The second Ministerial Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation in Africa will convene at the Hassan II Academy of Science and Technology in Rabat, Morocco from 14 to 17 October 2014.

Hosted by the government of Morocco, and organised by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the government of Finland, the forum aims at engaging African ministers in charge of higher education, science and technology as well as industry in a dialogue with the private sector, academia, diaspora, civil society and scientific communities globally on how to promote inclusive and green growth through scientific and technological innovation in Africa

The event will consist of a pre-forum, two technical conference days and a ministerial forum and follows the first ministerial conference on science, technology and innovation, hosted by the government of Kenya in 2012. Designed to raise the political awareness of science and technology in Africa, it aimed to promote youth employment, human capital development and inclusive growth. It gathered over 40 ministers of higher education, science and technology and successfully put science, technology and innovation at the centre of policy dialogue in Africa.

This year’s forum will focus on nine key sectors: water resources management, energy and green growth, agriculture and food security, natural resources, climate change, youth, gender, education and health.  It also has five key objectives:

1. assessing the current state of science, technology and innovation in Africa
2. showcasing global best practices and innovations in water, energy, natural resources, education, health, agriculture, and climate change
3. making informed choices about applications of ICT to improve development effectiveness
4. developing skills (especially in STEM, teaching/reading and math), & job creation
5. building strategic partnerships to move the science, technology and innovation agenda forward.

 

Special Africa Content Award

The second Africa Science, Technology and Innovation Forum will showcase the best practices from Africa and around the world for addressing these issues and it will explore how similar programs can be designed, developed and implemented in Africa. The objective is to find practical solutions to prevailing problems that can be financed by the AfDB and its development partners.

As such the AfDB has partnered with World Summit Award (WSA) to launch a Special Africa Content Award in mobile technology in 35 African countries. This is a global initiative in the framework of the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) that selects best practices in interactive content from all UN member states. For the first time, WSA will organise a special competition across Africa to recognize innovative and creative applications from Africa contributing to an inclusive knowledge society.

The African winners will receive their awards during the forum in Rabat, and present their innovations to the public.