Research

IRES Program

2010 Summer Research and Educational Program

During the 2010 summer break, Dr. Victor Mbarika and Dr. Carlos Thomas of the College of Business, will establish a sustainable educational partnership between Southern University, one University in Cameroon (The University of Buea) and one University in Uganda (The Makerere University Business School). Two undergraduate and two graduate students will be selected from Southern University and the same number will be selected from two institutions in Cameroon and Uganda. These students will collaborate in developing and publishing information technology case studies that will be packaged with multimedia features and delivered through the Internet and CDs for teaching Global information technology issues in US and African classes.

Research Training Location: Cameroon and Uganda, Africa
Research Training Dates: June 5th to July 15th 2010
Open to Students Majoring in Targeted Disciplines: College of Business Programs, Computer Science, Journalism, English and Nursing
Minimum GPA: 2.8

Broader Impacts - Students and Southern University

The project will therefore develop students with a global perspective on how such technologies are implemented in resource-poor settings of developing nations. These students will travel to Cameroon and Uganda in this summer to document case studies of information technology adoption and use in these countries. The students will return with real and measurable experiences that will make them even better citizens of the world in terms of caring about the other nations and which will in turn spur them to make a contribution to development in the future.

The case studies developed through this collaboration will be packaged in multimedia CDs as well as on the web for use in classes anywhere in the world, starting with out information technology classes at Southern University as well as classes at the two collaborating institutions in Africa. Further, the students will collaborate in developing a book with case studies on global information technology issues in resource-poor settings that could be used in information technology courses. The reports from this project, as well as, use of the cases in our classes, will broaden the global view of students in Southern University and eventually get them to see opportunities well beyond the US.

Apply Now before March 5th 2010

If you are interested in participating in this program this summer, go to www.ictid.com and navigate to the IRES link and download the application form. You may also email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and ask for the application form. Program is only open to students who are US citizens and are registered to Southern University.

Download Application Form I Read About the IRES Grant

ICITD Launches Book on E-commerce in Ghana

The University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) in collaboration with the International Centre for Information Technology and Development announce a Public Lecture and Book Launch on Electronic Commerce and Customer Management as follows:

The lecture on e-commerce and customer management seeks to throw light on how the Internet is being (mis)applied in the improvement of personal employee and corporate productivities of public and private sector firms operating in Ghana in Africa. This lecture will be of immense value to executives, managers and policy makers in both private and public sectors of Ghana.

The book on e-commerce and customer management in Ghana is edited by Hinson, Boateng and Mbarika. The book is a 14 chapter treatment of the industrial use of the Internet in Ghana. The book focuses on major industrial sectors like tourism, banking, legal practice, manufacturing, export and education. It also examines the regulatory and environmental readiness for the conduct of successful e-commerce in Ghana and closes out with managerial tips for e-commerce adoption in Ghana. This book is an NSF funded initiative and is in line with ICITD research on electronic business in sub-Saharan Africa.

Visit the Book website - www.ecommerceinghana.icitd.org

Telemedicine in Uganda

Report by Prof. Victor MBARIKA, Mr. Martin Okello, Dr. Oryema JOHNSON, and Dr. Richard BOATENG

Africa has a significant need for access to health care and more efficient utilization of their health care professionals. This will help address a numbers of primary diseases (malaria, typhoid, cancers, fever and diarrhea) that comprise 80% of the illnesses seen in these clinics. Telemedicine, or the use of information and communication technologies, to deliver health care and/or transfer medical information and provide medical training over a distance, is relatively a new concept on the continent and has the potential of addressing its multi-prong health care issues.

In Uganda, access is severely limited by nearly nonexistent infrastructure, unmanageable travel to clinics, and relatively high cost of health care services. This resulted from the wars and political instability the country has experienced within the last thirty or so years. Currently, the cost of consultation consumes about 15 to 20% of an individual’s average monthly income. These challenges contributes to limited accessibility to treatment, allowing their disease to advance to a stage that is harder to diagnose, more difficult to treat, and too often fatal.