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...

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.

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...

African Innovation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

By Chidi Oguamanam The third industrial revolution (3IR) provided perhaps the most significant insights into Africa’s potential to fast-track its sustainable development. As with previous industrial revolutions,...

A Framework for Assessing Technology Hubs in Africa

Authored by: Jeremy de Beer, Paula Millar, Jacquelene Mwangi, Victor Nzomo, and Isaac Rutenberg Abstract: This article fills a gap in the research on technology hubs...

Financing of innovations in Egypt: Barriers and Potential

By Eslam Shaaban Innovators, especially in the start-up stage, are facing the problem of financing their projects. In Egypt, there is great potential to develop...

Innovation and Scaling by Tech Hubs and Their Hosted Startups: Three...

Authored by: Lucienne Abrahams Abstract: This Working Paper sets out a view of the nature of three South African tech hubs, their modes of knowledge...

Open AIR Research into 4th Industrial Revolution Technologies and Artificial Intelligence:...

By Nagham El Houssamy and Nadine Weheba This is part three in a three part series. For part one, click here. For part two, click here. Monumental advances in technology are...

Innovation and Intellectual Property: Collaborative Dynamics in Africa

Editors: Jeremy de Beer, Chris Armstrong, Chidi Oguamanam and Tobias SchonwetterPublication Date: 2014Download: Innovation and Intellectual Property: Collaborative Dynamics in Africa (PDF, EPUB) Innovation and...

Open Call for Case Studies

Open AIR is calling for African case studies that shed light on the following two overarching research questions: How can open collaborative innovation help businesses scale up and seize the new opportunities of a global knowledge economy? Which knowledge governance systems will best ensure that the social and economic benefits of innovation are shared inclusively across society as a whole?