About the Gray Area blog

This blog focuses on Access to Knowledge and Open Access from the perspective of an emerging economy in Africa – South Africa. My interest is in the democratic potential of collaborative and open communication and the ways in which the internet can empower African research through collaboration, the enhancement of  its impact and its regional and global reach. The blog interrogates the global power relations that, through conventional thinking, inhibit our ability to make the most of the knowledge that we generate. I believe that our researchers and writers have a valuable contribution to make to the world that is currently largely elided. This blog therefore looks through ‘the wrong end of the telescope’, interrogating the conventional wisdom of the commonly accepted models of research publication, the prevailing values and the measures used for research ‘excellence’. It explores the ways in which new media and new publishing models can contribute to delivering the strategic development impact that we seek in our region, harnessing the ever-changing potential of online communication.

About Eve Gray

My  background is in university press and academic textbook publishing.  I have a particular interest in the potential of electronic media and new copyright models to open up the volume and increase the impact of African scholarly publishing. I am affiliated as an Honorary Research Associate, to the Centre for Educational Technology at the University of Cape Town, a unit that enables, promotes and investigates the integration of technology in teaching and learning in higher education. I am also associated with the Intellectual Property Law and Policy Research Unit, in the Faculty of Law at the University of Cape Town. I am currently the programme director of the Scholarly Communication in Africa Programme, supported by the IDRC.