Abraham Debebe Woldeyohannes (PhD,CEng)
By Mekonnen Teshome
Ethiopia is one the 15 sub-Saharan African countries that are members of the the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI) in Sub-Saharan region which aims at strengthening the capacities of Science Granting Councils (SGCs) in order to support research and evidence-based policies. Abraham Debebe Woldeyohannes (PhD,CEng) is the Director General of Innovation Development and Research Affairs at Ministry of Innovation and Technology which oversees grants for innovations and scientific researches in Ethiopia. Science Africa (S.A) correspondent Mekonnen Teshome sat with him for interview in Addis Ababa:
Could you tell us briefly about your educational and professional background?
I am a mechanical engineer by profession. I hold my first and second degrees from the Addis Ababa University and my doctorate degree from the University of Teknologi Petronas, in Perak, Malaysia. I am now serving as the Director General of Innovation Development and Research Affairs at Ministry of Innovation and Technology since August 2019. I am an Associate Professor at the Addis Ababa Science and Technology University.
How do you evaluate the national research management capacity in Ethiopia?
The history of modern research management in Ethiopia goes back to 1975 when the country established the Ethiopian Science and Technology Commission (ESTC). The commission is mandated to plan, coordinate, select and approve national research programs, projects and activities. Since then, various research Councils have taken the initiative to undertake multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary research activities in Ethiopia over the years.
Innovation and technology play a crucial role in improving the quality of life by creating a conducive environment for people. As a result, the government of Ethiopia has strong vision of leading the country to become a middle-income economy using innovation and technology as the backbone for creating high quality jobs and establishing sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
The innovation development and research affairs division is responsible for preparing the research calls, managing research, promoting innovations, monitoring and evaluating the progress of research and funding different research on strategic direction of the country.
Although Ethiopia has a rich research experience, there are factors that require significant improvement to enhance the scientific research activities in the country. One of the most important is creating awareness and clear understanding on the role of science, technology and innovation among the general public and stakeholders involved in research.
In addition, it is also important to create strong collaboration among pertinent bodies like higher educational institutions, public offices and private sector. Supporting the research management system with technology and creating conducive research ecosystem is also vital. If the above areas of improvement are addressed, researchers will have a conducive environment to conduct researches on the strategic focus areas of our country to improve the lives of the people and contribute to the economy.
How does research funding function in Ethiopia?
The research at Ministry of Innovation and Technology (MInT) is led by National Science and Technology Research Council (NSTRC), which is mandated to identify priority areas to support the national economic transformation. NSTRC is supported by technical experts composed of various disciplines from the renowned universities, research centers, industries and other sources.
The Ministry of Innovation and Technology has Innovation Development, Research, Award and Recognition Directorate dedicated to managing the research activities within the country. This directorate supported by national technical committee has guidelines to manage all research activities within the country.
How do you assess the cooperation among multi-sectoral actors and private sector engagement towards effective research management in Ethiopia?
As I mentioned earlier, the cooperation and the synergy among pertinent bodies like our universities and research institutions, public offices, non-governmental organizations and the private sector requires significant improvement to create conducive R&D ecosystem.
It is important for the industries to flag their problems and challenges to university, research institutes and R&D centers to get innovative solutions. The universities should align their research areas and strategies with our country’s strategic R&D agendas. Moreover, the research institutes should interact to discuss and assist industries in identifying problems and develop research topics. On the other hand, Government as an institution supporting R&D activities should create link between the industries and research institution by availing the research funds through robust research management system.
I believe, if all R&D actors synchronize their efforts and implement strong research management system, we will be in good position to benefit. The government is committed to support and create a conducive innovation ecosystem. That is why R&D is the top agenda in our newly launched ten years’ perspective plan.
Do you think that research activities adequately consider gender equality and inclusivity?
Despite the fact that ensuring gender equality in higher education system is high on the agenda worldwide particularly in science disciplines, we are still lagging behind to meet the desired target.
We have a long history of gender inequality, with poorer women and girls especially facing multiple disadvantages. We understand that gender discrimination affects not only women but also the overall growth of the economy. Therefore, at present, we are registering remarkable achievements in narrowing the historical gender gap. These positive efforts are undertaken at all levels in the country. Women now take up 50% of ministerial cabinet appointment and they are numerous in other administrative levels. The number of women studying at higher learning institutions in all fields is rising steadily. The same is true in various research institutions. Women are encouraged and incentivized to do scientific researches.
Does the Council organize regular dialogues with policy-makers and the academia?
The Ministry of Innovation and Technology (formerly the Ministry of Science and Technology) has always engaged with policymakers, other pertinent stakeholders like universities, civic societies and associations working on STI. Therefore, we have always organized dialogue with these partners with a view to advance STI in Ethiopia. Of course, we need to further push this and address the various problems regarding engagement of with our stakeholders and improve our granting scheme in the years to come.
What do you think about the importance of involving in the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI) in the sub-Saharan Africa?
In involvement in Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI) benefits us in many ways. First, it provides us an opportunity to strengthen our research management through its various capacity building trainings and workshops. Secondly, it is very helpful in creating important networks of scientific communities and researches in which we take knowledge exchange and collaborative advantages. As you know the task of research is a team work and being in the SGCs network gives us a better chance of collaboration and teamwork. I think this is a great advantage. Thirdly, financial resources needed for research activities are always scanty and the SGCI is one of the means of accessing funds for research activities. The initiative is also a good platform in ensuring research quality and monitoring. In addition to the technical trainings offered to guarantee quality of research, it offers peer review and monitoring mechanisms which is very important and vital for scientific communities like ours.
Can you give us the gist of Ethiopia’s participation in the SGCI so far?
Ethiopia has been actively participating in the SGCI programs from its first needs assessment studies to the online trainings that involved many professionals in Ethiopia. In addition, our participations in SGCI workshops, conferences and other initiatives, we hosted the annual SGCI meeting in Addis Ababa in 2019. We received a good feedback from the participating team on the event.
The online training programs were offered to researchers drawn from 30 universities across the country so as to build their research management capacity using the interactive application loaded on SGCI’s Website—the Virtual Hub platform. The online trainings focused on cross-cutting strategic areas, including gender inclusiveness, how to collaborate with partners and practical examples in various countries and benchmarking. This was really a wonderful experience. Other Ethiopian researchers got the opportunity to participate in face-to-face trainings held in various sub-Saharan countries where various mentoring programs were facilitated on well-organized research management. The SGSI’s networking is also another opportunity for our researchers to get possibilities of accessing alternative sources of research funds. We participated with SGCI members to jointly apply for EU and other funding agents.
Currently, we are participating in the ongoing research grant “COVID-19 Africa Rapid Grant Fund” in which we are involved as members of scientific communities in the sub-Saharan region. It is a good opportunity for our researchers to provide solutions to combat COVID-19 in our content.
What are the major lessons learnt through participating in the Initiative?
Taking part in the SGCI so far, we have drawn great lessons. First and foremost, it is a privilege for us being part of the research community to provide solutions to continental issues in addition to the experience and knowledge sharing with members of SGCI as joint applicant to access continental and international funds. The trainings on how to run effective scientific researches and online training programs for monitoring and evaluating various research works involving multiple stakeholders are some of the highlights of the lessons.
S.A. What are your expectations of SGCI’s future activities?
As one of associate countries of SGCI in the sub-Saharan region, we look forward to a vibrant and strong initiative that cements further cooperation and teamwork among member nations so as to strengthen the research capacity of our national granting councils both technically through a range of trainings and financially through soliciting financial resources.
Anything you want to add?
First of all, I want to thank all the SGCI team working tirelessly to enhance the impact of R&D activities to provide innovative solutions to continental issues. I am also grateful for every opportunity provided for us. As a member we are committed to play our parts by supporting the Initiatives from the council. Finally, I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity t tell our story. Thank you!
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