THE HIDDEN CHALLENGE OF AFRICA'S DEVELOPMENT: LACKING QUALITY OF RESEARCH AND INACCESSIBILITY TO DATA Dr. Mukasa Norman Presentation to the IG Data for Development Dr. Mukasa Norman (Muteesa I Royal University & Bugema University)

OVERVIEW Low internet usage in Africa Poor and unreliable connectivity 51,022,400 Internet users (representing 3.6% of the world users (Internet World Statistic 2007). Poor and unreliable connectivity Internet becomes scarce and very expensive East Africa is “digitally excluded”: Only 2% of the population are connected to the Internet in East Africa (CIPESA, 2006) Presentation to the IG Data for Development Dr. Mukasa Norman (Muteesa I Royal University & Bugema University)

OVERVIEW cont. Poor research capacity affects governments, civil society and institutions of learning Factors for poor research capacity: Lacking quality of data; Knowledge gap on the availability of data sources-i.e: open access, open education, etc.; Inaccessibility to internet; Lack of skilled technical personnel to transform the shelved data files into easily available data. Low culture for data sharing and reuse of data (as well as research) Presentation to the IG Data for Development Dr. Mukasa Norman (Muteesa I Royal University & Bugema University)

CHALLENGES OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS (HEIS): INTERNET ACCESSIBILITY Low bandwidth for higher education institutions (HEIs) Implies: Limits to digitalization Limited access to most of the multi-media services and on-line academic facilities available on the Internet High costs of Internet Average pay of universities in Africa ranges betweenUS $36 kbps to US $40.50 per kilobits per second (kbps) per month compared to $10 per month for a 3 mbps in North America Digital (Aluoch, 2006) Lack of awareness of academia and students of open access, open data and open education Presentation to the IG Data for Development Dr. Mukasa Norman (Muteesa I Royal University & Bugema University)

CHALLENGES: LOW QUALITY OF DATA AND RESEARCH Data sources are not reliable Knowledge gap on free data and publication avenues Lack of technical knowledge and instruments for analysis Cost of technical equipment and internet data Lack of access to public and organisations data Poor data sharing and research culture Presentation to the IG Data for Development Dr. Mukasa Norman (Muteesa I Royal University & Bugema University)

CHALLENGES: GENERAL Unreliable and low Power Supply –Smart phone, PCs and Lap tops have to be powered to connect ; High Poverty Rate; Illiteracy- around 37% of the adult population still lack basic literacy skills, equivalent to over 170 million people; Low Internet Penetration Rate - internet penetration rate of 16% in Africa and eight out of the 10 countries having the world’s lowest internet access rates; data security and policy gaps (lacking standards) Presentation to the IG Data for Development Dr. Mukasa Norman (Muteesa I Royal University & Bugema University)

OPTIONS: DEVELOP RESERVOIR, INFORMATION HUB Universities should be supported for data reservoir Support informational hubs Rethinking and restructuring libraries Promote electronic inter-library loan and electronic circulation functions More need for platforms for sharing experiences and technical knowledge Presentation to the IG Data for Development Dr. Mukasa Norman (Muteesa I Royal University & Bugema University)

OPTIONS: RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE AND PLATFORMS Develop research and data infrastructures, as well as invest in capacity building through sharing experiences, Support and establish research platforms within Africa and with African institutions Presentation to the IG Data for Development Dr. Mukasa Norman (Muteesa I Royal University & Bugema University)

REFERENCES AAU (2002). African universities and the challenge of knowledge creation and application in the new century: Proceedings of 10th General Conference of Association of African Universities held in Kenya, Nairobi February 5-9, 2002. Aluoch, A.A. (2006). The search for affordable quality Internet connectivity for African universities. AAU Newsletter 12 (3):8. Collaboration on international ICT policy for East and South Africa (CIPESA) (2006). The Eastern African submarine cable system (EASSY): The open access challenges and debate. Available: www.cipesa.org/files/EASSYdoc.pdf Echezona, R. I., & Ugwuanyi, C. F. (2010). African university libraries and internet connectivity: Challenges and the way forward. Ndubuaku. M., & Okereafor, D. T. (2015). Internet of Things for Africa: Challenges and Opportunities International Conference on Cyberspace Governance, Conference Paper , November 2015 Presentation to the IG Data for Development Dr. Mukasa Norman (Muteesa I Royal University & Bugema University)