The Government of Tanzania through COTUL, TCU Tanzania and COSTECH invited their higher education leaders and policy makers for a high level national Open Science Policy Dialogue.
Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania- Higher Education stakeholders in Tanzania gathered for the National Open Science dialogue, which was held on 15th February 2023. This is the first of a series of national-level conversations on Open Science after the initial regional meeting with East African Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO) where it was made clear that national conversations on Open Science are imperative as the messaging will be included in the regional STI policy.
The objectives of this multi-sectoral meeting were:
Recognize the challenges that exist in the implementation of open science
Define the next steps for implementing Tanzania’s national open science initiative.
Meet the speakers
Joy Owango - Executive Director, TCC Africa
Dr. Sylvance Okoth- Executive Secteraty, East African Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO)
Dr. Sydney Msonde- Chairperson, Consortium of Tanzania University and Research Libraries (COTUL)
Dr. Philbert Luhunga- Chief Research Officer at the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH)
Roheena Anand- Executive Director for Global Publishing Development, PLOS
Ana Persic- acting Chief of section for Science Policy and Partnerships at the Division of Science Policy and Capacity, UNESCO
The following documents contain the resulting remarks from the participants on :
Actionable steps to implement Open Science Mandates_ Tanzania Dialogue
“We will continue to implement Open Science practices in Tanzania and we are willing to address the unforeseeable challenges that would arise from it.
It is in this spirit we as the representative of policy actors from the United Republic of Tanzania continue to support the implementation of Open Science with leadership from the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH)”
East African Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO)
EASTECO was established as a semi-autonomous institution of the EAC by the 5th Extra-ordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State held on 18th June 2007, in accordance with Chapter 16, Article 103 (a) of the Treaty on the Establishment of the East African Community, where the Partner States undertook to promote cooperation in the development of Science & Technology within the Community. For more information, visit https://easteco.org/
Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH)
The Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology is a parastatal organization affiliated with the government of Tanzania. It was created by an Act of the National Assembly of Tanzania in 1986 as a successor to the Tanzania National Scientific Research Council. For more information, visit https://costech.or.tz/
Consortium of Tanzania University and Research Libraries (COTUL)
The Consortium of Tanzania University and Research Libraries (COTUL) is a formal association of academic and research institutions for the purpose of engaging in joint information provision activities particularly; Acquisition of electronic information sources, Research, Training, Consultancy and others deemed critical in the attainment of academic excellence in learning, teaching and research in academic institutions. For more information, visit https://cotul.or.tz/
Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU)
The Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU) is a body corporate established on 1st July 2005, under the Universities Act 2005 (Chapter 346 of the Laws of Tanzania) with mandate to recognize, approve, register and accredit Universities operating in Tanzania, and local or foreign University level programs being offered by registered higher education institutions. It also coordinates the proper functioning of all university institutions in Tanzania so as to foster a harmonized higher education system in the country. For more information, visit https://www.tcu.go.tz/
Public Library of Science (PLOS)
PLOS is a nonprofit, open-access publisher empowering researchers to accelerate progress in science and medicine by leading a transformation in research communication. Since our founding in 2001, PLOS journals have helped break boundaries in research communication to provide more opportunities, choice, and context for researchers and readers. For more information, visit http://www.plos.org.
Training Centre in Communication (TCC Africa)
The Training Centre in Communication (TCC Africa) is the first African-based training center to teach effective communication skills to scientists. TCC Africa is an award winning Trust, established as a non-profit entity in 2006 and is registered in Kenya. TCC Africa provides capacity support in improving researchers output and visibility through training in scholarly and science communication. For more information, visit https://www.tcc-africa.org/
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0)
