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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'>Dear African Colleagues<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'>Africa has a great opportunity to showcase African science (across disciplines) and data during the upcoming International Data Week 2018, to be hosted by Botswana from 5-8 November 2018. Being hosted by Botswana, the conference hopes to be more accessible for African scientists and other key stakeholders. On behalf of the African Open Science Platform project, we are very excited to be part of this international event happening on our continent!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'>The Call to host a Session during the Conference is still open. If you are part of a data intensive research environment, please consider submitting a proposal to host a session at the conference? If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'>The conference theme is “The Digital Frontiers of Global Science”.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'>Sub-themes are:<o:p></o:p></span></p><ul type=disc><li class=MsoNormal style='color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3;background:white'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'>the digital frontiers of global science;<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3;background:white'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'>a global and inclusive data revolution;<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3;background:white'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'>applications, progress and challenges of data intensive research;<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoNormal style='color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3;background:white'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'>data infrastructure and enabling practices for international and collaborative research.<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'>Important Links<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'><a href="http://www.internationaldataweek.org/news/extension-scidatacon-2018-call-session-proposals-new-deadline-19-february">Call for Proposals</a> (submit by 19 Feb. 2018)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:white'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'><a href="https://www.scidatacon.org/IDW2018/">Submit a Session Proposal</a> (of 90 min. Proposal between 300-600 words, incl. proposed speakers)<br>A session can be one of the following: <span style='color:black'><a href="https://www.scidatacon.org/conference/IDW2018/session-types/#research-papers"><span style='color:black;text-decoration:none'>Research Papers</span></a>, <a href="https://www.scidatacon.org/conference/IDW2018/session-types/#practice-papers"><span style='color:black;text-decoration:none'>Practice Papers</span></a>, <a href="https://www.scidatacon.org/conference/IDW2018/session-types/#lightning-talks"><span style='color:black;text-decoration:none'>Lightning Talks</span></a>, <a href="https://www.scidatacon.org/conference/IDW2018/session-types/#mixed-papers-session"><span style='color:black;text-decoration:none'>Mixed Papers Session</span></a>, <a href="https://www.scidatacon.org/conference/IDW2018/session-types/#panel-discussion"><span style='color:black;text-decoration:none'>Panel Discussion</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'>Looking very much forward seeing many African initiatives represented during this event! Many thanks colleagues …<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'>Kind regards<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'>Ina<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>Ina Smith</span></b><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>Project Manager: <a href="http://africanopenscience.org.za/">African Open Science Platform</a> <br>SciELO Planning Manager<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)<br><a href="https://blog.doaj.org/2016/09/07/the-doaj-ambassadors-biographies/">DOAJ Ambassador, Southern Africa Region</a><br><a href="https://loy2016blog.wordpress.com/">LIASA Librarian of the Year 2016</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://orcid.org/"><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#338CAF;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=16 height=16 id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.gif@01D3A040.DC24D9B0" alt="http://orcid.org/sites/default/files/images/orcid_16x16(1).gif"></span></a><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'>  <a href="http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9710-3668">http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9710-3668 </a></span><u><span style='color:#0563C1'><o:p></o:p></span></u></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>Switchboard: +27 12 349 6600    <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>Tel: +27 12 349 6641           <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>Fax: +27 (0) 86 576 9512<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>Email: </span><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'><a href="mailto:ina@assaf.org.za"><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>ina@assaf.org.za</span></a></span><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D'><img border=0 width=184 height=75 id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image004.jpg@01D3A042.CE0E5D90" alt=assafemail></span><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>1st Floor Block A, The Woods, 41 De Havilland Crescent, Persequor Park <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>Meiring Naudé Road, Lynnwood 0020, Pretoria, South Africa. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>PO Box 72135, Lynnwood Ridge 0040, Pretoria, South Africa. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>Website: </span><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif'><a href="http://www.assaf.org.za/"><span style='mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'>www.assaf.org.za</span></a></span><i><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'> </span></i><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>