Towards a new collaborative research approach: CISPA signs the Africa Charter
CISPA Founding Director and CEO, Professor Dr. Dr. h. c. Michael Backes has signed the Africa Charter. The Charter, an initiative led by African universities, provides a framework to equitably advance transformative research collaborations between universities and research centers in Africa and other regions of the world. The CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security is the first research institution outside Africa to sign the Charter. By doing so, CISPA lays the foundation for its Africa strategy, which aims to establish future collaborations and launch new joint research projects.
Established in 2024, the Africa Charter, facilitated by the Perivoli Africa Research Centre (PARC) together with the Institute for Humanities at the University of Cape Town and the Albert Luthuli Research Chair at the University of South Africa, aims to address the structural disadvantages faced by scientists and research institutions in Africa. The Charter outlines 10 principles for structuring research collaborations to overcome existing power imbalances in knowledge production between Africa and the Global North. These principles include, for example, supporting African researchers in securing research funding, leveraging existing African knowledge, and recognizing African perspectives as valuable sources of global knowledge.
Signing the charter builds on various activities, supporting CISPA researchers who are already engaged in Africa and its research community. For instance, in 2024, CISPA partnered for the first time with the Deep Learning Indaba conference, one of the most important AI and ML conferences in Africa. During the event, CISPA presented the Women in AI Award, granting an African researcher supervision by a CISPA Faculty for one year. Additionally, connections were established with various African universities.
Supporting excellent research in Africa
Speaking about his motivation to sign the Charter, CISPA Founding Director and CEO Michael Backes says: “It is a matter close to my heart to promote excellent research in Africa and to support our colleagues in working under the best possible conditions. By signing the Africa Charter, we are taking another step towards achieving this goal. At CISPA, we are also laying the groundwork for our Africa strategy.”
Delivering the Charter’s aspirations together
“CISPA's forward-looking attitude is reflected today in their active endorsement of the Africa Charter for Transformative Research Collaborations”, explains Professor Dr. Isabella Aboderin, Director of the Perivoli Africa Research Center (PARC). “As the first research centre outside Africa to sign the Charter declaration, and the first institution focused exclusively on strategic future technologies, it is hugely significant to have CISPA align with us and is symbolic of the strategic importance and potential impact of the Africa Charter across both research fields and geographical regions. We are excited to now be able to work with CISPA to deliver the Charter’s aspirations, and make a difference to research collaborations between Europe and Africa.”
The Africa Charter for Transformative Research Collaboration is a joint endeavour of Africa's major higher education bodies and networks, including the Association of African Universities (AAU), the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA), the lnter-University Council for Eastern Africa (IUCEA), the Association of West African Universities (AWAU), the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and the International Network for Higher Education in Africa (INHEA). The initiative is facilitated by the Perivoli Africa Research Centre (PARC) at the University of Bristol in partnership with the University of South Africa Chief Albert Luthuli Research Chair and the University of Cape Town Institute for Humanities in Africa (HUMA).
