Challenges of Building National Research

1
Challenges of Building National Research
Education Networks in Africa

• A Progress with the Nigeria ICT Forum of
  Partnership Institutions
  
• By Aminu Ibrahim
• Convenor

2
Africas Challenge is Nigeria

• The largest democracy in Africa weighs heavily
  in Africa on most counts, including
  
• Geography Diversity
• Population, human resources exposure
• Natural resources and potential
• Number diversity of Research Education
  Institutions
  
• Potential for regional, continental global
  impact

3
Clear Indications of Major Impediments

• From 1992 to 2004, there have been more than a
  dozen project efforts to create National networks
  in Nigeria. This list of projects to build NRENs
  is not exhaustive, and at least as many or more
  exist in the public sector
• Nigerian Universities Management Information
  System (NUMIS)
  
• Nigerian Universities Network (NUNet)
• Plytechnics Network (PolyNet)
• Colleges of Education Network (TeachNet)
• Nigerian Education and Research Network (a
  collaboration of NUNet, PolyNet and TeachNet)
  
• National Virtual (Digital) Library Project
  (NVLP)
  
• Nigerian Virtual Library Consortium (VLC)
• National Information, Communication and Education
  Programme (NICEP)
  
• Number of NREN attempts National networking
  projects number of Government agencies
  
• National Committees to Harmonize the bewildering
  number of such projects have been established
  

4
Major Issues Challenges

• More than 30 years of authoritarian rule have
  resulted in
  
• Strictly top down policy making, implementation
  monitoring
  
• substantial deterioration degradation of
• Capacity of Institutions to plan, collaborate,
  innovate or even keep tabs on goings on
  
• All classes of infrastructure and structures at
  institutional and national levels
  
• Social Attitudes, trust personal integrity,
  civil responsibilities, sense of community,
  collaboration
  
• Not one of the dozens of NREN projects originated
  from the institutions themselves most did not
  really take them in to account

5
The Nigeria ICT Forum of Partnership Institutions

• The Forum was conceived just a year ago (9 Sept
  05) in Dar-es-Salaam, and is less than a month
  old (on 19 August 2005) as a legal entity. She is
  a not-for-profit NGO a company limited by
  guarantee.
• The conception of the Forum alone, has removed
  one of the greatest impediments to building an
  NREN in NG It is the first collaborative project
  to be wholly initiated owned directly by HEIs
  in more than 30 years.
• In able to facilitate the conception of a
  collaborative Forum. Why?
  
• it couldnt have been the grants per se
  Govt./NUC have been giving much larger grants for
  40 years, have been achieving opposite
  results.
• Methodology, nature of activities of the PHE,
  etc. simply opened eyes engendered a change in
  attitudes
  

6
The Mission of the Forum

• To
• develop the internal capacity of Nigerian higher
  education and research institutions to
  collaborate in the cultivation of a favourable
  policy environment, as well as the development,
  utilization, sustenance and advancement of their
  own ICT networks, services and shared resources,
  consistent with their proper role as foci for
  development.
• It is a very healthy mission, but re-discovering
  jealously guarding it will by itself be a
  challenging task

7
Aim of the Forum

• The Forum aims to
• provide an opportunity and serve as platform for
  the six member institutions to organically foster
  the development of National Research Education
  Network (NREN) in Nigeria, beginning with the
  initial member institutions, growing to include
  those willing, able capable and their
  neighbourhoods

8
Objectives of the Forum

• 1. Help each other to build institutional
  capacity in Information Communications
  Technology (ICT) for teaching learning,
  research community service
• 2. Cooperate to take advantage of economy of
  scale in the development, procurement and
  utilization of resources, goods and services
  
• 3. Develop and use ICTs to foster institutional
  collaboration among and between administrative
  and academic communities
  
• 4. Share information, skills, resources and
  best-practices
  
• 5. Encourage self-assessments by members and
  assist each other as peer-reviewers
  
• 6. Undertake activities (including consultancy
  services, policy research development,
  advocacy, training, etc.) that would cultivate
  the requisite environment for wider, sustainable
  collaboration and networking , beginning with our
  immediate and surrounding communities
• 7. Assist each other to enhance our institutional
  capacities for networking, development and
  delivery of contents and services
  
• 8. Cultivate and share effective and useful
  partnerships among and between member
  institutions, as well as with the private sector
  and other relevant institutions and agencies in
  Nigeria and the international community
• Undertake activities to facilitate members to
  serve as foci for sustainable development.

9
Institutional Membership Staff

• Ms. Sekyen Lois Niyang (Sekyen) was appointed
  to serve as full-time Forum Project Officer a few
  days ago (9 Sept 05).
  
• She will head the Abuja Secretariat of the
  Forum.

10
What Can a Single Org do?

• Apparently, much more than what everyone
  thought!
  
• Just by removing impediments, the Forum allows
  focus to address long existing challenges, and
  these are many. Even without grants.
  
• Consider even without a budget,
• The Forum has organized meetings, used economy of
  scale to workshops on issues of concern to all
  
• Institutional Collaboration is emerging Bursary
  Dept of Univ. of Ibadan will offer ICT
  capacity-building financial management training
  to ABU, Zaria
• Forum is already discussing a partnership with
  one of the two National Carriers to interconnect
  members on a national fibre backbone a NG NREN
  is already

11
Forum Policy Arm

• Forum will pursue bridging of policy gaps at
  institutional and systemic levels, through
  
• Policy Research Advocacy
• Sharing of alerts and best-practices
• Using numbers and influence of member
  institutions, and plug in to their larger
  groupings
  
• Building strategic alliances with others
• Organizing an Annual National Conf on ICTs and
  Education, with all parties present discussing
  the main issues

12
Forum Capacity-Building Strategies

• Strategic activities aimed to reduce training
  costs, improve quality of effectiveness of
  training cultivate confidence by adding value
  
• The Nigerian Operators Group Workshops (NGNOGs)
  will be customized AFNOGs with an HEI bent
  
• Special Forum Workshops will be organized to
  address identified special areas of
  capacity-building needs, using the best resources
  obtainable
• Capacity building alliances, linkages and
  partnerships will be forged with relevant firms,
  local and international agencies, networks, and
  other platforms sources of help.