Africa OSH: «Africaniser le mouvement maker» : Makery | Africa Open Science & Hardware
ab1630's bookmarks 2018-04-11
Summary:
Google English: "Africa OSH: "Africanizing the maker movement"
The first Africa Open Science Hardware Summit will be held April 13-15 in Kumasi, Ghana. Thomas Hervé Mboa Nkoudou, co-organizer of the event, answered our questions.
Thomas Hervé Mboa Nkoudou is President of the Association for the Promotion of Open Science in Haiti and Africa (Apsoha), which is (among others) the origin of the first meeting of Africa Open Science & Hardware, from 13th to 15th April in Ghana, of which Makery is a partner. This doctoral student in public communication at Laval University in Canada is conducting research on open science and more specifically on fablabs in French-speaking Africa. Upstream from this first event dedicated to open science material, he answered our questions.
What are the goals of the Africa OSH Summit?
In recent years, the maker movement has spread widely in the world and Africa is not left out. More and more fablabs, spaces of co-creation, spaces of open innovation are multiplying. However, the movement, as it is broadcast in Africa, seems to be a copy or a reproduction test of what has been done at MIT, in France, in short in the West. The general idea of Africa OSH is to open a conversation by and for Africans on how to take advantage of the maker movement, open science, open hardware. To think of them from our own social, cultural and political realities; without closing us on ourselves....
How is the event received by African communities?
We have received about 400 applications, including 80% African, as interesting as each other. However, after final selection, many candidates had to withdraw despite their willingness to participate because travel within Africa is very expensive. Despite this difficulty, at least 60% of participants will be African on the hundred expected. Thus, beyond people from all over the world, the different sub-regions of Africa will be represented: Southern Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, North Africa and Africa. West Africa.
Africa OSH will be marked by the presence of organizations such as OpenAir, Plos, Gosh, Public Lab, Open Agriculture, GIG, MIT Medialab, Ecoteclab, to name but a few...."