Feature Episode: Regional Open Science Dialogue in Southern Africa Day 2 Part 1

Mazungumzo - African Scholarly Conversations

This episode features highlights from the two-day Southern Africa Regional Open Science Dialogue held at the University of Pretoria in April 2023. This engagement brought together higher education stakeholders from Southern Africa who explored key themes over the two days, such as rethinking research assessment and incentivization in academia, with the aim to foster the adoption of Open Science and Open Access principles within the region.

Episode Highlights:

(00:02:12) Participants were greeted by Ms. Joy Owango, the executive director of the Training Center in Communication, as they convened to discuss Open Science infrastructure and Open Data. The session focused on regional and national perspectives regarding the support of higher education through Open Science Infrastructure.

(00:04:14) Dr. Peggy Boateng from the African Academy of Sciences initiates the discussion by outlining the Academy's mission and programs designed to advance Science, Technology, and Innovation for sustainable development in Africa. She underscores the Academy's commitment to promoting UNESCO's open science principles and highlights the positive impact they anticipate it will have on the region and continent. Dr. Peggy passionately advocates for the adoption of UNESCO's open science framework to establish an African Open Science Platform, benefiting researchers, particularly women, and fostering innovation and progress.

(00: 22:18) Professor Ramos Ismael discusses open science and university rankings. He explores how open science practices contribute to a university's competitiveness and visibility, ultimately affecting its performance compared to other universities. He argues and explains that research assessment has been traditionally conducted and that the competitive ranking of universities is working against open science.

The workshop is part of an ongoing series of high-level Open Science dialogue workshops targeting institutional leadership in AAU member regions and universities with the objective of raising knowledge and awareness on the importance and best practice of Open Science and Open Access, and increase the number of Open Science mandates within higher education institutions.

The Southern Africa Regional Open Science Dialogue was a collaborative effort by ⁠⁠⁠TCC Africa⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Public Library of Science (PLOS)⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Association of African Universities (AAU)⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠Africa Open Science Platform (AOSP)⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠ University of Pretoria⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠University of Cape Town⁠⁠⁠.

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Owango, J., Kupe, T., Mchunu, N., Wanyenze, R., Veldsman, S., Shahungu, M., … Nxomani, C. (2023). Regional Open Science Dialogue in Southern Africa. TCC Africa. Retrieved from https://tccafrica.pubpub.org/pub/hqzpi08k