E-INFRASTRUCTURES FOR AFRICA: GATEWAYS TO THE FUTURE Conference
Event Information
Description
The “e-Infrastructures for Africa: Gateways to the Future” Conference is jointly organised by the eI4Africa and iMENTORS EU/FP7 projects (both projects addressing Africa-EU cooperation in the field of e-Infrastructures). The event will be held under the aegis of the European Commission (DG CONNECT) and the African Union Commission.
CONFERENCE OBJECTIVES
The conference will aim at discussing major developments and perspectives in the field of Africa-EU e-Infrastructure cooperation and at presenting the two projects’ main outcomes:
- The first ever Africa Grid Science Gateway
- Several African e-Infrastructure flagship demonstrators, including the Pharmacology Science Gateway, the TRODAN Data Repository, the Weather Research and Forecasting Model, the Community Health Portal, and the Technology Transfer Alliance Science Gateway
- The results of the two surveys launched to examine the state-of-the-art of e-Infrastructure applications in Africa, as well as to assess their economic societal and environmental impacts
- The main outcomes of the four thematic workshops held in Africa over 2013-2014
- The launched program to deploy Certification Authorities across Africa
- The launch of the most comprehensive crowdsourcing data map providing insights into international cooperation and ICT investments in Africa for scientists, universities, research and education networks, and international donors
- The development of a decision-support system based on multiple stakeholders’ evaluations and impact assessments for on-going international aid projects and e-infrastructures
- A set of contextual factors which enable the assessment of ICT4D proposals ahead of their implementation by estimating their potential impact
- The role of open aid data in enhancing the coherence of international aid
- African progress towards establishing national and regional Research and Educational Networks (RENs)
CONFERENCE FORMAT
The Conference will feature various session types:
- Plenary sessions (featuring officials from the European Commission, the African Union Commission, Governments, and internationally acknowledged ICT experts)
- Presentation sessions (organised around the main conference themes)
- Discussions and debates sessions (offering participants the opportunity to actively contribute to the Conference outputs)
- Networking sessions (aimed at facilitating additional and informal networking opportunities)
With a wide range of themes to be explored, a comprehensive programme will ensure all participants are able to develop international, cross-cutting contacts and enhance their knowledge and expertise. Thematic sessions will focus on the following themes:
- Potential of e-Infrastructures for African Research and Education
- Research and Education Networks Deployment in Africa
- Science Gateways and e-Science platforms
- Flagship e-Infrastructure services in the Health, Environment and Education sectors
- Societal impact of e-Infrastructure applications
- African e-Infrastructures data mapping
- ICT investments in Africa
Organiser eI4Africa & iMENTORS projects
Organiser of E-INFRASTRUCTURES FOR AFRICA: GATEWAYS TO THE FUTURE Conference
eI4Africa (2012-2014) is an FP7 project aiming at boosting the research, technological development and innovation potential of African e-Infrastructures and to support policy dialogues and Euro-African cooperation in the framework of the Joint Africa-EU Strategic Partnership on ‘trade, regional integration and infrastructures’ (JAES Partnership #3) and the Joint Africa-EU Strategic Partnership on ‘science, information society and space’ (JAES Partnership #8).
iMENTORS (2012-2014) is an FP7 project aiming at enhancing the effectiveness and coherence of EU research policies and international cooperation in the field of research infrastructures by building a virtual observatory and a decision-support system to position itself as the one-stop-shop data warehouse to publish and retrieve up-to-date information on all e-infrastructure development projects of the past 5 years in sub-Saharan Africa.
