Data Infrastructure & Research Strategy Priorities in Africa

Ms Nodumo Dhlamini

Director – ICT Services & Knowledge Management

Association of African Universities

Presentation Outline

About AAU

The Data Infrastructure Picture from the AAU Angle

Data Infrastructure Initiatives that AAU is involved in

How AAU support research capacity development

Data Infrastructure & Research Strategy Priorities in Africa

About the Association of African Universities

Established as an International NGO on 12th November 1967 in Rabat, Morocco

Created by representatives of 34 African Universities

Apex H.E. organization in Africa and principal forum for consultation, exchange of information and cooperation among universities in Africa

Headquarters permanently located in Accra under a Headquarters Agreement between Govt of Ghana & AAU

Supports improvement of the quality of higher education in Africa

Currently 380 member universities

AAU Programs align to Continental & Global Agenda

Agenda 2063: http://tinyurl.com/jhf59fn Continental Education Strategy (16-25):

http://tinyurl.com/j3q7dr8 Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for

Africa 2024: http://tinyurl.com/ho89xyc Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa:

http://tinyurl.com/js29rrn Strategy for the Harmonisation of Statistics in

Africa: http://tinyurl.com/j56hklf Sustainable Agenda 2030:

http://tinyurl.com/od9mens

Data Infrastructure Building Blocks

Policies – institutional, national, regional, continental

Digital (e-infrastructure) – software, hardware, protocols – for data collection, analysis, sharing, use and visualization

Empowers researchers with online access facilities, resources and tools for collaboration

Powerful ICT tools and platforms for computing, connectivity, data storage and access to virtual research environments

The state of data infrastructure & research quality in Africa

Inadequate data infrastructure

Inadequate research quality (not enough research being done, irrelevant research, limited research dissemination)

Challenges mentioned by Professor Devika

Iceberg mentioned by Professor Boulton

Traditional big players in data in Africa – World Bank, UNESCO. National Statistics offices struggling to catch up

High demand for data from African universities and from the Association of African Universities (capacities, research funding, indicators tracked by continental agendas, etc)

Data Infrastructure Initiatives AAU involved in

National Research & Education Networks (NRENs) – goal to improve internet access for teaching, learning, research and collaboration

UbuntuNet Alliance

West and Central African Research and Education Network (WACREN)

Arab States Research and Education Network (ASREN)

Database of African Theses and Dissertations – currently being revamped in collaboration with the Academy of Science of South Africa

AfricaConnect2 – EU Africa Partnership – supports the development of high capacity NRENs and RRENs (Regional Research & Education Networks) in Africa. Also sets up connections to the pan European GEANT Network. Provides African research communities with opportunities for global collaborations through e-infrastructure

Worked with the International Association of Universities to collect data on African Universities (Lessons: incentives for universities to provide data; flexible systems to allow evolving data needs, IPR)

Other Data Infrastructure Initiatives in Africa

African Development Bank (AFDB) Open Data Initiative –boosting access to quality data necessary for monitoring development results in African Countries: http://www.afdb.org/en/knowledge/statistics/data-portal/

Educational Management Information Systems (EMIS) Project – led by the African Union Commission and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA): http://www.adeanet.org/adea/downloadcenter/sta_06_surveyrep.pdf.pdf

Ghana Open Data Initiative (GODI): http://data.gov.gh/

AAU Supports Research Capacity Development in Africa

World Bank Supported African Higher Education Centers of Excellence

Africa Center of Excellence for Data Science at the College of Business and Economics, University of Rwanda

Partnership for Skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (PASET) – African Governments have established the Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund to train 10,000 PhDs

Pan African University

Commissioned Research – relevant to Africa’s development

Data Infrastructure & Research Priorities in Africa - I

Must be aligned to support

The Agenda 2063 of the African Union

Feed Africa

Light up and power Africa

Industrialize Africa

Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa

Integrate Africa

Provision of data to monitor the development results in African countries (SDGs and other global agendas)

Fostering of evidence-based decision making

Public Accountability

Good Governance

Showing the impact of African higher education and research

Data Infrastructure & Research Priorities in Africa - II

Must

Build and integrate institutional, national, regional and continental Management Information Systems for data collection, analysis, sharing, use and visualization – through agreed norms and standards

Strengthen institutional and national research repositories

Support capacity building – for data skills and data policy formulation & implementation

Support implementation of protocols and procedures that facilitate coherence, collaboration and usability

Support collaboration so we don’t re-invent the wheel – but benefit from data re-use

Support National Research and Education Networks

CONCLUSION

The Association of African Universities is eager to continue collaborating to support the development of open data infrastructure for increased research quality, learning and evidence-based decision making