International Research Project “Digital Africa”

With a range of projects, the research initiative „Digital Africa“ aims to make a contribution to the closure of the research gap, by drawing a comprehensive picture of the usage of ICTs by sub-Saharan African citizens. The initial project kick off by an international research team was funded by the German Ministry of Research and Education.

The research question focuses on the role of communication and media use in the context of infrastructure and development projects and includes researchers from Freie Universität Berlin, University of the Gambia, University of Nairobi and researchers from Ghana as well as business partners and civic organizations like ‘Project Lighthouse Africa’ and its subsidiaries Project Lighthouse Kenya and Project Lighthouse Gambia. Central questions are: Which are the attitudes and knowledge of the local population about the environmental situation in their region?

Which is the role local and regional media (including radio and ICTs like the mobile phone system) play in this context? A further research question is to find out which applications / content form / mobile media channel could be used (or have to be developed) to reach the population. Therefore best practice examples which already exist (especially in East Africa, like Kenya) shall be described and assessed in the context of the project goals.