Post on 24-Dec-2014
description
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African Solutions to African Problems
24 September 2014
Lucia SchoombeeCustomer Consultant: Research Intelligence Solutions
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Navigating the research landscape
Research landscape
Global forces
New modes of research
Socio-economic impetus
Competitive
National agenda
Institution agenda
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Role of the research librarian
Enhance research
productivity
Content
Spaces
ICT& tools
Skilled guidanc
e
Research evaluation
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New service paradigm for research support
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Key success factor in the developing research librarian paradigm
Responsiveness
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“build research universities in an African context”
“pool resources to build specific institutional centres of excellence”
“deliberately encourage collaboration amongst African universities, researchers, academics and scientists”
“Bring about a skills revolution in urban planning, health, education, infrastructural projects, as well as in agriculture and agroprocessing “
“Respond to current challenges and to the rapid transitions following changes in disease patterns, demography, economic and trade policies, climate, agricultural developments, and urbanisation”
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AU Commission Chairperson
Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-ZumaDuring a public
lecture she delivered at the
Universityof Pretoria
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African Solutions for African Problems (ASAP)
• Dates back to 1999-2001
• Former president Thabo Mbeki – NEPAD (New Economic Partnership for Africa’s Development)
• The main objectives: • poverty eradication• sustainable development• Peace, Security, Democraccy• Political Governance
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• The concept of ‘African solutions’ evokes a sense of self-reliance, responsibility, pride, ownership and indigeneity, at once a rallying cry and a neat amalgam of politics, agency and geography
• The precept of ‘African solutions’ often focuses on of regional responsibility for security and peacemaking
• Serves as a call to overcome the continent’s inability to deal decisively with large-scale violent conflicts
Prof Laurie Nathan Director, Centre for Mediation in Africa
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Africa’s challenges
• Security, foreign debt, HIV/AIDS
• Education; energy; Malaria
• Population growth; fossil fuel:
• Urban growth; genocide;
• Unemployment; job creation
• Maritime piracy; diaspora
• Poverty
• Food security
• Climate
The state of research in Africa
African research output and global share of articles. Source: Scopus
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Collaboration
• African countries generally exhibit substantially higher collaboration patterns than other countries in the world, with 29 countries publishing more than 90% of their articles in collaboration with others
Source: Pouris, A., & Ho, Y. S. (2014). Research emphasis and collaboration in Africa. Scientometrics, 98(3), 2169-2184.
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Africa regional collaboration weak
• South Africa, for instance, undertook regional collaboration in respect of only 1,145 or 3.9% of its total five-year publication output. The percentage rises to 29% in the case of Mauritania and 37% in the case of the Lesotho, but a clear majority of African countries reflect levels below 10%.
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Implications
• African research areas are dominated by medical and natural resources fields.
• USA, France and UK largest funders of research in biosciences, with emphasis on medicine and agricultural sciences, in Africa
• collaborative research driven by foreign funding sources, Pouris and Ho suggest that Africa’s science and development might be better served by the creation of regional research and innovation systems
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Encouraging regional collaboration
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SciVal in a nutshell: SciVal offers quick, easy access to the research performance of 220 nations and 4,600 research institutions worldwide, and groups of institutions
Visualize research performance
Benchmark your progress
Develop collaborative partnerships
Ready-made-at a glance snapshots of any selected entity
Flexibility to create and compare any research groups
Identify and analyze existing and potential collaboration opportunities
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The layers of SciVal
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• Scopus data only • 1996 onwards• Weekly update
Using advanced data analytics super-computer technology, SciVal allows you to instantly process an enormous amount of data to generate powerful data visualizations on-demand, in seconds.
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Subject Area: Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
04/10/2023
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Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering – Institutions not yet collaborating
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Match competencies in Africa
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Potential collaboration per institution
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Thank you!Dankie!Enkosi!
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Sources
• Research Trends – Issue 35, December 2013, http://www.researchtrends.com/category/issue-35-december-2013/
• Pouris, A., & Ho, Y. S. (2014). Research emphasis and collaboration in Africa. Scientometrics, 98(3), 2169-2184
• Raju, R., & Schoombee, L. (2013). Research support through the lens of transformation in academic libraries with reference to the case of Stellenbosch University Libraries South African Journal of Library and Information Science, 79(2).