Led directly by the university
Once a unit is empowered, it runs its own research and innovation initiatives and takes them into the communities around it. The university drives the work; we are not in the middle of it.
How we work
The catalyst between
universities and communities.
We are a non-profit with a catalytic, hands-on role. Universities lead the research; we build their teams' capabilities through in-depth training and amplify their work through our networks to help it find funding, so they can turn it into solutions for the communities around them.
How the model works.
Universities across Eastern Africa hold the research talent and technical capacity to address the social problems in their communities. In many, a data or research unit already exists but sits inactive. We activate and strengthen these units, developing each unit’s capabilities in data and engineering until its team can lead the work independently.
An empowered unit conducts research and develops innovations directly within its community. Partnership with a community-based organization is one route available to it, connecting the unit to social programs already under way; it is not a prerequisite. Alongside this, we support units in developing research proposals and amplify them through our networks to help them reach funders.
Two ways the work reaches communities
Through a community organization
A community organization reaching out for help with a social problem is connected with the nearest university cohort to co-create a solution. The cohort brings technical support and data mentorship, building on the work the organization is already doing.
We activate the unit inside the university.
We nurture a data and research unit inside the university and grow its chapter's skills in data and engineering, so students and researchers can create locally led solutions in both research and the tools they build. Everything the unit produces is released open source.
The point is to empower the unit to act on its own. Once it can, it runs its own research and innovation initiatives and takes them into its community directly. Working with a community organization is one way it plugs in, not a requirement.
There is nothing to apply for. We identify and visit universities ourselves to start the work.
In-depth training
We train the cohort in depth.
Nurturing a unit is hands-on. We run in-depth training through a structured delivery methodology, grounded in practical field experience, so a cohort learns how to carry its initiatives in the field, with the judgment that comes from having done the work.
Data collection
Designing instruments and gathering clean, reliable data in the field, including offline.
ETL
Extracting, transforming, and loading data so it is ready to work with.
Data pipelines
Building pipelines that keep data flowing and current without manual effort.
Data storytelling
Turning findings into clear narratives and visuals that move decisions.
Documentation
Documenting data, code, and process so the work is reproducible and open.
Building tools for impact
Engineering tools that act on a social problem, built to be reused.
Expert accompaniment
A domain expert walks with the team.
The support does not end when the training does. We attach a domain expert from our team to the unit, and they stay with it for the length of an initiative, so the team always has someone to work through the hard calls with as they come up in the field.
Attached to the unit
A domain expert from our team is assigned to the unit and stays through the initiative, from framing the question to delivery in the field. It is ongoing accompaniment, not a one-off visit.
Guidance as the work happens
The expert works through the technical and methodological calls with the team as they arise, on study design and on the data and tools the work depends on.
Judgment from field experience
The guidance is grounded in having done this work before, so the team gets the judgment that is hard to pick up from training alone.
Independence is the goal
The expert's job is to make the unit able to lead on its own, and to step back as it can. The accompaniment is there to hand the work over, not to hold onto it.
What the program includes
Activating a data unit
We help a university activate a data and research unit with a clear remit, so the work has a home and can keep running, whether the unit is new or already exists in name.
Skills in data and engineering
We grow the chapter's hands-on skills in data and engineering, working through real problems rather than slides.
Research and innovation
Chapters take on social issues in their community through both research and building tools, whichever the problem calls for.
Open-source outputs
The tools and research a unit produces are released under open-source licenses, so the work can be reused and deployed elsewhere.
Tools for the work
University teams use our field data tool wCollect free, and we help them set up the systems the work depends on.
A path to funding
We give the unit a platform to shape research and innovation proposals, and we amplify them to funders.
Partner universities
We are just getting started.
We have not begun with a university yet. As partnerships take shape, the universities we work with will be listed here.
One platform for research and innovation.
We back two kinds of work in equal measure. Research produces evidence about a social problem. Innovation produces the tools that act on it. University units do both, and often the same initiative moves from one to the other.
A lot of good work never leaves the university for lack of a route to funding. We give units that route. They shape proposals on our platform, we help refine them, and then we amplify them through our networks and connect them with funders, so each project can find the support to happen. The funding goes directly to the projects and the universities that deliver them.
How a proposal reaches funding.
- 01
Shape the proposal
A university unit frames a real social issue as a research question or a tool to build, and develops it into a proposal on our platform.
- 02
We refine it together
We help sharpen the proposal and its data plan, so it stands up to the people who fund this work.
- 03
We amplify it to funders
We amplify the proposal through our networks and connect it with funders, so the research or the tool can find the support to be delivered.
Everything is released open source.
The tools and research these initiatives produce are released under open-source licenses, with code and hardware designs made public and datasets and documentation under open licenses. A solution built for one community can be deployed in another.
Typical licenses
- MIT for software
- CERN-OHL for hardware designs
- CC BY for datasets and documentation
What the work can be about.
Research and innovation here are sector-agnostic. The areas below are a guide to the social issues units can build proposals around, not a closed list. Governance and accountability are in scope; partisan politics is not.
Public Health
Disease surveillance and health service delivery, including work through unreliable connectivity and standard health systems such as DHIS2, with sensitive data kept protected.
Water & Sanitation
Water service delivery and sanitation outcomes, including mapping water points and tracking programs toward open-defecation-free status.
Food Systems & Agriculture
Smallholder programs, extension services, yield monitoring, and supply-chain visibility brought into one operational picture.
Education
Learning outcomes, and the access and retention that schools and education programs work to improve.
Climate & Environment
Environmental monitoring and climate resilience, with the data that helps communities adapt to a changing environment.
Governance & Accountability
Administrative and program data across organizational layers, with monitoring and reporting that stands up to scrutiny.
Gender, SRHR & Social Inclusion
Sexual and reproductive health and rights, with gender equity and social inclusion, keeping sensitive data protected and reporting aligned to program indicators.
Economic Development & Livelihoods
Livelihoods and local economic development, measured in ways that inform policy and program design.
Urban & Infrastructure
Physical assets and networks, with condition assessments and service data pulled into one operational view.
Social Sciences & Community Research
Social research and evaluation, qualitative and quantitative, for studies that inform policy and locally led programs.
Fund work that answers a real social need.
If you fund research or social impact, we can connect you with university-led proposals shaped around the issues you care about. Your support goes directly into the work and the capacity that delivers it, and because the outputs are open, what you fund can be reused far beyond where it started.