Identifying gaps in health research and training in Africa: Designing online surveys for Cloud-oriented training

Education and research are two fundamental pillars to ensure progress. Without an appropriate education, quality research is not feasible. In the case of developing countries, these issues become more challenging since literacy and access to information are still unsolved. In this regard, numerous initiatives around the world have been launched for promoting education by applying Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). However, introducing such technologies without considering the actual needs and idiosyncratic issues of target countries usually leads to failure since problems are different in developed countries than in developing ones. In this paper we present the studies carried out within the framework of the AFRICA BUILD project aimed to identify how Cloud computing technologies might contribute to alleviate the existing educational and training gaps in health research in Africa.