64 Examining transformative innovation and its policy dimensions, in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) bAckground funded by the south african national Research foundation and the British Council, the programme is an international research collaboration between the university of Johannesburg, the african Centre for technology studies (aCts) in nairobi and the science Policy Research unit (sPRu) at the university of sussex in the uK. the programme builds on the expertise of three partners to strengthen African scholarship for examining transformative innovation and its policy dimensions, in the context of the fourth industrial Revolution (4iR) and efforts to achieve sustainable development. the trilateral Chair started operating in July 2019. our teAm Prof Erika Kraemer-mbula, Professor of Economics at the university of Johannesburg and Chairholder. her work focuses on alternative development paths for African economies. she specialises in the analysis of innovation systems in connection to equitable development and inclusive development and has done pioneering work on informal sector innovation and innovation. trained as an economist, she holds a master’s in science and technology Policy by the science and Policy Research unit (university of sussex), and a doctorate in development studies from the university of oxford. proF erikA krAemer-mbulA dr Robert Byrne (1), senior lecturer at sPRu, university of sussex. he holds a Phd in science and technology Policy studies from sPRu. his research focuses on sustainable energy access challenges and science, technology and innovation policy in sub-saharan africa. Rob co-convenes the energy and climate change work of the stEPs Centre (social, technological and Environmental Pathways to sustainability), and he is a member of the sussex Energy group and Climate strategies. he also sits on the management Board of the low Carbon Energy for development network, and he contributes to the transformative innovation Policy Consortium Working group. dr ann Kingiri, senior Research fellow at aCts, pursuing policy-oriented research in sti, agriculture, bioenergy, including climate change and gender as cross-cutting themes. she has a phd in development studies from the uk for which her focus was new biosciences policy. she is the secretary and has a leading role in africalics, a research network in innovation and development studies through which hundreds of african Phd students are trained every year in Phd academies around the continent. (2) reseArch Activities over the course of the programme, the Chair will support a cohort of eight phd projects with full studentships: five based at the university of Johannesburg, two based at Jaramogi odinga university of science and technology (Joust) in Kenya, and one based at sPRu in the uk. All phd candidates will undertake joint workshops and short training courses in south Africa, Kenya and the uK, and Phds will involve some degree of joint supervision across the partner organisations. in addition, the phd research programme will engage with the transformative innovation Policy (tiP) africa hub, with the aim of bridging research and policymaking by involving students with the narratives, practices and networks of policy experimentation. the research programme of the Chair will conduct research that (a) develops and tests new theoretical and policy frameworks to understand transformation, in the context of the 4iR and from an african perspective, by unpacking the social and technological relationships that explain the rate, direction and patterns of (radical) innovation adoption, diffusion and use, (b) promotes and builds the capacity of younger scholars to help develop the next generation of african thinkers leading transformative change, and (c) engages with policy makers as key stakeholders and research partners, to influence policy change.
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