The Africa Research Bridge [ARB] is a collaborative research project that seeks to connect professionals and students working in the field of Information and Communications Technology [ICT] from the US and Africa. The project is an initiative of bridges.org, a non-profit corporation with offices in Washington, DC and Kampala, Uganda. Bridges.org works to promote the effective use of ICT in the developing world and to bring a practical vision to the realities of ICT-enabled socio-economic development.

The ARB project contributes to bridges.org’s mission by facilitating collaboration among a team of leaders and future leaders from Africa with their counterparts in the US. Thus, each ARB team will consist of a professional within the field of ICT who is based in Africa, an ICT professional based in the US, a student in the field of ICT who is based in Africa, and an ICT student who is based in the US. The final product of this collaboration will be a 5 – 10 page research paper on a pertinent issue within the ICT field. Some sample research topics include:

• The Question of E-readiness in the Developing World
• The Cost-benefit of Domain Registration
• International Property Rights Regimes and Foreign Direct Investment
• Global Wifi potential
• E-commerce and International Law

Participants are free to develop their own topic for research. Teams will be guided by the professional representatives on each team, while the research will be conducted by the students through their university resources. The paper will be a collaborative effort by all four team members.

Team members will utilize some of the technologies they are writing about as they will meet in virtual forums, conduct Email and Instant Message exchange, and discuss their projects via Internet phone services. In addition, each team will be granted a secure-space on a message board within bridges.org’s CIPESA site, http://www.cipesa.org [CIPESA: Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa].

The papers each team produces will be published on http://www.bridges.org

and http://www.cipesa.org where the work can be utilized by the array of ICT policy experts, development professionals, related academics, and others who use these sites as a resource for their work.

The ARB is a great way to learn about vital issues within the field of ICT through research and collaboration with individuals who will bring an entirely new perspective to your work. It is open to anyone who works with or studies ICT and has an interest in taking part in policy-related research.

If you’re interested in becoming a part of the ARB team, please contact the Project Director, Andrew Bennett, by sending an email to drew@bridges.org.