News & Events

The most important results that iMENTORS has achieved include:

·      A set of (collected and imported into the platform) data about more than 2.500 organizations, 250 projects, 150 networking infrastructures and 350 research infrastructures active in the e-infrastructure domain in the Sub- Saharan;

·      A useful, yet simple and applicable project evaluation and sustainability frameworks  closely interlinked with the decision support system;

·      A GIS-based powerful platform which helps to visualize different perspectives of the project findings; 

·      A community of interested participants built through a variety of dissemination activities in different countries and through collaboration with other projects.

Take a look at the map!

CONNECT is the magazine from the GÉANT community. The aim is to provide a regular update on the project and its vital work in supporting European research, as well as giving an insight into the users who depend on the network, and the community that makes GÉANT what it is.

The May issue of CONNECT, the magazine dedicated to research and education networking is out now!

You can view it view booklet style or you can download the PDF here. Printed copies are also available from  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Louis Papaemmanuel, Project Director of iMENTORS, SU, presented iMENTORS at the IST-Africa Conference (06 - 09 May, Mauritius) during Session 8d: eInfrastructures (08 May). IST-Africa 2014 focused on the Role of ICT for Africa's Development and specifically on Applied ICT research in the areas of eHealth, Technology Enhanced Learning and ICT Skills, Digital Libraries, Open Source Software, eInfrastructures, Societal Implications of Technology and eGovernment.

iMENTORS (www.imentors.eu) is an interactive resource, the first of its kind, to contain  information about all known e-infrastructures in Africa in the past five years. Launched for public use and input in July 2013 iMENTORS provides you with the necessary tool to visualise e-infrastructures and all related projects in Africa.

Louis Papaemmanuel explained how using iMENTORS and open aid data enhances the coherence of international aid. Data acquisition and validation will continue to progress until the end of the project. By the end of the project the interactive system will contain at least 80% of all e-infrastructure available in Africa. 

iMENTORS is able to synchronize its data with other databases, fully utilizing Open Data and  Web 2.0 interconnectivity. Our development team has created API processes to include information from CORDIS and the World Bank database, in order to create the largest online repository of eInfrastructure data. 

Join us, learn about eInfrastructure projects in the area you are interested in and contribute your own information to our constantly growing database!

Image courtesy of cooldesign / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The iMENTORS e- newsletter keeps you abreast of any new project developments and relevant topics.

Click here to read the latest issue

Click here to join our newsletter

The aim of iMENTORS is to help scientists, universities, research and education networks as well as policy-makers and international funders to gain valuable insights on the gaps and progress made in the region and to identify synergies when planning future ICT initiatives within the African continent.

iMENTORS has identified and recorded 58 submarine cables into and out of the African continent.  This amounts to over 450,000 km of cable, and over 150 different organizations involved in the funding and operation of the cables. 

The challenge now for Africa is to develop local fiber optic networks to connect these from high-capacity international submarine cables all the way to the home.

Image courtesy of jscreationzs at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The collection of data for the iMENTORS database is currently focused on donor databases and international submarine cable networks.

Nearly 2000 organizations involved in ICT projects are already mapped and recorded in the iMENTORS database which launched the beta version in July. Users can easily sign in using their LinkedIn credentials, put their projects on the map and increase their project’s visibility. The aim is for the platform to contain 80 percent of e-infrastructure projects/investment frameworks by the end of the project using an advanced geographic information and visualization system.

Louis Papaemmanuel, Project Director of iMENTORS, SU, presented today iMENTORS at the UNESCO HP-BGI meeting. 

He demonstrated how the iMENTORS platform optimizes donors' ICT4D interventions in Africa. Stream it live: http://bit.ly/tqMX1H

The UNESCO-HP Brain Gain Initiative fosters cooperation across borders among students, academics and scientists from Africa and the Arab States, and helps strengthen research capacities of higher education institutions in the two regions.

 It was an opportunity to meet and exchange with partners (representatives from 19 projects, in 14 countries), as well as with stakeholders in the two regions. The activity served as well to highlight the projects' achievements and to reflect together on the way forward.

We are happy to present you the fourth edition of the quarterly iMENTORS newsletter.Discover more about the project and its related activities with our Newsletter!

We are approaching the half way point of the third National ICT Plan (NICI 3 ) that is supposed to run from 2011 to 2015 and we risk not beating the tape this time.
 
This third phase is supposed to focus on service development, but the private sector, which has an important role to play, is dragging its feet and not taking full advantage of the infrastructure.