African Open Science Platform

African Open Science Platform
Name	African Open Science Platform
Founded	2015
Location	Cape Town, South Africa
Region served	Africa
Focus	Open science, research infrastructure, data sharing

African Open Science Platform

The African Open Science Platform was established as a continent-wide initiative to promote open science practices, strengthen research data management capacity, and create interoperable research infrastructure across Africa. It seeks to connect researchers, institutions, and funders to enable FAIR data principles and enhanced reproducibility in fields ranging from public health and agriculture to climate change and biodiversity. The platform aligns with regional strategies from entities such as the African Union and international frameworks like the European Open Science Cloud.

Overview and Objectives

The initiative's objectives include advancing open access to scholarly outputs, building research networks across universities such as the University of Cape Town and the University of Nairobi, and supporting national research agencies including the National Research Foundation (South Africa) and the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology. It emphasizes capacity building through training with partners like the International Science Council and the Committee on Data (CODATA), fostering alignment with policy instruments such as the African Research and Education Network guidelines and the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. The platform works to integrate repositories like the South African National Research Network and regional data centers such as the West and Central African Research Network.

History and Development

The concept emerged from dialogues involving the African Union Commission, the Global Research Council, and continental research organizations during the mid-2010s, building on precedents set by initiatives like the Committee on Data for Science and Technology and the World Data System. Pilot phases involved collaborations with national bodies including the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa and research infrastructures associated with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (South Africa). Key milestones include workshops held in Addis Ababa and Nairobi, reports commissioned by the International Development Research Centre, and alignment discussions with the Research Data Alliance and the African Academy of Sciences.

Governance and Funding

Governance has combined university consortia, continental bodies such as the African Academy of Sciences, and international funders including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the European Commission. Advisory roles have been filled by representatives from institutions like the University of Ghana, the University of Ibadan, and the Stellenbosch University, with technical input from organizations including the South African Centre for High Performance Computing and the National Institutes of Health. Funding models have included grants from the Global Challenges Research Fund, contributions from regional development banks like the African Development Bank, and partnerships with multilateral agencies such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Infrastructure and Services

Services promoted by the platform include interoperable data repositories compatible with protocols endorsed by the Research Data Alliance and metadata standards advocated by the International Council for Science. Infrastructure components span cloud services deployed in collaboration with providers used by institutions such as the Makerere University data center and hardware hosted at national facilities like the Kenya Data Centre. Training and tools have been developed with partners including SciELO, African Journals Online, and capacity-builders such as Data Carpentry and Software Carpentry, enabling scholars from institutions like Cairo University and the University of Lagos to adopt best practices.

Major Projects and Initiatives

Notable initiatives linked to the platform include continent-wide data harmonization projects addressing epidemiology datasets shared among the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, the South African Medical Research Council, and the Kenya Medical Research Institute. Agricultural data efforts involved collaborations with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and the Africa Rice Center, while biodiversity and conservation projects engaged the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and the Southern African Development Community research programs. Digital scholarship projects have connected to repositories such as the Digital Library of Africa and training initiatives from the African Virtual University.

Partnerships and Collaborations

The platform has worked with a wide array of partners including regional networks like the Association of African Universities, philanthropic funders such as the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and technical bodies like the African Network of Scientific and Technical Institutions. International collaborations have included the European Commission Horizon 2020 programs, the Global Biodata Coalition, and bilateral research partnerships with institutions such as Imperial College London, Harvard University, and the French National Centre for Scientific Research. Multisectoral engagement brought in stakeholders from the private sector such as cloud providers used by the African Advanced Level Telecommunications Institute and publishers including PLOS.

Impact, Challenges, and Future Directions

The platform has contributed to increased visibility of African research through integration with indexing efforts like Scopus and Web of Science, enhanced data stewardship at universities including University of Pretoria, and stimulated policy dialogues within the African Union Commission and national ministries in Ethiopia and Rwanda. Persistent challenges include disparities in broadband access across regions serviced by Research and Education Networks, heterogeneity of legal frameworks exemplified by differing data protection laws in South Africa and Kenya, and sustainability of funding beyond grants from organizations such as the Wellcome Trust and the European Commission. Future directions emphasize federated architectures aligned with the European Open Science Cloud, expanded engagement with the African Continental Free Trade Area for research mobility, and deeper ties to capacity initiatives led by the African Development Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

Category:Open science Category:Scientific organizations based in Africa