[IRTalk] Reliable ICT Infrastructure a condition for research data sharing – African NRENs to play an important role

[Jean Ganglo]

Dear Ina,

I thank you very much for the report and your intensive activities

My best regards,

Yours sincerely

Jean



2018-05-16 19:20 UTC+02:00, Ina Smith <Ina at assaf.org.za>:
> Whether it will be called a guideline, a roadmap or a framework – all
> participants during the AOSP ICT Infrastructure
> meeting<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NSv2KLWysln0aVSbw49G2YZsFK0R2jOM/view?usp=sharing>
> held on 14 May 2018 in Pretoria, South Africa were in agreement that a
> document guiding African countries in preparing ICT infrastructures in
> support of research data sharing, will be of benefit to all. The one day
> meeting brought together key stakeholders. African regional NRENs (National
> Research Education Networks) attendees included Dr Pascal Hoba (Chief
> Executive Officer, UbuntuNet Alliance), Dr Ousmane Moussa Tessa (Chief
> Executive Officer, NigerREN  & member of the WACREN Board, on behalf of Dr
> Boubakar Barry (Executive Director, WACREN), Dr Yousef Torman (Managing
> Director, ASREN) and Dr Leon Staphorst (Executive Director, SANRen).
>
> The objective of this meeting was to help NRENs better understand the needs
> experienced by collaborative data intensive research projects, and for NRENs
> to consider future service delivery in support of research data. The three
> projects represented included H3ABioNet<https://h3abionet.org/> (Prof Nicky
> Mulder, Head: Computational Biology, UCT & Lead: H3ABioNet),
> GBIF<https://www.gbif.org/> (Dr Mélianie Raymond, Senior Programme Officer
> for Node Development, GBIF Secretariat) and Dr Jasper Horrell (representing
> the Square Kilometre Array Organisation<https://www.skatelescope.org/>,
> SA).
>
> The GBIF<https://www.gbif.org/> Integrated Publishing
> Toolkit<https://www.gbif.org/ipt> (IPT) is a free open source software tool
> used to publish and share biodiversity datasets through the GBIF network.
> The IPT can also be configured with either a DataCite or EZID account in
> order to assign DOIs to datasets transforming it into a data repository. Dr
> Raymond during her
> presentation<https://www.slideshare.net/AfricanOpenSciencePl/introduction-to-gbif-for-the-african-open-science-platformmelianie-raymond>
> indicated that more portals, laptops/workstations and IPT installations for
> selected nodes are required to enhance the sharing and visibility of
> biodiversity data. Capacity building needs include training of researchers,
> students, lecturers and more in digitization, data cleaning, data
> publishing, and data analysis, towards more relevant and sustainable data
> use in support of decision making concerning biodiversity conservation.
>
> H3ABioNet<https://h3abionet.org/> provides support for the H3Africa Human,
> Heredity & Health in Africa Consortium, which focuses on the study of
> genomics and environmental determinants of common diseases, with the goal of
> improving the health of African populations. Prof Mulder shared the
> limitations<https://www.slideshare.net/AfricanOpenSciencePl/research-infrastructures-h3abionet-case-studynicola-mulder>
> that apply when sharing human data, and the importance of protecting the
> rights and privacy of human subjects when participating in research studies.
> The project follows a well-established workflow using open source software
> tools, at the same time having policies built into the various stages of
> working with the data. As with biodiversity, skills need to be constantly
> developed, and infrastructure needs to be maintained and upgraded. A
> challenge faced by funded projects is that collected data needs to be
> curated when projects come to an end, and it is for governments to discuss
> as to whether data is regarded as a national asset, and who will fund the
> long-term curation of the data.
>
> According to Dr Jasper
> Horrell<https://www.slideshare.net/AfricanOpenSciencePl/data-infrastructure-development-for-skajasper-horrell>
> from the Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy (IDiA), key
> science on the SKA will be achieved by large-scale survey programs executed
> by globally distributed teams of researchers and through creating massive
> data. A cloud computing system that utilizes the OpenStack Infrastructure as
> a Service framework has been established by IDiA.
> OpenStack<https://www.openstack.org/software/> is a cloud operating system
> that controls large pools of compute, storage, and networking resources
> throughout a datacenter, all managed through a dashboard that gives
> administrators control while empowering their users to provision resources
> through a web interface. This ideal for the large amounts of data that is
> expected to be collected through the telescopes.
>
> Regional NRENs represented indicated that they are in full support of
> working with AOSP on developing and populating a framework as part of
> service delivery to their research communities, and to also invite national
> NRENs in their respective regions to explore opportunities. Important
> elements to be included in such a document have been identified, and the
> group will continue as a working group, building on what is already in place
> through the SADC Cyberinfrastructure Framework, of which an overview was
> provided by Prof Colin
> Wright<https://www.slideshare.net/AfricanOpenSciencePl/reflections-on-sadc-cyberinfrastructure-frameworkcolin-wright>.
> This framework was approved by SADC ministers in June 2016, and the next
> step would be to revisit the existing framework and to adapt – where needed
> – for the whole of Africa, with input from key stakeholders across Africa.
> It was also clear that - through possible partnerships and lessons learned
> from KENET<https://www.kenet.or.ke/>,
> Ilifu<http://www.researchsupport.uct.ac.za/ilifu>,
> DIRISA<https://www.dirisa.ac.za/>, Sci-GaIA<http://www.sci-gaia.eu/> and
> more, the design, development and implementation of ICT infrastructures in
> support of data sharing and curation can become a reality – sooner than
> later.
>
> The AOSP ICT Infrastructure Framework will be tested during various stages
> and across different domains, before it will be finalized to be shared with
> African countries interested in advancing the sharing and responsible
> management of data.
>
> Also view the following presentations:
> The African Open Science
> Platform<https://www.slideshare.net/AfricanOpenSciencePl/the-african-open-science-platformsusan-veldsman-97057160>/Susan
> Veldsman
> Framework and Roadmap towards an Open Science
> Infrastructure<https://www.dropbox.com/s/crx06lnjm5lsthv/18-05-14-HODSON-AOSP%20FRAMEWORK%20AND%20ROADMAP%20FOR%20OPEN%20SCIENCE%20INFRASTRUCTURE-REDACTED.pptx?dl=0>/Simon
> Hodson
>
>
> Ina Smith
> Project Manager: African Open Science
> Platform<http://africanopenscience.org.za/>
> Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)
> DOAJ Ambassador, Southern Africa
> Region<https://blog.doaj.org/2016/09/07/the-doaj-ambassadors-biographies/>
> LIASA Librarian of the Year 2016<https://loy2016blog.wordpress.com/>
>
> [http://orcid.org/sites/default/files/images/orcid_16x16(1).gif]<http://orcid.org/>
>  http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9710-3668
>
> Switchboard: +27 12 349 6600
> Tel: +27 12 349 6641
> Fax: +27 (0) 86 576 9512
> Email: ina at assaf.org.za<mailto:ina at assaf.org.za>
>
> [assafemail]
>
> 1st Floor Block A, The Woods, 41 De Havilland Crescent, Persequor Park
> Meiring Naudé Road, Lynnwood 0020, Pretoria, South Africa.
>
> PO Box 72135, Lynnwood Ridge 0040, Pretoria, South Africa.
>
> Website: www.assaf.org.za<http://www.assaf.org.za/>
>
> ASSAf Disclaimer: The views and opinions included in this email belong to
> their author and do not necessarily mirror the views and opinions of the
> company. Our employees are obliged not to make any defamatory clauses,
> infringe, or authorize infringement of any legal right. Therefore, the
> company will not take any liability for such statements included in emails.
> In case of any damages or other liabilities arising, employees are fully
> responsible for the content of their emails.
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "African Open Science Platform" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email to african-open-science-platform+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
> To post to this group, send email to
> african-open-science-platform at googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion on the web visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/african-open-science-platform/DB5PR0401MB22159502D961FE96EF0035FB9B920%40DB5PR0401MB2215.eurprd04.prod.outlook.com.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
>


-- 
Jean C. GANGLO
Professor of Forestry and Plant sociology.
Director of the Laboratory of Forest Sciences.
Faculty of Agricultural Sciences
University of Abomey-Calavi (Benin)
Node Manager of GBIF in Benin.
BP 1493 Calavi, Benin
E-mail: ganglocj at gmail.com
Tel: 00229 66 36 37 70 / 00229 94 57 89 15
Skype: ganglocossi

-- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "African Open Science Platform" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to african-open-science-platform+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to african-open-science-platform at googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/african-open-science-platform/CADM3wFXHbA20%2BAJ75aHE%2By7u-%2BEkaKjoU3F6SJO6ceE2Vuyt2Q%40mail.gmail.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.