“It looks obvious,” says 2017 IDRC Research Award Recipient Victor Oteku, “but the importance of personal connections is very strong in establishing partnerships for technological innovation in Kenya.” Working in IDRC’s Regional Office for Sub-Saharan Africa, Oteku’s research sought to uncover socio-political and economic factors that shape partnerships for technological innovation in Kenya.

Oteku chose the information and communication technology sector for his study because of its high value to innovation and its contributions to growth in other sectors. The Kenyan government is also focusing on scientific and technological innovation in its long-term development plan, he says.

“Partnerships are mutual and synergetic collaborations geared toward a common goal,” says Oteku. The online survey he conducted showed that economic factors had the biggest influence on partnerships. Interviews and focus group discussions, however, “suggested that socio-cultural factors had a stronger influence.” Personal relationships, in particular, can determine success or failure. He concluded that all those involved need to work toward formal but open and flexible partnerships.

While a research awardee, Oteku also helped develop a proposal in support of the multi-funder Science Granting Councils Initiative in Sub-Saharan Africa. These councils are central to funding and catalyzing research and innovation.

Personally, “I nurtured the values of tolerance, cooperation, and hard work just by observing my colleagues do their jobs,” says Oteku. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to have been here.”

Wildlife of all kinds freely cross the borders of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, but is the research data needed to protect them as mobile?

Monica Morrison, a PhD candidate at Stellenbosch University and a 2014 Research Award recipient, sought to find out if the extensive research on this vital resource was leading to better management and whether there were more effective ways to communicate the information.

“My IDRC experience helped to focus and contextualize my study, giving me much needed arm’s length distance to review my fieldwork with conservation scientists, tourism operators, and government officials,” she says. “I began to really like the way my chosen world of work was heading.”

“It also made me think in new ways,” she says. “At IDRC I was surrounded by professional sharers of knowledge. Especially illuminating moments included learning how to write for the Web and being exposed to current trends in development evaluation and appreciative inquiry. All these approaches set bells of recognition ringing, and I took them away with me. The experience passed all too quickly, but its influence continues,” she says.