The Association for African Universities (AAU), the Public Library of Science (PLOS), and the Training Centre in Communication (TCC Africa) today announced that they will collaborate to increase awareness and provide training around Open Science practices and Open Access publishing in Africa.
“We are eager to collaborate with PLOS and TCC Africa to improve knowledge about Open Science and increase levels of adoption and practice at member institutions,” said Professor Oyewole, Secretary General of the Association of African Universities. “This partnership will also enable us to identify challenges to Open Science adoption while simultaneously supporting effective implementation. This partnership is another proof of the AAU’s commitment to build the capacity of its members so they infuse internationally acceptable research and data management practices into their operations.”
“We already work closely with PLOS, and we are excited about teaming with AAU,” said Joy Owango, Executive Director, Training Centre in Communication. “All three organizations will play key roles in the communication of, and education in, Open Science practices.”
“This partnership extends our work with TCC Africa and fits perfectly with our mission to work at a local level, within communities, while listening and learning, so that we can understand and reflect local needs and values with regards to Open Science policies and practices,” said Roheena Anand, Executive Director of Global Publishing Development, PLOS. “Our work with AAU and TCC Africa will not just benefit African researchers and institutions, but will also help inform activities on a global scale.”
The objectives of this collaboration will primarily be achieved through capacity-building regional workshops carried out across the continent. The launch of the initiative, on April 26, 2022, will be virtual, and is an invitation to the Presidents, Vice Chancellors, Rectors, Deputy Vice Chancellors,Directors of Research and Libraries of African Universities to inform them of the intent of this collaboration.
The initiative will be supported by the participation of representatives from UNESCO, who will talk about the global Open Science recommendation, and the International Science Council.
All three organizations are heavily invested in an Open future and want to work with stakeholders across the scholarly communication ecosystem of Africa to promote and increase uptake of Open Access and Open Science more broadly.
