High Level Expert Meeting on Open Science Principles and Principles and Practices in ECOWAS Partner States

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in collaboration with Training Centre in Communication (TCC Africa) and Public Library of Science (PLOS) convened a High-Level Expert Meeting to advance the principles and practices of Open Science across its member states. The two-day virtual event, held from the 15th  of September 2023, brought together policymakers, researchers, and international partners to discuss the implementation of Open Science for enhanced research collaboration, innovation, and socio-economic development in West Africa.

Open Science is crucial for increasing access to scientific information, reducing research duplication, and fostering innovation across the region. It promotes more transparent, inclusive, and equitable research practices, especially in Africa, where greater collaboration can unlock new opportunities for knowledge transfer and regional integration. Improving access to Open Data and Open access research can accelerate development, as well as reduce and address shared challenges for African Countries, collaboration among ECOWAS member states is essential in achieving these goals.

The joint efforts of governments, research institutions, and international partners will be key to implementing Open Science policies, building research capacity, and creating a framework for sustainable development. Through working together, the region can increase visibility for African research and ensure that scientific outputs are widely accessible and fostering innovation that can directly benefit the continent’s economic and social growth

The meeting featured key speakers including:

• Joy Owango, Executive Director of TCC Africa
• Prof. Abdoulaye MAGA, Director of Education, Science, and Culture at ECOWAS (representing Prof. Fatou Sow SARR, Commissioner for Human Development and Social Affairs)
• Dr. Roland Kouakou, Head of Division for Science and Technology at ECOWAS
• Dr. Sylvance Okoth, Executive Secretary of the East African Science & Technology Commission
• Dr. Enang E. Moma, National Professional Officer at UNESCO
• Prof. Rhoda Wanyenze, Board Member of the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)
• Ms. Roheena Anand, Executive Director of Global Publishing Development at PLOS
• Dr. Tshiamo Motshegwa, Executive Director of the African Open Science Platform

The event concluded with a call for enhanced collaboration and a commitment to implementing Open Science policies throughout the ECOWAS region to promote research visibility, capacity building, and economic development.

More about the organizers

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/

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) 

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as CEDEAO in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of fifteen countries of West Africa. Considered one of the pillar regional blocs of the continent-wide African Economic Community (AEC), the stated goal of ECOWAS is to achieve “collective self-sufficiency” for its member states by creating a single large trade bloc by building a full economic and trading union.

For more information, visit https://www.ecowas.int/