IST-Africa 2022 Conference

16 - 20 May 2022

Welcome

Hosted by the Government of South Africa through the Department of Science and Innovation and Supported by the European Commission (EC) and African Union Commission (AUC), IST-Africa Week 2022 (May) is the seventeenth in an annual series of Ministerial Level Technology Research Conferences.

Due to the unprecedented circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic and based on the success of IST-Africa 2020 and IST-Africa 2021, to protect the health and well being of IST-Africa Community Members, IST-Africa 2022 will take place as a virtual event during May.

IST-Africa Week 2022 will provide a world-class international forum to showcase existing technology-enabled Research, Innovation and ICT4D activities and capacity in Africa, Europe and other parts of the world. The Conference Programme combines strategic keynote presentations, a High-Level Roundtable, technical and policy papers, case studies and workshops. It also provides an opportunity to identify potential partners for future research cooperation under Horizon Europe.

The goals of the IST-Africa Conference Series are to

- Support Development of the Information Society and Knowledge Economy, and Achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) in Africa

- Promote International Research Innovation, and Policy Cooperation and Coordination

- Showcase African Research and Innovation Capacity

- Stimulate exploitation of research results by the public and private sectors

IST-Africa 2022 Programme

The Scientific Programme for IST-Africa 2022 is based on a double blind peer review of Papers submitted to an open Call for Papers which closed in late December 2021.

Invited Presentations included:

- Welcome Address - His Excellency. Dr. Blade Nzimande, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, South Africa, represented by Daan du Toit, Deputy Director-General: International Cooperation and Resources, Department of Science and Innovation, South Africa

- Development of Cyber-Infrastructure in Africa integrated with Large Scale Science Projects - Dr Happy Sithole, Centre Manager: National Integrated Cyber-Infrastructure System (NICIS), South Africa

- SAIS 2 - Supporting Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Southern Africa 2017-2022 - Ilari Lindy, Lead Expert, Southern African Innovation Support Programme, Belgium

- C4IR SA Achievements to Date and Way Forward - Dr Ntsibane Ntlatlapa and Obakeng Hlatshwayo, C4IR South Africa

- Inclusive Digital Society in Africa based on Affordable Connectivity & Sustainable Digital Businesses - Dr Fisseha Mekuria, Chief Researcher, Next Generation Enterprises and Institutions, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa

- Towards an Open Science Policy for South Africa - Dr Daniel Adams, Chief Director, Department of Science and Innovation, South Africa

- Long term Potential and Sustainability of Space Science and Technology - Carla Sharpe, Africa Program Manager, South African Radio Astronomy Observatory

- Closing Address - Daan du Toit, Deputy Director-General: International Cooperation and Resources, Department of Science and Innovation, South Africa

The IST-Africa 2022 Final Programme incorporates 29 thematically focused sessions featuring over 85 presenters from the public, private, education, research and societal organisations from 20 countries. Click here to download pdf.

Click here to view program recordings.

Thematic areas include:

- Monday 16 May - eGovernment, Collaborative Open Innovation and ICT-enabled Entrepreneurship, CyberSecurity

- Tuesday 17 May - eHealth

- Wednesday 18 May - Content Technologies, Next Generation Computing

- Thursday 19 May - Technology-enhanced Learning, Societal Implications of Technology

- Friday 20 May - eAgriculture

Horizon Europe

Horizon Europe is the EU's key funding programme for Research and Innovation with a budget of €95.5 billion from 2021 - 2027. This includes EUR 5.4 billion from the Next Generation EU instrument, particularly to support the green and digital recovery from the COVID crisis.

The Horizon Europe budget is divided amongst a number of Pillars and associated components to create a programme supporting all areas of research and innovation. The Three key Pillars are Excellent Science; Global Challenges and Industrial Competitiveness; and Innovative Europe. The final component of Horizon Europe is focused on Strengthening the European Research Area.