDRC and COSTECH-sponsored 2016 CPRsouth conference in Zanzibar.
Common Misconceptions of Patents in Egypt
Earlier this year, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) held a two-day workshop on “Supporting Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Use the Intellectual Property System in Their Competitive Strategy” at the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology in Cairo, Egypt, which some of our Open AIR NERG members attended. The goal of this meeting was to discuss how to encourage young innovators to protect their inventions by patenting them at the Egyptian Patent Office. The workshop had vibrant and sometimes heated discussions between these innovators and government officials regarding many of the obstacles faced in the patenting process in Egypt.












