Microprocessor Programme

The main objective of this programme which was launched in 1983 is to help universities and research institutes in developing countries to strengthen their scientific (research and teaching) and technical (innovation) capabilities in the area of microelectronics and information technology (Informatics). Over the years the programme developed activities in South-East Asia, Latin America and Africa responding to needs expressed by the developing countries in these regions, and following the extremely rapid progress in this field of science and technology. Presently, owing to budgetary restrictions and adapting to the actual state of the art, two projects have remained within the programme both directed mainly to the African continent, where the needs are still the most pressing.

Microelectronics and Related Fields

This project has been carried out since 1983 in cooperation with the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy. It deals with scientific and technological capacity-building in developing countries by providing opportunities to scientists for basic and applied research in microelectronics and by organizing postgraduate training workshops. This project has been supported by a grant from the Government of Italy, which extended its activities from January 1994 to December 1998. The project will undergo the usual UNU external evaluation before reporting to the Government of Italy and eventually requesting further support for a new project.

Postgraduate Education and Research in Computer Science

This project is concerned with the promotion of postgraduate education and research in computer science mainly in French-speaking West and Central Africa and the development of partnership in research through an academic and scientific network in this region. This project which started in 1984 has been consolidated through an Agreement of Cooperation signed in 1992 with the University of Yaounde in Cameroon and the Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (INRIA) of France. The Government of France provides support directly to the institutions involved in training and research activities within the African Committee for Research in Computer Science (CARI) which is based on the above mentioned UNU/UY/INRIA Agreement. International CARI Conferences have been organized since 1992, every second year in an African country. The CARI 2000 Conference will be held in Madagascar in October 2000.

Cooperation between the UNU Centre, UNU/INRA and UNU/IIST in organizing the modular three-week course on application of Computer Technology for Natural Resources Research will be continued. The course on Computer Applications to Natural Resources Management will be organized as a joint activity of the UNU Centre and the UNU/INRA. The three-week course consists of three modules: statistics and databases; geographical information systems (GIS) and remote sensing; and modeling and simulation. The first course was held at the University of Ghana in February 1998; the second course was held at the University of Yaounde, Cameroon in 1999. Computer scientists from the University of Yaounde, which has received major support from the UNU for strengthening its Informatics Department, participated as the main resource persons for the course. The course was targeted to middle-level manpower in such ministries as agriculture, environment, science and technology, lands and forestry resources and research institutes. Funding for these courses is included under the UNU Centre Capacity-Building section.

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