A Cross-Regional Research Partnership for Sustainable Development: The Open African Innovation Research (Open AIR) Experience

anemptytextlline

Chidi Oguamanam and Jeremy de Beer

PPPs were proposed as “tools for good governance” in the 1990s, and gained prominence in international relations (IR) literature in the early 2000s. However, PPPs have been understudied with gaps in the literature, stemming from the lack of a cohesive definition, differing schools of thought surrounding the structure and organization of PPPs and a lack of research to support the hypothesis that PPPs can effectively contribute to the broad issues these partnerships seek to address. Research is only now beginning to recognize this lacuna and explore these issues in more depth.

A Data Commons for Food Security

anemptytextlline

Jeremiah Baarbé, Meghan Blom, and Jeremy de Beer

This paper uses the Institutional Analysis and Development (“IAD”) framework to develop and understand the ‘data commons’. As identified by Fischmann et al., (2014), this paper also embraces the analogy between the natural environment and the commons and uses this link as a lens to view the establishment of a data commons that seeks to address global challenges of food insecurity.

The Maker Movement in Gauteng Province, South Africa

anemptytextlline

Erika Kraemer-Mbula and Chris Armstrong

There is little doubt that the “maker” movement has begun to achieve meaningful momentum in South Africa. There are now established maker-oriented initiatives in the Western Cape Province (Cape Town, Knysna), KwaZulu-Natal (Durban), and Gauteng (Vanderbijlpark, Johannesburg, Pretoria) and the Free State (Bloemfontein), as well as instances of significant maker outreach into the Northern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces.