Emmanuel Boakye; Faith Musvipwa; Rissy M. Wesonga; Marion Nyaboke Nyamari; Oluwaseun Adeolu Ogundijo; and Dine Roseline Dzekem
Ghana
AREN, an African community-led initiative, is dedicated to equipping African researchers for the evolving global requirements of open and reproducible research. The initiative aims to cultivate a dynamic community of open science practitioners who will significantly contribute to the advocacy, adoption, and infrastructural development of open science across the continent. Over the next 12 months, AREN plans to conduct online and in-person training sessions on various open science topics, including reproducible research, open access, open data, and preprints.
A primary goal is to create and nurture an active community of open science advocates and experts, representing over 10 countries and 20 research institutions across Africa within the next year. Additionally, the initiative seeks to establish at least five national and institutional reproducibility networks within the next two years.
AREN's strategy involves training open science experts and advocates who will serve as catalysts for establishing local open science communities of practice in their respective countries and institutions. This includes organizing training and workshops for practical applications of open science concepts, implementing train-the-trainer and ambassador programs, and facilitating the formation of reproducibility networks. The initiative also plans to organize open science hackathons to promote the development of essential open science infrastructure.