Page 16 - Research & Innovation Report 2020

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Leveraging digital

transformation to advance early

career researchers in Africa

By Ms Huba Boshoff: Chief Representative Officer and Head: Neso South Africa/
Southern Africa; Dr Priscilla Mensah, Director: Research Development and
Dr Samuel Bosire, Chief Information Officer.

Accelerating the career progression of emerging researchers to become leading international
scholars is important for achieving the development goals articulated in the African Union’s
Agenda 2063.

Digital transformation has great potential to enhance the Only 26% of the survey respondents indicated that they had access
development of a critical mass of researchers at African universities to devices from the institution to enable them to utilise digital
and to help build academic and research communities on the resources and continue with their research projects from home.
continent, linking them to researchers and institutions in other
parts of the world. However, early career academics not only face
difficulties in finding time and funding for their research, but also
need to adjust to the demands of the increasingly digitalised
academic environment, accelerated by the ongoing COVID-19
pandemic.

To spotlight this issue, in 2020 the British Council, in partnership
with Nuffic Neso South Africa, commissioned a study to determine
the needs of these researchers in terms of digital access,
perceptions and levels of engagement. The study comprised
a review of published articles and reports, strategic plans and
policy documents relating to digitalisation in higher education and
research in Africa. This was followed by an electronic survey and
focus group discussions with early career researchers in Ghana,
Kenya and South Africa on their experiences with digitalisation of
research, to establish how digital transformation can be leveraged
to create an enabling environment for high quality research.

The literature review revealed the immense role of ICTs and
digitalisation in enhancing research and international collaboration,
and the potential this has for the advancement of early career
researchers. The study found that most of the emerging
researchers consulted had to rely on their own computers, tablets
or smartphones as their institutions did not provide them with the
devices and facilities they needed. This was particularly the case
during the COVID-19 pandemic, when access to campus facilities
such as offices, libraries and laboratories was limited. Dr Priscilla Mensah

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