AERAP Africa-Europe Science and Innovation Forum, 7 - 10 March 2023
The Forum will be designed to inform and engage with policymakers to ensure that the role and contribution of science, enabled through digital technologies, is reflected in European Union and its Member States’ policies concerning Africa. The meetings will also be designed to increase the level of participation and reinforce the networking by African nations’ with their partners in related EU programmes and science and innovation programmes supported by European Union member states and some associated countries. Digital capacities, existing and new, for expanding science inclusion and citizen participation by all groups in society across Africa, will be explored.
Key policy and programme developments include:

The meeting will address a range of themes, including Biodiversity Health, Medicine, Life Sciences, Geoscience, ICT, Digital Transformation, the Green Agenda, Women and Girls in science, Astronomy, reskilling and upskilling and Agri-food systems. In the Forum, we will examine the feedback loops between scientific funding, education funding, and digital transformation to support evidence for policymakers.

The meeting will also consider how emerging regulations covering data protection, medical devices, in-vitro diagnostics, and other areas impact science in Africa and science and innovation cooperation between Africa and the European Union.

The global context will be considered through the inclusion of speakers from the UN, OECD and other multilateral bodies.

The programme below is still in development so please check it regularly for updates.

Maxwell Otim Onapa

Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MoSTI), Uganda
Director of Science, Research and Innovation

Dr. Maxwell Otim Onapa is a biomedical scientist who has specialized in the development and
management of Science, Technology and Innovation and their integration into the national
development process. He currently works as Director Science, Research and Innovation at the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MoSTI), Uganda. He has worked in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) for the last 28 years, 14 of which he spent in research and the other 14 years in facilitating their development.
Dr. Otim worked as Deputy Executive Secretary of Uganda National Council for Science and
Technology (UNCST) prior to joining MoSTI. His work at UNCST has profoundly impacted the
national research and innovation ecosystem in Uganda.
Dr. Otim holds a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Makerere University, a Master of Science Degree from Free University of Berlin, a Doctorate Degree from University of
Copenhagen (KVL), a Master of Business Administration Degree from ESAMI and a Diploma in Leadership Development in ICT from the Global eSchools and Communities’ Initiative (GeSCI) and Dublin City University (DCU).
Over the years, he has spearheaded the development of numerous policies and strategies in science, technology and innovation; and worked with key national, regional and international science fraternity including inter alia the Uganda National Academy of Sciences where he
chaired and guided key Consensus studies of the Academy and produced ground breaking
publications which have influenced policies in Uganda. He also collaborated with UNESCO and is the lead author of the Ugandan chapter of the UNESCO 2019 “Co-designing science in Africa: first steps in assessing the sustainability science approach on the ground. C.Aguirre-Bastos, J.Chaves-Chaparro and S.Arico, eds.Paris, UNESCO.
Dr. Otim serves as a member of doctoral committees, supervises and examines postgraduate students in different Colleges of Makerere University.
Dr. Otim is Uganda’s lead negotiator on climate technology development and transfer at the UNFCCC Conference of Party (COP) and the National Designated Entity of the Climate
Technology Centre Network of the UNFCCC.
He previously served as Vice Chair for Africa at the Commission on Science and Technology for Development of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 2015-2016

AERAP Africa-Europe Science and Innovation Forum 2023

Maxwell Otim Onapa

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