Miriam Cunningham

Assessment of potential ICT-related collaboration and innovation capacity in east Africa

Due to a significant investment in digital infrastructure and a pro-innovation policy and regulatory framework, the Innovation Ecosystems in Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Kampala have considerably expanded over the last five years, incorporating new national and international Innovation Stakeholders. This is important in the context of realising the objectives of National Development Plans, and addressing high levels of youth and graduate unemployment. This paper presents a sub-set of results from a comprehensive baseline analysis of Innovation Ecosystems in these cities with a focus on assessing the current level of ICT-related Collaboration, Innovation Absorption capacity and challenges to be addressed. In order to benefit from these developments, it is recommended that the public sector take a leadership role in establishing necessary mechanisms that will stimulate multi-stakeholder collaboration amongst existing Innovation Actors to foster a sustainable Collaborative Open Innovation and Entrepreneurial culture.

Baseline analysis of 3 innovation ecosystems in East Africa

The potential impact of technology innovation supporting social and economic development in developing countries is very dependent on the level of maturity of National Innovation Ecosystems (including policy environment, infrastructure and socio-economic diversification). Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have recently experienced considerable technological entrepreneurial growth, facilitated by Innovation friendly regulatory environments, evolution of National Research Education Networks (NReNs) and rollout of Obre optic backbones. However, while it is clear that ICT, Job Creation and developing a Knowledge Economy are common policy priorities, the Innovation Ecosystems in Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Kampala are still fragmented. Innovation Spaces are insufficiently differentiated and have sustainability challenges with their business models and there is a limited funding and entrepreneurship support as well as insufficient collaboration and coordination between Stakeholders. This paper analyses these Innovation Ecosystems and provides some recommendations about how these challenges can be addressed.

Implications of baseline study findings from rural and deep rural clinics in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi and South Africa for the co-design of mHealth4Afrika

mHealth4Afrika is a collaborative research and innovation project, co-funded under Horizon 2020, that is evaluating the potential impact of co-designing an open source, multilingual mHealth platform on the quality of maternal and newborn healthcare delivery in rural and deep rural clinics. This paper presents results from a comprehensive baseline study carried out with 40 informants from the leadership of 19 healthcare clinics in Northern Ethiopia, Western Kenya, Southern Malawi and Eastern Cape, South Africa during November — December 2015, using focus groups and semi-structured interviews. These findings identified human resource capacity, environmental, practical and technical challenges, and equipment and infrastructure deficits. Training requirements of healthcare workers were also identified. Constraints identified include the need for: intuitive, easy-to-use user interfaces to reduce the need for extensive training; use of flexible data protocols to facilitate cost effective bandwidth and effective data exchange; cost effective; low power consumption technologies to reduce cost of replication and scaling; solar charging units to increase availability; support for sensors and telemedicine due to a deficit of healthcare professionals in rural and deep rural clinics; and the need for easy configuration and adaptation to facilitate wider adoption. This insight will be used to inform co-design of the mHealth4Afrika platform during 2016–2018, based on user-centered design principles, leveraging current state-of-the-art in terms of electronic patient record systems and medical sensors. It will also inform the minimum ICT infrastructure required in each clinic. The expected outcome is a multi-region proof of concept that can make a significant contribution in accelerating exploitation of mHealth across Africa.

Factors Impacting on the Current Level of Open Innovation and ICT Entrepreneurship in Africa

Across Africa, Innovation and ICT entrepreneurship are increasingly recognised as important enablers of national and regional socio‐economic growth. However, the level of skills capacity, indigenous entrepreneurial expertise and policy support varies considerably. This research study was informed by a semi‐structured, moderated focus group involving five public and four education and research stakeholders from eight African Member States. It focused on identifying factors impacting on the current level of open innovation and ICT entrepreneurship in Africa. Organised in Lilongwe, Malawi on 08 May 2015 during IST‐Africa Week 2015, a purposive approach was applied to identify the nine informants based on intensity sampling. The results highlighted six main factors: a) level of political will reflected by resource prioritisation; b) alignment with national development plans and associated funding priorities; c) level of understanding of strategic benefits by ministers and senior civil servants; d) level of awareness and sensitization of the general public, e) availability of national innovation and entrepreneurial expertise; and f) willingness and capacity to cooperate with other stakeholders to achieve common goals. Future research will capture perspectives from the private, societal and international donor sectors, and create and validate potential models/methodologies to address the challenges and opportunities identified in this study.

Factors impacting on adoption of Technology-enhanced Learning techniques by universities in Nairobi, Kenya

While infrastructure has improved and students state a preference for blended learning, there were few eLearning courses provided by Kenyan Higher Education Institutions in the 2012/2013 academic year. It is unclear what factors impact on the adoption of Technology-enhanced Learning (TEL) techniques in Nairobi Universities. Using semi-structured interviews and purposive and snowball sampling with ten institutions in Nairobi (4 public and 5 private Universities and the NREN) from 18 December 2014 to 12 January 2015, we explored the level of TEL usage, perceived benefits and challenges of using TEL from both an institutional and instructor perspective and the primary reasons why TEL is not being leveraged. Informants agreed that wider adoption of TEL is the way forward but this requires addressing current challenges and factors currently limiting uptake. These include: infrastructure challenges, need for training to up-skill faculty members; institutional policies; insufficient leadership and need to develop a strategic plan for eContent development. The findings highlight a number of practical issues that can be undertaken to mitigate the factors identified.

Technology-Enhanced Learning in Kenya Universities: Influences on Wider Adoption and Take Up

This article discusses some of the findings of a study that bridges an existing knowledge gap by focusing on identifying influences on the wider adoption and uptake of TEL techniques by HEIs in Nairobi. In this context, TEL techniques can encompass e-learning, blended learning, using massive open online courses (MOOCs), or an entirely online course delivery. This study examines why HEIs are using TEL, perceived benefits and challenges of using TEL from an institutional and instructor perspective, and the impact of policies. The findings have important research, practical, societal, and policy making implications for educational delivery on a continent with a rapidly growing population. Findings will assist decision making, inform policy creation, and provide useful foundational reference material for further comparative research in Africa. The lessons learned will also assist tertiary level institutions across the African continent that wish to plan for wider TEL adoption, or to implement TEL in a more effective manner, by considering common challenges that could limit adoption.