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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).