Africa: Unesco Fights Brain Drain With Computing Gain

Ouagadougou — UNESCO is expanding a scheme that aims to slow the brain drain of African and Arab researchers by giving them access to global scientific networks and computing power.

The 'Brain Gain Initiative', set up in partnership with computer firm Hewlett-Packard, enables researchers to collaborate with experts around the world through grid and cloud computing and so boost loyalty to the local science and technology effort.

Grid computing combines the processing power of several computers across a network to work on a single scientific problem, while cloud computing allows researchers to access the latest web applications and databases.

In Burkina Faso, two projects at the University of Ouagadougou will benefit from the scheme: modelling the movement of pollutants in the drainage basin of the Sourou river, led by Blaise Somé; and the implementation of a high-performance computing grid, led by Oumarou Sié.

Sié told SciDev.Net that his project would allow local researchers to share resources with their counterparts anywhere in the world, while also giving them power to perform calculations that their own computers cannot do.

Previously, such calculations had to be conducted abroad, but now Sié's laboratory, and others receiving funding, can be more independent, he said.

The laboratories overseeing these projects will each receive about US$25,000 worth of computer equipment as well as US$20,000 of operational funds, said Sié.

The scheme builds on a successful pilot in five universities from 2006-09, and will involve 15 more universities in the Middle East and Africa.

"The Brain Gain Initiative has a direct link with lasting development," said Somé.

Training for participants on how to use and maintain the equipment took place in South Africa this month (14-18 December) and a UNESCO spokesperson said that partnership agreements were being prepared, with schedules to be signed at the end of January 2010.

UNESCO and Hewlett-Packard say they plan to include 100 more universities in the scheme by the end of 2011, with help from additional partners.

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Comments Post a comment

  • yajama
    Dec 24 2009, 18:13

    the brain drain is simply about greener pasture.

  • upliftdarace_144
    Dec 25 2009, 07:21

    HeyNow Afrikan Family !

    On Afrikans Investing In Technology , Afrikans abroad & In Afrika

    Should Invest In The Technologies around the world And Have It

    Shipped To Afrika With The Know-How To Do It Ourselves.. We

    SHOULD NOT just allow countries to come into our countries and build

    and settle on our lands. If you will allow a stranger to run your country,

    Then you will allow then to run your state. If you will allow a stranger to run your state,

    then you will allow them to run your city, your neighborhood, your home, your family,

    yourself.. We Black Afrikans will be free , when we stop selling ourselves !!!!!!!

    America (The Whore Of Babylon) Is Trying To Re-vive it'as dying

    soul via other ASIANS & CAUC - ASIANS , But Prophecy Is

    Pronounced :

    And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of

    the south(AMERICA / BABYLON ): ALSO the ROBBERS OF OUR

    PEOPLE shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; BUT

    THEY SHALL FALL ! [Daniel 11:14 ]

    ATTENTION AFRIKA , you have 300 million citizens spread

    abroad that need your help getting back to our roots. While you

    are looking to countries like America & China to uplift Afrika, Many

    of us Black Afrikans spread abroad are proficient in a lot of useful

    technologies. Here is a brief synopsis of some of the inventions

    that Black Americans have produced. So please help us to get

    home.

    BLACK AFRICAN INVENTORS AND THEIR INVENTIONS

    * Sarah Boone - IRONING BOARD - April 26, 1892

    * John A. Burr - LAWN MOWER

    * Marie V. Brittan Brown - HOME SECURITY SYSTEM - Dec 2, 1969

    * Buridge & Marshman - TYPEWRITER

    * George Carruthers - X-RAY MACHINE

    * George Washington Carver - PEANUT BUTTER - PAINTS – PAINT STAINS – ETC

    * W.A. Dietz - SHOE

    * P.B. Downing - POSTAL LETTER BOX

    * Charles R. Drew - BLOOD PLASMA STORAGE SYSTEM

    * T. Elkins - TOILET (COMMODE)

    * Robert Flemming Jr. - GUITAR

    * George F. Grant - GOLF TEE

    * J. Gregory - MOTOR

    * Michael Harney - LANTERN

    * Augustus Jackson - ICE CREAM

    * B.F. Jackson - GAS BURNER

    * H.A. Jackson - KITCHEN TABLE

    * Ruane Jeter - DIGITAL TOASTER - April 14, 1987

    * Isaac R. Johnson - BICYCLE FRAME

    * John A. Johnson - WRENCH

    * P. Johnson - EYE PROTECTOR (GOGGLES)

    * W. Johnson - EGG BEATER

    * Frederick M. Jones - DEFROSTER - REFRIGERATION CONTROLS – AIR CONDITIONER

    * Jones & Long - BOTTLE CAPS

    * John H. Jordan - CLOTHES DRESSER

    * Mary B. Kenner - SANITARY BELT (TAMPONS) - May 15, 1956

    * Mary B. Kenner - BATHROOM TISSUE HOLDER - Nov 19, 1982

    * Mary B. Kenner - BACKWASHER ( BATHTUB OR SHOWER MOUNTED) - July 29,1987

    * Lewis Latimer & Nichols - ELECTIC LAMP

    * W.A. Lavalette - PRINTING PRESS

    * Maurice W. Lee PRESSURE COOKER

    * A.L. Lewis - WINDOW CLEANER

    * John L. Love - PENCIL SHARPENER

    * Tony J. Marshall - FIRE EXTINGUISHER

    * Alexander Miles - ELEVATOR

    * Jan E. Matzeliger - SHOE LASTING MACHINE

    * W.A. Martin - LOCK

    * Garrett A. Morgan - GAS MASK - Traffic Signal

    * Lydia Newman - HAIR BRUSH - Nov 15, 1898

    * Alice H. Parker - HEATING FURNACE - Dec 23, 1919

    * J.F. Pickering - AIR SHIP (BLIMP)

    * Purdy & Sadgwar - FOLDING CHAIR

    * W.B. Purvis - FOUNTAIN PEN

    * L.P. Ray - DUST PAN

    * W.H. Richardson - BABY BUGGY

    * G.T. Sampson - CLOTHES DRYER

    * .W. Smith - LAWN SPRINKLER

    * J. Standard - REFRIGERATOR

    * T.W. Stewart - MOP

    * Paul E. Williams - HELICOPTER

    * Granville T. Woods - Roller Coaster

    * Thanks to The Black Inventors Museum *

    * Address : P.O. Box 76128 - Los Angeles , Calif. (90076)

    * Phone (310) 859-4602)

    * Director : Ghanaian Mr. Hamza Salifa

    AND

    ONE AFRICA TOURS & SPECIALTY SERVICES LTD.

    * Major Contributor of Information : SEESTAH Imahkus Nzinga Ababio Okofo

    [ http://www.oneafricaghana.com/ ]

    P. O. Box CC 1251 - Cape Coast

    Ghana - West Africa

    What can you do to help us ?

    Start with contacting Pan-Afrikanist organizations like BLACK

    STAR MEDIA (Modelled after Marcus Garvey’s Vision For Afrika) : They are at

    [ www.libradio.net ]. The CEO of BLACK STAR MEDIA is Keidi-Obi

    Awadu. He has been on the frontline fighting for our freedom for

    over 30 years.

    It's Not A Question Of Other Learned Societies.

    It's The INFERIORITY COMPLEX WE HAVE TO SHED

    St. Paul In A Letter To The Christians In Rome Said :

    " For I say, through the grace given to me, to every man that is

    among you, NOT TO THINK OF HIMSELF MORE HIGHLY Than

    He Ought To Think; but to think soberly, according AS GOD HAS

    D EALT TO EVERY MAN THE MEASURE OF FAITH .

    We All Should Think Highly Of Ourselves, Keeping In Our Mind

    That God Gave Us Dominion Over The Earth

    , NOT EACH OTHER. !!!!!!!!

    So let's please help us to return to our Mama Afrika as Israel

    under Moses escaped their exile !!!!!!!

    [ Their will be an exodus of nations leaving America ; returning to their ancestral homes

    e.g. Black Africans to nations like Ghana, Sierra Leone, etc…]

    Jeremiah, chapter 50 : 16

    Cut off the sower from Babylon ;and him that handles the sickle in the time of harvest

    For fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and

    THEY SHALL FLEE EVERY ONE TO HIS OWN LAND .

    MAMA AFRIKA YOUR CHILDREN WANT TO COME HOME !!!!!!!

    [Check Out :

    WHO BROUGHT THE SLAVES TO AMERICA ?

    [ http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/42787621/Who+brought+the+slaves+to+ameri ca?tab=summary]

    for full length video

    FRITZ SPRINGMEIER A Bold Christian Truthseeker The Top 13 Illuminati Bloodlines

    [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k73Q2_f4vKU ]

    WAKE UP ! STAY UP MY BROTHERS & SISTERS !

    [ www.libradio.net ]

    [ www.gcnlive.com]

    - Life Is a Game. Have Fun. [ Luke 18:17 / Isaiah 11:6 ] :

  • whites do it better
    Dec 28 2009, 09:13

    to upliftdarace_144:

    Oh my! How uninformed you are.

    None of those things were ever invented by the Africans. Never do the Africans invent things. The examples you noted above are of people who hold some patents on items that White European people have invented. Interestingly enough, none of the people you cited has an African name...that’s because the Africans cannot invent or built anything. But they are very skilled at breaking and destroying things. Look at the DRC or Zimbabwe. The Africans have an IQ 20% below of their Oriental counterparts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race,_Evolution,_and_Behavior. So give us a break and go back to your hut.