Scientific Research: Opening of the first scientific open day of the Development Research Institute in Ivory Coast

On September 8, 2023, the Virtual University of Côte d’Ivoire (UVCI) hosted the first Scientific Open Day of the Institute for Research for Development (IRD) in Côte d’Ivoire

The scientific community is committed to ensuring that research results are open to everyone – researchers, companies, citizens, etc. without hindrance, so that they can be reused by as many people as possible.

In this context, the Institute for Research for Development (IRD) has made open science one of its priorities. It has become a facilitator to promote, support and support open scientific practices towards IRD scientists and its southern partners, particularly favoring scientists and research and teaching institutions on the African continent.

Participating in this day were IRD researchers on mission in Côte d’Ivoire, IRD partner researchers and teaching researchers in Côte d’Ivoire, PhD students, documentation specialists and librarians from universities, research institutes and major schools in Abidjan.

During this meeting, several topics were addressed and discussed, namely a reminder of the concepts and issues of open science, the open science policy developed by the IRD and UVCI, the concepts, issues and issues of openness, research data and finally the current tools and practices in managing shared research data (data management plan, data warehouse, data sheet , etc.).

“It is an honor for me to participate in this open scientific session in Côte d’Ivoire. This is the first time we hold an open scientific session in Côte d’Ivoire of the IRD and I would like to express all my gratitude to this meeting,” expressed Philippe Msalati, IRD representative.

The first objective of the day is to map the actions that have been implemented to promote and implement open science within the Ivorian academic world as part of the research programs developed in partnership between the IRD with the scientific community in Côte d’Ivoire. Philip Masalati.

“The second goal is to share a common vision to implement cooperative measures aimed at promoting open scientific practices between research and teaching institutions in Côte d’Ivoire and the IRD,” he added.

As for the Vice President of the Virtual University of Côte d’Ivoire, Professor Fernand Kouame, he said that he was happy to host the aforementioned university today. He pointed out, “We are particularly pleased to welcome the organization of this ceremony, which is of great importance at the level of research, because research produces many results, and sometimes these results are not well known and cannot be accessed by users.”

For his part, Professor Bamba Abdul Rahman, Director of Research at the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, confirmed that the importance of this term cannot be denied in the current scientific context.

“This open science relies on the opportunity represented by digital transformation to allow open and unhindered access with the aim of providing an effective outcome. This requires democratizing access to knowledge, increasing research efficiency and improving the quality of research which Mr. Bamba Abdurrahman revealed will enhance innovation and scientific progress.”

A round table concluded today. It provided the opportunity for exchange and discussion on issues, needs and actions to be implemented to enhance data governance and openness.

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