The Africa Unit at the ACU

The concept of the Africa Unit is rooted in the conviction that Africa’s institutions of higher and further education must be at the heart of any sustainable effort to rebuild and revitalize the continent, and that if Africa’s institutions are to play this role a major and sustained programme of renewal must occur. Our approach, following the G8 Africa Action Plan, is to promote the creation of partnerships to support the research and higher education capacity of Africa. Based at the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) in London, the Africa Unit was established in 2006 as a response by the British Government to commitments made at the Gleneagles G8 Summit in 2005 and recommendations in the Commission for Africa Report. Those recommendations and commitments speak of helping to develop skilled professionals for Africa's private and public sectors, through supporting networks of excellence between Africa's and other countries' institutions of higher education and centres of excellence in science and technology institutions.

The Unit’s purpose was, and remains, directed towards promoting partnerships to build capacity.  While focus was initially on universities, today our activities rightly recognise the vital role and contribution to educational and scientific capacity building of a wider range of higher and further education institutions as well as scientific centres.

In pursuit of its goals, the Unit has been supported by grants from the former Department of Education and Skills (DfES) and the former Office of Science and Innovation. The Unit continues to receive these two streams of support, both now located within the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS).

The projects undertaken by the Africa Unit are:

CAAST-Net – A Network for the Coordination and Advancement of Sub-Saharan Africa-EU Science and Technology Cooperation

CAAST-Net is a high-level joint Africa-Europe project whose goal is to pursue more and better cooperation in science and technology between Africa and Europe in both policy and research. The initiative, supported by the European Union’s seventh Framework Programme (FP7) (http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/home_en.html) for research reflects the increasing internationalisation of that programme. Recognising the relatively low level of FP participation by non-EU countries, and by developing countries particularly, CAAST-Net is one of several initiatives established to address this concern.

CAAST-Net’s goal is an increase in the quality and quantity of bi-regional cooperation in science and technology between Europe and Africa, targeting areas of mutual interest and benefit through greater use of instruments under the FP7, as well as through other instruments of international cooperation and through lobbying for greater synergy between R&D and development instruments.

Overall coordination of the project rests with the Africa Unit at the Association of Commonwealth Universities with support from the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills’ International Science and Innovation Unit.

More information can be found on the CAAST-Net website

EuroAfriCa-ICT project

The ACU’s Africa Unit is a consortium partner and Work package leader in the EuroAfriCa-ICT project. Funded by the European Union’s seventh Framework Programme (FP7), the project aims to promote and enhance research cooperation between African, Caribbean and European stakeholders in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector. The project is a platform for exchanging ICT knowledge, experiences and ideas and to identify joint projects with the objective of using ICT as a tool for bridging the scientific and digital divides, reducing poverty and encouraging socio-economic development.

In support of the overall aim, EuroAfriCa-ICT consortium partners address a range of objectives through activities and events that facilitate and contribute to ICT cooperation policy dialogue, that identify areas of common interests and mutual benefits for African and European experts, and that offer practical support to predominantly African experts.

The EuroAfriCa-ICT project operates within the framework of the cooperation between the European Commission and the African Union Commission, as well as the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). The project has also committed itself to supporting the 8th Partnership on Science, Information Society and Space of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy (2007).

4th Euro-Africa Cooperation Forum on ICT Research - Call for Papers: extended deadline
The “4th Euro-Africa Cooperation Forum on ICT Research” (Cape Town, Nov. 14-15, 2011) organizers are calling for papers.

Being July-August a holiday period in Europe, with most companies closed and staff on leave, at the request of many European colleagues the Organizing Committee has decided to extend the deadline for the submission of papers until August 26, 2011. Authors of a selected paper will be notified by Sept. 2, 2011.

Contributions are welcomed from players across the entire ICT sphere and are intended to reflect ongoing technological advances and capabilities within R&D/ICT communities as well as forthcoming commercial deployments. Contributions have to include a consideration of relevant challenges in emerging economies and markets. All received abstracts will be carefully evaluated on the following criteria: originality, significance, technical soundness, clarity of expression and interest to a wide audience. Authors are invited to submit half-a-page abstracts to the conference selection committee (info@euroafrica-ict.org). Submissions have to be written in English and commercial presentations will be automatically rejected. Papers must be submitted electronically.

The complete Call for Papers is available here for download.

More information can be found on the EuroAfriCa-ICT project website