Technology can be a double-edged sword for emerging economies. In Sudan, information and communication technology (ICT) has proved an important tool for producing and transferring knowledge. Yet it has also created a new digital divide, which has only deepened existing inequalities. The question therefore arises: how can countries like Sudan ‘catch up’ without increasing social exclusion? Dr. Samia Nour’s new book, Information and Communication Technology in Sudan: An Economic Analys...
Last week NASA tested its latest spacecraft, the Orion, at a cost of US$370m. The perfect test flight brought the USA one step closer to a manned mission to Mars, now scheduled for 2030. Conquering this new ‘frontier’ says a lot about a country, yet this and other kinds of innovation are no longer the preserve of superpowers, says PhD fellow Francesca Guadagno. In September the first Indian satellite entered Mars’ orbit, costing the Indian government 4.5bn rupees (US$74m), less than ...
Jargon alienates readers and increases confusion and conflict, particularly on issues of global concern. To address this problem, UNU-MERIT began work on a “jargon busting” glossary back in 2012. Now, having won a PREMIUM proposal from Maastricht University, it will turn this glossary into an app while partnering with other UNU institutes to expand its coverage. As part of UNU’s mission to function as a bridge between academia, the United Nations and the general public, UNU institute...
Researcher Martin Rehm and co-authors Wim Gijselaers and Mien Segers have received the outstanding paper award of the EdMedia 2014 Conference. Their paper ‘Unified Yet Separated – Empirical Study on the Impact of Hierarchical Positions within Communities of Learning,’ was presented at the annual EdMedia World Conference on Educational Media and Technology at the University of Tampere (Finland) 23-26 June, 2014. The EdMedia World Conference on Educational Media and Technology is...
A consortium led by our School of Governance has won a million euros to manage an EU project for “Innovating Teaching and Learning of European Studies” (INOTLES). Running from 2014-2016 under the TEMPUS umbrella, the project aims to modernize higher education in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Background INOTLES will connect Eastern partners with EU centres of excellence in e-learning, problem-based learning and simulations, to create flexible resources for European Studies courses. By establishin...
There is a huge and mostly untapped market for organic solar cells, in everything from construction to consumer goods. But how can we improve the design, roll out and marketability of these advanced nanomaterials? And how do we bridge the gaps between research institutes and the business community? These were the questions tackled at the latest ORGANEXT project meeting, 14 January 2014, in Maastricht. Delegates shared the latest insights on organic semi-conducting nanomaterials, from advanced re...
Dear reader, We’re delighted to present the new website of UNU-MERIT. With this we aim to boost our visibility in a dynamic and integrated way. Dynamic, by using numerous sliders and 3D tag clouds refreshed with every new post. Integrated, by embedding all possible media, from lecture slides to video interviews. The goal is to be a one-stop shop for all our visitors. From the outset we wanted a look and feel similar to the UNU hubsite: a simple but elegant frame that puts the content first, whet...