AU commission on science calls for more registration, participation on portal

Portal
By Tolu Aiyegbusi
Abuja, May 4, 2018 (NAN) The African Union-Scientific, Technical and Research Commission (AU-STRC) has called for greater participation of African scientists, researchers, engineers, innovators, technologists, social scientists and inventors on its network portal.
The Programme Associate of AU-STRC, Mr Nebyat Ayele made this call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday.
“ The portal, under the name African Union Network of Sciences (AUNS), is a virtual network that involves a wide range of individuals working together in different fields of study to address science and technology development challenges in Africa and the Diaspora.
“ After developing the portal, it is open for registration for membership and it is free,’’ Ayele said.
He said so far, just 7,000 members across the continent had registered in the portal, adding that with that number, it would be almost impossible for knowledge sharing and networking to take place effectively.
“Currently, we have only 7,000 members on our database but we want more because it will enhance interaction, intra Africa collaboration among members, knowledge sharing.
“It will also help in proffering of solutions to solve problems bothering on science and technology in Africa,’’ the programme associate said.
Ayele said that the AUNS portal was developed in order to create a synergy between scientists and social scientists on the African continent and at large.
He said maximising the use of the platform by members would help the commission achieve one of its objectives contained in the STISA 2024.
“ Science Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa 2024 (STISA 2024) is a policy analysis which outlines the key socio-economic priority areas, which Africa has to collectively address through scientific research and development.
“ We can only achieve this by collectively addressing Africa’s challenges in science and technological advancement.
“So, more persons are encouraged to the user friendly portal,’’ he said.
Ayele said that suggestions, comments, feedback and even criticisms were welcome from members on the platform as this would help point out areas where science and technology was behind in Africa and called for improvement.
He disclosed that the commission would select 100 scientists across the continent, who are registered on the portal to help fully launch the website.
“ We would like to test run the effectiveness and functionalisation of the website so we would be selecting 100 persons from our database to work with.
“ We would make selections based on region, gender, specialisation, level of interaction on the portal, frequency of visits so as to test the functionalisation of the portal,’’ he said.
Ayele called on students in higher institutions, professors and everyone with a desire to advance science and technology in Africa to create an account on the portal.
“Anyone willing to register should just create an account on the AUNS portal to become a member, and start to use the portal to interact and share ideas like every other social media.
“One thing that stands out the AUNS portal is its digital library, it is up-to date, very resourceful, credible and the materials are of very high quality and this will be of immense benefit to members,’’ he said. (NAN)
TOLU/AOS/GY
============
Edited by Bayo Sekoni/Grace Yussuf