Makerere-based AICAD Selected as EAC Region Node for African Open Science Platform

The African Institute for Capacity Development (AICAD) has been selected as the regional node for the African Open Science Platform that is championed by the National Research Foundation of South Africa.

The selection of the Makerere University office of AICAD was announced Wednesday morning by Vice Chancellor, Prof Barnabas Nawangwe.

AICAD won the bid to host the regional node for Eastern Africa after a very rigorous and competitive process conducted by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa.

While addressing the press at the Frank Kalimuzo Central Teaching Facility, Nawangwe congratulated AICAD upon her appointment as the African Science Node for East Africa.

He emphasized the importance of research in development saying no country can develop without research, since knowledge comes from research.

“Our soils are losing productivity due to the increasing population: Unless we find a solution to the growing population shall we harness our potential fully,” he noted.

On his part, Dr Gaston Ampe Tumuhimbise, the Country Director, said AICAD has empowered societies through capacity development activities in over 40 districts of Uganda, through partnerships with universities.

“We have carried out enterprise development, training over 2000 participants in Central and Western Uganda,” said Tumuhimbise who doubles as an Academic, Food and Nutrition Scientist.

He said AOSP aims to position African scientists at the cutting edge of data-intensive science by stimulating interactivity and creating opportunity through the development of efficiencies of scale, building critical mass through shared capacities.

AICAD is a regional organization charged with linking university-generated technologies to the communities to fight poverty with headquarters at Jomo Kenyata University of Agriculture and Technology.

AICAD has country offices located at Makerere University in Uganda, Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania and Egerton University in Kenya.