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	<title>Innovation Africa&#187; Innovation Africa</title>
	<link>http://www.innovationafrica.org</link>
	<description>Shaping the Future Today</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:53:00 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>UNECA-Leadership Through Innovation-Part I</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I recently contacted United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and submitted our questions to Ms Aida Opoku-Mensah, Director &#8211; ICT, Science and Technology Division (ISTD). The purpose of our interview was to assess the work of the organization in pushing the innovation agenda across the continent. The interview is divided into two parts. We were very impressed with the work of the organization. Indeed innovation is at the centre of the ICT, Science and Technology Division. Innovation Africa: Briefly tell us about UNECA? The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) is one of the five UN Regional Commissions established to promote the economic and social development of its member States, foster intra-regional integration, and promote international cooperation for Africa&#8217;s development. In order to achieve this mandate, UNECA over the years has developed a number of programmes, among which is the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Programme. The STI Programme is designed to help member States to harness the potential of science, and technology and unleash the power of innovation to accelerate socio-economic development in a sustainable manner. The STI Programme offers: Policy advice on new and emerging trends, Technical assistance in designing and implementation of policies and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.innovationafrica.org/2010/09/uneca-leadership-through-innovation-part-i/</link>
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		<title>UNECA-Leadership Through Innovation-Part II</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Innovation Africa: I am impressed with the objectives of the second Science with Africa conference. These three objectives are exactly what is needed to make research, invention and new practices to innovation. It highlights the fact that innovation is a multi-stage process. What is UNECA doing to support research in Africa? There are a number of initiatives that are primarily designed to promote and support research in Africa. Some seek to encourage development of national and regional initiatives to support research and development in a given region. UNECA, for example, has been providing support to the Inter-University Council of East African Community for the development of the East African Research Network of Excellence Observatory (EARNEO). The regional R&#38;D observatory will facilitate R&#38;D collaboration, development of similar standards, exchange of researchers and students and assessing the challenges, opportunities, strengths and threats to R&#38;D performance excellence in the region. This work is part of large effort to support the academia in Ethiopia, East Africa and North Africa. In the area of ICTs for Development, UNECA has been supporting research at Addis Ababa University in development of electronic applications for use in the health sector. These applications include use of mobile technology to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.innovationafrica.org/2010/09/uneca-leadership-through-innovation-part-ii/</link>
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		<title>High-speed filter uses electrified nanostructures to purify water at low cost</title>
		<description><![CDATA[By dipping plain cotton cloth in a high-tech broth full of silver nanowires and carbon nanotubes, Stanford researchers have developed a new high-speed, low-cost filter that could easily be implemented to purify water in the developing world. Instead of physically trapping bacteria as most existing filters do, the new filter lets them flow on through with the water. But by the time the pathogens have passed through, they have also passed on, because the device kills them with an electrical field that runs through the highly conductive &#8220;nano-coated&#8221; cotton. In lab tests, over 98 percent of Escherichia coli bacteria that were exposed to 20 volts of electricity in the filter for several seconds were killed. Multiple layers of fabric were used to make the filter 2.5 inches thick. &#8220;This really provides a new water treatment method to kill pathogens,&#8221; said Yi Cui, an associate professor of materials science and engineering. &#8220;It can easily be used in remote areas where people don&#8217;t have access to chemical treatments such as chlorine.&#8221; Cholera, typhoid and hepatitis are among the waterborne diseases that are a continuing problem in the developing world. Cui said the new filter could be used in water purification systems from [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.innovationafrica.org/2010/09/high-speed-filter-uses-electrified-nanostructures-to-purify-water-at-low-cost/</link>
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		<title>Scenario Planning and Innovation</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Think for a Change Blog (August 18, 2010) &#8211; Scenario planning helps the organization visualize the future in an ordered way so that the strategic plan is valid and likely to occur as planned. Both strategic and scenario-based planning also allows an organization to prepare for unrealized futures. The futures explored, and the plans developed, can be used as a road map to the future, as contingency plans for unexpected events or as event triggers for potentially damaging strings of events. In the innovation space, strategic and scenario planning helps define the future state of the organization. It is the target to shoot at when developing new ideas for prototyping and further development activities. Go to Source]]></description>
		<link>http://www.innovationafrica.org/2010/08/scenario-planning-and-innovation/</link>
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		<title>100 Years Ago: Sleeping Sickness</title>
		<description><![CDATA[SEPTEMBER 1960 EVOLUTION OF MAN&#8211; “Mutation, sexual recombination and natural selection led to the emergence of Homo sapiens. The creatures that preceded him had already developed the rudiments of tool-using, toolmaking and cultural transmission. But the next evolutionary step was so great as to constitute a difference in kind from those before it. There now appeared an organism whose mastery of technology and of symbolic communication enabled it to create a supraorganic culture. Other organisms adapt to their environments by changing their genes in accordance with the demands of the surroundings. Man and man alone can also adapt by changing his environments to fit his genes. His genes enable him to invent new tools, to alter his opinions, his aims and his conduct, to acquire new knowledge and new wisdom. &#8211;Theo­do­s­ius Dobzhansky” [More] Evolution &#8211; Natural selection &#8211; Human &#8211; Evolutionary psychology &#8211; Gene Go to Source]]></description>
		<link>http://www.innovationafrica.org/2010/08/100-years-ago-sleeping-sickness/</link>
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		<title>Kenyan Professor Promotes Indigenous Crops to Solve Africa’s Food Crises</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In Kenya, a devastating cycle of drought and flood reflects the worst that climate change has to offer. These and other more insiduous impacts of warming temperatures threaten the health and survival of the nation&#8217;s poorest and most at-risk inhabitants, namely women and children. The average yearly income in Kenya is less than US$1,000, 60 percent of the population is below poverty level, and one-fifth of children under the age of five are malnourished. Already, the nation has experienced at least 28 cycles of drought in the last century, as well as 15 floods of epidemic proportions, according to Mahboub Maalim, Executive Secretary of the Inter Governmental Authority on Development.   Go to Source]]></description>
		<link>http://www.innovationafrica.org/2010/08/kenyan-professor-promotes-indigenous-crops-to-solve-africa%e2%80%99s-food-crises/</link>
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		<title>It’s All About the Process</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We took this story from the World Institute blog. They run a feature called Innovation of the Week.  This story captures the essence of innovation more than the others. :::::::: Zambian grocery stores are filled with processed foods from around the world, from crackers made in Argentina and soy milk from China to popular U.S. breakfast cereals. In addition to these foreign foods, however, are also variety of locally made and processed products, including indigenous varieties of organic rice, all-natural peanut butter and honey from the It’s Wild brand. It’s Wild was started by the Community Markets for Conservation(COMACO) over 30 years ago to preserve and protect wildlife. But the organization soon learned that in order to protect wildlife, it would need to address the lack of income sources for local communities that were sometimes forced to resort to poaching elephants or other wildlife in order to earn enough to feed their families. To do this, COMACO organizes farmers into producer groups, encouraging them to diversify their skills by raising livestock and bees, growing organic rice, using improved irrigation and fisheries management and other practices. The organization supports the creation of regional processing centers and trading depots to make it easier for [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.innovationafrica.org/2010/08/it%e2%80%99s-all-about-the-process/</link>
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		<title>Core knowledge of tree fruit expands with apple genome sequencing</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Apple Cup rivals collaborate on world&#8217;s main fruit crop PULLMAN, Wash. — An international team of scientists from Italy, France, New Zealand, Belgium and the USA have published a draft sequence of the domestic apple genome in the current issue of Nature Genetics. The availability of a genome sequence for apple will allow scientists to more rapidly identify which genes provide desirable characteristics to the fruit and which genes and gene variants provide disease or drought resistance to the plant. This information can be used to rapidly improve the plants through more informed selective breeding. An organism&#8217;s genome is the total of all its genetic information, including genes. Genes carry information that determines, among other things, a plant&#8217;s appearance, health, productivity and color and taste of the fruit. The domestic apple is the main fruit crop of the world&#8217;s temperate regions. Apple is a member of the plant family Rosaceae which includes many other economically important species, including cherry, pear, peach, apricot, strawberry, and rose, to name just a few. The state of Washington accounts for approximately 60 percent of total apple production in the U.S. and Rosaceae fruit production is a multi-billion dollar industry in the state. Washington state scientists [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.innovationafrica.org/2010/08/core-knowledge-of-tree-fruit-expands-with-apple-genome-sequencing/</link>
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		<title>Japan sponsors rice research hub in East Africa</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Image via Wikipedia Uganda hopes to become the region&#8217;s leader in rice research with the opening later this year of a US$6 million centre at its crop research institute. The National Crop Resources Research Institute (NACRRI) received the money from Japan in September last year for the construction of a training and research centre for rice farmers and scientists, which is now nearing completion. The centre will promote North-South collaboration in research and technology transfer, said Geoffrey Asea, head of the cereal department at NACRRI, and &#8220;will be fully operational by December&#8221;. The investment is part of Japan&#8217;s attempt to position itself as a strategic business partner to East African countries by investing in a range of infrastructure, food production and trade projects under the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) initiative. On the TICAD IV platform Japan launched the Coalition for African Rice Development initiative whose goal was to double rice production between 2008 and 2018. &#8220;Japan has the expertise and history in growing rice,&#8221; said Goto Akio, coordinator of the New Rice for Africa (NERICA) project at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). &#8220;We started helping Africa after finding out that rice consumption there was lacking and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.innovationafrica.org/2010/08/japan-sponsors-rice-research-hub-in-east-africa/</link>
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		<title>How to tap into employee ideas? Try innovation communities</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Wall Street Journal Online (August 23, 2010) &#8211; Companies that have successfully made innovation part of their regular continuing strategy did so by harnessing the creative energies and the insights of their employees across functions and ranks. That&#8217;s easy to say. But how, exactly, did they do it? One powerful answer, WSJ found, is in what they like to call innovation communities. Every company does it a little differently, but innovation communities typically grow from a seed planted by senior management, a desire for a new product, market or business process. A forum of employees then work together to make desire a reality. Go to Source]]></description>
		<link>http://www.innovationafrica.org/2010/08/how-to-tap-into-employee-ideas-try-innovation-communities/</link>
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