Research

By Uchenna Felicia Ugwu Africa is becoming recognized as an important hub of informal innovation, which should not be excluded or ignored by formal systems for IP...

Par Abdelhamid Benhmade La guerre des vaccins est-elle désormais plus coûteuse que la guerre contre la pandémie ? Sans doute, la production de plusieurs vaccins...

By Philda Maiga A new dawn is upon Africa, following a decision on 5 December 2020 of the African Union Assembly to kickstart the trading...

In Canada, Open AIR’s hub is located within the Centre for Law, Technology and Society (CLTS) at the University of Ottawa (uOttawa). The Canadian...

Authored by: Nagham ElHoussamy, Nadine Weheba, and Nagla Rizk Abstract: This Working Paper offers an initial exploration of innovation realities at technology hubs in...

Creativity is a key ingredient in innovation, and the University of Pretoria’s (UP) makerspace screams it from the moment one arrives; the walls are brightly painted orange and green, there are several large tables surrounded by equally bright chairs, and along the back and side walls lay computers, makerbot 3D printers, and, of course, a coffee machine. Currently, UP is the only South African university with a ‘formal’ makerspace, although many, including the University of Cape Town and Rhodes University, are working to establish their own official makerspaces.

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.

The global South is full of significant, diverse biological and genetic resources. It’s also home to most of the world’s indigenous communities. This is why developing countries are sensitive about protecting their genetic resources and traditional knowledge.

This paper sets out findings from research into the dynamics of the emerging “maker” movement in South Africa’s Gauteng Province. The authors position the maker movement as a potentially strong contributor to, and manifestation of, informal-sector innovation on the African continent.

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...