Unfazed by the hot afternoon sun, a long line of excited families stretched up the hill towards the National Palace, eagerly awaiting their turn to be permitted into the newly inaugurated Ethiopian Science Museum.
This science museum, one of the biggest in Africa, was inaugurated on October 4th 2022, and is expected to play a key role in Ethiopia’s digital transformation.
According to the museum’s head engineer and project coordinator, Gelana Kora, the museum’s main goal is to serve as an “educational hub focused on exposing people to the world of science and technology.”
One of the museum’s key strategies towards achieving this goal is partnering with different national stakeholders that are involved in the development of various technologies that will aid the nation's advancement in several fields. These stakeholders display their work at the museum, exposing the visitors to different types of technology. Currently, the work of these stakeholders serve as temporary exhibitions while the museum continues to develop its permanent displays. These permanent displays will have their own programs, events and workshops, and will continue to teach the public about the world of science and technology.
The science museum sits on 11,000 square meters of land in the heart of Addis Ababa. Photo by Malaika Girma.
By exposing visitors, especially the youth, to technology and science, the museum expects to help the country work towards achieving its digital transformation plan, ‘Digital Ethiopia’. This plan focuses on using technology to accelerate the nation’s development in various sectors such as health, agriculture and security.
The museum aspires to motivate the youth and give them a platform to nurture and develop innovative ideas. Myriam Said, the director of the permanent exhibitions at the museum and the Prime Minister’s digital advisor, describes this as “Science with a purpose.”
Myriam expands on her idea, saying, “[...]we don’t just want people to learn about science and technology, we want them to be able to understand what its role is in our lives and how the youth can use such knowledge to tackle the problems our country will face in the future.”
The museum does not charge entrance fees to entice the youth to visit, who may otherwise not be able to afford access.
“The Road to Science,” hinting at the museum’s potential and hope for the country, is displayed in the museum’s main hall. Photo by Malaika Girma.
Temporary Exhibitions
National Stakeholders
Currently, the science museum has three stakeholders: the Information Network Security Agency (INSA), Ethio Telecom and the Artificial Intelligence Institute (AI Institute).
The AI institute is the museum’s number one national partner and has more than twenty of its AI research projects currently displayed at the museum. These projects encompass sectors such as health, education, agriculture, security, robotics, transportation and finance.
The AI institute has more than thirty senior experts at the museum who teach the visitors about the development of these AIs and encourage them to interact with the AI technologies.
Different AI Displays Help Illustrate to Visitors the Broad Manner in Which AIs Can be Used to Serve People
The AI Institute has three cancer research projects displayed at the museum. These three AI systems detect brain tumors, tuberculosis and breast cancer. These AIs use image processing and mammography tools which are types of technology that visitors can learn about at the museum.
The museum teaches the visitors about these technologies by displaying videos that show how the technologies scan for tumors and how radiographers can use those scans to quickly diagnose patients.
According to Gelana, there are currently about four or five radiographers in Ethiopia. Therefore, developing AIs in this field is important as it can address the shortage of medical professionals and make cancer treatment more accessible to the public. Displaying this research at the museum is showing people the important role of technology and science in Ethiopia’s future.
Other major AI projects at the museum include the Natural Language Processing AIs. The museum has an AI robot, by the name of Selam, who speaks English, Amharic, Oromo, Tigrinya, and Somali. Selam offers the visitors an opportunity to engage in an interactive and immersive experience by moving around the museum and teaching them about AIs and how she was built.
Selam, explaining the importance of AIs. Photo by Malaika Girma.
“The purpose of Selam is to simply show visitors how interesting AIs are and give them a basic understanding of what they are,” said Tesfaye Zewdie, the Communication Affairs Director at the Artificial Intelligence Institute.
Another project under the Natural Language Processing section is the Ethiopic Optical Character Recognition AI, a database that has ancient Ethiopian books and literature archives.
Visitors use this AI to learn about the country’s history through the monitors that display some of the AI’s archived content. This AI also has information on Ethiopian traditional medicine and the health benefits of some of the homeopathic ingredients.
“People have to learn about the country’s history if they are going to make a difference in the future,” said Gelana. The museum is also considering giving history researchers access to the AI and its archives as they are not easily accessible elsewhere.
Events Held by the Temporary Exhibitions
In addition to displaying their research projects, the different stakeholders host public events. The ‘PanAfriCon AI 2022’ event, hosted by the AI institute, was a part of the inaugural ceremony for the museum. This event was the first one of its type and the museum plans to make it an annual event.
The event featured thirty eight different startups working on AIs in Ethiopia and other parts of the world. Tesfaye explained that the event sparked a large amount of curiosity among the visitors, especially the youth, who wanted to know more about the AIs. “This showed me that this event sparked ambition, creativity and curiosity in the youth,” said Tesfaye, “and this will inspire more people, teach more people, and solve more of our problems.”
Many innovative AI projects were presented at the event. These AIs were developed with the intention of addressing different types of issues faced by Ethiopia and other nations in this region.
One meaningful idea from the startups was the agricultural AI that can analyze the fertility and health of soil. This AI has the potential of being a valuable tool for farmers because it will allow them to make informed decisions about how they plant their crops.
Given that the majority of Ethiopia’s population and economy depend on agriculture, this AI has the potential of benefiting the entire nation.
The motto for the event was “Empowering Africa Through AI.” According to Gelana, the significance of the motto was to show that Africa “ [...] has the power for change, the power for prosperity and the power for development” and that through the use of technology, especially Artificial Intelligence, Africa will be raised from “poverty to prosperity.”
Permanent Exhibitions
The permanent exhibitions, on the other hand, are still being developed and are expected to be finished by the end of this year. These exhibitions are planned to have seven main sections: medicine, communication/information, mobility, agriculture, energy, water and exploration.
The museum will also have additional sections dedicated to temporary exhibitions, a “Makerspace”, as well as an amphitheater where experts from all over the world will come to speak on different topics.
According to Myriam, “Prime Minister Abiy’s vision for the museum was to bring together a world of science where we can embrace technology, innovative practices and methods to advance our development and shape the future of our youth all while being respectful of our environment.”
The museum’s permanent exhibitions are working on achieving a part of this vision by teaching people about Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Project and by installing a solar panel farm on the roof to help teach about the importance of green energy.
Solar panels on the museum’s rooftop are planned to be used as the backup energy source for the museum. Photo by Malaika Girma.
The Museum’s Current Focus: The Mobility Exhibition
Currently, one of the museum’s main focus areas is the completion of the mobility exhibition which will be completed in the coming three to six months. For this exhibition, the museum is partnering with Boeing, Ethiopian Airlines and General Electrics to teach about aviation and aerodynamics while incorporating physics and engineering sciences.
The museum chose to work with a homegrown company, Ethiopian Airlines, because it wanted to highlight Ethiopia’s success in the aviation industry to help motivate and inspire younger visitors of the museum.
The mobility exhibition will have immersive experiences which include virtual reality simulators. The purpose behind these simulators is to give people who may have never been on a plane, the opportunity to experience it.
This exhibition will also include an airplane engine so as to allow visitors to explore the mechanics and engineering of engines. Workshops will be offered to provide additional information on these exhibits so that visitors who are interested in one specific area can get more in depth information.
The “Makerspace”
The museum plans to create a “Makerspace” room which will be filled with different types of machines and equipment that visitors will be able to use. One example of this equipment is the 3D printers the museum will install to encourage visitors to learn about how it works and allow them to build various objects. However, access policies, which will regulate how visitors use these resources, are still in development.
The “Makerspace” will also have a small library where people can read about different scientific topics. “The key to inspiring and teaching people about science,” said Myriam, “is by making it as immersive and experimental as possible.”
Relationships and Partnerships
The museum is considering forging relationships with various research centers in the country with the intention of establishing internship and mentorship programs for recent university graduates of fields related to technology and the sciences. These potential relationships could foster opportunities for graduates to gain work experience at these research facilities.
“We are quite ready to mentor anybody who wants to work with AIs,” said Tesfaye, explaining his thoughts on this program.
The museum also plans on establishing working relationships with local schools so as to facilitate their school field trips and assure that students obtain the best educational experience possible.
In addition to partnering with local institutions, the museum plans on collaborating with museums from all around the world. Currently, the museum has a partnership with the Museum of Science in Trento, Italy. By establishing such relationships, the museum hopes to have visiting international exhibits on display in the coming future.
“This will help us exchange our knowledge and give our youth even more exposure to science and technology,” said Myriam.
Towards Digital Ethiopia
In its opening few months, excited visitors poured into the museum to see what the future of technology and science holds. Now, as it transitions from its temporary exhibitions to its permanent exhibitions, the museum is tasked with the responsibility of sustaining that excitement and harnessing it to deliver captivating and meaningful educational experiences.
“As a country,” said Gelana, “we have hope for our youth and Ethiopia’s future, so we have to create opportunities now that will let the youth contribute to Ethiopia’s growth.”
The Ethiopian Science Museum is founded on the belief that exposing visitors, especially the youth, to science and technology is key to the development and growth of the nation. Therefore, the museum’s exhibitions and programs are intended to motivate and inspire the youth to become visionaries in the fields of science and technology, thus fueling ‘Digital Ethiopia’.