Multi-actor platform to advocate for open data in Ghana on the way

Group photo after opening session.
Photo: Justin Chisenga

Participants at the Forum on Open Data, Open Science and Open Access in Agriculture in Ghana have agreed to establish a multi-actor platform to advocate for open data in the country.

Initial ground work on the platform, the Ghana Open Data Alliance, has been done by the National Information Technology Agency (NITA). The Forum provided NITA with an opportunity to bring on board several other stakeholders, including the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Ghana National Association of Farmers and Fishermen (GNAFF), and Farm Radio International, among many others.

The participants also agreed that appropriate open data policy framework, capacity development in data management, and data sharing standards, are key to the success of open data and open science in agriculture in the country.

Presentations and discussions at the Forum highlighted key initiatives on open data and open access in the country, concerns and fears, and the challenges being faced. The presentations included the following:

• Open Data and Open Science in Agriculture: Global Trends and Major Initiatives – Mr. Justin Chisenga, Capacity Development Officer, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy.
• Building Capacities for Open Access and Visibility of African Scholarly Work - Experiences from AAU – Ms Nodumo Dhlamini, Director ICT Services & Knowledge Management, Association of African Universities (AAU), Accra.
• FARA and Open Data & Open Science in Agriculture - Mr. Dady Demby, Knowledge Management Officer, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Accra.
• Ghana Open Data in Agriculture  – Mr. Eric Akumiah, Project Manager, Ghana Open Data Initiative, National Information Technology Agency (NITA), Accra. 
• Open Access to Agricultural Research in Ghana - Dr. Joel Sam, Director, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research – Institute for Scientific and Technological Information, Accra.
• Strengthening the Use of ICT for Agriculture, Rural Development and Wealth Creation - Mr. John Awuku Dziwornu, Vice President, Ghana National Association of Farmers and Fishermen, Asutuare, Ghana. 
• Social Innovation and Open Data Nexus Critical for Smallholder Empowerment - Mr. Worlali Senyo, Director of Growth, R & D, Farmerline Ltd, Kumasi.

Speaking at the opening session, Dr Victor Kwame Agyeman, Director-General of the country’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), indicated that the CSIR was committed to open access and would soon implement an open access policy to improve access to its research.

In is opening address, Dr Abebe Haile-Gabriel, Food and Agriculture

Dr Abebe Haile-Gabriel, FAO Representative
to Ghana.  Photo: Justin Chisenga

Organization Representative to Ghana, emphasized the need for governments to put in place enabling environments favourable to open data sharing, and regulations to enforce common standards for collecting, producing, sharing and using open data to ensure that new data is safely and ethically transformed into public goods.

Participants at the forum came from the following institutions, among others:

• National Information Technology Agency
• Ministry of Food and Agriculture
• Ghana National Association of Farmers and Fishermen
• Farm Radio International
• Association of African Universities
• Forum for Agriculture Research in Africa
• University of Ghana College for Basic and Applied Sciences
• CSIR Food Research Institute
• CSIR Water Research Institute
• CSIR Institute for Scientific and Technological Information
• CSIR Science and Technology Policy Research Institute

What remains now is for the participants at the meeting to take the initiative and and establish the platform as soon as possible.

What is the state of open data and open science in agriculture in Ghana?

What is the state of open data and open science in agriculture in Ghana? What are the major initiatives in the country on open access to agricultural data and information? What major challenges are being faced by stakeholders? Which institutions are leading open data and open science initiatives in the country? Do Ghanaian researchers in agriculture support open data and open science and why? Are major research institutions ready to share their research data? How about farmers’ organizations, what is their view about open data and open science in agriculture?

The above and many more questions will be addressed at the Forum on Open Data, Open Science and Open Access to Information in Agriculture in Ghana to be held on 11 July 2016 in Accra.

The goal of the forum is to provide a platform for stakeholders in Ghana to discuss strategies and share knowledge on institutional and national initiatives aimed at enhancing the visibility, accessibility and usability of agricultural data, science and information to enhance their contribution to food security and good nutrition

Participants at the forum will come:

• Ministries of agriculture, science and technology and related fields
• Agricultural and related research organizations
• Universities/schools/faculties of agriculture
• Private sector organizations 
• Farmer organizations
• Media organizations
• Civil society organizations (NGOs) involved in agriculture and rural development

The following organizations are collaborating on organizing the forum:

• Institute for Scientific and Technological Information (INSTI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
• Association of African Universities (AAU)
• Information Training and Outreach Centre for Africa (ITOCA)
• College of Basic and Applied Sciences (CBAS) of the University of Ghana (UG)
• Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
• Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN)
• Research4Life
• CIARD – Open Agricultural Knowledge for Development

A report on the Forum will be published on this blog next week. You can also follow also follow @JustinChisenga quicjk updates from the Forum. Look out for #AgriOpenData.

Access to ICT during training workshops, a lesson from AGORA/TEEAL workshop in Nigeria

Participants at  the AGORA/TEEAL workshop using personal laptops
 and  broadband modems to access online resources

On 18 August 2015, I walked into a meeting room at the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR), Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria. The room was to be the venue for The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library (TEEAL) / Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture (AGORA) Training-of-Trainers Workshop, 18 – 20 August 2015, which required the use of computers connected to the Internet (for AGORA) and local intranet (for TEEAL). The only ICT facilities available in the room were an LCD projector and a laptop belonging to my co-facilitator, Ms Olanyika Fatoki from the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. There were no computers in sight for use by the 35 participants we were expecting to take part in the workshop.

I feared for the worst.

Since 2004, one major challenge that I and colleagues at the Information Training and Outreach Centre for Africa (ITOCA) have experienced, when planning training workshops on using Research4Life electronic resources, has been finding a room or venue with adequate ICT facilities to accommodate the more than 30 participants that usually attend such workshops.  Searching, viewing and retrieving PDF versions of scientific journal articles are a major component of the training AGORA training workshops.

Walking a training room without computers connected to the Internet was not re-assuring at all.

I was wrong and worried for nothing.

On the second day of the workshop, when most of the practical work and exercises on retrieving online resource from AGORA and TEEAL database were scheduled to take place, the training room had 35 participants in attendance and most of them had access to computing devices connected to the Internet.

Most of the participants brought their personal laptops and broadband modems (and wireless broadband routers) to the workshop, and were enthusiastically following the presentations/demonstrations and taking part in practical exercises requiring them to conduct online searches on AGORA. About four participants, who did not have laptops, used their smartphones to access AGORA, conduct searches and retrieve PDF versions of journal articles.

A workshop participant using her smartphone to carry out
practical exercises on AGORA

This development, where individuals have personal access to mobile ICT facilities should also make it relatively easy to organize training workshops requiring the use of ICT facilities. The cost of hiring ICT facilities, and sometimes sophisticated computer rooms, can now be reduced.

This also should have an impact on the provision of digital-based library and information services to users especially in academic institutions. If potential users of scholarly online resources have access to ICTs, potentially allowing them to access digital resources anytime from anywhere, librarians in Africa should re-think their information services’ provision strategies. There is no need to continue focusing on providing digital-based information services to users within the four walls of library buildings.