Research, Innovation and Data Science (RIDS) Division within RBC drives health and medical research, strengthens the application and commercialization of research outputs, fosters an innovative health system, and supports knowledge and insights generation from increasingly large and complex sets of data.

• Generate new evidence and translate knowledge
• Promote evidence-based policy formulation
• Promote data science with effective data infrastructure
• Promote data stewardship and ownership
• Foster a streamlined research environment that builds a critical mass of research professionals, secures competitive grants and delivers benefits to the population
• Optimize the use of innovative approaches practice and health service delivery
• Opportunities development and Resource mobilization

Foster research conduct and innovation

• Undertake basic, clinical and population health research with the potential to improve health, clinical care and the quality and performance of health services in Rwanda
• Support researchers to generate new evidence through collaboration among clinicians, scientists, academics, health services managers and policy makers
• Identify opportunities for collaboration and resource mobilization for research
• Strengthen clinical trial capabilities in Rwanda
• Build a supportive research culture through strategic leadership, governance and streamlined processes

• Strengthen the capacity of national health programs to create and use research evidence in policy and the implementation of programs
• Support health system researchers to discover information through exploration of data
• Proactively respond to emerging health threats
• Promote scientific communication

• Develop data infrastructure
• Modernize data ecosystem
• Data management, analytics and tools
• Data workforce development
• Stewardship and sustainability

• Attract and retain highly skilled researchers
• Develop growth and incentive frameworks for researchers
• Create research training programs in areas of need to build a critical mass of researchers from early career to experts
• Establish strategic partnerships with national and international funding agencies
• Improve research infrastructure and assets
• Foster effective use of resources, and strengthen links between centers of research excellence and centers of teaching and health care practice

• Support income generation initiatives, and private sector engagement
• Identify and leverage investment sources with a focus on strategic priorities for health and medical research
• Expand industry-partnered collaborative projects
• Develop and implement an intellectual property/patent framework for research outputs and innovation
• Enhance researchers and innovators knowledge and understanding of commercialization

Mission: To position Rwanda as a hub for advanced high-quality health and medical research with cutting-edge science and data analytics capability
Vision: To cultivate and promote research, scientific discovery, innovation, and data science in Rwanda’s health sector, with the dedication to support the health system to achieve health and socio-economic benefits in Rwanda and beyond .

Dr Eric Remera
Division Manager
Research, Innovation and Data Science
Phone: +250 788 425 343
email: eric.remera@rbc.gov.rw

• Research Innovation and Data Science (RIDS) Division promotes innovation through industry and academic partnerships.
• RIDS Division promotes interdisciplinary research collaboration and hosts a National Health Research Registry that disseminates the current ongoing research projects in the health sector. https://rbc.gov.rw/rnhrr/
• RIDS Division fosters evidence-based health care and hosts Rwanda Public health Journal which disseminates briefs on science linked with routine intervention activities within different programs.
• RIDS Division promotes data science and artificial intelligence, and currently implements national efforts in widespread application of machine learning and automation.