The ei4africa EU/FP7 Project Exploiting e-infrastructures potential to boost RTDI in Africa

Transcription

1 The ei4africa EU/FP7 Project Exploiting e-infrastructures potential to boost RTDI in Africa Tiwonge Msulira Banda, UbuntuNet Alliance

2 PROJECT FACTSHEET Project acronym : ei4africa Grant agreement : Funding Scheme : Support Action (SA) Programme : 7 th Framework Programme (FP7) : Capacities Specific Programme Theme : Research Infrastructures : e-infrastructures Thematic area : International Cooperation Call identifier : FP7-INFRASTRUCTURES (Call10) DG : DG CONNECT Duration : 24 months (Nov Oct. 2014) EC Project Officer : Leonardo Flores, DG CONNECT Coordinator : Karine Valin, Sigma Orionis Partnership : 8 African & European partners 2

3 PROJECT PARTNERSHIP Sigma Orionis - France (Project Coordinator) Brunel University - UK (Project Technical Coordinator) CoeICT/DIT - Tanzania COMETA - Italy Karolinska Institutet - Sweden KTH - Sweden REHCE/KIST - Rwanda UbuntuNet Alliance - Malawi WACREN - Ghana (supporting organisation) 3

4 PROJECT OBJECTIVES Boost the research, technological development and innovation (RTDI) potential of African e-infrastructures Support Euro-African cooperation & policy dialogues in the framework of the joint Africa-EU Strategic Partnership (JAES): trade, regional integration and infrastructures (Partnership 3) science, information society and space (Partnership 8) 4

5 PROJECT OBJECTIVES Define & implement a structured multi-channel outreach strategy to support the development of African NRENs/RENs Build cooperation between Euro-African NRENs, RENs & user communities Raise awareness at policy level on the benefits & value of REN Promote/strengthen Euro-African collaborative research on e-infrastructures & their applications Produce a state-of-the-art study of e-infrastructure application uptake in Africa to identify who are early adopters of e-infrastructures (providers) & which user communities are early beneficiaries (consumers) of e-infrastructures Select existing flagship demonstrations from other continents & illustrate their relevance to the African context in order to stimulate policy dialogue on e-infrastructures Stimulate targeted policy and regulatory discussions, including (but not limited to) crossborder connectivity and affordable access to infrastructures by organizing awareness raising flagship African e-infrastructure application demonstrations 5

6 WORK PACKAGES WP 1: Project management (Sigma Orionis) WP 2: Project dissemination and outreach strategy (Sigma Orionis) WP 3: e-infrastructure applications in Africa: a state-of-the-art study (Brunel University) WP 4: Flagship demonstrations (KTH) WP 5: Project events (UbuntuNet) WP 6: Support and recommendations (COMETA) 26/09/2012-6

7 WP 1: PROJECT MANAGEMENT To ensure efficient project management, especially with regard to contractual reporting requirements and communication among partners, and to obtain external advice in order to monitor the project s progress. The focus is on: Duly complying with all reporting requirements in terms of the EC/FP7 Grant Agreement Enabling regular and efficient communication among partners for planning purposes through kick-off, annual and steering committee meetings -- the majority being virtual Sourcing high-level and external expertise to advise the consortium on its progress 26/09/2012-7

8 WP 2: PROJECT DISSEMINATION AND OUTREACH STRATEGY To increase the outreach of the project through the wide dissemination of the project objectives, activities, and outputs together with an intense communication towards various target groups. This WP will also contribute to increase the exploitation potential of the ei4africa project outputs (at each partner s level and at the project level). The main focus is on: Offering to users a repository of key information related to e-infrastructures in Europe and Africa Implementing an interactive, consistent, attractive and dynamic portal website (a platform): well-organised, regularly edited, displaying timely and original content, etc. Producing effective communication materials (including e-newsletters, brochures and posters) Organising the final dissemination conference 26/09/2012-8

9 WP 3: E-INFRASTRUCTURE APPLICATIONS IN AFRICA: A STATE-OF-THE-ART STUDY Previous projects ERINA4Africa and ei-africa studied applications in the past, but now situation has changed: Price falls, Better connectivity, AfricaConnect project, Awareness: CHAIN project, BGI, EPIKH WP is studying the current state of the art in e-infrastructure application uptake in Africa Questionnaire developed and online at Outcome: A state-of-the-art study of e-infrastructure application uptake in Africa A set of recommendations to e-infrastructure developers to facilitate e-infrastructure application development 26/09/2012-9

10 WP 4: FLAGSHIP DEMONSTRATIONS Engage groups that have already implemented, or are in the process of implementing e-infrastructures and related applications that can serve as international flagship demonstrations for others to learn from Objectives: Stimulate targeted policy and regulatory discussions on regional and national levels by organising flagship demonstrations raising awareness of research activities addressing the priorities in national and regional ICT and poverty alleviation strategies and supporting progress towards and beyond the MDGs. Demonstrate how local ICT supply chains can be strengthened and how the establishment of commercial markets can be accelerated in under-served areas to improve access to infrastructures for research, education and healthcare outside the major cities by linking local communities with research and higher education institutions. Demonstrations from within Africa and from other regions 26/09/

11 WP 5: PROJECT EVENTS Organising 4 thematic workshops, main objectives are: Sensitising communities in different regions of Africa to the potential of collaborative use of e- Infrastructures Raising awareness in the various scientific disciplines of the opportunities presented by the implementation of Regional Research and Education Networks Building research linkages between African scientists and their European counterparts for addressing joint research and development challenges Ensuring understanding at the policy and regulatory level of the nature of research and education networking Reporting on the progress of the state-of-the-art study and e-infrastructure development recommendations (WP3) Showcasing flagship demonstrations (WP4) Workshop 1: Lilongwe, Malawi, 2 May 2013 Workshop 2 : Kigali, Rwanda, November 2013 Workshop 4: Tanzania Workshop5: Nigeria 26/09/

12 WP 6: SUPPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS Ensuring strong links with the European Commission, the African Union Commission, the European and African Member States, and other key stakeholders in the field. Main objectives are to: Promote, through concrete examples, and facilitate the establishment of important e- Infrastructure services, such as Certification Authorities and Identity Federations, using worldwide standards; Encourage selected groups of stakeholders to establish new, and/or expand and improve already existing, e-infrastructures relevant to their communities, via the support of R&D e- Infrastructure project proposals; Identify research priority areas for funding and provide the EC and other funding agencies with recommendations to be considered in future calls; Stimulate relevant policy and regulatory dialogues involving national and regional policy and regulatory bodies as well as the UN Broadband Commission WG on science Africa Grid Science gateway has been developed and is online 26/09/

13 AFRICA GRID SCIENCE GATEWAY /09/

14 Thank you 14