Research

There is often a limited and constricted view of African innovation, especially when it comes to refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). While there is the common perception that refugees on the continent are resilient, innovative, and resourceful, it is only in the sense that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. Too often, refugees and IDPs are perceived as persons with only needs. The reality is that refugees and IDPs are just like everyone else and bring many skills, ideas, and innovations to the global marketplace, both the marketplace of ideas and of goods.

In 2013, Open AIR published foresight research anticipating a future shaped by shocks like a catastrophic global pandemic. During the decade since, Open AIR...

Authored by: Chidi Oguamanam This Open AIR Working Paper 28 explores innovations in the delivery of universal care to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)...

By Esther Adekunbi My expectations and enthusiasm to explore this beautiful land called Canada, to interact with its friendly people, to network and collaborate, was rudely...

By Michael P.K. Okyerefo* The pivotal place of feminine wisdom in Africa may surprise a good many outsiders! As one of my friends would always...

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...

Published by Open AIRPublication Date: 2014Download: Optimising Benefits from Publicly Funded Research (323) This 2014 Briefing Note highlights Open AIR research findings on apparent disconnects between...

By Chris Armstrong The EU-funded African European Maker Innovation Ecosystem (mAkE) project has now completed its first year of operation. Open AIR is one of several...

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.

Authored by: Njoku Ola Ama and Francis Nathan Okurut Abstract: This study explores the adoption, by micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Botswana, of...