COORDINATION OF REGIONAL CODATA ACTIVITIES

Clement Entsua-Mensah

Director

CSIR-INSTI, BOX M.32, ACCRA, GHANA

Abstract: The pace and complexity of modern scientific and technological (S&T) research and development (R&D) activities have greatly increased the communication needs of research scientists and their institutions.  S&T research relies heavily on the ability of the researchers to gather reliable data and information to facilitate their collaborative activities with their colleagues.  Thus, the ease with which a researcher can access, manipulate and analyze data, combined with the ability to benchmark indicators for effective comparison provides him with powerful tools to enable him to make uniformed disclosures.  The paper looks at the need to develop operative processes at the national and regional levels for the effective coordination and integration of CODATA activities to facilitate access to multi-disciplinary information systems to enhance resource sharing data exchange and regional cooperation.

Introduction:  A careful study of the intricate tapestry of the world economy reveals a number of interwoven trends that affect the process of a country's economic growth.  At the core of this process is technology, which simply refers to a specific process for the production of defined goods and services.  In most rapidly changing economies the correlation between S&T on the one hand, and economic development on the other has long been realized, but what needs to be addressed is the need to bridge the gap that exists between knowledge and practice.  It is even worse when it comes to the application of S&T ideas and innovations to national development since these are very vital for making decisions about investments in technologies that are needed to meet national development goals as well as for the advancement of R&D activities.

Generally, research scientists need stimulus and inputs for their work in the form of new ideas, concepts and current data and information.  This, they obtain from either their colleagues or from libraries, information centres and the World Wide Web (WWW), especially the Internet, which has become a means of access to vast scattered stores of information, and above all, a quick and easy means of communication between individuals and groups. The Internet now carries with it the promise for the generation and sharing of information at a degree of complexity and pervasiveness that was unimaginable until recently [1]. Again, globalization and the development of dynamic technologies and interactive frameworks have created many new possibilities and challenges for knowledge networking on both national and regional basis.  Thus, today's world relies increasingly on adequate supply and rapid flow of data and information, and this makes the much talked about knowledge society to assume its full meaning from the wealth of information content that can be circulated and made accessible to users.

From the theme of the workshop, "Scientific and Technical Data Handling and Exchange for Development," the question that we should seek to answer is; how is knowledge shared and disseminated in an increasingly global context?  Today's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools substantially facilitate communication and allow 'virtual teams' thereby accelerating knowledge development and knowledge sharing. In this regard, the focus of this session, "Coordination of Regional CODATA Activities" should be on how best we can ensure that all the data generated within the region are collected, properly managed, and disseminated for the benefit of the research scientists.

Information and R&D Activities: Current developments in knowledge management as well as widespread availability of technological tools now allow easy access to knowledge resources by most people, a situation that has been accelerated by the growing internationalization and globalization.  S&T research, which is an important component of this new globalize knowledge-based economy, plays an important part in the development and application of new knowledge.  However, with the pace and complexity of modern research the need for research scientists and their institutions to keep abreast with the latest developments in their own and related fields and to strengthen their competencies and improve on the quality of their outputs has become paramount.  Information is one of the major inputs that they need to meet their research needs and development goals.

Fortunately, the global information industry buoyed by the ever-widening horizon of the technological frontier continues to absorb new developments in processing, storage, retrieval and dissemination and this is having a far-reaching impact on the information environment.  Research scientists are therefore not only able to communicate, gather reliable data, and have access to widely dispersed data and information for effective analyses, but also to:

In building and sustaining a learning organization like CODATA, a continuous enrichment of knowledge takes place in teams rather than in or among isolated individuals. Therefore, through the development of institutional linkages research scientists can have access to new knowledge.

Unfortunately, notwithstanding the rapidly expanding role of ICT, the problem of information poverty is far from solved in the region.  Majority of the researchers are unable to derive maximum benefits from these technologies due to poor connectivity and slow response time in restricting access to data and information that are needed for carrying out sound research projects for sustainable development. The needs of research scientists for up-to-date and relevant data that is available and accessible through the electronic medium could, therefore, be the basis for establishing a regional CODATA network to facilitate the sharing of data, and the WWW provides the opportunity for collaboration in this respect.

Basis for Networking: In an era of resource constraints and cost-cutting, one issue which should be considered seriously is resource sharing and networking since this will assure a logical and structural pattern of communication.  Again, it will ensure that the appropriate linkages are developed for more research scientists to have access to new knowledge. As has been pointed out, the growth of information is so rapid, so complex and above all so ill coordinated that we need to know how much we know.  There is therefore the need to place more emphasis on Cooperation, Coordination and Co-existence [2]. Networking seems to be the only answer to the prevailing condition, and the technological tools are available to assist in this direction. What needs to be done is to re-orient the activities of CODATA to take advantage of the rapid developments in ICTs.

The rationale for recommending the setting up of a Regional CODATA Network is for it to act as a vehicle to bridge the knowledge and information gap that exists in member countries.  Such a network should operate on electronic platforms using the WWW as the major means of communication to globally connect research scientists and institutions.  The network should also focus on linking experts with the view to initiating discussions among them and to facilitate the exchange of data. Like many other networks, the structure should be based on the principle of collaboration and cooperation with a flexible structure that emphasizes on a participative model rather than a hierarchical one.  Through networking some economy and rationalization in the use of resources will be realized.  At the national level, a collaborative and decentralized network systems should be considered more appropriate to ensure the growth and development of CODATA activities through the exchange of data.

What I perceive to be the objectives for such a network should be to:

For the network to succeed, member countries would be expected to play important role in ensuring the growth and direction of CODATA activities.  They should be assisted to develop the necessary national framework to enable them to derive maximum benefit from its activities.

Regional Cooperation: Cooperation has become the organizational norm all because many tasks are now technically feasible and are within the reach of research scientists.  The development of national and international cooperative data and information networks have been taking place for some decades now, and all these are aimed at sharing, in efficient way, the available data and information resources.  In this respect, the coordination of CODATA activities should not only be aimed at pooling resources together, but also geared towards helping to strengthen national institutions in promoting contact and data exchange among research scientists.

At the National level, a collaborative and decentralized network system could be considered more appropriate to ensure the growth and development of a centralized system.  The emphasis should be on collaboration and cooperation since effective persuasion yields better and long lasting results than coercion [3].   At this level, CODATA activities should be geared towards helping to strengthen existing national institutions that would be charged with the responsibility of collecting, processing and storing for dissemination, research results for national development.  A well-functioning communication system will be decisive for satisfactory collaboration among the research scientists who may be located far away.  Since it is vital to set up a functioning network at the regional level the responsibility for both the scientific and technical leadership and management at the national levels should be carried out by an identified institution.  Such an institution should have the competence and the resources to sustain the linkage with the Regional Coordinating Centre.

At the Regional level, CODATA activities should support events that tend to promote contact and exchange of expertise among member countries.  It should be aimed at:

i) developing a regional research agenda whereby research scientists would be encouraged to develop proposals on a set of collaborative activities and designing strategies to implement them with their counterparts in the region;

ii) promoting training and capacity building through the organisation of dedicated courses and workshops that will review the state of knowledge in the respective disciplines; and

iii) promoting regional collaboration and awareness about its activities as well as improving the dissemination of research results.

The success of the Regional network will depend on the commitment of member countries to contribute resources, especially data.  The is therefore the need to put in place a system that will bring together and re-focus the multiple research-related activities that generate data and knowledge through the activities of this multi-disciplinary international association at the national level.

At the Regional level, there should be a coordinating centre that will have an efficient information system to see to the coordination of data and information generation activities.  Through cooperative and well-structured approach the centre should provide the basic infrastructure and support for electronic networking to enhance the content, improve the quality, and widen CODATA outreach activities. Raising the level of interest in the activities of CODATA in member countries to enhance its visibility should be the main focus of the Regional Coordinating Centre, and it is the CODATA network that should be the main delivery mechanism for this thrust.  The Regional Coordinating Centre should provide the framework for the coordination of national efforts through international cooperation as well as the standardization of methods for collecting, processing and disseminating data. Among other planned activities should include the production of directories of scientists and institutions, setting the framework for identifying the gaps in research and guide research efforts, networking the research scientists and institutions to improve the flow and exchange of data and information.  Also, as part of its capacity building, CODATA should aim at training a critical mass of information technology managers at two levels:

a) leaders who can train others to effectively use the Internet for information or communication of research results, and

b) core groups of technical experts to ensure long-term stewardship (including maintenance of websites and physical electronic communication equipment) and improvement of electronic communications nodes and networking in the region.

The WWW has become a tool for researchers to communicate and share data on research topics of mutual interest, and this has triggered a boom in electronic publishing and information dissemination. It has also provided the basic infrastructure to support network activities and could be an important tool for CODATA member countries for reaching out to national and regional institutions. For example, the Electronic mail could be one of the several means of communication channels. It will not only facilitate electronic correspondence among research scientists, but also facilitate access to information and allow for joint authorship of papers.  In addition to this, the Regional Coordinating Centre could consider the possibility of having Discussion Listservers as one of the means for exchanging data and information as well as initiating discussions among the members in various subject disciplines. These Listservers need to be nourished in order to stimulate an active two-way exchange of data and information resources, sharing of experiences, etc. since they thrive on the culture of sharing. Already in existence is a CODATA website that could be used to support electronic publishing activities.  The rationale will be to refocus the publishing system to a centric database; one where data generated nationally would be prepared locally, but managed and made available through a centralized service for multiple users.  This will allow members to follow the activities of CODATA and have access to the full text of materials they are interested in.

Monitoring through exchange of information and regular meetings will help the collaborating institutions to become aware of problems in good time, and to deal with them effectively. This will require constant checking of achievements against catalogues of defined indicators since unsuccessful network activity is associated with weak commitment from participating countries.

Constraints: The technical and international character of the proposed network will certainly be without its own problems.  It will present many challenges.  To produce a cooperative multi-lingual network requires a well-structured system with strong central coordination to guarantee standardization, quality control and production deadlines.  It will also require commitment of resources on the part of the member countries.

Even though majority of the research scientists and national institutions have access to the WWW with Internet, E-mail, FTP facilities, disparate telecommunication infrastructure exists among participating countries or between institutions within the same country with the result that the quality and reliability varies widely.  It is this that could cause congestion, delays in receiving and sending data, loss of messages, files, etc.  Certainly, the greatest concern should be with the unequal access to ICTs.  Even though both computerization and connectivity are spreading faster, the gap between the haves and have-nots is also growing, and it is this that may threaten to leave the latter group from participating actively in the network.

Conclusion: One of the better known applications of ICTs, the use of the Internet for electronic mail and data transfer has revolutionize communication, and its impact on research scientists has been striking. With ICTs vast quantities of scientific data and digital information can be handled more easily, quickly, and cheaply than before.  Now, interdependence between research collaborators is on the increase and this leads to more multidisciplinary work.  The tendency is therefore towards more "virtual" research teams with fluid work structures [4]. Since information plays a significant role in fostering regional cooperation, CODATA should give priority to implementing the regional data network project.  Presently, many of the region's institutional development and information services utilize traditional ICTs.  However, it is the improved utilization of existing data, information and knowledge from national, regional and international sources, which is drawing increasingly on the enhanced use of modern ICTs for networking and partnership development. 

Consequently, CODATA should support the efforts of its member countries to adopt ICTs to enhance their capabilities to generate, collect, process and analyze more complex and multi-disciplinary data at the national level.  Merely developing basic infrastructure is not an end in itself.  Equally true is the fact that any initiative will be fruitless if physical connections remain in the current state. There is therefore, the need for us as research scientists to help strengthen the basic infrastructure in our countries by consolidating the numerous parallels ICT project initiatives into national programmes and see to their proper coordination.

References

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Bayar, V. (1998). Information and communications technology in science. The OECD Observer, Issue 213, Aug/Sept. p9-12.