In January 2008 connectivity between the Research and Education Communities in Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa was established with a 1 Gbps between the UbuntuNet Alliance and GÉANT.
Sustainable development in Africa, with ICT contributing to the full, is in Europe's economic, political and strategic interest. S&T cooperation is one of the efficient means for Africa to move towards appropriate ICT solutions involving policy & regulation, infrastructure, applications & content, capacity building & training.
Within this environment, the ambition of the START project is to be a key driver for the development of deeper and broader S&T cooperation between the EU & sub-Saharan Africa in the ICT sector.
START is ambitious but pragmatic & results oriented. It is driven by a strong determination to build on and complement existing successful programmes & projects, and to be widely open to the European & African ICT communities. It will address issues at a pan-African level through a partnership offering the necessary skills & experience, and through a structure & set of activities that have proven their efficiency in previous IST projects.
Project objectives: - define a strategic framework for future initiatives based on a wide consultation of European and African ICT organisations/authorities, - help connect European and African organisations and efficiently support them in the development of S&T cooperation projects in the ICT area, - contribute to the development of bilateral cooperation between the EU and African countries and of regional cooperation within sub-Saharan Africa.
The START project is expected to have an important impact on the development of future cooperation between the EU and Africa, on the visibility and exploitation of EU research, and on the capacity of EU organisations to address RTD in a global way, and on the participation of African organisations in EU funded projects.
The 24-month project will be implemented by a consortium led by Sigma. The consortium includes 2 key African institutes; the Meraka Institute of the CSIR (South Africa) and the Panos Institute West Africa (Senegal).
Target/Beneficiary community
EU and African organisations and research institutes, including experts (Policymakers, Senior representatives from governments, Representatives from international development cooperation agencies, ICT project managers, Programme managers, Heads of research labs, Researchers, IT engineers, Deans, directors, lecturers and researchers from universities and the higher education sector, Managers of NGOs, professional associations, centres of excellence, trade unions, chambers of commerce, etc., Industry stakeholders, etc...)
Technology used, standards and services employed
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Research activities carried and out and scientific data generated
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Principal outcomes and documentation (plus link to case studies)
FP6: Under FP6, a total of 435 participations of sub-Saharan African organisations (receiving a total contribution from the European Commission of 58,9 million euro) have been recorded over the whole period of the research programme (2002-2007): graph FP6/IST – As far as projects in the ICT field are concerned (projects entitled “IST projects” under FP6), a total of 16 participations (leading to a total funding of 1,4 million euro) has been recorded for sub-Saharan African organisations over the whole duration of FP6: graph
FP7: As for FP7, over the first three years of the research programme (2007-2009), out of 412 participations in research projects of organisations from the African continent (Cooperation Specific Programme), 56 (13,5%) have already been recorded in the ICT field: graph
Other potential application areas/ actual spillovers
