1. 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)

2. 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)

3. 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)

4. 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)

5. 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)

6. 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)

7. 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)

8. 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)

9. 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:
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)