The University of Nairobi was honored to host the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) Second Biennial Conference on the 18th-20th of November 2019. The conference dubbed “Africa and the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Defining a Role for Research Universities”. This happened at the University towers. The two-day international conference was attended by over 220 participants from all over the world, with a great number of the participants being from ARUA member universities.
The ARUA 2019 conference brought together international expertise from academia, government, industry, as well as from civil society to deliberate on the issues and pave the way for nurturing and supporting the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Africa. It focused on how African universities can lead the way in the areas of teaching and research.
Pertinent questions that were answered included how should universities prepare the student for the digital future? What research will support the production of goods and services in Africa in the new digital age? What relevant research will generate answers to questions about how to deal with the fall- out from the new revolution?
The coming Fourth Industrial Revolution is based on the electronics and information technology that characterized the third revolution and is distinguished by the merging of technologies, muddling the distinction between the cyber, physical and biological worlds. The Internet of Things (IoT) offers the prospect of connecting billions of people, animals and objects each with a device with phenomenal processing power and storage capacity.
ARUA is a network of universities from different countries and different historical backgrounds, but with a common vision. It pursues its goal of enhancing research and graduate training in member universities through a number of channels, including the setting up of Centres of Excellence (CoEs) be hosted by member universities.
The conference is expected to lead to at least two edited volumes, one for the natural and physical sciences and another for the social sciences and humanities. Depending on the ambitions of ARUA Centres of Excellence, it should also be possible for each CoE to produce another edited volume.
The conference will also produce a ‘think-piece’ to be shared with African university Vice Chancellors and governments on ‘preparing for the fourth industrial revolution’.
We thank our partners UKRI, NRF South Africa, Carnegie Corporation of New York, University World News, Clarivate Analytics and our accommodation partner Nairobi Safari Club.
