Research Data Management,

Information Society & Digital Divide

Stephen M Mutula

University of KwaZulu Natal

Research –ICT-Development Nexus

UN General Assembly Resolution 56/183 (21

December 2001) underlined:

‘the urgent need to harness the potential of

knowledge and technology for promoting the

goals of the UN Millennium Declaration and

find effective and innovative ways to put the

potential at the service of development for

all’ - development and poverty eradication,

democracy and governance, and sustainable

development.

Why Manage Research Data?

Access & accessibility-AL 2 & 3: Access &

accessibility (WSIS AL2 & 3) - Waters

(2008) - 1% access to broadband, results

in 99% opportunity

Return on investment – research drives

economic growth and development. There

is need to provide evidence in order to

convince governments to invest in R&D

Ethics/information ethics – WSIS AL 10:

privacy, trust, confidentiality, integrity &

accuracy, property rights, physical and

network security

Enormous Amount of Research Data

Production

Microsoft Technet (2012) estimates that the

US generates 30 bn documents each year of

which:

85% are never retrieved

50% are duplicated

60% are obsolete without being used

Moreover for US$1 a company spends to

create a document, US$10 are used to

manage document creation process

Complexity of Research Process (The Onion

Analogy, Saunders 2006)

Responsibilities in Research Data

Management

Researchers – to create data

Principal investigators -design research

Support staff -to manage and administer

research

Institutional IT services

Data archives and centres

Open access services

National Archives hold data as public

records.

CSFs in Managing Research Data

Explicit public policy to reinforce and

ensure research receive adequate

investment from both private and public

sectors for infrastructure development in

the form of laboratories, equipment,

libraries, and curatorial services

Quality and relevance of research output

Recommendations & Actions

Research Capacity: availability of research

facilities, and availability of trained human

resources capable of doing research

Research Infrastructure: optimisation of

resources available to enhance quality of

research

Research Utility: relevance of the research

outcomes to national development agenda

or priorities

VRE - to help researchers in all disciplines

manage the increasingly complex range of

tasks involved in carrying out research.