PID IG: Equity and Inclusion: universal access to PIDs 26 October 2023. Venue: Austria Open Science Initiatives in Africa Prof Muliaro Wafula PhD.,FCCS, FCSK Associate Professor: JKUAT Chair: CODATA Kenya Lead Scientist: AOSP EA node Adjunct Professor, AICAD Introduction: • The Africa Open Science Platform aims to position African scientists at the cutting edge of data intensive science. Open Science Initiatives in Africa -Prof Muliaro Wafula AOSP key objectives • Create a platform, with the potential to be a powerful lever of social, cultural and scientific vitality and of economic development. • put African scientists at the cutting edge of contemporary, data-intensive science as a fundamental resource for a modern society • Enable researchers to access a wide diversity of data streams, which, when integrated, reveal deep patterns in complex phenomena. • Make science a more public enterprise that engages actively with business, policymakers, governments, communities and citizens as knowledge partners • facilitate data-intensive, solutions-oriented research, bringing scientists and nonscientists together as knowledge partners in open networks of collaborative learning and problem solving Open Science Initiatives in Africa -Prof Muliaro Wafula The African Open Science Platform (AOSP) with HQ in SA (https://aosp.org.za/) • It has 3 regional nodes: 1. Egyptian National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (NARSS) is the Northern African Node based in Egypt; 2. The African Institute for Capacity Development (AICAD) is the East African Node based in Kenya, and 3. The UbuntuNet Alliance is the Southern Africa Node based in Malawi Open Science Initiatives in Africa -Prof Muliaro Wafula AOSP East African Node • The role of the AOSP East African Node is to support and promote efforts aligned with implementation of open science programmes at a regional level, strengthen knowledge networks and infrastructure access, and enhance cooperation between regions and globally in support of the AOSP’s vision. • AOSP – East African Node is a partnership between the African Institute for Capacity Development (https://www.aicad.or.ke/), and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (https//www.jkuat.ac.ke), Kenya – the National Member of CODATA International. Open Science Initiatives in Africa -Prof Muliaro Wafula Examples of Open Science Initiatives in Africa Open Science Initiatives in Africa -Prof Muliaro Wafula International Open Science projects in Africa Ref: Mwelwa, J, et al. 2020. Developing Open Science in Africa: Barriers, Solutions and Opportunities. Data Science Journal, 19: 31, pp. 1–17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/dsj-2020-031 ✓The H3ABionet project ✓South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), a major node of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. It hosts biodiversity information to make it freely available on the internet so that policy makers, managers and researchers can make well-informed decisions that contribute to sustainable development. ✓Data First – the only African database that has the CoreTrustSeal of the International Science Council’s World Data System Open Science Initiatives in Africa -Prof Muliaro Wafula ✓African Academy of Sciences (AAS) Open Research – a platform for rapid publication and open peer review for researchers. ✓The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project involves 8 African national partners (South Africa, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia) ✓The Indigenous Knowledge and Climate Change Adaptation Research Project among the Griqua and Nama peoples in South Africa Open Science Initiatives in Africa -Prof Muliaro Wafula Kenya Open Data Instruments Constitution of Kenya, 2010 Article 35, gives citizens the right to access information Access to Information Act 2016 AN ACT of Parliament that gave effect to Article 35 of the Constitution Open Science Initiatives in Africa -Prof Muliaro Wafula JORD Policy Policy to promote ROI, Collaboration, Innovation, Enable Diverse Studies etc Creating Innovative Videos for Learning Mathematics for Primary Schools ODSI: JKUAT To build open data based innovative mobile To encourage scientists to open their research data for public consumption and use. To use open data to offer solutions to societal challenges To engage partners support on the open research data initiative Open Science Initiatives in Africa -Prof Muliaro Wafula Priority ranking of OS issues that contribute to economic and social development in Africa Open Science Initiatives in Africa -Prof Muliaro Wafula Institutions leading practice of OS in Kenya Open Science Initiatives in Africa -Prof Muliaro Wafula Open Educational Resources • OERs in Kenya -most universities are yet to offer educational resources, including teaching, learning, and research materials, openly and for free. • One must be enrolled as a student to access the open learning platforms, which is a barrier for non-students. • AOSP will provide such resources and is looking for partners Open Science Initiatives in Africa -Prof Muliaro Wafula Institutional repositories • Kenya had 32% of repositories in Africa and was preceded by South Africa, 40% (Bezuidenhout et al., 2020). • In Kenya research institutions such as the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) and Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) have repositories where their research publications can be accessed • Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology,, the University of Nairobi (UoN), Kenyatta University, and Africa Nazarene University have institutional repositories and open access resources within their digital Libraries . • In addition to literature repositories, ILRI has an open access data portal where research data can be accessed. AOSP EA node would like to provide such a portal in support for growth of open access data repositories in African Open Science Initiatives in Africa -Prof Muliaro Wafula Adoption of open access publishing by Kenyan authors • the publishing trend in Kenya shows that scholars increasingly opt to publish in open access journals • The shift towards open access publishing is particularly welcome in Africa Open Science Initiatives in Africa -Prof Muliaro Wafula (Ref: Wafula et al, 2019) Open Science Initiatives in Africa -Prof Muliaro Wafula Open Science Initiatives in Africa -Prof Muliaro Wafula Current Project • Development of Data Repository for Decision Making in MoH- National Vaccine and Immunization Program (NVIP) https://kenviphome.jkuat.ac.ke/ ✓ Publish APIs ✓ Issue DOIs ✓ Create FIP Communities ➢Organizing VizAfrica 2024: Nairobi Feb 5-7, 2024 https://datatin.net/vizafricaconference-and-symposiun/ ➢Proposed to host International Symposium on Open Science Clouds (ISOSC) 2024 (Nairobi) Open Science Initiatives in Africa -Prof Muliaro Wafula THANK YOU