The African Union Network of Sciences (AUNS) is structured as a dynamic platform to ensure the full participation of African scientific community in the continent and Diaspora towards Africa’s transformation to a knowledge society and innovation lead economy. The dynamic structure will address the issue of brain drain and will introduce a new dimension of brain circulation to bridge the African based Scientists and those in the Diaspora to address Africa’s Challenges. The role of the Diaspora as a key player in the development agenda of the continent was affirmed in 2003 when the African Union (AU) amended the Constitutive Act Article 3 on the Protocol so as to “invite and encourage the full participation of the African Diaspora as an important part of our Continent, in the building of the African Union” and to stem brain drain thereby enabling the Diaspora to play a role in development of the continent.
In addition, the African Union Network of Sciences is an innovative way to utilize the talent of the African scientific community to address each other research challenges and allow them to recognize the diversity of Africa and to benefit most from it. This will be possible with a virtual platform to interact, cooperate, exchange information and complement one another in research and academic work. The African Union Network of Sciences will unify, revitalize and integrate our scientific community to respond to our development challenges and address the aspirations of the Agenda 2063.
The AUNS will have the goal (a) to enrich the African knowledge society and to post the African research and innovation outputs and to uplift the intra Africa cooperation in Science, Technology and Research; as well as to (b) improve the quality and the application of Science, Technology and Innovation through promoting and sharing experiences and virtual learning for development.
Objectives
- 1. Facilitate access to accurate and up-to-date information;
- 2. Foster knowledge production and sharing;
- 3. Update the scientific knowledge in Africa;
- 4. Create forums for discussion and interaction;
- 5. Enhance intra-Africa research;
- 6. Bridge the gap between African scientists in Diaspora and those on the continent by introducing a new dimension of brain circulation;
- 7. Create an enabling environment for better North-South and South-South STI cooperation by availing tools for friends of Africa to contribute to Africa’s knowledge development; and
- 8. Promote publication sharing and open access.
AUNS and ASRIC
According to its Statute, African Scientific Research and Innovation Council (ASRIC) is to promote scientific research and innovation towards addressing the development challenges in Africa. For example, Article 4 para (e) of the Statute, “Advocate for knowledge exchange and technology acquisition and link the scientific community”. Recalling as of today AUNS has a membership of more than 16,000 scientists from Africa and Diaspora who have committed themselves to work for the benefit of the continent. Hence, ASRIC as a Pan-African institution that serves to link the African research community will benefit much from AUNS and its platform.
Implementation Process
The network is implemented in four phases summarized as:
- 1. Phase one: Conducting of a survey on the existing science networks in Africa and to requesting for their membership information. This phase was full implemented;
- 2. Phase two: The development of the network portal, modules and library. This phase was partially implemented;
- 3. Phase three: The functionalization and publicity of the network. This phase was partially implemented; and
- 4. Phase four: The continuous improvement and sustainability of the network. This phase was partially implemented.
The implementation of the structure of the AUNS database was guided by the Frascati Manual of the UNESCO-UIS that is an internationally recognised classification standard. The standardisation allows for the interoperability of the AUNS database with similar recognized ISO classification schemes. Hence, it plays a significant role in the seamless sharing and exchange of information and resources within and across similar platforms.