Project status
Research outputs
Filter by region
Filter by programs and partnerships
- African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (2)
- Artificial Intelligence for Development (16)
- Artificial Intelligence for Global Health (3)
- Climate-Resilient Food Systems (8)
- COVID-19 Global South AI and Data Innovation Program (8)
- Democratic and Inclusive Governance (9)
- Education and Science (29)
- Gender in STEM (2)
- Global Health (3)
- Inclusive Economies (2)
- Livestock Vaccine Innovation Fund (2)
- Open Data for Development (3)
- Sustainable Inclusive Economies (4)
Search Results
-
PerspectivesGovernance Gender Science and Technology
-
PerspectivesScience and Technology Governance DevelopmentGovernment AI Readiness Index: Equal implementation needed to reduce global inequalitiesWith the right policies and institutions, governments can reduce inequality and share benefits of AI.
-
PerspectivesScience and TechnologyThe future of work will determine the future of equalityHow we will manage new technologies is thus the most important question ahead of us. Knowing about and preparing for upcoming changes benefit the largest number of people, with least costs of transitions.
-
BooksScience and TechnologyThe State of Open Data: Histories and Horizons
As the open data movement enters a new phase in its evolution, shifting to target real-world problems and embed open data thinking into other existing or emerging communities of practice, big questions still remain.
Publication Date -
Research in ActionNatural Resources Science and TechnologyCleaning up contaminated mines with plants and fungi
-
PerspectivesScience and TechnologyFrom talk to tech: rethinking engineering in African universitiesWe need to rethink who is being trained and how to unlock engineering skills.
-
Research in ActionGender Natural Resources Science and TechnologyExpanding business opportunities for youth in the fish and poultry sectors in Kenya
-
Research in ActionScience and Technology Information and CommunicationArtificial intelligence for development
-
PerspectivesDevelopment Science and TechnologyExcitement, concern, and hope for AI in the Global SouthArtificial intelligence is a double-edged sword — its benefits and pitfalls need to be balanced.
-
Research in ActionScience and TechnologyEmpowerment through research: IDRC’s 10th Annual Public Meeting
-
-
StorySocial Policy Evaluation Science and TechnologyResearch Quality Plus: A holistic approach to evaluating researchA new approach for evaluating research intended for the “real world."
-
StoryScience and Technology Health Natural Resources Governance Development EconomicsArtificial intelligence and human development
-
-
IDRC awardeesNo relevant topics
ICT innovation needs solid relationships
ICT innovation needs solid relationships
“It looks obvious,” says 2017 IDRC Research Award Recipient Victor Oteku, “but the importance of personal connections is very strong in establishing partnerships for technological innovation in Kenya.” Working in IDRC’s Regional Office for Sub-Saharan Africa, Oteku’s research sought to uncover socio-political and economic factors that shape partnerships for technological innovation in Kenya.
Oteku chose the information and communication technology sector for his study because of its high value to innovation and its contributions to growth in other sectors. The Kenyan government is also focusing on scientific and technological innovation in its long-term development plan, he says.
“Partnerships are mutual and synergetic collaborations geared toward a common goal,” says Oteku. The online survey he conducted showed that economic factors had the biggest influence on partnerships. Interviews and focus group discussions, however, “suggested that socio-cultural factors had a stronger influence.” Personal relationships, in particular, can determine success or failure. He concluded that all those involved need to work toward formal but open and flexible partnerships.
While a research awardee, Oteku also helped develop a proposal in support of the multi-funder Science Granting Councils Initiative in Sub-Saharan Africa. These councils are central to funding and catalyzing research and innovation.
Personally, “I nurtured the values of tolerance, cooperation, and hard work just by observing my colleagues do their jobs,” says Oteku. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to have been here.”
Want to know about the latest funding calls? Subscribe to our funding alerts.
-
IDRC awardeesNo relevant topics
A first e-library in remote Nepali schools
A first e-library in remote Nepali schools
For 2017 IDRC Research Award Recipient Sujaya Neupane, carrying out fieldwork in Nepal was literally coming home. Neupane spent time in the remote western villages of Thapagaun and Jhimpa — his childhood home — to find ways of improving science education by using digital learning tools.
The quality of education is vastly different in Nepal’s rural and urban areas, he explains, leading to poor educational outcomes in rural schools. But with the advent of inexpensive technology and free multimedia resources, science teaching materials can be accessed at low cost, he says. His goal was to determine how sustainable digital libraries could be set up in rural schools.
“One can’t hope to educate young people today without computers,” says Neupane. “I used a Raspberry-pi computer board as a server with embedded open-source learning tools, including those provided by Khan Academy and Wikipedia. Tablets were used to access these materials wirelessly from the server,” he explains. The Raspberry Pi is a low-cost credit card-sized single board computer designed specifically to promote education.
A team of teachers-cum-researchers in two secondary schools worked with Neupane to establish a protocol for using the digital learning materials.
Establishing an e-library in Jhimpa has opened up sources of knowledge to students who never had access to a library before, says Neupane. He and the on-site research team are now exploring how to evaluate the impact on students’ learning when the project ends in mid-2018.
Of his IDRC experience, Neupane says “being able to go back and live in my village and conduct research in schools there jointly with the teachers was the most memorable,” says Neupane. “Through this experience I am determined to work to develop an education system in rural Nepal as a volunteer and independent researcher.”
Want to know about the latest funding calls? Subscribe to our funding alerts.
-
Research in ActionFood and Agriculture Health Science and TechnologyDevelopment and deployment of a novel vaccine against babesiosis
-
StoryScience and Technology Development Social Policy HealthScaling ScienceA new model for optimizing the impact of research and innovation
-
Research in ActionHealth Gender Science and TechnologyUnderstanding the dynamics of gender equality and eHealth
-
Research in ActionHealth Gender Science and TechnologyInnovations are bringing better health within reach
-
Research in ActionScience and Technology HealthSmartphone app is improving sustainable cattle farming in EthiopiaEthiopia has one of the most significant livestock populations in Africa. Cattle represent one of the country’s largest segments of this population, with roughly 50 million animals.
-
StoryScience and Technology HealthWhen the brain hits the right notesCan music make us better at math? An Israeli-Canadian research team is trying to find out.
-
-
-
StoryScience and Technology Information and Communication Development GenderFostering an Internet for women’s empowerment