Communities of Practice to Overcome Africa’s “Brain-Drain”: The Role of Information Communication Technology
Department
Information Systems
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2004
Abstract
The HIV/AIDS pandemic is decimating Africa’s productive age. Trained professionals in HIV/AIDS are in short supply in countrieswith developing economies. The current paper proposes the use of informationcommunication technology (ICT), videoconferencing in particular, for quicklytraining professionals. The author collaborated with several Diaspora groups tobring HIV medical management training to Ethiopia. The HIV medical management trainingcase study in Ethiopia is presented todemonstrate videoconferencing capabilities.
The current paper discusses a case where experts in the U.S. participated in trainingsenior physicians in Ethiopia. Connecting, via videoconferencing, Communities of Practicewith a common area of interest that reside in geographically dispersed regions is proposedas an alternative to overcome Africa’s brain drain.