Localization and adaption of numerical weather prediction data in Nigeria
Funding Area: Capacity building / Construcción de capacidad
Problem Statement: The Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) data platform in Nigeria is not properly utilized by researchers and the research community in Nigeria. Although it is a public infrastructure by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, students and researchers alike don’t know this and so, there is very little innovation in that space because the data is not well exploited. Also, there is no community of practice around weather prediction, because the data is not well resourced and understood.
Proposed Activities: The project will raise awareness of Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) data using rich media formats with video, animation and illustrations disseminated mainly via organizations and researcher communities with partner organizations and targeting science associations and research institutions in Nigeria. The three strategic priorities will address 1) The importance of adopting NWP data into research institutions and organizations 2) Community of practice to support continued advocacy and usability of the NWP and 3) localization of the resources available in local languages. The implementation will involve; 1) Documentation and localization of key resources on NWP onboarding and usage. 2) Adapting the document into rich media content (videos & illustrations) 3) Dissemination and outreach via training and workshops to the target audience and partner associations and research centers 4) Localizing the resources into local languages to account for and include minority researcher communities. Activities and timeline: Documentation & content devt: Nov 10, 2023 – Jan 10, 2024 Media production (videos, illustrations, animations): Feb 1 – April 5, 2024 Content creation (social media, blogs, website): May 2024 Outreach workshops and cluster meetings: June – October, 2024 Training/workshop in (four locations): July – Dec, 2024
Openness: The NWP data platform is easily accessible from their website and usable for research and analysis purposes. Accessible at: https://nimet.gov.ng/nwp/ The data is a result of accumulated weather tracking with data points on Rainfall, Temperature, dust forecast, and marine ecosystem data, etc. To make the platform more widely acceptable and usable the public for research purposes, we intended to engage in the following activities: 1) Documentation and localization of key resources on NWP onboarding and usage. 2) Adapting the document into rich media content (videos & illustrations) 3) Dissemination and outreach via training and workshops to the target audience and partner associations and research centers 4) Localizing the resources into local languages to account for and include minority researcher communities. The documentation and activities of this project will be widely accessible to the public beyond the intended audience and archived in open platforms such as GitHub, YouTube and social media.
Challenges: The challenges relate to the rising insecurity mostly in the Northern part of Nigeria where there is rising insurgency. We may not be able to reach this area with physical training and engagement activities. To counter this, we can provide prospective partners and participants with data grants to join our training engagements online. Partnership with research clusters throughout Nigeria will take a long time to build. But the project timeframe will give us enough time to build the needed connections and partnerships.
Neglectedness: NA
Success: Number of research clusters formed and teams reached with workshop and trainings Number of emerging communities of practice Accessibility and usability of the produced knowledge content Number of successful partnerships and research teams onboarded into the NWP data platform Public and widely disseminated events, webinars and blogs
Total Budget: 15,500
Budget File: pdf
Affiliations: PolicyLab Africa
LMIE Carveout: YES. The NWP data is built and maintained by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency based in Nigeria. The NWP platform is used by researchers and the public in Nigeria as a resource for understanding the weather pattern and for prediction. The users are mainly domiciled in Nigeria and mostly research and academic institutions based in Nigeria
Team Skills: Our vision of enabling the public with resources and knowledge needed to partner with policy and industry stakeholders through our intermediary engagement and facilitation. This project builds upon our existing structures and skills for continuous engagement of researchers and academics. In the past, we have facilitated forums, multistakeholder engagements and conferences bringing researchers, academics, policymakers and industry together. Providing resources and knowledge materials on how to build synergy for development. We have managed a lot of open access and data projects and have a dedicated team of data engineers, developers, designers, researchers, facilitators and digital transformation experts that are committed to building open and resilient civic tech solutions. We are relying to this team to deliver. This project adds to our conviction that empowering researchers and improving the usability of public infrastructure will add to local development and sustainable use of knowledge.
Submission Number: 166
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