Maker Movement

Open AIR has been researching, and interacting with, the innovation practices of African maker communities since 2016. The current focus of our work in this area, as of early 2022, is the EU-funded African European Maker Innovation Ecosystem (mAkE) project (see post below) for which Open AIR is one of the consortium members, along with several other African entities and several European organisations. The mAkE project runs until early 2025. Open AIR researchers have published several working papers and scholarly articles on the work of maker communities in Southern, East, West and North Africa (see posts below).

Fablabs et le développement durable de l’Afrique

Par Thomas Hervé Mboa Nkoudou Je suis Thomas Hervé Mboa Nkoudou, doctorant en Communication Publique à l’Université Laval (Québec, Canada). Je m’intéresse à la contribution des tiers-lieux de...

“Making” Innovation Happen: Open AIR Hosts a Successful Workshop on the...

How the world evolves in the next decade (and beyond) may be dependent upon a new-age movement re-instilling age-old skills: the maker movement. In my ongoing research into the maker movement in Canada and South Africa (see earlier posts here and here), I recently co-hosted a workshop in Ottawa with attendees from the University of Ottawa, representatives of makerspaces in the community, and those with knowledge about makerspaces elsewhere in the world.

Emerging issues in campus and community “makerspaces” across Canada

Makerspaces are places where innovators gather together to develop new ideas, technologies and entrepreneurial opportunities. The concept of sharing not only space but also tools and equipment is gaining popularity in many countries. Canada is home to several makerspaces ranging from hackerspaces, to fab labs, to informal studio spaces where people can create, invent, and learn. Some are run for profit, some are non-profit, and some are run by individuals or larger institutions.

A Reflection on the Gendered Perspectives of the Innovation Paradigm in...

By Ghati Nyehita My ongoing Open AIR, Queen Elizabeth Scholar - Advanced Scholars (QES-AS), research project discusses the extent which South Africa’s copyright and design laws...

Historic Gathering of Africa’s Open Science Hardware (OSH) Innovators – the...

By Chris Armstrong  Open AIR was privileged to be a supporting partner of the inaugural AfricaOSH Summit, held 13-15 April 2018 at the Kumasi Hive...

OMMIC: A Personal Perspective

By Uche Ajuonuma Last fall, I attended the Ontario Makers and Mentors Innovation Conference (OMMIC) at uOttawa. The event was held at the new STEM...

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.

Collaboration Nord-Sud et présentation du processus de l’innovation au système de...

for Rachel's blog post
par Ahou Rachel KOUMI Ce blogpost est la première partie d’une série de deux blogs sur les Journées de l’Innovation en Contexte Académique réalisées du 19...

Innovation ouverte en contexte académique à Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Par Ahou Rachel KOUMI Ce blogpost est la deuxième partie d’une série de deux blogs sur les Journées de l’Innovation en Contexte Académique réalisées du 19...

Beyond the Poster Boy of the Maker Movement

Some people tour Europe’s finest vineyards others tour Australia’s sweetest surf spots—I tour South Africa’s pioneer makerspaces; part of the growing global maker movement. The movement is a culmination of people becoming “makers” (someone who uses their personal abilities to create anything from mechanical or electrical to visual or musical) and spaces becoming makerspaces (an interdisciplinary area stimulating people to create by providing resources and idea sharing).