Innovation, connaissances traditionnelles et ressources biologiques, Yaoundé

Photo: Abdourahmane Mbengue
Par : Abdelhamid Benhmade Le Colloque de Yaoundé, 2019, est organisé par l’Université Catholique d’Afrique Centrale, en partenariat avec l’Institut Universitaire d’Abidjan et l’Université Toulouse Capitole....

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.

Open AIR East Africa Distinguished Speaker Series: Dr. Henry Mutai on...

Dr Henry Mutai
On 10 June 2015, the Agreement establishing a Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) was signed in Egypt bringing together 26 African countries from three major regional blocs: the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Following the signing, the current phase of the TFTA negotiations are meant to cover five agenda items: trade in services, cooperation in trade and development, competition policy, intellectual property (IP) rights, and cross-border investment. The fourth of those five issues was the subject of the second Open AIR East Africa Distinguished Speaker Series presentation by Dr. Henry Kibet Mutai.

Integrating Gender Perspectives into African Innovation Research

Gender inequality remains the reality in every country. Including and targeting women and girls in development greatly increases the likelihood of an initiative’s success.

Open AIR’s Sileshi Hirko wins competitive grant

Mr. Sileshi Hirko, a PhD candidate in the Common Law Section of the University of Ottawa, has won the Civil Society Scholars Award (CSSA)....

How NOT to Review a Research Paper: Reflections from Harvard Law...

By Jane Ezirigwe In late January, I had the privilege to be selected as one of the scholars to be part of the Harvard Law...

Les Fablabs en Afrique : une utopie à l’épreuve des...

By Thomas Hervé Mboa Nkoudou Du 6 au 10 mai 2018, la ville de Dakar accueillait le Festival Afropixel 6 sur la thématique « Utopies non-alignées :...

Pourquoi la nouvelle proposition sur l’accès aux vaccins est-elle insuffisante ?

Par Abdelhamid Benhmade Enfin, une nouvelle proposition sur la vaccination gratuite et universelle est en discussion à l’Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC). L'Afrique du Sud,...

Makerspace Sustainability: mAkE Project Launches Open Catalogue of Business Models (OCBM)

By Chris Armstrong The African European Maker Innovation Ecosystem (mAkE) Project, of which Open AIR is part, has launched its Open Catalogue of Business Models (OCBM)....

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.