ICT Research Capacity and Priorities in Burundi
The Universities undertaking ICT related activities in Burundi include:
- Université du Burundi - Faculté des Sciences
- Université Espoir d'Afrique - Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences (Département d'informatique, option Informatique et système de gestion de l'information & Département de la Communication); Faculté d'ingénierie et de Technologie (Département d'Ingénierie en génie et gestion des télécommunications);
- Université Lumière de Bujumbura - Faculté de Communication & Faculté d'Informatique de gestion;
- Université des Grands Lacs - Faculté d'Informatique
There are approximately 30,000 students in Higher Education in Burundi, 11,000 of which attend the University of Burundi.
Based on an IST-Africa FP7 Training Workshop in Bujumbura in October 2009, the following research areas were identified: Digital Preservation, eHealth, ICT for efficient water resource management, Technology-Enhanced Learning, ICT for Agriculture, telecommunications, good governance and security.
National Participation in FP7
IST-Africa is the first FP7 project in which Burundi is involved, but it has in recent years also been represented in a small number of unsuccessful proposals. There is now an appetite for participation in EU funded research, and the number of funded projects is expected to increase in future years. However, the significant gaps between calls, the high level of competition under specific thematic areas which are aligned with national implementation policy in Africa (e.g. TEL) and the long timeframe for projects to be evaluated and negotiated obviously has implications for participation.
Participation in IST-Africa is complimented by partnerships between the Ministry and the Kingdom of Belgium, University Agency of Francophonie, World Bank, UNESCO and USAID.
eLearning, eHealth, eAgriculture and Living Labs have been identified as having the most potential for sustainable socio-economic impact to date. A national Living Labs Working Group (with participation from government, industry and research as well as Belgium as a donor country) has now been established to identify priorities and other stakeholders to establish the first Living Labs.
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