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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif">Role of NRENs in support of science<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif">National Research Education Networks (NRENs – especially
<a href="https://www.casefornrens.org/Resources_and_Tools/Document_Library/Documents/NREN%20Capability%20Maturity%20Model%20(CMM).pdf">
Level 4</a>) in Africa, are more and more gearing themselves towards offering ICT related services to the research community – also as far as data-intensive research concerns. For data to be FAIR – findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable – it needs
 to be curated using trusted platforms. In addition to curation, access to High Performance Computing (HPC) clusters are required to benefit from services offered through the Cloud and recently, also on the Edge. A great deal can be achieved through coordination
 of resources and investment in shared infrastructure. In 2017 <a href="http://africanopenscience.org.za/?p=545">
AOSP presented a paper and workshop</a> during the UbuntuNet Connect Conference, inviting NRENs to also explore offering data related services. This was followed by an
<a href="http://africanopenscience.org.za/?p=852">AOSP meeting between researchers and NRENs on 14 May 2018</a>, Pretoria, South Africa. AOSP has identified stakeholders consisting of representatives from NRENs and researchers to propose a framework for an
 ICT Infrastructure, towards the sharing of research data, and towards implementing a tangible AOSP during the next phase. The group – under leadership of Prof Benjamin Aribisala – is working on guidelines, guiding both NRENs and governments, to be reviewed
 by experts during Year 3 (2019) of the AOSP project.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif">NRENs, Libraries and Institutional Literature Repositories<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif">During the past
<a href="https://events.ubuntunet.net/event/19/">Libsense Repository Workshop</a>, the
<a href="https://ubuntunet.net/">UbuntuNet Alliance</a> managed to create a platform for librarians (specifically institutional literature repository managers) to engage with technical NREN staff, to see how they can support and collaborate with one another.
 It was a great event, and future collaboration looks promising, depending on commitment from both parties. This a first step towards librarians and NRENs collaborating towards extending and advancing institutional literature repositories, towards federation
 and integration, and towards becoming <a href="https://www.coar-repositories.org/activities/advocacy-leadership/working-group-next-generation-repositories/">
next generation institutional repositories (COAR)</a>. The focus was very much on institutional repositories, but the possibility exists that the repositories can be extended to also address the complexity involved regarding the curation of data sets. Different
 disciplines apply different metadata standards, and the metadata for data sets is far more complex (also captured as part of Research Data Management Plans, more and more required by funders globally). The curation of data sets also a challenge because of
 the Variety, Velocity, Volume and more.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif">From the AOSP landscape study, more than 55 data repositories were identified. Libraries, data scientists and data repository managers are encouraged to work together,
 and to also register data repositories with <a href="https://www.re3data.org/">re3data.org</a>, towards a comprehensive understanding of what is happening on the continent.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif">A parallel meeting with VCs from universities across Africa was hosted by UbuntuNet, discussing ways universities and NRENs can strengthen collaboration towards addressing
 the challenges brought forward by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif">The presentations from the Libsense workshop are available at
<a href="https://events.ubuntunet.net/event/19/">https://events.ubuntunet.net/event/19/</a> Presentations were further guided by the outcomes of the survey at
<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/155fokahpl0tleb/UA%20Interim%20Survey%20Report_Final-20181119.pdf?dl=0">
https://www.dropbox.com/s/155fokahpl0tleb/UA%20Interim%20Survey%20Report_Final-20181119.pdf?dl=0</a>, and also the COAR proposal towards New Generation IRs. See
<a href="https://www.coar-repositories.org/activities/advocacy-leadership/working-group-next-generation-repositories/">
https://www.coar-repositories.org/activities/advocacy-leadership/working-group-next-generation-repositories/</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">Please note:
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">DSpace 7 to be released early next year, including next generation tools.
<a href="https://wiki.duraspace.org/display/DSPACE/DSpace+Release+7.0+Status">https://wiki.duraspace.org/display/DSPACE/DSpace+Release+7.0+Status</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><a href="https://invenio-software.org/blog/invenio-v300-released/">Invenio 3</a> already offers new generation IR tools.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">Kind regards<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">Ina (on behalf of the AOSP Project Team)</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif"> 
</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F4E79"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F4E79"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA">Ina Smith</span></b><span 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: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>
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 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;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="16" height="16" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.gif@01D48570.F6074550" alt="http://orcid.org/sites/default/files/images/orcid_16x16(1).gif"></span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F4E79;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA"> 
<a href="http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9710-3668">http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9710-3668
</a></span><u><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#0563C1;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA"><o:p></o:p></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span 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: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 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 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 style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA">Email:
</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F4E79;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA"><a href="mailto:ina@assaf.org.za">ina@assaf.org.za</a></span><span 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: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;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA"><img border="0" width="184" height="75" id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image002.jpg@01D48570.F6074550" alt="assafemail"></span><span 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: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: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 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 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: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 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" style="line-height:10.5pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA">Website:
</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:#1F4E79;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA"><a href="http://www.assaf.org.za/">www.assaf.org.za</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#1F4E79;mso-fareast-language:EN-ZA"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;mso-fareast-language:EN-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 organisation. Our employees are obliged not to make any defamatory statements, infringe, or authorise infringement of any legal right. Therefore, the organisation will not accept 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.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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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 organisation. Our employees are obliged not to make any defamatory statements, infringe, or authorise infringement
 of any legal right. Therefore, the organisation will not accept 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.
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