Investing in open Data Ecosystem in Agriculture: connecting research stakeholders with data (IDEA)
Funding Area: Critical shared infrastructure / Infraestructura compartida critica
Problem Statement: In Tanzania, agricultural research data holds significant potential for resource optimization, collaboration, visibility, and scientific progress. However, it remains scattered and inaccessible, hindering its utilization. Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) faces this challenge, with valuable data trapped in individual desktops and institutional silos due to the lack of open science policies, guidelines, and infrastructure. To address these issues, a project proposes establishing an open data repository at SUA following the FAIR principles. This repository will provide access to diverse agricultural research outcomes and foster collaboration among stakeholders, both nationally and globally. Implementation of open data policies will empower researchers, policy makers, media, and the public to utilize the data effectively, promoting evidence-based decision-making and enhancing public awareness. The project's focus on open science practices aims to break barriers to data accessibility, unlocking the full potential of agricultural research data. By fostering collaboration and research impact, the initiative strives to contribute to the global research community and revolutionize Tanzania's agricultural research landscape.
Proposed Activities: The project will be implemented through several activities which will be implemented as follows 1. Stakeholder Engagement and Needs Assessment: Engage with researchers, policymakers, university administrators, and data users to understand data needs and challenges in agricultural research. Conduct a comprehensive needs assessment to identify priority research areas and data types requiring open access and collaboration. Analyse existing data management practices to identify gaps and improvement opportunities (Timeline: 2 month) 2. Development of Open Data Policies and Guidelines: Collaborate with stakeholders to create comprehensive open data policies aligned with FAIR principles. Address data sharing, metadata standards, licensing, privacy, and repository requirements. Review national and international open science frameworks to inform policy development (Timeline: 3 months) 3. Setup for Open Data Repository: Establish a dedicated server and data repository infrastructure for secure data hosting. Customize the repository to support data storage, metadata creation, and retrieval. Integrate the repository with existing institutional systems like SUA Institutional Repository (SUAIR) (Timeline: 3 months) 4. Capacity Building and Training Workshops: Organize workshops to promote open science principles among researchers and staff. Conduct training on data management, sharing, preservation, and FAIR data principles. Train researchers on using the open data repository and metadata creation. Timeline: Ongoing (throughout the project) 5. Data Cataloging and Ingestion: Ensure metadata standards compliance for discoverability and accessibility. Develop data ingestion workflows for researchers to contribute new data to the repository (Timeline: 6 months) 6. Policy Implementation and Monitoring: Implement open data policies across the university. Establish a governance structure for policy compliance and data access monitoring. Regularly review and update policies based on feedback and evolving practices (Timeline: Ongoing-throughout the project and beyond). 7. Public Awareness and Promotion: Launch public awareness events for the open data repository, importance of open data for agricultural research and society (Timeline: Ongoing-throughout the project and beyond) 8. Evaluation and Impact Assessment: Conduct periodic evaluations to assess the repository's effectiveness and policy implementation. (Timeline: Ongoing-throughout the project and beyond) Expertise required-Project management team, data analysts, legal experts, policy analysts, IT specialists, training facilitators, data curators, communication specialists, governance committee Resources Required-Funding (infrastructure, workshops, public awareness and promotion, and evaluations). Collaboration with open science initiatives and institutional support.
Openness: This project incorporates multiple elements to creates a transparent, collaborative ecosystem and engaging a broader community to advance agricultural research and innovation. Openness of the infrastructure • Open Data Repository: A dedicated data repository adhering to FAIR principles will be established, openly accessible to researchers, policymakers, and the public. • Open Data Policies: Open data policies and guidelines that outlines data sharing re-quirements, licensing, and privacy will be collaboratively developed with stakehold-ers and will be openly accessible to all. Activities to engage a broader community • Stakeholder Engagement: An inclusive approach involves researchers, policymakers, and data users from diverse domains. This fosters transparency and encourages broader participation in shaping the project's outcomes. • Capacity Building: Workshops and training sessions promote open science princi-ples and empower researchers to adopt FAIR data practices to engage with the open data repository. • Collaboration: The project will collaborate with national and international open sci-ence initiatives, exchanging knowledge and best practices, fostering a global open data community. Open Sharing of Project Output • Research findings, policy documents, and workshop materials will be openly shared. The open data repository will host openly accessible datasets, with comprehensive documentation and metadata to ensure data discovery and reuse.
Challenges: This project anticipates the following challenges i. Data Privacy & Security Concerns: Balancing open access with data privacy requires robust anonymization and encryption. ii. Data Quality & Standardization: Variability in data formats and quality may hinder curation and cataloging in the repository. iii. Technical Infrastructure & Maintenance: Establishing and sustaining the repository demands technical expertise and resources. iv. Policy Implementation & Compliance: Enforcing open data policies and promoting compliance may encounter obstacles. v. Data Sharing Incentives: Encouraging researchers to share data openly necessitates providing recognition and incentives. vi. Sustaining Stakeholder Engagement: Ensuring continuous collaboration throughout the project duration poses challenges. vii. Open Data Licensing & Intellectual Property: Addressing licensing and IP concerns, especially in collaborations, can be complex. viii. Data Interoperability: Ensuring seamless integration and sharing of diverse data sources may require addressing interoperability challenges. Despite these challenges, addressing them with proactive planning, stakeholder engagement, empowering researchers and continuous improvement can contribute to a successful implementation of the proposed open data project, fostering openness and collaboration in agricultural research.
Neglectedness: There are other potential funding sources for this work. SUA has been involved in previous initiatives, such as "Enhancing Pro-Poor Innovations in Natural Resources and Agriculture Value Chains (EPINAV)" and "Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation, and Mitigation (CCIAM) Programme," jointly funded by the Government of Tanzania and Norway. These projects established institutional repositories (SUAIR and TACCIRE) for research publications and climate change information. SUA utilized internal funds to create the "Mkulima repository" for sharing e-booklets with farmers. The National Open Data Initiative for Biodiversity, funded by Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology and GBIF, led to the establishment of Tanzania Biodiversity Information Facility (TanBIF). Researchers from SUA already publish data on Zenodo due to infrastructure limitations. Request for funding research data server was submitted to The Higher Education for Economic Transformation (HEET) project-SUA. Seeking additional funding from governmental, international, and private sources can further support the open data project and enhance data accessibility for a broader community.
Success: The success for the proposed project can be measured by: 1.Data Accessibility: Number of datasets accessible in the open repository. 2. Repository Visibility and Usage: Downloads, views, citations, user engagement and recognition of research outputs from the repository. 3. Policy Adoption and compliance: Adoption rate and adherence to open data by researchers and institution. 4. Stakeholder Engagement: Level of active participation from researchers, policymakers, and other stakeholders 5. Data Reusability: Measure of data reuse in new research. 6. Research Collaboration: Number of collaborations facilitated through data sharing. 7. Public Awareness: Reach and effectiveness of awareness campaigns. 8. Data Quality: Assessment of dataset quality and standards. 9. Impact on Agriculture: Contribution to improved agricultural practices and policies. 10. Include data repository into the organisation (SUA) functions
Total Budget: USD25000
Budget File: pdf
Affiliations: SOKOINE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE
LMIE Carveout: Our project fit to this category because, the project will be implemented in Tanzania and by the researchers from Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania. Tanzania is one of the Low middle income countries found in Sub Saharan Africa.
Team Skills: The project team comprises highly qualified individuals vital for project success. 1. Professor Camilius Sanga: ICT4D expert and former Sokoine National Agricultural Library Director (2020-2023) with diverse research involvement and experience which is crucial for open repository infrastructure, open data quality and policy formulation (Project Leader). 2. Dr. Nyinondi Philbert: Science communication specialist, experience in biodiversity information, public engagement, and TanBIF establishment, promoting open data initiatives. 3. Dr. Ester Ernest Mnzava: Information management and quality control expert, 8 years of academic library experience, essential for managing research data and ensuring data integrity in the open data repository. 4. Mr Stephano John: System Administration and database management expert involved in SUA institutional repository and Tanzania Climate Change Information Repository(TaCCIRe). The core team, along with experts from Sokoine University of Agriculture and the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology, including data analysts, legal experts, policy analysts, IT specialists, training facilitators, data curators, governance committee, and evaluation specialists, will collectively contribute to stakeholder engagement, data management, policy implementation, and capacity building workshops, ensuring the project's success. Their collective skills, knowledge, and partnerships will drive the success of the proposed open data project.
How Did You Hear About This Call: Word of mouth (e.g. conversations and emails from IOI staff, friends, colleagues, etc.) / Boca a boca (por ejemplo, conversaciones y correos electrónicos del personal del IOI, amigos, colegas, etc.)
Submission Number: 37
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