Africa produces a wealth of valuable research, yet much of this knowledge remains dispersed across disconnected institutional repositories and systems with limited interoperability and global discoverability. How can African institutions build a more connected, trusted and visible research ecosystem?
Join the next OPAR Open Science Webinar, “Building Africa’s Trusted Research Infrastructure: From Fragmented Repositories to Connected Research with DOCiD™,” on Monday, 17 August 2026, from 1:00 p.m. CAT / 2:00 p.m. EAT.
The webinar will feature Joy Owango, Executive Director of the Training Centre in Communication (TCC Africa) and Co-lead of the Africa PID Alliance. She will introduce DOCiD™—the Digital Object Container Identifier—and explore how persistent identifier infrastructure can connect institutional repositories, researchers, publications, datasets, projects, institutions and other scholarly assets across the research lifecycle.
Participants will learn how DOCiD™ complements established identifier systems such as ORCID, DOI, ROR, Handle, RAiD and RRID. The session will also examine how connected research infrastructure can strengthen the visibility, discoverability, provenance and reuse of African research while supporting Open Science, FAIR and CARE principles, Indigenous Knowledge, grey literature and cultural heritage resources.
The webinar will be particularly valuable for librarians, repository managers, researchers, ICT professionals, research managers, scholarly communication practitioners, institutional leaders, policymakers and everyone involved in developing or supporting Africa’s research infrastructure. Participants will also explore practical pathways through which institutions can move from isolated repositories towards an interoperable ecosystem while retaining ownership and stewardship of their research.
The OPAR Open Science Webinar Series forms part of the project “Unlocking Potential: Elevating Open Institutional Repositories in Africa for Global Impact,” led by UbuntuNet Alliance with support from Invest in Open Infrastructure through the Network Adoption Fund.
Register here: https://ubuntunet.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3aBcTlo0QE2_Td7q8zuKqA#/registration
You can watch previous OPAR Open Science Webinar recordings on UbuntuNet TV:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h12AaXFbj_A&list=PLIse_HSKjNZE
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Explore OPAR and join the growing OPAR Community of Practice:
https://opar-cop.ubuntunet.net/