Projects & Services > Centre
of Excellence
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Capacity-building,
program incubation and resource development for
technology service providers and networks. |
Ungana-Afrika
is helping to incubate, implement, and evaluate the activities of
development community technology programs. We are creating toolkits,
resources, trainings and shared models that make quality support and
capacity-building programs a reality.
Centre
of Excellence Projects
All centre of excellence
projects are targeted to those providing technology support within the
development community, and fall under the following objectives.
See more
projects from other
service areas.
Concept Development (A
Centre of
Excellence Service)
Research
and design of new technology support programs and concepts.
Ungana-Afrika is exploring new ways to
mobilize technology support for the development community. Having
brought the innovative concept of eRiding to Africa in 2003, we are
skilled at building new connections and uncovering new support
opportunities.
Whether it be students, aspiring
entrepreneurs, or simply individual volunteers, there is a wealth of
skills and knowledge to be leveraged for technology capacity-building
within civil society. Unfortunately, the links between providers and
beneficiaries, as well as operational models and administrative
structures, are often not clear. Ungana-Afrika is working to
bridge these gaps and greatly expand the concept of targeted technology
support for civil society in Africa.
Incubation of ICT
Capacity
Building Programs (A Centre of Excellence Service)
Full
support (from planning to evaluation) in the startup of technology
support programs using tested models.
For many years, Ungana-Afrika has been using
innovative models of technology support
that are targeted specifically to the development community. One such
example, that's now gained global popularity, is "eRiding" or
"Circuit Riding". eRiding encompasses
a structure of proven support logistics, tools and methodologies from a
flourishing international community. It is also used today within our
own
in-house support efforts (read more about eRiding and our Regional
Support Hub activities).
Because of our experience and success with
eRiding, and other innovative models, we are helping to incubate them
(as new technology support
structures) within other networks and aspiring technology support
initiatives.
This includes:
Ungana-Afrika can work with your unique
network, and individual organisations within, to assess current ICT
needs and structures while outlining appropriate strategies, time lines
and financial models for an appropriate support solution. This
information
can then be used as a fundraising tool for the implementation and
operational phases.
Once a strategy has been outlined, and
funding secured, it is time to put the support solution to work.
Ungana-Afrika will work with your network to profile, help hire and
train new ICT support consultants (eRiders). Ungana-Afrika will also
spend time in-the-field mentoring this new staff and ensuring the
necessary knowledge and structures are in place for them to continue
working independently.
Once a support project has been implemented,
it becomes an internal component of your network or initiative.
However, Ungana-Afrika can still assist with ongoing management and
monitoring efforts. In addition, Ungana-Afrika may hold regular
workshops and training events that your network may wish to take part
in.
Evaluation is an important component that
completes the cycle of the incubation process and often provides
important suggestions and advice how to improve the project in the
future. For a donor, an evaluation is a useful way to verify the
results or other important aspects of the
project. In the most useful scenario, evaluation can also confirm or
identify best practises that can be shared with the rest of the
community.
Ungana-Afrika can help to design and conduct an appropriate evaluation
of the project, which should preferably be initiated during the design
and planning phase. Depending on the specific project needs, an
evaluation of a project can include:
- How SMART
were the set objectives & outcomes of the projects and
whether they were achieved
- How well did the used service structure
and model work
- Was the project able to reach the planned
level of impact
- How relevant were the project services
for the beneficiaries and what was the level of quality of these
services
- How well did the client organisation
adopt ICTs after the project
- The capacity of the consultant and skills
to be developed orareas that will need extra support
Development
of Tools and Resources (A Centre of Excellence Service)
Creation
of shared toolkits, resources and other materials that assist
technology support providers.
As part of our efforts to create quality
technology support programs, we are working hard to produce new tools
and resources that will assist these programs. This can include
toolkits, best practices, training materials, web portals, and other
tools that continually bring new knowledge and expertise to providers.
Typically these resources are shared under a open content license, and
are available to any civil society provider, network or individual...
anywhere in the world.
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