Over the past two years, Oldenburg business IT specialists have worked with partners in Tanzania to establish a centre of excellence for information and communication technologies. The official opening of the "Centre of Excellence for ICT in East Africa" (CENIT@EA) has now taken place in the capital Arusha.
Among the participants was the Minister of Education of Tanzania, Prof. h.c. Joyce Ndalichako. The centre of excellence will focus on so-called embedded and mobile systems and aims to strengthen education and research in this area at the African partner institutions. The centrepiece is a Master's degree programme entitled "Embedded and Mobile Systems", which began in June with the first 28 scholarship holders.
"I am very pleased that we are part of this multilateral project. We can gain valuable experience that will help our university on its way to even greater internationalisation," explained Prof. Dr Esther Ruigendijk, Vice President for Early Career Researchers and International Affairs, in a video message at the opening ceremony. "This makes the University of Oldenburg the only one in Germany to be involved in two centres of excellence in Africa," Ruigendijk continued.
"Our aim is to strengthen the East African region both technically and economically. We are working closely with regional industrial partners to achieve this," emphasises Prof. Dr Jorge Marx Gómez, who coordinates the academic management of CENIT@EA and heads the Department of Information Systems in Oldenburg.
Research stays, summer schools and exchanges planned
The Master's degree programme focuses on embedded and mobile systems, i.e. computer systems that control and monitor devices such as televisions, washing machines, self-driving cars and smartphones. Students complete a two-year programme consisting of 25 modules. The programme covers both the theoretical foundations of information science and practical methods of software development. In November, Marx Gómez will hold a two-week teaching module on mobile commerce. "The students will also be prepared for their professional life through several internships with regional industry partners," says project coordinator Dr Christian Osorio.
The project also has positive effects for the University of Oldenburg: Research stays, student exchanges, joint summer schools and research projects are planned for the future. "The first summer school is scheduled to take place in Arusha in November, the second in July 2020," reports Osorio. The plan is for Oldenburg teaching staff to support their African colleagues via Skype.
The centre of excellence CENIT@EA is based at the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), a research institute focusing on agriculture, energy, IT, mining, environment and water. In addition to the University of Oldenburg, the University of Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania), the University of Technology and Arts of Byumba (Rwanda), the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), the Berlin University of Applied Sciences and the Mannheim University of Applied Sciences are involved in CENIT@EA. The East African Community, the Inter-University Council for East Africa and an international network of research institutions, public sector organisations and industrial partners are supporting the project. Funding for the project is provided by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).