The mAkE website is live!

The mAkE website is live!

By Mugethi Gitau Comment Closed
Scaling and strengthening existing networks mAkE builds on active networks of makerspaces, it strengthens existing pan-African connections between FabLabs, open science and hardware spaces. mAkE brings together the best of both continents to benefit the people who use makerspaces, to learn from each other, to collaborate on vital enabling infrastructures. Makerspaces as Digital Innovation Hubs for local smart production in Africa mAkE is a project which takes a transdiciplinary approach to connect European and African Digital Innovation Hubs to maximise their potential as spaces for digital innovation, skill building, job creation and contact points for global collaboration networks. About the project: mAkE is an EU-funded project, which promotes cooperation and strategic partnership with countries in Africa to support the strengthening of existing digital innovation hubs (DIHs) in Africa and Europe. Its overall aim is to facilitate the collaboration between EU and African DIHs to strengthen a common EU-Africa innovation and start-up ecosystem. Coordinated by the Global Innovation Gathering, mAkE is governed by a consortium of...
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Gosanitize! Go Girls ICT (South Sudan)’s response to Covid 19

Gosanitize! Go Girls ICT (South Sudan)’s response to Covid 19

By Mugethi Gitau Comment Closed
South Sudan is a country that depends entirely on imports from its neighboring countries and during the pandemic, products such as hand sanitizers became more expensive as their demand was high and not affordable to the common person in the community. GoGirls inspiration to research and come up with a hand sanitizer called Gosanitize from locally sourced resources within South Sudan was because of the above challenges. Ten female local brewers were trained to make highly concentrated alcohol (Ethanol) for use in the hand sanitizer. To achieve this, GoGirls ICT Initiative team together with chemistry experts, had a peer-to-peer virtual mentorship exchange with Bibliothèque-MboaLab, Cameroon. But alas! A hurdle. To enable this project to succeed, they needed to overcome a major hurdle: religious beliefs and the extent to which women who make alcohol are viewed as contributors to the prevalence of hooliganism in the society. Not to be associated with a bad name in their society that taints their religious beliefs, some...
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Olabi innovation hub promotes a toolkit to encourage diversity in companies.

Olabi innovation hub promotes a toolkit to encourage diversity in companies.

By Ricardo Ruiz Comment Closed
The digital toolkit consists of an ebook, a podcast series, and a video manifesto aiming to clarify concepts and encourage companies to create environments of diversity in the workplace, supporting more women, LGBTQIAP+, black, indigenous and people with disability in their frames.It contains tips and guidelines on creating policies for welcoming and retaining people in the teams and the experiences and challenges of companies that experienced transformations in the workplace. Diversity is a theme that occupies more space in publicity, politicians and corporate addresses, classrooms, and journalistic guidelines each time. But how do you take real action? How do we convert themes to working policies? Include, insert and accept the broad and diverse range of people who coexist in the society, with respect and opening to welcome ideas, perspectives, and many different cultures can not be a desire but a requirement. However, it presupposes paradigms overturns not always straightforward incorporated. Olabi has extensive experience in consulting and actions to create more inclusive environments in...
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Labmobile: on the road in Northern Uganda

Labmobile: on the road in Northern Uganda

By Ricardo Ruiz Comment Closed
Young people between the ages of 18 and 30 in Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement and surrounding communities in northern Uganda face many problems, two of which GIG and Platform Africa proposed a project that seeks to address: Youth unemployment and lack of media literacy. With a youth unemployment rate of almost 70% and a high percentage of people who could not complete their school education but were traumatized by war and flight as schoolchildren, misinformation often leads to outbreaks of violence. Tensions have increased over the past year, particularly following the Ugandan government's restrictive measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and the World Food Program's (WFP) simultaneous 30% cut in food rations for refugees. Platform Africa foundation was in 2017 in Uganda by South Sudanese refugees. It is a non-profit organization that supports young people of all nationalities, ethnicities, genders, and sexual orientations through capacity-building programs (SDG 4). It focuses on media skills development, entrepreneurship, social-technological innovation, and establishing an open, peaceful...
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Have the best of African Makerspaces at your fingertips

Have the best of African Makerspaces at your fingertips

By Ricardo Ruiz Comment Closed
The Africa Makerspace Network launched their first magazine: join us in this reading! The Africa Makerspace Network (AMN) is a grassroots, continental movement that seeks to set the platform for dialogue and increase the visibility of makerspaces in Africa. AMN launched its magazine first edition, The African Maker. The publication throws light on the activities of makerspaces that are part of AMN. Get to know what’s happening in many makerspaces across Africa, stories about innovators, news on STEM giants and much more. The Magazine. Go grab yours! Among the content, you will know more about initiatives flourishing in Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria, Namibia and Ghana, but not only. In addition, the magazine presents the most significant maker projects and processes in the African continent today, from Solar Taxis to affordable microscopes to science and technology for children. The Africa Makerspace Network seeks to harmonize all makerspaces in Africa under one umbrella to grow and attain sustainable development in Africa. The network acts to research and contact...
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Careables Online Exhibition at Remote Chaos Experience 21!

Careables Online Exhibition at Remote Chaos Experience 21!

By Ricardo Ruiz Comment Closed
Last December, Saad Chinoy, one of our most active members and part of GIG's supervisory board, presented Careables during the remote Chaos Experience 2021 - a 96 hours event organized online by The Chaos Computer Club e. V. (CCC), Europe's largest association of hackers. For more than thirty years, CCC has provided information about technical and societal issues, such as surveillance, privacy, freedom of information, hacktivism, data security and many other exciting things around technology and hacking issues.  Inside Careables Online Exhibition During this presentation, visitors could tour our Online Careables Exhibition in gather.town, followed by a Talk and Q&A session on how Careables evolved during this last year in different countries from the Global South and how the opensource making experience can change the future of health and care. Careables has been a four-year-long project focused on making healthcare systems more open and accessible to people with different needs and backgrounds. Careables are healthcare devices co-designed in a collaborative ecosystem where people become creators,...
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At Connective Cities Living Lab, “change darers” are Rethinking Municipal Response to global pandemic challenges.

At Connective Cities Living Lab, “change darers” are Rethinking Municipal Response to global pandemic challenges.

By Mugethi GitauNo Comments
Authors: Harinjaka Ratozamanana, Chris Doering, Daniela Marzavan,  The rise of e-government announced a great change in public administrations—but how could it be without Global Innovation Gatherings “change darers” ? Public sector organisations have always looked out for new ways to fulfil their public mission. This November—together with Mazavan Innovation,  Data Natives, and the Connective Cities platform—members of the Global-Innovation-Gathering-community are taking part in some virtual magic towards “hacking” municipalities worldwide and help them to experiment with new ideas,  processes, networks, management tools and technologies in order to create public value and effect positive change.  Daniela Mazavan is taking part in the Capacity Strengthening capsules and sharing her knowledge about Innovation Ecosystems for Urban Development among many selected experts. Sénamé Koffi Agbodjinou from  Woelab Togo talks about his work at Hubcity and his ongoing project in cooperation with his local municipality. Harinjaka Ratozamanana from Hackoragna.coop is one of the Hackathon Mentors as he organised #Hackoragnavirus in Madagascar and participated actively at The Global Hack and...
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Announcing DOTS 2021!

Announcing DOTS 2021!

By Mugethi GitauNo Comments
It is finally that time of the year! Although we could not physically gather anywhere after 2019, we did gather virtually in many events, and also during the weekly GIG team calls. We know the reality of meeting online is not exactly what we want – but we’re also preparing to meet again physically in 2022 ! Still, this year’s DOTS – our annual gathering – will need to take place virtually .  DOTS will be more focused this year on our network and organisation. With this, we invite you to save the date for the DOTS week (November 26-30) and to participate and arrange sessions. Leading up to this, we shall offer several info sessions about board members roles, GIG governance and the general assembly.   The agenda for DOTS: 26th | 13.00 - 15.30 CET: General Assembly Meeting The  General Assembly is the central decision-making organ of GIG e.V. the NGO which forms the legal body of the GIG Network....
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GIG wins mAkE!

GIG wins mAkE!

By Mugethi GitauNo Comments
GIG is celebrating as we have received confirmation from the European Commission that our project mAkE will receive funding from the Horizon grant programme and we can start implementation in February 2022. This is an amazing opportunity to advance decentralised production systems between African and European makerspaces as mAkE will create a joint ecosystem with and for European and African hubs. Over the course of three years, mAkE will:  create a distributed manufacturing network of makerspaces across Africa. Strengthening innovation ecosystems for digital hardware startups and initiatives at the local level, nationally and on a pan-African level.  equip makerspaces with necessary resources to target critical development issues and create meaningful, impact oriented innovations, including their capacity to build impact oriented, climate relevant, technologies and solutions thereby supporting the digitalisation of traditional sectors in Africa.  support the creation of new business models for African hardware start-ups and provide business training opportunities, thereby enhancing entrepreneurial and innovation skills of makers and hardware start-ups.  foster the development...
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Re:publica ’21 Sessions GIG – DDMP

Re:publica ’21 Sessions GIG – DDMP

By Mugethi GitauNo Comments
Re:publica Sessions GIG - DDMP We are excited to announce that this year the Global Innovation Gathering will be hosting a pre-publica programme on May 20th together with the Distributed Design Europe Network. The programme is going to feature makers and innovators from around the world showcasing their work and discussion current topics  Whether virtual or in person - re:publica is the space where different communities convene and exchange including the international network of innovators that is the Global Innovation Gathering and the the Distributed Design network that brings together makers across Europe. This year we can’t welcome you at our pop-up Makerspace but we can invite you to join the sessions on May 20th as well as the other re:publica days to meet the GIG and DDMP communities and learn how the maker movement is working in times of the pandemic to support local communities with PPE, fight climate change and design a fair and equitable future!  Speakers will include Reem Talhouk...
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