Creating and updating documentation for the establishment of research data management (RDM) services in higher learning institutions (HLIs) in Tanzania. A case of the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), Arusha, Tanzania.

RAMADHANI SINDE SINDE

Funding Area: Capacity building / Construcción de capacidad

Problem Statement: Lack of important documents such as policies, guidelines, plan and list of needed infrastructure and resources which will be used to guide and enhance the implementation of RDM services slow the progress in most of HLIs in most of LMICs including Tanzania. As the complexities of the research environment grow, there is a need for creating and developing these important documents. In Tanzania as one of Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). RDM is acknowledged as an important concern for HLIs to ensure that research data generated among researchers in HLIs are collected, archived, published, and reused for the development of the country in general (Tanzania’s National five-year development plan III (2021/2022-2025/2026), the East African Commission Vision 2050). The librarians and RDM specialists from NM-AIST will visit and work and share experiences with experts from South Africa (University of South Africa and Pretoria), and Belgium (Hasselt University). With several overview and experience shared during the phase one of the project, several documents will be created and updated based on Tanzanian context in terms of research and development within the country. This will be the driver of change in the university on best practices on RDM implementation strategy. The exchange of experience will strengthen the imperative to implement good practices of RDM in the universities and impact the national and regional stakeholders.

Proposed Activities: The main aim of this project will be to create and update documents which will assist the university on implementing RDM services. The following documents will be created and updated. • RDM policy and operational guidelines (to be updated) • Open science, open data and research data sharing policy and guidelines (to be created) • Requirements for implementing and installing research data repository for storing research data (to be created) • A RDM services implementation plan (to be created) • Data Management Planning (DMP) guideline (to be created) • List of metadata and metadata standards for research data (to be created) The following activities will be conducted: 1. Needs assessment via online survey among the NM-AIST’s community members on the things to be included on documents to be created. 2. Updating RDM policy and guidelines in compliancy with the FAIR principles • 2 weeks - working with 2 experts from Pretoria, S. Africa: The host will be University of Pretoria (UP), South Africa. 3. Creating/developing requirements for implementing and installing research data repository for storing research data • 1 week – working with 2 experts from Johannesburg, S. Africa: The host will be University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. 4. Creating a RDM services implementation plan. • 1 week - working with 2 experts from Pretoria, S. Africa: The host will be University of Pretoria (UP), South Africa. • Working on the documents and communicate the progress online with South African experts (6 months) 5. Creating a DMP and metadata standards documents. • 2 weeks - working with 2 experts from Flanders, Hasselt, Belgium. The host will be University of Hasselt, Belgium. • Working on the documents and communicate the progress online with South African experts (4 months) • Follow-up period (3 months) 6. Two workshops followed by a large period of online sessions will be conducted at NM-AIST on evaluating and updating the created and updated documents. Each workshop will include 40 stakeholders (staff, students, and researchers) will be involved on evaluating and updating the developed documents (2 months). 7. Developing a common approach in RDM implementation between the partners of the project, the scientific society, the national and regional stakeholders using the developed documents.

Openness: • The documents will be presented to the university’s higher organs (Library Board, Senate, Research, and Innovation Committee (SRIC), Senate and Council will be circulated to the other universities within the country via Ministry of Education, Science and Technology – Tanzania. • The project will use the university’s website and social media tools to share the created and updated documents for other universities within and outside the country to use. • All the created and updated documents should be made available on an e-learning platform with an open license (max. 10% exception).

Challenges: These documents might take time to create and update them because RDM is still new in most of LMICs including Tanzania. For instance, when we were creating the RDM policy and operational procedures, we didn’t get any university in the country which has the said policy. Even though will conduct needs assessment based on the documents we are creating and updating, we need several online training and awareness creation for the university to well understand and accept these documents.

Neglectedness: Yes, I applied to International Training Programme Projects (ITP) 2023 which was organised in Belgium, at one or more Flemish HE & SI(s), in one id VLIR-UOS project partner countries or in both. However, the application has not been selected by the selection committee as reported that “This is a highly relevant and topical proposal, though significant improvements related to implementation and sustainability are required’ and this is addressed in this proposal”.

Success: The training/workshops sessions in South Africa and Belgium are opportunities for the university to create and develop documents which will guide the developments of RDM practically. These documents will guide not only the NM-AIST but other universities within and outside the country to implement RDM services which will support researchers and other academic community to generate, store, share and reuse research data for more research projects. These documents will have an impact to the country by bringing the topic on the agenda of the ministries and regional actors involved.

Total Budget: US$ 32000

Affiliations: Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST), a public university located in Arusha, Tanzania. Website: www.nm-aist.ac.tz

LMIE Carveout: Yes, my country (United Republic of Tanzania) is a among LMIE since 2020. As per statistics Tanzania's GNI per capita increased from $1,020 in 2018 to 1,080 in 2019.

Team Skills: Neema Mosha - PhD (Information Science), Ramdhani Sinde - PhD (Information Communication Science and Engineering) - Tanzania,; Prof. Patrick Ngulube - PhD(Information Science), Lazarus Matizirofa - MSc. Library and Information Science - South Africa; Hanne Vlientinck - RDM skills, Marc Groovaerts - Research Information Specialist & Sadia Vancauwenbergh - Research Management Skills - Belgium

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: 124