National ICT Research Capacity and Priorities for Cooperation - Malawi
National Priorities
National ICT Research Priorities include:
- eHealth - To enable faster, safer, better healthcare by placing medical information in the right hands at the right time; Improve patient safety; Provide better access to specialist care in all geographic areas through the increased use of technology and information systems, such as tele- medicine. Institutions involved include: College of Medicine, Kamuzu College of Nursing, Chancellor College
- eAgriculture - Getting and sharing information among fellow farmers; ability to include market competitiveness. Institutions involved include: LUANAR, Department of Extension Services (Ministry of Agriculture)
- eInfrastructure and Entrepreneurship - To ensure that Internet is accessible in remote areas; Tool for socio economic development. Institutions involved include: MACRA, Chancellor College, Polytechnic of Malawi
- eGovernment and eDemocracy - Campaigning and voting tool; Provides accessibility to politicians and policy makers. Institutions involved include: eGovernment Department; Chancellor College, Electoral Commission
- Technology-enhanced Learning - To provide freedom to learn when and where at own pace; provides high levels of coverage; ensures consistency of learning materials to all students; Cross-platform support. Institutions involved include: Chancellor College, Kamuzu College of Nursing, College of Medicine, Polytechnic, Mzuzu University
- Digital Libraries and Repositories - Exposing local content to international communities; preserving information; East of access to information. Institutions involved include: MALICO, National Library Service, University of Malawi, Mzuzu University, LUANAR
National Research Capacity and Priorities for Cooperation
The table below provides an overview of some of the universities with ICT/Engineering Courses:
| Institution | Location | Total Students | ICT/Engineering Department(s) | ICT/Engineering Teaching Staff | Undergraduate Students | Post-Graduate (Masters, PhD) |
| University of Malawi, Chancellor College | Zomba | 4,071 | ICT | 6 | 3,925 | 146 |
| Polytechnic of Malawi | Blantyre | 3,345 | Engineering | 10 | 3,300 | 45 |
| Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources | Lilongwe | 1,620 | Engineering | 10 | 1,620 | 207 |
| Mzuzu University | Mzuzu | 2,500 | ICTLibrarianship | 5 | 2,475 | 35 |
| Department of Information Systems and Technology Management Services | Lilongwe and Blantyre | 1,500 | ICT | 15 | 1,500 |
|
| University of Livingstonia (UNILIA) | Rumphi | 1000 | ICT Computer Engineeering ICT
Computer Engineeering
|
5 | 1000 | 0 |
| Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) | Thyolo | 500 | Innovation Computer Science in Network Security Innovation
Computer Science in Network Security
|
6 | 475 | 25 |
| DMI St. John Baptist University | Mangochi | 500 | Engineering in Computer Science | 5 | 500 | 0 |
| Daeyang University | Lilongwe | 166 | ICT ICT
|
3 | 166 | 0 |
The following universities and research centres in Malawi are undertaking ICT-related initiatives
University of Malawi - Chancellor College
- Research Focus - Use of ICT in Science and Engineering: e-learning, mobile health, ICT architecture, IT Audit, operating systems, ICT for development, software engineering, searching, usability, Computer Network Management and Internet Security
University of Malawi: Polytechnic , Engineering Department
- Research Focus - Use of ICT in Science and Engineering, internet research and security, software development, Telecommunications, Geographic Information Systems- remote sensing, Environmental health
Mzuzu University - ICT and Informatics Department
- Research Focus - Electronic library and Information systems, coding and cryptography, digital libraries, renewable energy, Internet research, eHealth
Lilongwe University for Agriculture and Natural Sciences - Engineering Department
- Research Focus- ICT for Agriculture, Sustainable environment, e-learning
Malawi University of Science and Technology70 - Information Technology and management systems
ICT-39 Priority Themes
Based on consultation with stakeholders and discussion during the IST-Africa H2020 Workshop on 28 November 2016 the following thematic areas are considered to be important in the context of the ICT-39 Call:
| Thematic Areas | Topics | Partners include |
| eHealth / mHealth | Health Information Systems/Electronic Health Records; Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH); Health diagnosis and Surveillance - Malaria, hypertension, diabetes, cancer; Mechanisms and alarms to deal with compliance issues (remembering to take medication, attend clinic etc); Telemedicine and remote diagnosis | Chancellor College (Department of Computer Science, Department of Physics); College of Medicine; KCN; Mzuzu University; Baobab Health Trust; Malawi Liverpool Welcome Trust, University of Livingstonia; Polytechnic of Malawi; MUST; |
| eAgriculture | Food Security; Agri-food based applications; Market Information; Aflatoxin management in food crops | LUANAR; Chancellor College; Department of Agricultural Research Services; Mzuzu University |
| Technology-enhanced Learning | mLearning; Distance Learning | LUANAR; Chancellor College; Mzuzu University; National Library Services, MUST (Insitute of Technology). |
| Environment | Renewable Energy; Waste Management including eWaste | LUANAR; MUST (Climate and Earth Science Dept); University of Malawi (Chemistry Dept), Polytechnic (Dept of Environmental Science and Technology) |
| eGovernment | Public Service Delivery; eCommerce Applications | Chancellor College, Polytechnic; eGovernment Dept. |
Mapping to H2020 Themes
The mapping to Horizon 2020 Research areas is summarised below:
| Horizon 2020 Industrial Leadership | Institution, Relevant Dept and Research area |
| Components and Systems | Chancellor College, University of Malawi (Dept of Computer Sciences): Smart Embedded Components and Systems, Organic Electronics, Large Area Integration, Smart Integrated Systems, Systems of Systems and Complex System Engineering; Polytechnic, University of Malawi (Department of Computing and Information Technology): Smart Embedded Components and Systems, Organic Electronics, Large Area Integration, Systems of Systems and Complex System Engineering; National College of Information Technology : Smart Embedded Components and Systems; College of Medicine, University of Malawi: Smart Embedded Components and Systems, Organic Electronics, Smart Integrated Systems |
| Advanced Computing | Chancellor College, University of Malawi (Dept of Computer Sciences): Interconnect and Data Localisation Technologies, Cloud Computing, Parallel Computing and Simulation Software; Polytechnic, University of Malawi (Department of Computing and Information Technology): Interconnect and Data Localisation Technologies, Cloud Computing, Parallel Computing and Simulation Software; Mzuzu University (Department of Information, Sciences and Communication): Interconnect and Data Localisation Technologies, Cloud Computing |
| Future Internet | Chancellor College, University of Malawi (Dept of Computer Sciences): Cloud Computing, White Spaces, Networks, Software and Services, Wireless Communication; Polytechnic, University of Malawi (Department of Computing and Information Technology): Cloud Computing, Networks, Software and Services, Wireless Communication, Immersive Interactive Multimedia; Mzuzu University (Department of Information, Sciences and Communication): Cloud Computing, Networks, Software and Service |
| Content Technologies & Information Management | Chancellor College, University of Malawi (Dept of Computer Sciences): ICT Infrastructure, Language Technologies, Digital Repositories, Digital Preservation, Technology-enhanced Learning, Machine Learning; Polytechnic, University of Malawi (Department of Computing and Information Technology): Advanced Data Mining, Technology-enhanced Learning; Mzuzu University (Department of Information, Sciences and Communication): Digital Repositories, Technology-enhanced Learning, Analytics; Kamuzu College of Nursing (Community and Mental Health Dept): Technology-enhanced Learning |
| Horizon 2020 Societal Challenges | Institution, Relevant Dept and Research area |
| Health | College of Medicine, University of Malawi: Telemedicine; Kamuzu College of Nursing (Community and Mental Health Dept): Telemedicine; Mzuzu University (Dept. of Health Sciences; Department of Nursing and Midwifery and ICT Dept): Health Information Systems. eHealth; Chancellor College (ICT Dept.): Mobile applications in e-health; Polytechnic, University of Malawi (Dept. of Environment): Environmental health, health information system; Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) : Health information system. eHealth |
| Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture | LUANAR (Dept. of Crop and Soil Sciences, Dept. of Home Economics and Human Nutrition, Dept. of NRM) ; Mzuzu University : Sustainable Food Production Systems; Lilongwe University of Agriculture & Natural Resources : Sustainable Food Production Systems; Department of Agricultural Research Services : Sustainable Food Production Systems |
| Climate Action, Environment, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials | Lilongwe University of Agriculture & Natural Resources : Water Resource Management; Polytechnic : Water Resources and Supply Managemnet |
| Secure Societies | Chancellor College, University of Malawi (Dept of Computer Sciences): Trustworthy ICT; Polytechnic, University of Malawi: Trustworthy ICT |
Level of Research Maturity
Malawi has a good research base and experience of collaborative research with participation in over 20 projects and securing over €3 million in funding under FP7: ICT (2 projects), INCO (1 project), Infrastructure (5 projects), Environment (2 projects), Health (8 projects), KBBE (1 project) and Science in Society (1 project). Mzuzu University, National Commission for Science and Technology, UbuntuNet Aliance and University of Malawi have a track record in FP7.
Up to September 2018, Malawi organisations have secured participation in ten Horizon 2020 projects with research funding of over €2.625 million across a range of thematic areas:
- INFRA, H2020-INFRASUPP-2014-2 - MAGIC (UbuntuNet Alliance); Sci-GaIA (UbuntuNet Alliance); TANDEM (UbuntuNet Alliance)
- LEIT - ICT-39-2015 - mHealth4Afrika (RIA) - Chancellor College, University of Malawi
- H2020-WATER-2015-two-stage - WATERSPOUTT (RIA) - University of Malawi
- H2020-ICT-2016-INT - IST-Africa 2016-2018 (CSA) - National Commission for Science and Technology
- H2020-SC1-2016-RTD - Perform 2 scale (RIA) - The Registered Trustees of the Research for Equity and Community Health Trust; SURG-Africa (RIA) - University of Malawi
- H2020-SFS-2016-2 - InnovAfrica (RIA) - Soils, Food and Healthy Communities (Sfhc) Limited and University of Malawi
- H2020-MSCA-ITN-2017 - ANTHUSIA (MSCA-ITN-EJD) - University of Malawi
Institutional Research capacity was validated through statistics obtained from the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) which is an institution mandated to accredit education institution programmes in Malawi. In addition, the data was also verified through the records available from the NCST's Directory for Research and Development institutions in the country.
Most of the research is being conducted at the public Universities (University of Malawi (Chancellor College, Polytechnic, College of Medicine and Kamuzu College of Nursing); Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Reources (LUANAR); Mzuzu University and the newly established Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST)) as well as research institutions. The National Commission for Science and Technology is providing active support to the research community through IST-Africa activities.