Support to ICT Development at University of Rwanda

In November 2021, SPIDER led an IT team from DSV to visit University of Rwanda (UR). Together with staff from UR ICT department they conducted ICT needs assessments for UR with the aim to identify ICT infrastructure needs and challenges at UR, establish ICT staff skills and training needs and to identify solutions to existing challenges.

The joint technical team carried out an ICT audit of the existing infrastructure, reviewed ICT policies to establish policy gaps and provide technical support and advice. The team visited seven out of ten UR campuses including Gikondo, Remera, Nyarugenge, Huye, Rwamagana, Rukara and Nyagatare.

SPIDER is the Swedish coordinator of the ICT infrastructure and Business Solutions sub-programme implemented under the University of Rwanda-Sweden Programme for Research, Higher Education and Institutional Advancement since 2019.

Since the programme stated, the Department of Computer and System Sciences (DSV), Stockholm University, which is the home of SPIDER, has provided technical support to University of Rwanda. In 2020, the IT department at DSV provided e-learning support to the ICT department at UR to meet the increasing demand for distance learning resulting from Covid-19 restrictions.

This programme is funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) for the period 2019-2024. The overall programme aims at fostering research collaboration between the University of Rwanda (UR) and Swedish universities. The sub-programme coordinated by SPIDER on Swedish side and ICT department at UR on Rwandan side aims at supporting ICT development at UR both in terms of infrastructure and human capacity.

Needs Assessment Team with ICT staff at Remera Campus in Kigali