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Analysis & Opinions - Quartz Africa

Let's Reinvent and Diversify Africa's Universities to Make Them Centers of Innovation

| August 25, 2016

"Creating innovation universities can be pursued through three practical stages. The first is to formulate a policy framework under which such universities operate. The second state is to translate the policy into specific legislative reforms to support the new university species. The third stage is to experiment by upgrading a few research institutes that have strong foundations and potential to commercialize products and services."

- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center Newsletter

Juma Lauded for Role in First Innovation Advisory Council

    Author:
  • Dominic Contreras
| Winter 2011-2012

Calestous Juma, director of the Belfer Center’s Science, Technology, and Globalization Project, played a central role in creation of the Lagos Innovation Advisory Council, the first of its kind in Africa.

In this Sept. 24, 2010, file photo the National Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) prepares for the Cyber Storm III exercise at its operations center in Arlington, Va.

AP Photo

Magazine Article - Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

The Future of Power

| Spring 2011

"The conventional wisdom among those who looked at the Middle East used to be that you had a choice either of supporting the autocrat or being stuck with the religious extremists. The extraordinary diffusion of information created in Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries reveals a strong middle that we weren't fully aware of. What is more, new technologies allow this new middle to coordinate in ways unseen before Twitter, Facebook, and so forth, and this could lead to a very different politics of the Middle East. This introduces a new complexity to our government's dealings with the region."

Southern Sudanese people are seen through a Southern Sudanese flag lining up to vote in Juba, Southern Sudan, Jan. 9, 2011. About 4 million Southern Sudanese voters began casting their ballots on Jan. 9 in a weeklong referendum on independence.

AP Photo

Analysis & Opinions - The Guardian

Southern Sudan Has Many Lessons to Learn from Juba University

| July 5, 2011

"Critics of the role of universities in economic transformation argue that higher education takes too long to show results and that its focus is usually too academic. However, the evidence suggests that practically oriented universities offer the fastest and most durable ways to incubate new states. With the right vision, universities can confer their attributes to a new state."

Book Chapter

Human Capacity

| January 2011

"Nowhere is the missed opportunity to build human capacity more evident than in the case of women and agriculture in Africa. The majority of farmers in Africa are women. Women provide 70%–80% of the labor for food crops grown in Africa, an effort without which African citizens would not eat. Female farmers make up 48% of the African labor force. This work by women is a crucial effort in nations where the economy is usually based on agriculture."

Analysis & Opinions - Daily Yomiuri

Net Access for African Universities Would Boost Continent

| May 29, 2008

"African universities could be the continent's gateways into the global knowledge economy for local diffusion of new technologies. But this potential remains unrealized because universities and research institutes in Africa remain digitally isolated from the rest of the world. This is partly because of government neglect and lack of strategic policies on Internet access....Providing low-cost, high-speed Internet access to African universities will help Africa build the capacity it needs to solve its own problems. It is one of the most strategic investments that the G-8 countries can make in Africa in the coming few years."

Analysis & Opinions - Business Daily

Lower Africa's Voting Age to 16

| November 22, 2007

"The law that set the minimum voting age at 18 has yet to catch up with Africa’s economic and political realities. People aged between 12 and 18 years work, send text messages, get married and give bribes. Yet they cannot vote. Their voice should count on key issues that affect their lives such as education; health; and employment...."