Programme

 

Science for Development Workshop: 30-31 January 2020, South African Astronomical Observatory, Cape Town
Programme as at 28th January 2020
Item Speaker
Day 1: 30th January 2020 (“Talk”):
08:30 Registration with tea/coffee
09:00 Welcome and logistics (co-facilitators Vanessa McBride from OAD and Daniel Nyanganyura from ISC)
09:05 Goodwill messages from partners
DSI Takalani Nemaungani
NRF Clifford Nxomani
SAAO Petri Vaisanen
HSRC Thokozani Simelane
ASSAf Stanley Maphosa
09:15 Introductions (10 seconds each) Led by Carolina Odman and Mmaki Jantjies
09:30 Opening keynote by ISC President Daya Reddy
09:50 Opening keynote by IAU President Ewine van Dishoeck
10:10 What scientists should know about development: a Development Economist’s perspective Tawanda Chingozha
10:20 Discussion: what is “science for development”?
10:30 Lightning talks (Innovation for development: commercial, non-profit, improving practices)
10:35 Building resilience in local development of communities in the context of climate change Mitulo Silengo
10:40 Coastal hazard mapping imperatives to socio-economic development of rural coastal communities Effiom Antia
10:45 Climate Change: Developing a climate risk framework for the West Africa coast Regina Folorunsho
10:50 Break
11:15 Lightning talks (contd)
11:15 Need for multi-disciplinary approach to address landslide hazards in Africa Kifle Woldearegay Woldemariam
11:20 Addressing Sustainable Development Goals through Biowalk with Bioproducts Julienne Nguefack
11:25 Science-for-development projects “on the ground”using Remote Sensing Technology Leon Orotta
11:30 Remote Sensing for Forecasting Emergence of Edible Insects Evans Nyakeri
11:35 Need for a coordinated African small satellite development community. Olajide Olufemi AFOLABI
11:40 Panel Discussion (Innovation for development: commercial, non-profit, improving practices) Chair: Mmaki Jantjies
A Need for University Innovation Ecosystems: The Case of the National University of Lesotho Thimothy Thamae
Synergizing Science for Suicide Prevention –Artificial Intelligence and Medicine Olumuyiwa Adebayo
Making our farmers climate resilient – a Science-for-Development project from the island of Mauritius Sunita Facknath
Astronomy for Livelihood Sonal Asgotraa
The role of Industry in Engineering Training Quality Alberto J Tsamba
12:15 Leg stretch
12:25 Lightning talks (Science for society: knowledge, skills, engagement)
12:25 A Holy Alliance: Balancing the Academic Act with Outreach Action Jamal Mimouni
12:30 Astronomy for Development: IDP Children’s Astronomy Outreach Project Onuche Ogu
12:35 Lessons learnt: how to make South African STEM more inclusive Margherita Molaro
12:40 Promoting Radio Astronomy in Ghana through School Visits and Astronomy Clubs Joshua Kalognia
12:45 Highly qualified personnel for development in Burkina Faso through Astronomy Sie Kam
12:50 Astronomy as an example of Inter-and Multi- Disciplinary Sciences Areg Mickaelian
12:55 Panel discussion (Science for society: knowledge, skills, engagement) Chair: Niruj Mohan Ramanujam
Pale Blue Dot – A Universe Awareness Project (PBD-UNAWE) Michelle Willebrands
Mobile apps for the illiterate Knowledge production and self-learning among the Yoruba people in Benin Republic Dafon Aimé SEGLA
Soapbox Science project and opportunities Lucia Marchetti
Anticipating Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time Ranpal Gill
Innovative And Transformative Education for Africa. Nadeem Oozeer
13:30 Lunch
14:30 Lightning talks (Science’s influence on development: science advice; optimisation, negative impacts)
14:30 Synergies and trade-offs in SDGs Philip Osano
14:35 Helping the Mozambican Government to see Science as a Tool for Development Cláudio Paulo
14:40 SKA South Africa: Moving from Stakeholder Management to Stakeholder Engagement a case study Anton Binneman (could not attend)
14:45 Health and Happiness: The role of Data Science implementation in enhancing the well being of citizens through effective Data Policy-making Felix Emeka Anyiam
14:50 Integrated data and decision-support tools: the development of South Africa’s Open Data Platform Claire Davis-Reddy
14:55 The South African Centre for Digital Language Resources Juan Steyn
15:00 The role of IT industry in science-for-development Niyi Abiola Kushimo
15:05 Panel discussion (Science’s influence on development: science advice; optimisation, negative impacts) Chair: Kevin Govender
Policy@Manchester Tanya Graham
“Bridging gaps between scientists and policy makers”. Stanley Maphosa
Data Science for Education Policy Making Vukosi Marivate
Mind the Gap ! Community Engagement for Bridging Divides in Research Kylah Forbes-Biggs
15:40 Coffee, then proceed to unconference venues
15:50 Unconference session (parallel sessions on topics that are chosen from a whiteboard that people populate and vote on during earlier breaks)
17:00 End of Day 1 and networking time (with optional tour of SAAO) followed by Conference Dinner at same venue
Day 2: 31st January 2020 (“Work”):
08:30 Morning tea/coffee
09:00 Welcome and logistics (co-facilitators Vanessa McBride from OAD and Richard Glover from ISC)
09:05 Reflections from Unconference and Day 1
09:20 Introductory Talk: Interdisciplinary collaborations in Africa Nomasomi Gasa
09:30 Discussion: Interdisciplinary collaborations – best practice and challenges
09:50 Show and tell: Resources that could be shared across disciplines e.g. cloud computing, research infrastructure, etc
10:30 Break
11:00 Pitches: <5-minute “pitch” to invite collaboration on a specific project
12:00 Extended working lunch for collaborations to form around pitches (initial hack session)
14:00 The randomista revolution in the social sciences: measuring cause and effect amid complexity Dieter von Fintel
14:05 Evaluation of the Impact of Science on Development (WHY and HOW) Joyce Khunou
14:10 Discussion: Evaluation of Science for Development
14:20 Presentations from working lunch discussions and invitations for further participation on specific projects
15:00 Hack session/unconference (people can start work on a project, or choose to have a discussion)
16:00 Groups present progress/plans for specific projects
16:30 Round up discussions and way forward (including a prize in the form of seed funding, for an outstanding project that emerges)
17:00 End of Day 2 and end of workshop