The Open African Innovation Research (Open AIR) network, under the guidance of Professors Jeremy de Beer and Chidi Oguamanam, has received $300,000 in funding from the new Queen Elizabeth Scholars Advanced Scholars West Africa program. With this funding, Open AIR will continue creating opportunities for emerging scholars to recognize and celebrate the importance of African innovation.
New QES Fellows from uOttawa and West African partner institutions will become part of Open AIR’s vibrant New and Emerging Researchers Group (NERG), with the opportunity to expand the research capacity of both African and Canadian scholars working across disciplines.
The funding will primarily support research on intersections amongst gender equality, social inclusion, and innovation systems. This new funding builds upon a foundation created by Open AIR’s 2017 original Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Advanced Scholars Program, which was created to improve global talent exchange between Open AIR’s six hubs in Canada and African countries.
“We have an important opportunity to advance inclusive innovation yet again, in cutting-edge areas, drawing in authentic gender-respectful and gender inclusive African voices and perspectives, while strengthening Afro-Canadian exchange and learning experiences,” explains Professor Oguamanam, a co-founder of the Open AIR network.
Victoria Schorr, the uOttawa Program Manager and an Open AIR Research Associate said, “we are thrilled to be able to continue funding outstanding researchers who are bringing African perspectives to topics ranging from museums about traditionally-female crafts to ensuring artificial intelligence technologies do not continue current prejudices.”
Overall, 200 Canadian and West African researchers will receive funding from the new QES Advanced Scholars West Africa program. This particular award provides funding for over a dozen emerging international scholars – including Ph.D. candidates, Postdoctoral Fellows, and early career researchers – to conduct research at the University of Ottawa and with Open AIR’s partners in West Africa.
“My QES experience, allowed me to learn things that I would not have been able to discover if I had stayed in my library cubical. I once read that the outcome of your PhD program is not your thesis, the outcome is you. I appreciate my QES experience very much since it allowed me to enrich my doctorate research and expand my professional network.” – Ghazaleh Jerban, former QES-AS Open AIR Fellow at the University of Ottawa
“I am grateful for the QES program. The experience has been fulfilling, working with women in a part of the world I never imagined I would reach. It has been rewarding, acquiring new skills on how to conduct research and networking with fellows in different parts of the world.” – Charlene Musiza, current QES-AS Open AIR Fellow at the University of Cape Town
Based at the University of Ottawa’s Common Law Section and at the Centre for Law, Technology and Society, Professors de Beer and Oguamanam are among the co-founders of the Open AIR network, through which they work with researchers from more than 20 African countries, Canada and elsewhere in rigorous action research.
Open AIR seeks to improve our understanding of Africa’s role in the global knowledge economy and the ways knowledge-based businesses can scale up, while simultaneously ensuring that the social and economic benefits of innovation are shared throughout society as a whole. “This is the perfect time,” according to Professor de Beer, “to deepen Open AIR’s research into Sustainable Development Goal No. 5 and related issues in innovation systems, especially additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and big data.”
The Canadian Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarships program (QES) was created to improve global talent exchange between Canada and other nations. The program aims to develop the next generation of innovative leaders and community builders by providing enriched academic, professional, and cross-cultural experiences and by facilitating lasting local and global community engagement. They are managed through a unique partnership led Universities Canada, the Rideau Hall Foundation, and made possible with financial support from the International Development Research Centre.
Open AIR is funded by the International Development Research Centre and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Open AIR receives support from the UK Department for International Development, with the 5 other hubs being the A2K4D Center at the American University in Cairo, CIPIT at Strathmore University, the IP Unit at the University of Cape Town, the University of Johannesburg and the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.