KNUST HOSTS 3RD INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT DESIGN SUMMIT 2009

Kumasi (Ghana) - The 3rd International Development Design Summit (IDDS) is now underway at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. The IDDS is a summit which creates a global community of innovators committed to improving the lives of peop
Kumasi (Ghana) - The 3rd International Development Design Summit (IDDS) is now underway at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. The IDDS is a summit which creates a global community of innovators committed to improving the lives of peop

19.07.2009 News

Kumasi (Ghana) - The 3rd International Development Design Summit (IDDS) is now underway at the (KNUST), a member of the Icograda Education Network. Organised in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering and Cooper Perkins Inc., the summit started on 8 July and will end on 12 August 2009.


Above: Participants at IDDS. Source: www.knust.edu.gh

The IDDS is a summit which creates a global community of innovators committed to improving the lives of people living in poverty. Participants include students, teachers, professors, pastors, economists, physicists, lawyers, welders, farmers and community organisers from different parts of the world.

In his welcome address, the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Prof. W. O. Ellis urged participants to learn the culture of each other, to inform their creativity and initiative. He was enthused about the fact that KNUST is the host of IDDS 2009.

In an interview with URO, the chairman for the programme, Dr. Peggy Oti Boateng, Director of Technology Consultancy Centre (TCC), noted that the summit which is the first in Ghana and the 39th session is to challenge young people to be creators of prototypes. She emphasised that unlike many technology workshops, IDDS is about creative processes as well as products.

Dr. Oti-Boateng expressed belief that developing the capacity for innovation and creativity is critical for long-term, sustainable improvements in the quality of life. She hoped that participants would be able to invent, design, innovate and inspire each other to create new technologies. She called on government to support activities of IDDS in the development of the country.

The founder and senior lecturer of MIT, Amy Smith on her part said, participants would work in collaboration with people living in villages in both the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions of Ghana and with artisans at the Suame Magazine manufacturing site. She was optimistic that this process of direct feedback and involvement from the community will create solutions that would be better suited for their intended users.

Over 70 participants from 21 countries are attending the summit.

Source: URO

Links
International Development Design Summit website
IDDS blog



For more information, please contact:

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
Kumasi
Ghana
W: www.knust.edu.gh
Kumasi (Ghana) - The 3rd International Development Design Summit (IDDS) is now underway at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. The IDDS is a summit which creates a global community of innovators committed to improving the lives of peop
Kumasi (Ghana) - The 3rd International Development Design Summit (IDDS) is now underway at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. The IDDS is a summit which creates a global community of innovators committed to improving the lives of peop

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