Open African Innovation Research Network (Open AIR) Researching Open Innovation in Africa, Seeking Comparisons in Other Continents

1. Open African Innovation Research Network (Open AIR)
Researching Open Innovation in Africa,
Seeking Comparisons in Other Continents
www.openair.org.za
Panel Discussion
AfricaOSH Summit, www.africaosh.com
Kumasi Hive, Ghana, 13 April 2018
Panellists: Yaw Adu-Gyamfi, Outlwile Maselwanyane, Chris Armstrong, Vipal
Jain

2. panel outline
● the Open AIR research programme - Yaw Adu-Gyamfi
● research into maker movement in Ghana - Yaw Adu-Gyamfi
● research into maker movement in South Africa - Outlwile
Maselwanyane
● research into maker movements in North Africa, Kenya; deepening
of maker research in South Africa - Chris Armstrong
● research into making in Canada; research into biohacking - Vipal
Jain
● future Open AIR research directions - Yaw Adu-Gyamfi
● Q&A, discussion

3. the Open AIR research programme
Yaw Adu-Gyamfi
Co-Founder, Centre for Social Innovations
(CSI); and Open AIR Researcher
Kumasi, Ghana
http://csighana.org
yaw@csighana.org

4. the Open AIR research programme (1)
http://www.openair.org.za/te
am
● researchers in 15
African countries
● hubs in Cape Town,
Johannesburg, Nairobi,
Lagos, Cairo, Ottawa
● links to researchers in
Latin America, Asia,
Europe, US

5. the Open AIR research programme (2)
www.openair.org.za/research
2 overarching questions

6. the Open AIR research programme (3)
www.openair.org.za/research
4 themes

7. research into maker movement in Ghana
Yaw Adu-Gyamfi
Co-Founder, Centre for Social Innovations
(CSI); and Open AIR Researcher
Kumasi, Ghana
http://csighana.org
yaw@csighana.org

8. research into maker movement in Ghana (1)
2017 Study of informal sector innovation at Suame Magazine and connection to the global maker movement.
Suame Magazine
● Background and History
● Organically started from 1975
● 12,000 informal enterprises
● $1m daily transaction est. 200,000 pop
● Changing technology landscape
● External support for innovation
● Stagnation

9. Skills development and
innovation at Suame
Magazine findings;
skills acquisition
➔ Formal institutions eg
NVTI, Technical
University
➔ Apprenticeships with
masterscraftemen
➔ Customer
specifications and jobs

10. research into maker movement in Ghana (3)
Innovation and Knowledge sharing
➔ Colleague artisans - freely share information and skills on new
techniques and innovations
➔ Training institutions - learning and tinkering
➔ Informal sector apprenticeships - associations and mastercraftemen
facilitate innovation and knowledge sharing
➔ Customer specifications - artisans and their customers sharing to
enhance innovation

11. research into maker movement in Ghana (4)
Innovation governance in the informal sector;
Innovation and knowledge governance is a key pillar in the measurement of innovation in the information sector (IS)
What governance innovation in IS?
● Characterized by largely open sharing of skills, knowledge and
innovation
● Informal sector associations -- norms and work ethics established
promotes open sharing
● Almost 6 out of 10 artisans prefer some form of intellectual property
working alongside open sharing

12. research into maker movement in Ghana (5)
Maker movement connection and need for external intervention
● First maker and external intervention by ITTU
● Maker movement perceived as largely academic, hence wide gap exist
External invention needed;
● Maker movement as an enabler
● Replication of ITTU’s historical successes
● Involvement of academia to share and implement relevant research
● Improvement in working environment

13. research into maker movement in South Africa
Outlwile Maselwanyane
Student, Institute for Economic Research on
Innovation, Tshwane University of Technology
(TUT); and Open AIR Researcher
Pretoria South Africa
www.ieri.org.za
omaselwanyane@gmail.com

14. research into maker movement in South Africa (1)
2016 study of maker collectives in Gauteng
Province
8 collectives studied:
● House4Hack
● BinarySpace
● Makerlabs
● Wits Digital Innovation Zone (DIZ) Maker
Space
● MakerSpace, University of Pretoria
● eKasi Lab Ga-Rankuwa
● Geekulcha
● I Make Makers Lab
research by:
Dr. Erika Kraemer-Mbula (U. of
Johannesburg, an Open AIR South
Africa Hub) and Dr. Chris Armstrong
(Wits University, Johannesburg)
5 categories of findings
● outreach
● skills development
● networking
● innovation
● collaboration

15. research into maker movement in South Africa (2)
modes of innovation:
● tinkering, hacking, DIY, organic
innovation
● innovation born of poverty, necessity
● process innovation, incremental
innovation
● re-purposing, recycling
modes of collaboration:
● learning- and knowledge-
sharing
● adherence to the
principle of openness
2016 Gauteng study findings on:

16. research into maker movement in South Africa (3)
2016-17 national scan of the South African maker movement
● data on more than 20 maker communities
● desktop research, emails, site visits, informal conversations, formal interviews, national
stakeholder workshop, action research

17. research into maker movement in South Africa (4)
● identified a set of 12 core
variables
● research by Prof.
Jeremy de Beer and
Meika Ellis of University
of Ottawa (Open AIR
Canada Hub), Dr. Chris
Armstrong (Wits
University,
Johannesburg) and Dr.
Erika Kraemer-Mbula (U
of Johannesburg, an
Open AIR South Africa
Hub)

18. research into maker movement in South Africa (5)
● Robustness of communities of practice
(CoPs)
● Embeddedness in broader networks
● Hetereogeneity of orientations towards
innovation and enterprise development
● Emphasis on socioeconomic inclusion
● Stability of funding and revenue models, enhanced
by diversification of revenue sources
● Establishment of niches, reputations and brands
● Favouring open rather than proprietary approaches to
knowledge appropriation and intellectual property
(IP)
● Management of elements and degrees of
institutionalisation
2016-17 national scan report proposes that sustainability can be viewed as function of:

20. research into maker movement in North Africa, Kenya;
deepening of maker research in South Africa
Dr. Chris Armstrong
Visiting Fellow, LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits);
Research Associate, Centre for Law, Technology and Society,
University of Ottawa; and Open AIR Researcher
Johannesburg, South Africa; and Ottawa, Canada
www.wits.ac.za/linkcentre, https://techlaw.uottawa.ca
chris.armstrong@wits.ac.za

21. research into maker movement in North Africa (1)
● mapping of the existing makerspaces in
Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco
● semi-structured, in-depth interviews with
managers and staff of 10 makerspaces (7
spaces in Egypt, 2 in Tunisia, 1 in Morocco)
● research led by Prof Nagla Rizk (Director)
and Nagham El Houssamy (Senior
Research Officer), Access to Knowledge for
Development Center (A2K4D), The
American University in Cairo (AUC), Open
AIR North Africa Hub
findings, to be published in 2018, on:
● different makerspace models
● types of innovation, learning, and skills
development
● ownership, intellectual property and
informality
● Scalability
● recommendations of makerspaces on
how to measure innovation occurring in
spaces

22. research into maker movement in North Africa (2)
Interviews with Cairo spaces
Fab Lab Egypt
Qafeer Makerspace
Fab Lab in New Cairo (FLiNC)
FabLab AUC
Interviews with Alexandria spaces
Karakeeb Makerspace
ICE Alex
Alex Hackerspace
Interviews with Tunisian
spaces
Fab Lab ENIT
Level 1 Tunisia
Interviews with Moroccan
space
Fab Lab Casablanca

23. research into maker movement in Kenya
● looking at 4 makerspaces in
Nairobi, 1 in Kisumu, 3 in or
around Mombasa
● located in universities,
manufacturing parks, community
centres, and/or incubation hubs
● a variety of governance models,
from NGO-funded non-profits to
for-profit corporations
research by:
● Victor Nzomo, Research Fellow,
Centre for IP and IT Law (CIPIT),
Strathmore University Law School,
Nairobi (Open AIR East Africa Hub) -
- see www.cipit.org
● Jeremiah Baarbé, Student,
University of Ottawa Faculty of Law
(Open AIR Canada Hub) -- see
https://commonlaw.uottawa.ca/en

24. Nairobi: e.g., Fablab Nairobi,
Gearbox
Photos: Jeremiah Baarbé
Fablab Nairobi
See www.facebook.com/fablabnairobi
Gearbox
See www.gearbox.co.ke

25. deepening of maker research in South Africa
● examining 3D printing and social
entrepreneurship (South Africa and
Kenya)
● examining intersections between
making and socioeconomic
inclusion (South Africa and Canada)
making and socioeconomic inclusion
● South African interviews in March 2018 with
makers and maker community managers in
Pretoria, Johannesburg, Cape Town,
Hout Bay, Knysna

26. Raeketsetsa, Geekulcha, Pretoria
See http://raeketsetsa.geekulcha.com,
@raeketsetsa
Photo: Geekulcha
Raeketsetsa vision: "equip
young women from both
township and rural areas
with necessary skills in the
ICT field while realizing
entrepreneurship
opportunities"
“Raeketsetsa” in SeSotho
= “We are doing it
ourselves”
making and socioeconomic inclusion
(1)

27. eKasi Lab Ga-Rankuwa, Pretoria North
A Goodwill
Mokoka (TAKi
Originals)
character,
“Retro”, a toy
made from
recycled
materials and
used in
animations
(copyright and
trademark Robot
Zulu 2016)
See www.theinnovationhub.com/business-incubators/ekasi-labs-4
Photos: Chris Armstrong
making and socioeconomic inclusion
(2)

28. DIZ Maker Space, Wits University
Tshimologong precinct,
Johannesburg
Innovations by DIZ’s Phathwa Senene:
Smart Soccer Ball, Intelligent Pavement
See www.tshimologong.joburgPhotos: htxt Africa, Phathwa Senene, Chris Armstrong. Tshimologong
making and socioeconomic inclusion
(3)

29. Workspace, Hout Bay, Cape Town
Photos: Workspace, Meika Ellis
See www.workspace.org.za
making and socioeconomic inclusion
(4)

30. research into making in Canada; research into
biohacking
Vipal Jain
Juris Doctor (JD) Candidate, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa; and
Open AIR Researcher
Ottawa, Canada
https://commonlaw.uottawa.ca/en
vjain063@uottawa.ca

31. Research into making in Canada (1)
● Globalizing makerspace research
● Replicating research based on insights gathered in African countries
○ Ex: Kenya, Egypt and South Africa
● Comparative research on makerspaces in Canada

32. Research into making in Canada (2)
Two phases of the Canadian makerspace scan:
1) Map out and identify makerspaces across Canada
- Gather preliminary information
1) Conduct interviews at selected spaces
- Capture data in-depth

33. Research into making in Canada (3)
Goals of the comparative research:
● Understand similarities and differences between makerspaces across
different countries
● Look at various factors:

34. Research into making in Canada (4)
Goals of the canadian makerspace research:
● Role of open technologies and inclusivity in promoting more inclusive
innovation policies in Canada

35. Research into making in Canada (5)
Socioeconomic inclusivity in the Canadian context:
● Empowering Aboriginal communities
● Challenges faced: colonial past; mistreatment of Aboriginal people
● Designing an innovation system better for communities on the ground

36. Research into making in Canada, and biohacking (6)
● New directions for
makerspace
research
● Confluence of
maker movement in
biotechnology

37. Research into making in Canada, and biohacking (7)
● Opportunity for developing
countries to tap into science
and technology
→ Is the potential
unexplored?

38. future Open AIR research directions
Yaw Adu-Gyamfi
Co-Founder, Centre for Social Innovations
(CSI); and Open AIR Researcher
Kumasi, Ghana
http://csighana.org
yaw@csighana.org

39. future Open AIR research directions (1)
● Deeper research into existing themes (i.e., informal sector, high
tech, indigenous entrepreneurs, metrics/laws/policies)
● Deeper research into existing topics (e.g., maker movements,
international trade, gender dimensions).

40. future Open AIR research directions (2)
● more international comparative research, especially
across/between regions, e.g. between developed and developing
countries
● bringing African perspectives to teach lessons to rest of world

41. Open AIR’s partners

42. Q&A, discussion

43. if you want to stay in contact
Yaw Adu-Gyamfi: yaw@csighana.org
Outlwile Maselwanyane: omaselwanyane@gmail.com
Vipal Jain: vjain063@uottawa.ca
Chris Armstrong: chris.armstrong@wits.ac.za
www.openair.org.za