AIMS

The Science, Technology & Innovation Strategy for Africa 2024 (STISA-2024). AOSP & AGORA efforts in support of its implementation through facilitation of relevant data access

To effectively and efficiently contribute to the implementation of the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063, the AU Assembly adopted three distinct strategies for advancing education and science, technology and innovation: 

(1) Continental Strategy for Education (CESA-16-25); 

(2) Continental Strategy for Technical and Vocational Education and Training; and 

(3) Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA-2024) approved by African Heads of State in April 2014.

These strategies will also contribute immensely to achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the creation of long-term economic benefits for the continent and beyond.

STISA-2024 priorities for the African research community

Disease prevention & control

Climate resilience (disaster risk)

Environmental protection

(biosphere, hydrosphere)

Food and nutritional security

Smart resilient cities

Sustainability goals

Improved knowledge production (e.g. only about 0.74% of global knowledge is created within Africa)

Improved intra-Africa research collaboration

It is recognised that the long-term success in achieving these priorities will depend upon increased rates of wealth creation in Africa and its states.

In support of STISA-2024 implementation...

THE AFRICAN OPEN SCIENCE PLATFORM 

The African Open Science Platform (AOSP) was launched in 2016 as the Africa-wide initiative to exploit the potential and promote the value of Open Data for Open Science.  By sharing news on Open Science and Open Data-related events, as well as knowledge on the development and coordination of Data Policies, Data Training and Data Infrastructure, - AOSP boosts the impact of Open Data for Science and Society on the African continent and beyond. 

The African Open Science Platform is supported by the South African Department of Science and Technology (DST), funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF), directed by CODATA, the Committee on Data of the International Council for Science (ICSU) and implemented by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf).

The AOSP platform is designed to contribute to STISA-2024 priorities in two ways:

1.) by stimulating the African research enterprise through ready access to a common research-supporting environment that exploits the potentials of a data-intensive era (priorities: Improved knowledge production; Improved intra-Africa research collaboration);

2.) by creating programmes targeted at key priorities, to stimulate pan-African collaboration, facilitation of relevant data access, and provision of high level technical support.

Furthermore, the promotion of deeper engagement with wider society enhances the potential impact of socially relevant programmes as a distinctive attribute of the Open Science approach of the African Platform. ​For more information:

 

AGORA : ONE OF THE FIVE RESEARCH4LIFE PROGRAMMES

The AGORA (Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture) programme - set up in 2003 by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in partnership with Cornell University  and up to 65 of the world’s leading science publishers -  enables low-income countries to gain free or low cost access to an outstanding digital collection in the fields of agriculture, forestry, fisheries, climate, food security, and related sciences. AGORA is just one of the five programmes that form Research4Life (R4L) initiative also including: 

  • HINARI (Access to Research for Health programme)
  • OARE (Online access to research on the Environment)
  • ARDI (Access to Research for Development & Innovation)
  • GOALI (Global Online Access to Legal Information)

Actually, AGORA offers up to 13,700 key journals and 26,900 e-books from some 185 publisher partners providing full-texts to more than 3,400 institutions in more than 115 countries. 

With a focus on improving access to knowledge and its sharing, Research4Life provides access to quality scientific research to deliver knowledge to the world’s poorest countries, including a number of countries in African continent. The concept is simple: research in health, agriculture, law, the environment, innovation and development is better informed when it is based on the most recent, high quality and relevant scientific knowledge.

Users at registered institutions (see: Types of eligible institutions) from Research4Life eligible countries : Group A, Group B, can access to the Research4Life content (see: Using the Research4Life portals). 

To REGISTER with the AGORA programme kindly click here. NOTE: an individual cannot register to R4L. Registration is institutional and restricted to eligibility of the country and type of institution. 

Research4Life is a partnership that functions entirely on the basis of good will. If you have resources that could add value to the development of the Research4Life initiative, please contact: [email protected]

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RELATED:

!!! Free AGORA e-Course February 2019 Edition. Call for Applications - REGISTER NOW! (Deadline for applications: 27 January 2019) !!! 

The Horizon 2020 Work Programmes for 2018 - 2020 were published on 27 October 2017 with the updated version for 2019 published on 24 July 2018. Click here to download updated Work Programmes. IST-Africa has prepared two resources to support engagement with Horizon 2020:

- IST-Africa Introduction to Horizon 2020 is designed to support newcomers to Horizon 2020 to better understand the structure, rules and expectations;

- IST-Africa Guide to 2018 Calls for Proposals in Horizon 2020provides an overview of Calls, themes and deadlines during 2018 within the Marie Curie, eInfrastructures, Leadership in Enabling and Industrial Technologies (LEIT) and each of the Societal Challenges (Health, Food Security and Agriculture, Energy, Transport, Environment, Inclusive and Reflective Societies, Secure Societies) Work Programmes.

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