Science and technology in Uganda
However, African leaders meeting in Equatorial Guinea failed to resolve the debate on establishing a common standard of measurement for the 10% target.
Its overarching goal is to 'strengthen national capability to generate, transfer and apply scientific knowledge, skills and technologies that ensure sustainable utilisation of natural resources for the realisation of Uganda's development objectives.'
The policy precedes Uganda Vision 2040, which was launched in April 2013 to transform 'Ugandan society from a peasant to a modern and prosperous country within 30 years,' in the words of the Cabinet.
Potential areas for economic development include oil and gas, tourism, minerals and information and communication technologies (ICTs).
At a time when the economy's formal sector was expanding rapidly and real investment was rising sharply, the Council considered that continued economic progress would require more and better use of knowledge and more and better qualified human resources for science and technology.
The funding facility provided competitive grants through three windows:[3] The Outreach Programme proposed a series of school visits by top scientists and researchers to change negative perceptions that deterred Ugandans from pursuing careers in science.
[3] In July 2010, the Presidential Initiative on Science and Technology offered a further boost by creating a fund to foster innovation at Makerere University over the next five years.
When President Museveni visited Makerere University in December 2009, he noticed that many undergraduate students had produced interesting prototypes of machines and implements, and that PhD students and senior researchers were working on inventions with potential for transforming rural Ugandan society but that innovation was being held back by the lack of modern research and teaching laboratories.
After the visit, he decided to create a Presidential Innovations Fund endowed with UGX 25 billion (circa US$8.5 million) over five years to support innovation-related projects at the university's College of Engineering, Art, Design and Technology.
It serves as a collaborative space to facilitate interaction among technology entrepreneurs, web and mobile app developers, designers, investors, venture capitalists and donors.
On 1 July 2010, the five EAC members formed a common market; the agreement provides for the free movement of goods, labour, services and capital.
States are to collaborate with the East African Science and Technology Commission and other institutions to develop mechanisms for commercialising indigenous knowledge and ensuring intellectual property protection.
Other clauses include:[3] On 30 November 2013, the EAC countries signed a Monetary Union Protocol with the aim of establishing a common currency within 10 years.
IUCEA also established a partnership with the East African Business Council in 2011 to foster joint research and innovation by the private sector and universities and identify areas for curricular reform.
The two partners organized the region's first forum for academia and private firms under the auspices of the EAC in Arusha in 2012 and a second with the East African Development Bank in Nairobi in 2013.
[3] Complementing the EAC project, the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved bilateral loans in October 2014 amounting to US$98 million to finance the first phase of its own East Africa's Centres of Excellence for Skills and Tertiary Education in Biomedical Sciences programme.
The first phase of the AfDB project will support the creation of specialized centres of excellence in nephrology and urology in Kenya, cardiovascular medicine in Tanzania, biomedical engineering and e-health in Rwanda and oncology in Uganda.
The centres of excellence will be expected to collaborate with internationally renowned establishments to develop quality curricula, joint research, promote interuniversity exchanges and mentoring programmes and to give access to documentary resources.
The six thrusts of IGAD's Drought Resilience programme are:[3] Uganda is one of a number of East and Central African countries that have entered into bilateral cooperation agreements with South Africa in science and technology.
Since 2009, Uganda has been developing cooperation with South Africa in the fields of biosciences, space science and technology, mathematics, energy, environment, climate change and indigenous knowledge.
[3] The Ebola epidemic in 2014 highlighted the challenge of mobilising funds, equipment and human resources to manage a rapidly evolving health crisis.
In 2015, the United States of America decided to invest US$1 billion over the next five years in preventing, detecting and responding to future infectious disease outbreaks in 17 countries, within its Global Health Security Agenda.
The others are: (in Africa) Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Tanzania; (in Asia): Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam.
Even more ambitiously, the new Uganda satellite will conduct important health tech experiments aimed at 3-D biological printing of human tissue in space.
