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Reality TV show gives Kenyan farms a makeover

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:10 GMT

Shamba Shape-Up, a Kenyan reality TV show, is helping farmers improve the condition and productivity of their farms.

Why we need Sustainable Development Goals

Thu, 24 May 2012 09:35 GMT

Rio+20 must launch SDGs to guide countries through complex development challenges, argues Colombian ministry official Paula Caballero Gómez.

Cambridge and international development: the ideas, the people, the impact

Tue, 22 May 2012 03:05 GMT

This report is the first in a series of annual publications by the Humanitarian Centre examining the ways in which Cambridge has a real impact on the ...

ICT-Enabled Development of Capacity for Climate Change Adaptation

Mon, 21 May 2012 03:12 GMT

Climate change and related stressors are posing an increasing challenge to livelihoods in low-income communities. Those communities need to develop the ...

Radio as a development tool in Africa

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:04 GMT

Radio is still the dominant mass-medium in Africa with the widest geographical reach and the highest audiences compared with television (TV), newspapers ...

The role of intermediaries in advancing public policy objectives

Thu, 17 May 2012 03:06 GMT

Internet intermediaries, here defined as, Internet service providers (ISPs), hosting providers, search engines, ecommerce intermediaries, Internet payment ...

ICTs applications in responding to disasters

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:39 GMT

Effective disaster response demands rapid access to reliable and accurate data and the capacity to assess, analyse and integrate information from varied ...

Knowledge and development in ICTs in the climate change arena

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:54 GMT

The publication explores the practical linkages between climate change, access to and sharing of information and knowledge, communication for development ...

Rio+20 must push past politics with achievable targets

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:26 GMT

Next month's meeting in Brazil needs send the right signals to encourage progress on sustainability, says ODI's Claire Melamed.

Towards Evidence Based ICT Policy and Regulation: e-Skills

Tue, 15 May 2012 03:07 GMT

This paper reports on the findings of the second household and individual user survey of access and usage conducted by Research ICT Africa between 2007 ...

Can ICT belong in Africa, or is ICT owned by the North Atlantic region?

Tue, 15 May 2012 03:07 GMT

ICT, as a technological innovation and a major factor in globalization, poses particular problems of ownership and identity with regard to the African ...

Digital gender divide or technologically empowered women in developing countries?

Tue, 15 May 2012 03:06 GMT

The discussion about women's access to and use of digital Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in developing countries has been inconclusive ...

ICT, the New Media (Internet) and Development: Malaysian Experience

Tue, 15 May 2012 03:06 GMT

The mass media in Malaysia has been encouraged to work with the government in mobilizing the people towards achieving national development objectives. ...

Science academies urge action on environmental issues

Mon, 14 May 2012 11:20 GMT

Ahead of the G8 summit, science academies have called on global leaders to link with researchers to tackle environmental issues.

The role of community radio in a changing climate

Mon, 14 May 2012 08:38 GMT

Community radio is well recognised as a powerful vehicle for advocacy and social change in Africa, but its use in the field of climate change has remained ...

UN appoints high-level development advisory panel

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:13 GMT

The leaders of Indonesia, Liberia and the United Kingdom will co-chair a UN panel advising on development after the MDGs expire.

Making Policy on ICTs and Climate Change in Developing Countries

Fri, 11 May 2012 08:23 GMT

This online report provides guidance on how to incorporate ICTs into climate change policy, and how to incorporate climate change into ICT policy. The ...

Estimating the Potential Impacts of Open Access to Research Findings

Fri, 11 May 2012 03:15 GMT

Advances in information and communication technologies are disrupting traditional models of scholarly publishing, radically changing our capacity to reproduce, ...

Why it was right to publish research findings on bird flu

Thu, 10 May 2012 10:47 GMT

An editorial in the journal Nature explains the reasons for publishing the full results of a controversial paper about a modified bird flu virus

Gender, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Rural Livelihoods

Thu, 10 May 2012 03:06 GMT

This paper explores some of the challenges faced when implementing projects aimed at empowering women in ICT in relation to rural livelihoods.

Do Open-Access Articles Have a Greater Research Impact?

Wed, 09 May 2012 03:07 GMT

Although many authors believe that their work has a greater research impact if it is freely available, studies to demonstrate that impact are few. This ...

Self-Selected or Mandated, Open Access Increases Citation Impact for Higher Quality Research

Wed, 09 May 2012 03:07 GMT

Open Access (OA) articles are cited significantly more than articles in the same journal and year that have not been made OA. Some have suggested that ...

The Open Access Citation Advantage: Studies and Results to date

Wed, 09 May 2012 03:07 GMT

This paper presents a summary of reported studies on the Open Access citation advantage. After a brief introduction to the main issues involved in carrying ...

New directions in fisheries: a series of policy briefs on development issues

Wed, 09 May 2012 03:07 GMT

The aim of this policy brief is to: a) Show how new information and communications technologies (ICTs) can link with established methods to enhance opportunities ...

Livelihood Solutions through Mobile Technology: An Assessment

Wed, 09 May 2012 03:07 GMT

The introduction of ICT Mobile Technology in 2009 could be seen as an emerging opportunity to fill the knowledge gap in agriculture and improve the livelihood ...

Contribution of Information and Communication Technology in Increasing Agro-based Entreprenuers Productivity in Malaysia

Wed, 09 May 2012 03:07 GMT

ICT usage has become more relevant in the modern days and agriculture is one of the sectors that benefited from it. ICT without doubt is one of the main ...

Responding to the learning and developmental needs of out-of-school adolescents

Wed, 09 May 2012 03:06 GMT

The document discusses the background, strategies, outcomes, challenges and learnings of Kishori Chitrapata, a project of IT for Change that addresses ...

Brazil and Argentina ‘leading regional science’

Tue, 08 May 2012 05:22 GMT

While Brazil publishes more science articles, work from Argentina is higher in quality, according to the latest SCImago ranking.

Making E-Government Projects in Developing Countries More Successful and Sustainable: Some Case Studies from India

Tue, 08 May 2012 03:06 GMT

This paper examines the issues in the context of lessons drawn from four ICT based government to citizen (G2C) and citizen to government (C2G) projects ...

Openness, Access, and Governance in Asian �Network Societies�: Developing an Open Governance Index

Tue, 08 May 2012 03:06 GMT

The objectives of the Open e-Governance Index project are to: a) to further understand democratic e-governance, particularly through developing the discourse ...

Empowering Indigenous Peoples in Asia through Communication

Tue, 08 May 2012 03:06 GMT

The paper comes to the conclusion that there is significant potential in Asia for innovative Indigenous media and ICT applications, which remains largely ...

Gender Responsive E-governance: Exploring the Transformative Potential

Tue, 08 May 2012 03:06 GMT

E-governance refers to the use of old and new technologies to enhance government efficiency, transparency, accountability, and service and information ...

E-Governance as an Anti Corruption Tool: Korean Cases

Tue, 08 May 2012 03:06 GMT

This paper aims to see e-governance as an anti corruption tool. Cases from the Republic of Korea - the OPEN system and the GePS - will be analyzed. ...

Funds crunch hits Pakistan’s surge in nanotech research

Mon, 07 May 2012 01:59 GMT

Pakistan’s impressive rise in nanotech research publications has been hit by funding shortages.

US should fund more late-stage health R&D, says report

Fri, 04 May 2012 07:21 GMT

A report on United States health R&D has urged Washington to increase its focus on translational research and product development.

Re-engineering Education and Training for Economic and Social Development in the 21st Century: A Focus on Technology and Skills Development in National Education and Training Systems in Africa

Fri, 04 May 2012 03:08 GMT

This paper argues for the re-engineering of education and training systems for sustainable socio-economic development in Africa and looks at the role ...

Development focus for Côte-d'Ivoire research fund

Wed, 02 May 2012 11:27 GMT

Young researchers in Côte-d'Ivoire are to benefit from new research funds targeting projects in sustainable development and poverty alleviation.

Successful innovation depends on engaging the grassroots

Wed, 02 May 2012 04:03 GMT

Technological innovation can't be imposed on poor people — they must be engaged to select ideas that suit their lives, writes Lawrence Gudza.

Technical creativity needs nurturing at the grassroots

Wed, 02 May 2012 04:00 GMT

Efforts to promote sustainable development must tap into technologies developed locally, driven by community needs and priorities.

Argentina launches science and technology TV channel

Wed, 02 May 2012 01:17 GMT

Interviews with researchers, documentaries and science fiction series will feature on a new Argentinean television channel.

Whooping cough found in vaccinated children in Pakistan

Tue, 01 May 2012 09:50 GMT

Researchers say they have identified whooping cough in previously vaccinated children, a finding rejected by health officials.

Africa Analysis: Taking charge of university fundraising

Tue, 01 May 2012 04:00 GMT

Stunning fundraising success at Stellenbosch University is a model for others in Africa, but leadership is crucial, says Linda Nordling.

The LERU Roadmap to Open Access

Tue, 01 May 2012 03:09 GMT

The LERU Roadmap towards Open Access represents a conscious decision by the League of European Research Universities (LERU) to investigate new models ...

Sending the Right Message: ICT Use and Access for Communicating Messages of Health and Wellbeing to CALD Communities

Tue, 01 May 2012 03:09 GMT

This paper aims to understand the challenges and opportunities that groups from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Communities such as refugee ...

The Global Information Society: a Statistical View

Tue, 01 May 2012 03:09 GMT

The aim of this publication is twofold. The first is to present a coherent picture of the state of the information society in the world. To achieve this, ...

Tsunami forecast models 'too simple', say researchers

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:43 GMT

Tsunami researchers say current models rely on equations that cannot respond to complex wave behaviours along shorelines.

Beyond Forum 2012: some final reflections

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 04:24 GMT

David Dickson

There’s been much talk in Cape Town at Forum 2012 over the past week of the need for a paradigm change in thinking about health research for development.

Certainly the concept is a useful one to describe the switch from an approach focussed primarily on the allocation of research resources, to one that addresses the need to build systems of innovation in the health field (as elsewhere).

It helps us move beyond a fixation with the famous 90/10 imbalance between research expenditure on developed and developing world health priorities, to embrace a wider perspective.

But at the end of three days of lively discussions, I remained unclear whether talking about “Beyond aid” – the theme of the meeting – represented a radical idea, or a useful way of labelling a set of trends that have been in motion for some time, and identifying the general direction in which they point.

Either way, however, such a discussion is timely.

First, as Carl Ijsselmuiden, executive director of the Council on Health Research for Development (COHRED), the main organiser of the conference, pointed out in his opening remarks, it captures the growing feeling that “foreign aid as hand-outs to the poor” is no longer workable.

The approach may not be one that wins many votes for aid-providing governments. But in the long-term, these realise that “foreign aid as capacity building” is much more likely to produce lasting results.

Second, talking about what happens next – particularly in an area such as health research and innovation, and at a time when external sources of funding are drying up – provides a spur to developing country governments to address their own responsibilities.

Ending on an up-note: the singer Princess Chaka Chaka, UN Goodwill Ambassador and a champion of Africa's fight against malaria, leads participants of Forum 2012 in a farewell chorus (Gabi Falanga)

This has both funding and policy implications. Health research spending needs to become a higher priority for these governments. And they need to create the incentives that will allow the result of this research to be translated into medical products – such as drugs – and services.

Finally, there is the pragmatic issue that, as aid budgets start falling in many developed countries as a result of their financial difficulties, anything that promises to “do more with less” with what funding remains available becomes increasingly attractive.

Moving from “aid as hand-out” to “aid as capacity building” does just that.

So, three good reasons for embracing the concept of a paradigm change. But it also became clear in the Forum 2012 discussions that there are reasons for not expecting too much, too soon.

There may be consensus on what needs to change. But this consensus does not necessarily extend to agreement on what this change should be.

For example, those seeking a new international convention on health research and development argue that it is needed to make up for the failure of the market system to provide developing countries with access to medicines at affordable prices.

Pharmaceutical companies may agree that this is a challenge. And that they need to work with governments – and aid agencies – to tackle it. But their interests ultimately lie in benefitting from the market, not in seeing alternatives put in place.

Similarly health ministers may be persuaded of the arguments for developing home-grown health industries, better equipped to meet local health needs.

But the people who really need convincing work in finance ministries. And the financial case for operating in a new way, rather than, for example, just importing technologies from abroad, is not always self-evident.

Paradigms get embedded in social – and political – systems. Changing them is not just a question of rational debate (even in science). It also requires challenging the interests that the old paradigm served. And it can have costs attached.

So, big challenges ahead. The major contribution of Forum 2012 was to help cement the idea that “aid for capacity building” is the new mantra that needs to frame aid and government policies, in developed and developing countries alike.

Also that, as in fields such as agriculture and energy, health needs to move away from the idea that developments are research-driven, to recognising that research is one component of a holistic system of innovation – each part of which needs to be addressed.

The immediate task, as always, is to work out what all this means in practice, identifying needs and opportunities, and assessing the potential contributions of all interested parties (including the media).

Not quite the “Beyond aid” vision that the organisers are aiming for. But a step in that direction.

David Dickson is editor of SciDev.Net

This blog post is part of our Forum 2012 coverage — which takes place 24–26 April 2012.

Journals play a key role in bridging knowledge gaps

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 02:00 GMT

Lia Labuschagne

What role can scientific journals play in bringing the knowledge divide, not only between North and South, but also between researchers and policymakers?

A lively general discussion at Forum 2012 focussed on the role of journals in knowledge transfer in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights. But the same issues relating to disseminating scientific information also apply to other disciplines.

Some current topics relating to the international output of scientific journals were introduced by Marge Berer, editor of Reproductive Health Matters, and Ann Strode, senior lecturer at the School of Law, University of KwaZulu Natal, and editorial advisory board member of AIDS Care.

Journal articles can help bridge the gap between research and policymakers (Credit: Reproductive Health Matters)

Berer commented that “there has never been so much information before, nor so many means of disseminating and using it”.

Participants in the general discussion nevertheless pointed out that, especially in developing countries, there is often a big time lag between research being completed and finding its way into text books.

Factually outdated information is often still being taught. And although new health and other policies may be adopted, there may be no change in teaching material.

Scientific journals provide a useful link across this divide, partly because their up-to-date research findings and information is increasingly becoming available in accessible, electronic format to a global readership of academics and practitioners within various disciplines.

Advocates and lobbyists also use the information in journals as the basis of advancing well-founded arguments for change of policies and practices.

Strode said journals such as AIDS Care are therefore used by both researchers and policymakers as a high-quality source of knowledge that they can provide from a multi-disciplinary perspective.

Some additional ideas to emerge from the discussion of ways to use the contents of scientific journals to aid development included translations of articles into local languages, and selecting key pieces of writing on specific topics to be made them available as thematic packages.

In terms of the North/South divide, Berer pointed out that “more authors from developed countries than from developing countries have access to the resources to publish in international journals”.

To help to redress this imbalance, she said that RHM gives preference to papers about developing countries by authors from those countries, or written with authors from those countries.

Broader issues discussed at the session included the continued debates around open and closed peer review processes, formal recognition for reviewers, and questions of ownership and funding.

Lia Labuschagne is a freelance journalist based in Cape Town

This blog post is part of our Forum 2012 coverage — which takes place 24–26 April 2012.

Classifying knowledge for policymaking

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:06 GMT

Organising research into different types of knowledge can promote decision-making based on evidence from a range of sources.

Mapping an inclusive road ahead for health research

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 04:38 GMT

David Dickson

It’s not often that a department of transport gets applauded for solving a major health problem. But this happened in Uganda, where health officials had been struggling to reduce infant mortality rates in an area outside the capital Kampala.

Success came not with a new medical strategy, but with the opening of a road built to speed bananas to Kampala’s markets. An unplanned consequence was that the road gave mothers quicker access to better medical facilities – and mortality rates dropped sharply.

Banana transport in Uganda: an unlikely aid to reducing infant mortality (Credit: IITA)

The story was picked up at the closing session of Forum 2012 by the chair of the meeting’s steering committee, Francisco Sogane, former minister of health in Mozambique, as epitomising one of its main conclusions.

“We need to cut across sectors in addressing the multiple challenges still faced by billions of people across the world,” Sogane said.

“We in the health sector need to open the doors of our community and work with other sectors in meeting our common challenges. The way forward is to bring together expertise from different sectors, and develop novel and sustainable solutions to the problems that we face”.

The same theme was echoed by Gwen Malegwale Ramokgopa, South Africa’s deputy minister of health, who urged that “we must make health research everyone’s business”.

Ramokgopa stressed that governments in developing countries needed to invest more in health research, particularly at a time when funding from donor agencies in the developed world – the traditional source – was falling due to the financial difficulties of their governments.

“We can see this situation as a threat, or we can see it as an opportunity to look at better and more sustainable ways of dealing with research and innovation in our countries and regions,” she said.

Indeed, there’s been a general feeling at the three-day meeting that the idea of moving “beyond aid” – the title under which it is being held – is a robust one whose time has come, and that the challenge is now to move from talk to action.

Sogane: "We need to open the doors of our community" (Gabi Falanga)

Sogane pointed out that developing country governments needed to address three tasks: setting their own priorities for health research (rather than letting these be determine by donors); training more people to carry out the necessary research; and providing incentives for turning research results into pharmaceutical products and medical treatments.

Ramokgopa picked up the same theme, pointing out that South Africa had already held its own national research summit of stakeholders to agree on joint objectives – and ensure that the country’s research goals are aligned with its health priorities.

“Those in the knowledge-based sector have been focussed on their own priorities, those in government on theirs, and civil society organisations on theirs,” she said. “Our summit helped us to develop a common research agenda for improving the health of our people.”

There was also a general feeling that, despite the lack of any major new developments, Forum 2012 has strengthened the case for focussing on the links between health research and health innovation, and broadening the debate to include new actors, including the private sector – and even the media.

The next forum is provisionally planned to take place in two years’ time. Before then, discussions are taking place about holding regional fora on the same theme, perhaps in Africa and Asia.

As for the content of such discussions, the road ahead already seems well mapped out. And this time, meeting health needs – not those of Ugandan bananas – will be the top priority.

David Dickson is editor of SciDev.Net

This blog post is part of our Forum 2012 coverage — which takes place 24–26 April 2012.