Editorial

Abstract

The Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH) was established in 1986 by Act of Parliamentary No.7 as a successor to the Tanzania National Scientific Research Council (UT AFITI) with the responsibility of coordinating and promoting research and technology development activities in the country. The Commission is an apex organ with the responsibility of advising the Government on the use of Science,  Technology and Innovation for socio economic development. Among the COSTECH's mandates is to coordinate and promote research in the country and to acquire, store, and disseminate scientific and technological  information. Since its establishment, COSTECH has been providing various scientific platforms for researchers to meet and share experiences on various issues pertaining to research in the country. The Science,   Technology and Innovation (STI) conference has always been one of those platforms. From 23rd - 25th August 2016 the COSTECH organized the 5th Annual National STI Conference and exhibitions held at the Kisenga's LAPF International Conference Center in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The Conference was officially opened by Honorable Professor Joyce Ndalichako - the Minister for education, science and Technology. The conference theme was, 'Innovation - centered research driving towards industrialization'. During this scientific event more that 23 papers were presented by local researchers from academia and Research and Development (R&D) institutions and 13 papers presented under the Tanzania - South Africa joint research activities. The conference was organized along specific themes of common grounds to suit the diverse nature of the participants. Other side events also formed part of the conference to provide opportunities for in-depth engagements for specific interest groups. These included the Tanzania - South Africa joint researchers who met to share their findings, challenges and planning for future collaborations. In order to make the information and ideas presented at the conference promptly and widely available, participants from academia and R&D institutions in the conference were invited to submit papers based on received feedback for inclusion in refereed conference proceedings to be published in the HURIA Journal of The Open University of Tanzania.

Each paper submitted for consideration was peer-reviewed according to the requirements of the Scientific Editors from academia and research communities. These scientists independently provided a scholarly judgment on the paper's suitability for Annual STI publication. A total of 22 papers were submitted to HURIA Journal for Publication out which 10 papers met our publications standards. The COSTECH Management is grateful to the researchers who agreed to submit full papers and to the Open University of Tanzania (OUT) for agreeing to publish them on HURIA journal. COS TECH is also grateful to Sida for facilitating the conference and exhibitions, the Government of The United Republic of Tanzania to allow it. To demonstrate its potential in supporting research that in turn will provide opportunities to Tanzanians to exploit National resources more effectively and sustainably.With these few words, I sincerely hope that this journal, together with our website, and other knowledge products, will serve as a valuable source of scientific information to our esteemed stakeholders. It is also my hope that readers will be a dependable source of information for upcoming STI conferences.

I wish you all happy reading.

Dr. Hassan Mshinda

Director General
TANZANIA COMMISSION FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY