First Grant Awarded from RU´s New Development Fund

Reykjavík University, in cooperation with the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs, has awarded a development cooperation grant to Associate Professor Grischa Liebel from the Department of Computer Science. The grant supports a three-year project carried out in partnership with Makerere University in Uganda, focusing on strengthening local government service delivery through an inclusive digital feedback and issue-resolution system.

This is the first grant awarded by RU’s newly established Development Cooperation Fund. Three high-quality applications were received, and this project was selected as the strongest based on its academic quality, societal impact, and potential for sustainable capacity-building.

The project's aim is to jointly design and develop a case-management system for local governments in Uganda, especially in rural areas. The work will be centred on a PhD student based at Makerere University (jointly supervised by Grischa at RU). The emphasis will be on designing the system in close collaboration with local groups (once again, especially in rural areas) and in close connection with research in software engineering and requirements engineering.

The developed platform fills a critical missing layer - a local government case-management workflow that transforms collected feedback into actionable, trackable service improvements. Existing tools have so far mainly focused on data collection, while we focus more on case handling and resolution. The platform also prioritises accessibility for low-literacy populations (through voice and audio prompts), people with disabilities (through screen reader support), and local-language speakers, directly tackling inclusion gaps.

The partnership between RU and Makerere University allows for technical rigour, academic collaboration, and local relevance. The funding supports a sustainable collaboration by funding a PhD student, enabling a more sustained effort rather than one-off visits or projects here and there. Given the existing partnership among the parties, there is a good chance the project will achieve its aim and lead to a long-term collaboration between the two universities.

Says Grischa on the importance of the grant.