Research Services

IIMC's research services include analysis, policy development, studies, training and research publications.

Policy Development

IIMC has considerable experience supporting policy development and authoring Analytical and Strategic Reports. IIMC has over fourteen years’ experience working with Ministries supporting Information Society, ICT & Innovation research capacity and attracting international research funding. While much of this work has focused on supporting Innovation Activities in Africa, these skills are applicable in different thematic and geographic areas.

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During Q4 2012 – Q1 2013, IIMC was responsible for a World Bank study focused on Open Innovation Platforms, Entrepreneurship and Living Labs in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The study assessed opportunities to support entrepreneurial skills development through practical development of ICT enabled services/applications; barriers to take up of ICT-enabled services in local innovation ecosystems, and opportunities and models for cross-border cooperation and regional scalability of innovative services/applications.

It produced a baseline study mapping the components, operation and gaps of sub-national Innovation Ecosystem; and a feasibility-study analysing conditions to establish Living Labs linking Innovation Spaces and Universities, and an ‘East Africa Innovation Network’. It also proposed a multi-stakeholder engagement model to support adoption of Collaborative Open Innovation. Delivering this comprehensive Work Bank Report involved leveraging existing relationships and knowledge of national innovation ecosystems, analysis of innovation organisations, policy and regulatory environment, infrastructure, sectoral applications and funding mechanisms. It incorporated desk and field research in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, including face-to-face semi-structured interviews with national stakeholders and telephone interviews with international stakeholders.

Research

IIMC has a successful track record of commercial ICT research as well as participation in European Commission funded research under FP4, FP5, FP6, FP7 and Horizon 2020 as Coordinator, Workpackage Leader and Dissemination Leader.

Community Development

Based on its participation in international research over the last fifteen years (both as participants in - and evaluators and reviewers of research projects funded under national and European research programmes), IIMC has developed an extensive network of leading public, private and education and research organisations involved in applied ICT research as well as national and international agencies funding ICT research and implementation projects.

IIMC has a lot of experience developing communities who focus on specific areas within Science, Technology and Innovation and can also assist in disseminating research areas via these research communities.

Training Workshops

IIMC has considerable experience providing training in relation to European research programmes and Living Labs.

From 2007 – 2012, IIMC has co-organized and provided the training 29 FP7 Training and capacity building workshops across Southern, Central, East and West Africa: Burundi (30 Oct '09), Botswana (05 Dec '07, 23 Sept '09, 21 Sept '10, 10 May ‘11), Cameroon (21 Mar ’11), Ethiopia (24 Nov ’11), Kenya (18 Mar ’11), Lesotho (31 Nov '07, 20 Aug '08, 21 Sept '09), Malawi (17 Nov ’11), Mozambique (06 Dec '07, 30 Sept '09), Mauritius (09 Nov '09, 15 Nov ‘12), Namibia (30 Nov '07, 09 March '09, 15 Sept '10), Rwanda (03 Nov '09), Senegal (23 Nov '10), South Africa (04 Dec '07, 15 - 17 July '08), Swaziland (28 Nov ’11), Tanzania (14 Dec '07, 28 Sept '09), Uganda (19 Dec '07, 06 March '09) and Zambia (21 Nov ’11). In each case, the national IST-Africa partner hosted these workshops and mobilised the national research community.

In the context of Horizon 2020, to date IIMC has co-organized and provided the training for 20 training workshops from November 2013 – May 2016 in Lesotho (11 November 2013), Namibia (14 November 2013), Botswana (21 November 2013), Mauritius (28 November 2013, 07 May 2014), Mozambique (02 December 2013), Ethiopia (05 December 2013), Tunisia (16 December 2013), Tanzania (20 Jan 2014), Kenya (21 Jan 2014, 14 November 2014), Uganda (22 Jan 2014, 20 November 2014), Malawi (24 January 2014, 12 November 2014), Angola (06 March 2014) and South Africa (11 May 2016). 

Since May 2011, IIMC has facilitated and co-organised 20 Living Lab Training Workshops in Botswana (10 May 2011, 22 November 2013), Burundi (26 – 27 Sept 2011), Ethiopia (24 Nov 2011, 06 December 2013), Kenya (28 May 2013), Lesotho (09 November 2012, 12 November 2013), Malawi (17 Nov 2011, 05 May 2015), Mauritius (16 Nov 2012, 06 May 2014), Namibia (15 November 2013), Rwanda (ICT4Ag, 21 October 2013), Swaziland (29 Nov 2011), Tanzania (29 – 30 Sept 2011, 08 May 2012), Tunisia (17 December 2013), Uganda (06 – 07 October 2011) and Zambia (22 Nov 2011). These workshops were hosted by national IST-Africa partners.

IIMC uses a Train the Trainer methodology to build capacity at local level.

Research Publications

IIMC has edited six books for researchers and practitioners published by IOS Press: "Building the Knowledge Economy: Issues, Applications, Case Studies" (2003) [ISBN: 1-58603-379-4], "eAdoption and the Knowledge Economy: Issues, Applications, Case Studies" (2004) [ISBN: 1-58603-470-7], "Innovation and the Knowledge Economy: Issues, Applications, Case Studies" (2005) [ISBN: 1-58603-563-0], "Exploiting the Knowledge Economy: Issues, Applications, Case Studies" (2006) [ISBN: 1-58603-682-3], "Expanding the Knowledge Economy: Issues, Applications, Case Studies" (2007), [ISBN: 978-1-58603-801-4] and "Collaboration and the Knowledge Economy: Issues, Applications, Case Studies" (2008), [ISBN 978-1-58603-924-0].

To date IIMC has edited over 32 Conference Proceedings for the eChallenges Conference, IST-Africa Conference, ICT-MobileSummit/FutureNetwork Summit and eSkills Summit:

  • eChallenges e-2009 ISBN: 978-1-905824-17-5, eChallenges e-2010 ISBN: 978-1-905824-20-5, eChallenges e-2011 ISBN: 978-1-905824-27-4, eChallenges e-2012, ISBN: 978-1-905824-35-9, eChallenges e-2013, ISBN: 978-1-905824-40-3; eChallenges e2014, ISBN: 978-1-905824-45-8, eChallenges e-2015, ISBN: 978-1-905824-52-6
  • IST-Africa 2006 ISBN: 1-905824-01-7, IST-Africa 2007 ISBN: 1-905824-04-1, IST-Africa 2008 ISBN: 978-1-905824-07-6, IST-Africa 2009 ISBN: 978-1-905824-11-3, IST-Africa 2010 ISBN: 978-1-905824-15-1, IST-Africa 2011 ISBN: 978-1-905824-24-3, IST-Africa 2012 ISBN: 978-1-905824-34-2, IST-Africa 2013 ISBN: 978-1-905824-38-0, IST-Africa 2014 ISBN: 978-1-905824-43-4; IST-Africa 2015 ISBN: 978-1-905824-50-2, IST-Africa 2016 ISBN: 978-1-905824-54-0;
  • ICT-MobileSummit 2008 ISBN: 978-1-905824-08-3, ICT-MobileSummit 2009 ISBN: 978-1-905824-12-0, Future Network and MobileSummit 2010 ISBN: 978-1-905824-16-8, Future Network and MobileSummit 2011 ISBN: 978-1-905824-23-6, Future Network and MobileSummit 2012 ISBN: 978-1-905824-29-8, Future Network and MobileSummit 2013 ISBN: 978-1-905824-36-6
  • eSkills Summit 2010 ISBN: 978-1-905824-22-9.

Cunningham, P., Cunningham, M., van Greunen, D., Veldsman, A., Kanjo, C., Kweyu, E. and Gebeyehu, A. (2016) "Implications of Baseline Study Findings from Rural and Deep Rural Clinics in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi and South Africa for the co-design of mHealth4Afrika", Proceedings of IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC) 2016, IEEE Xplore

Cunningham, M (2016) "Influences on Wider Adoption and Take up of Technology-enhanced Learning in Universities in Nairobi, Kenya", IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, Special Edition for IEEE ISTAS 2015, September 2016, IEEE Xplore, DOI: 10.1109/MTS.2016.2593238

Cunningham, M (2016) "Comparative Study of Influences on Wider Adoption of Technology-enhanced Learning Techniques by Universities in Nairobi, Johannesburg and Pretoria" (M.Sc. thesis). Department of Computer and Systems Sciences, Stockholm University, Sweden, 2016.

Cunningham, P., Cunningham, M., and Ekenberg, L. (2015), "Factors Impacting on the Current Level of Open Innovation and ICT Entrepreneurship in Africa". Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries (EJISDC), Vol 73 (2016), pp1 - 23.

Cunningham, M. (2015) "Factors Impacting on Adoption of Technology-enhanced Learning Techniques by Universities in Nairobi, Kenya", Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society 2015, Dublin, Ireland. November 2015 (IEEE ISTAS 2015), IEEE Xplore, DOI: 10.1109/ISTAS.2015.7439446

Cunningham, P., Cunningham, M., and Ekenberg, L. (2015), "Assessment of Potential ICT-Related Collaboration and Innovation Capacity in East Africa". Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC), pp. 100 - 107, IEEE Xplore, DOI: 10.1109/GHTC.2015.7343961

Cunningham, P., Cunningham, M., and Ekenberg, L. (2015), "Stakeholder Roles and Potential models to Support Collaborative Open Innovation in East Africa", Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries, Negombo, Sri Lanka (IFIP WG9.4). May 2015 pp.63-77

Cunningham, P., Cunningham, M., and Ekenberg, L. (2014), "Baseline Analysis of 3 Innovation Ecosystems in East Africa", Proceedings of International Conference on Advances in ICT for Emerging Regions December 2014 (ICTer2014), IEEE Xplore, ISBN: 978-1-4799-7731-4, DOI: 10.1109/ICTER.2014.7083895

Cunningham P, Cunningham M & Herselman, M.E. (2012). "Socio-economic impact of growing Living Labs and Living Lab networks into Africa". IST-Africa 2012 Conference Proceedings, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 09-11 May 2012. ISBN:  978-1-905824-34-2