The Radio Convergence and Development in Africa progamme (RDCA) and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) recently hosted a roundtable to discuss ‘Putting Communication for Development Research into Use’ in early March 2012.

In this video, RDCA Project Director Allan Thompson explains what the programme aimed to achieve during this roundtable event and why bringing researchers together is an important step in the policy and influence cycle.

The RCDA is a research program implemented by Carleton University’s Centre for Media and Transitional Societies with funding from Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC). The two-year programme, now coming to the end of its second year, explores the nexus between conventional radio and other ICTs, in particular the web, mobile phones, SMS, etc. to discover what the convergence of these platforms can do to enhance the impact of development across Africa.

Allan explains that as the project now comes to a close, bringing together the researchers, in particular those that did not have any major institutional affiliations during the course of their research, allows them discuss how they can make sure their research gets into use and also to look at new ideas that were not accomplished during the project.

For more information on the RDCA programme visit the IDRC archive.