From 13th to 15th April, 2018, Africa Open Science and Hardware (OSH) summit will bring researchers, educators, government officials and innovators from across the continent together to create a conversation and a set of actions on OSH among African actors, and between them and the international community, in order to adopt OSH principles and practices appropriate to our context. This alternative path to education, research, scholarly communication and manufacturing is crucial given the barriers imposed by closed knowledge systems and the traditional Intellectual Property (IP) regime. Ultimately Africa OSH aims to achieve an ecosystem for innovation that is locally adapted, culturally relevant, technologically feasible, economically viable, and environmentally sustainable.
The first Gathering for Open Science Hardware (GOSH) was held in March 2016 at CERN, Switzerland. In 2017, a key goal of GOSH was to create a roadmap to bring together the people, skills and tools needed to make Open Science and Hardware universal by 2025. This event will provide a forum to examine and provide input for a roadmap in the African context.
The programme line-up over the three days includes presentation and working group discussions, workshops, and unconferences. These modes of interaction were chosen to stimulate discussions amidst hands-on activities and knowledge exchange. Participants would be introduced to techniques in the open science world such as making, hacking, and do-it-yourself biology (DIYBio).
The inaugural Africa OSH Summit will be hosted by Kumasi Hive at Kentikrono in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, Ghana. Other current partners include Association for the Promotion of Open Science and Hardware in Haiti and Africa (APSOHA), The Exploratory, Makery, Global Lab Network, Global Innovation Gathering (GIG), and Gathering for Open Science Hardware (GOSH). Participants are expected from academia, industry, government and start-ups, in Africa and beyond, to brainstorm and device mechanisms to make the principles of Open Science and Hardware a common component of science and engineering in Africa.
An online crowdfunding campaign has been launched to raise funds to help minimise accommodation, food, and local travelling expenses of participants from across the continent. Our grassroots efforts resulted in more than 350 applications including 80% Africans for our 100-seat conference. With your donation, we can minimize the expenses of African participants by offering free or highly subsidized local transportation, lodging and free meals. If we exceed our goal, we will be able to reimburse travel expenses. Please support our efforts by visiting the link: https://www.gofundme.com/africaosh2018
Africa Open Science and Hardware Summit is a unique opportunity to network and share ideas with some of the top scientists and innovators. This kind of networking is crucial for tackling the challenges the continent faces.
Support the crowdfunding campaign: https://www.gofundme.com/africaosh2018