News & Events

According to an article published in ‘NUANCE: Newsletter of the UbuntuNet Alliance: Networks, Collaboration, Education’, open access is a powerful solution to the barriers that researchers in developing and transition countries face.

"A lot of research has been undertaken over the years in Uganda and many seeming breakthroughs arrived at, however these have not been disseminated and subsequently have not added value to the lives of Ugandans,” says John Chrysostom Muyingo, state minister for higher education in Uganda. This revealing statement was made last year at the very first national open access conference in Uganda, which Electronic Information For Libraries (EIFL) co-hosted with the Consortium of Uganda University Libraries (CUUL).

According to a blog post on the EduTech blog (World Bank), much has been made of the potential use of mobile phones to help collect, verify and disseminate information quickly, widely and cheaply in support of activities in the education sector.
 

At an event last month at the World Bank, my colleagues Sukhdeep Brar and Gaurav Relhan shared some lessons from a few recent and on-going education activities in Uganda, providing some potentially quite useful insights for those seeking answers this question. The full video for this event, as well as the PowerPoint file presented, is available online. For those of you who are pressed for time, or are just not sure if clicking those links is worth the effort, here is a quick synopsis of what was shared and discussed.

Image courtesy of nokhoog_buchachon / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A group of parliamentarians in Uganda have approved a motion designed to force the government to create a science ministry.

The MPs, led by members of the committee of science and technology, passed the motion for a resolution on setting up the ministry on 15 March.

“We proposed upgrading the ministry of information and communications technology, which is cheaper, or create a new ministry,” says Denis Hamson Obua, the chairman of the committee on science and technology.

The country’s science community has been calling on the government to create such a ministry since 2008. The 2011 to 2015 National Development Plan makes provision for it. But it has not materialised.

MTN Uganda officially commissioned its fibre network at Katuna Border in Kabale district on Friday, 08 February 2013.

The event, held at the Katuna border post, was attended by the Minister of ICT, Honourable Ruhakana Rugunda, the Executive Director of UCC engineer Godfrey Mutabazi as well as the MTN Uganda Chairman, Mr Charles Mbire.
 
Speaking at the event, Minister Rugunda said, “We, at the Ministry, would like to commend MTN Uganda for this investment that further confirms its commitment to provide support for this crucial sector of Uganda’s economy and further positions Uganda as a leader in ICT. The extension of the MTN Uganda fibre will act as a catalyst for economic development and will support the Ugandan government to further leverage on the existent regional partnerships in the areas of trade and industry”.
 

Digital mapping services and solutions provider, mapIT has announced the launch of the National Postcode & Addressing System – The Entebbe Pilot Project – which took place in Uganda in 2012.

Since joining hands in May 2012 with SatNav East Africa, Uganda’s pioneer in Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, the company has been working on the pilot project of the Entebbe SatCodes solution.
 
This addressing solution allows for every property to have a unique “address” and enhance the performance of service providers.
 

There is no doubt that Uganda has made big strides in Information and Communications Technology.
 
The sector has evolved greatly comparing to the previous years. Many telecommunication companies have been opened shop; projects like e-government have been introduced, a sign showing that Ugandans have greatly embraced technology.
 
Today many of Uganda's education centers have Information Technology as a major course on the syllabus. The sector in the year, Uganda was ranked among the top three countries with advanced technology and innovation capabilities in Africa.