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Archive -Seychelles

Creation of web platform for information sharing across Africa |04 May 2018

 

 

Nisti hosts fourth meeting

 

As from next month it is expected that African countries will be able to share education, science technology and innovation data through a web-based repository data platform.

The fourth technical consultative meeting to finalise the creation of the African Union Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (ESTI) data web platform for the African continent was held here from April 30 to May 3.

It was hosted by the National Institute for Science, Technology and Innovation (Nisti) in collaboration with the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) and African Union’s (AU) African Observatory for Science, Technology and Innovation (AOSTI).

The platform will be an accessible repository data platform to help African countries in evidence-based policy and decision-making.

The meeting was a follow up on three others held earlier this year in Johannesburg, South Africa (in January), in Cairo, Egypt (in February) and in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (in March). The final one is expected to take place in Accra, Ghana later this month.

Seychellois delegates joined their counterparts from Ethiopia, Egypt, Uganda, India and representatives from Nepad and AOSTI for the fourth meeting which was held at Nisti’s headquarters at Bel Ombre.

Vice-President Vincent Meriton, principal secretaries, Nisti board members and foreign delegates were among guests who attended the launch ceremony.

According to the chief executive of Nisti, Xavier Estico, the development and input for the African Union’s ESTI web platform will be based on the replica web platform model developed by Nisti to engage different organisations to share and access data locally.

Nisti’s system and structure caught the attention and interest of Nepad/AOSTI which resulted in Nisti organising a workshop in August last year to train and engage different member states of the AU on how to use its platform. 

“While I try to avoid the use of the word ‘proud’, today I will make an exception and say that we are proud to be part of this team to develop the African Union Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (ESTI) web platform,” Mr Estico said during his presentation and thanked Nepad/AOSTI for choosing Seychelles to host the meeting.

Nisti’s local web platform will be launched this month while the African Union’s ESTI web platform will be launched in June.

Dr Philip Mawoko, executive director of AU/AOSTI, said with the pronouncement of lack of data to support policy debates, Africa indeed needs an educated repository of statistics on education, science technology and innovation for its global competitiveness that will be of benefits to Africans as such a platform is an important element for the integration of the African continent.

“With the African web platform our data will no longer remain static,” he added, thanking Seychelles for hosting the meeting. 

The head of research statistic from Nepad, Dr Tichaona Mangwende said data will help us to understand not only the performance of national research and innovation systems but the efficiency and effectiveness with which the system performs and that data should be understood by everybody.

The chairman of Nisti, Conrad Shamlaye said we have to remind ourselves that economic development is about people’s well-being.

“And therefore as has been stated, data and information is not just to be used by policymakers, businesses, academics but must engage citizens because at the end of the day it is the citizens’ well-being on which we are focusing through our efforts in national economic, social and cultural development,” he added and stressed for the involvement of citizens in the process.

 

 

 

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