[CODATA-international] Appointment of Director and Deputy Director of the African Open Science Platform

Wed Dec 15 06:51:07 EST 2021

CODATA is delighted to see that the NRF in South Africa has announced the
appointments of Dr. Tshiamo Motshegwa as Director, and Dr. Nokuthula Mchunu
as Deputy-Director of the African Open Science Platform.

We look forward very much to working with you on a range of activities,
including GOSC (the Global Open Science Cloud initiative)
<https://codata.org/initiatives/decadal-programme2/global-open-science-cloud/>
 and OSCAR (the Open Science Cloud Executives Roundtable)
<https://codata.org/initiatives/data-together/oscer/>.
*African Open Science Platform (AOSP): New NRF Appointments*

The Directorate Strategic Partnerships is pleased to announce the
appointments of Dr Tshiamo Motshegwa as Director, and Dr Nokuthula Mchunu
as Deputy-Director of the African Open Science Platform (AOSP). Dr
Motshegwa will take up the position on 1 January 2022, and Dr Mchunu on 1
February 2022.

These strategic portfolios will direct and support the AOSP – which aims to
position African scientists at the cutting edge of data intensive science
by stimulating interactivity and creating opportunity through the
development of efficiencies of scale, building critical mass through shared
capacities, and amplifying impact through a commonality of purpose and
voice. Since 2020, the AOSP Project Office is hosted by the National
Research Foundation, with the implementation of activities scheduled to
start in 2022. The AOSP is supported by the South African Department of
Science and Innovation, the International Science Council, CODATA, the
Academy of Science of South Africa, Bibliotheca Alexandria and other
prominent regional networks.
Dr Tshiamo Motshegwa <https://www.nrf.ac.za/file/dr-tshiamo-motshegwajpg>

[image: Dr Tshiamo Motshegwa]

Dr Tshiamo Motshegwa is a computer scientist and an academic in
High-Performance Computing and Data Science research. He has interest in
the science, policy, industry and public interface, and multilateral
engagements for advancing open science collaboration.  For the past seven
years he has served on various Ministerial Committees of the Government of
Botswana, Southern African Development Community (SADC) Expert Working
Groups, as well as in the Botswana Open Data Open Science (ODOS) Forum. In
addition, he has worked on numerous initiatives that promote regional,
continental and global cooperation. He has led national and institutional
projects that entrench constructs of the Triple Helix, and
University-Industry-Government relations – including through co-creation to
strengthen University and national research and innovation ecosystems. He
has experience in corporate governance and serves as various Boards, with
oversight of company human resource strategies, including in Human Capital
Development pertaining to technology development and utilisation.
Dr Nokuthula Mchunu <https://www.nrf.ac.za/file/dr-nokuthula-mchunujpg>

[image: Dr Nokuthula Mchunu]

Dr Nokuthula Mchunu is a Senior Researcher from the Agricultural Research
Council of South Africa in the Biotechnology Platform. She completed her
doctoral degree in fungal genomics, was previously a senior scholar in the
Department of Biotechnology of Durban University of Technology for more
that 15 years.  She has also served as a scientist in a number of
international institutions including the University of Cincinnati (USA),
Lund University (Sweden), Tianjin University, (China) and the Centre for
Chemical Biology (Malaysia). She is the first recipient of the Young
Scientist Programme between China and South Africa. Her research focused on
Covid and pathogen surveillance in wastewater, fungal genetics, Cannabis
and Africa legume genomics. Dr Mchunu brings a wealth of experience in
academia outreach programmes, the popularisation of science, and open
science.

Link to NRF announcement
https://www.nrf.ac.za/media-room/news/african-open-science-platform-aosp-new-nrf-appointments

Thanks,

Asha
--
__________________________

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___________________________

Asha Law | Program Assistant, CODATA | http://www.codata.org

E-Mail: asha at codata.org
Tel (Office): +33 1 45 25 04 96

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