MCIT hosted IST-Africa H2020 Workshop focused on ICT-39 in Addis Ababa, 17 November
21 November 2014
IST-Africa organised a series of Horizon 2020 Workshops in Malawi, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Burundi during November 2014, specifically focused on raising awareness of opportunities under the ICT-39 Call "International partnership building in low and middle-income countries" with a deadline of 14 April 2015.
Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) as the IST-Africa partner in Ethiopia organised the IST-Africa Horizon 2020 Workshop in Addis Ababa on 17 November 2014. All relevant stakeholders were invited to participate to raise awareness of the opportunity for research cooperation at international level.
The workshop was well attended with 38 participants from Adama Science and Technology University (Department of Computing); Addis Ababa University (IT Doctoral Programme, College of Information Science); Andalem; Arba Minch University; Axsum University; Bahir Dar University; Debre Birhan University (College of Computing); Debre Markos University; European Commission; Gondor University (Institute of Public Health, Department of Health Informatics); Haromaya University (College of Computer Science); Hawassa University (ICT Incubation Centre); ICT CoE; Jimma University; MCIT; Mekelle Institute of Technology and Wollega University (ICT Directory).
Each organisation presented their current research capacity and areas of most interest for International Cooperation. This was very interesting for all participants as it provided an important opportunity for staff members from different institutions across the country to meet and share their experiences.
Areas of thematic interest identified based on the organisational presentations included eAgriculture; Cyber Security; eHealth / mHealth (Telemedicine, Tele-education, Health Informatics, Electronic Medical Records, Maternity Registration System, Radiology Information Systems); eTourism; Energy; eInfrastructure; Internet of Things; Localisation; Technology-enhanced Learning and Wireless technologies.
A number of projects idea were also presented by Arba Minch University (Department of Computer Science) in relation to information retrieval for pastoralists, by Addis Ababa University and Gondor University in relation to eHealth and by Jimma University in relation to Indigenous Knowledge.
H.E. Getachew Negash, State Minister welcomed the participants to the second IST-Africa Horizon 2020 Workshop hosted by MCIT in Addis Ababa, bringing together participants involved in research at national level. H.E. Negash emphasised the importance to boost national research alongside the national research strategy. MCIT is actively supporting the take up of ICT at national level including integration of ICT in all aspects of Ethiopian life. This workshop provided an opportunity to look at Horizon 2020 at a mechanism to support this further. H.E. Negash thanked the organisers and participants for attending this training event, emphasising the importance to identify low cost devices that can support the take up of ICT and exploit the opportunities available under the ICT-39 Call and Horizon 2020 in general. H.E. Negash formally opened the workshop and wished the participants a productive day
Paul Cunningham (IIMC/IST-Africa) provided an overview of the IST-Africa Initiative and the significant resources that are available to support research cooperation. Paul highlighted that Ethiopia had secured over €3.66 million euro in research funding through participation in 23 projects under FP7 and cooperated with more than 149 European and Associated Country organisations. This provides an important baseline for cooperation under Horizon 2020.
Dr Leulseged Alemie (Director for Communication and Information Technology Capacity building Directorate, MCIT & NCP for ICT-H2020) provided a comprehensive overview of Horizon 2020 and the main differences between FP7 and H2020.
Dr Stephane Hogan, Counsellor for Research and Innovation, European Commission (DG Research and Innovation) presented EU Research and Innovation Policy in the context of opportunities for international cooperation.
Paul Cunningham presented the ICT-39 call followed by interactive brainstorming and group work. Following an interactive discussion, important thematic areas identified in the context of ICT-39 for Ethiopia include eHealth / eHealth; eAgriculture; Natural Language Processing and Technology enhanced Learning. Focusing on one of the eHealth challenges identified the participants discussed how to identify key stakeholders that should be consulted, how to address end-user engagement and build an implementation team for inclusion within a wider consortia for International cooperation. This was a very useful exercise.
Senait Berihu (MCIT) presented the participation rules and instruments under H2020 to provide a clear framework. Miriam Cunningham (IIMC/ IST-Africa) presented the steps to consider when preparing a proposal and associated budget. Miriam also outlined the evaluation process and basic IPR rules.
The participants found the workshop to be very interactive and to provide an important platform for knowledge sharing at national level. They learn a lot about research being undertaken by different departments and institution as learning about H2020 and specifically opportunities under ICT-39. The brainstorming and group work outlined a path to follow when preparing concepts for proposals.
Dr Leulseged Alemie closed the workshop thanking the participants for their active engagement in this workshop. MCIT is working with Higher Education Institutions to promote and lead ICT research and Innovation development at national level. MCIT is leveraging the partnership with IST-Africa to support national participation in future Calls including ICT-39.
Click here to download the full workshop report.
ICT-39 Focus
Scope: The aim is to launch a set of targeted collaborative research projects addressing the requirements of end-user communities in developing countries. Specific technological targets could include for example co-design, adaptation, demonstration and validation (e.g. pilots) of ICT related research and innovation in relevant thematic areas addressed by Horizon 2020 including Content Technologies and Societal Challenges.
Activities under this objective should be led by a clearly defined user need/market opportunity for the technology being adapted; they should in particular include requirements of developing countries, and where possible, have the potential for wider impact by involving a number of countries from the same region. Proposals should be submitted by a complementary partnership with a particular focus on the participation of relevant developing country innovation stakeholders and end-user community representatives (e.g. relevant public, private, education and research, and societal sector organisations, Innovation Spaces and Living Labs).
Expected impact
- Development of relevant technology responding to specific needs and conditions of the target country.
- Reinforced international dimension of the ICT and Innovation aspects of Horizon 2020 and a higher level of international cooperation with low and middle income countries in ICT R&D and Innovation, focusing on areas that are beneficial to the target countries/region.
