US-Africa Workshop: Strategies for Permanent Access to Scientific Information in Southern Africa, September 5-7, 2005, Pretoria, South Afica

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This workshop will provide an international and interdisciplinary forum to promote a deeper understanding of, and requirements for, long-term preservation of and open access to digital scientific information resources for sustainable development in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The workshop, which will be held on 5-7 September 2005, will be hosted by the National Research Foundation in Pretoria, South Africa, and co-organized by the U.S. National Committee for CODATA at the U.S. National Academies, and other organizations associated with the International Council for Science. The meeting will build on the results of a series of previous meetings in South Africa and other developing countries, as well as on the findings of previous reports and activities of the National Academies and of other organizations on various aspects of digital information preservation and access in the health and environment contexts. The workshop will use both plenary and breakout sessions to explore in detail the various scientific, legal and policy, institutional and economic, and management and technical aspects that need to be addressed in successfully implementing accessible archives of digital scientific information resources in the SADC region. From the perspective of the U.S. scientific community, a focus on permanent access policies and practices in the SADC region may be expected to improve the availability of data and information resources in future cooperative activities between U.S. researchers and those in the SADC countries. The workshop will generate high-level attention to these generally under-appreciated problems by bringing together information managers and experts, policy makers, and representatives of funding institutions who will be able to use the meeting to plan and initiate future cooperative activities. The meeting will provide an excellent networking opportunity for the participating U.S. experts and graduate students, as well as an opportunity for U.S. federal science agencies to communicate with their African counterparts on programmatic priorities in these and related areas.