Commercialisation of Academic Research Initiative (CARI) is funded by Government of Uganda and implemented in partnership with Busitema University, Islamic University in Uganda, Makerere University, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, and Nkumba University. The overall objective of CARI is to strengthen the capacity of Ugandan universities to create a critical mass of fourth-industrial revolution-based enterprises from student and faculty research to create jobs and wealth.
- Pilot commercialization of five university developed research products or services deploying fourth industrial revolution technologies in agri-food and education sector;
- Characterise Uganda’s science, technology, and innovation ecosystem for incubating academic research products and services into viable businesses based, and
- Sensitize Ugandan universities on the benefits and required policies, processes, and stakeholders for mass commercialisation of products and services developed from university research.
CARI will support prototypes developed by university students and/or staff deploying Industry 4.0 technologies and applied in agri-food and Education. Prototypes designed with a combination of two or more of the following technologies addressing challenges in the agri-food and education sectors will be supported.
- Advanced mechanical and electronics engineering including but not limited to additive manufacturing, nano particles engineering, renewable energy etc;
- Human–machine interaction including but not limited to robotics and automation, autonomous guided vehicles, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR);
- Connectivity, data, and computational power including but not limited to Cloud computing, the Internet of Things, blockchain, field sensors, and
- Analytics and intelligence including but not limited to edge computing, advanced analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence.
- Busitema University,
- Islamic University in Uganda,
- Makerere University,
- Mbarara University of Science and Technology, and
- Nkumba University