Nov 2 – 3, 2017
Addis Ababa | Ethiopia
Africa/Addis_Ababa timezone

Conference Programme

Conference Programme

Time Activity
07:30-08:30 Registration
08:30 - 10:30 Opening Session
Director of Ceremonies: Hastings Ndebvu
08:30-08:35 Introduction and Welcome Remarks by the CEO of EthERNet
Mr. Zelalem Assefa
08:35-08:40 Welcome Remarks by the CEO of UbuntuNet Alliance
Dr Pascal Hoba
08:40-08:45 Remarks from the Vice Chairperson of UbuntuNet Alliance
Dr. Hellicy Ng'ambi
08:45 -08:50

 Remarks from African Union Commission

TBC

08:50 09:05 Remarks from Diamond Sponsor
09:05-09:15 Goodwill Messages (1 minute each)
Academy of Science of Ethiopia, ASREN, GEANT, Internet Society, NSRC, WACREN, World Bank
09:15-09:20

Remarks from representative of the EU delagation in Ethiopia
TBC

09:20-09:25

Remarks from EU DEVCO Representative
Mr. Jonathan Van Meerbeeck

09:25-09:35

Official Opening Remarks from Ethiopian Minister of Education
Dr. Samule Kifle Kidane

09:35-09:50

Sustainable and effective Pathways for International Research Collaboration

Dr. Mulubrhan Gebrimikael

09:50-10:30 Group Photo, Tour of Exbitions and Health Break
10:30-12:30

Session 1: NRENs as facilitators of  Intra-African Collaboration
Chairperson: Dr. Boubakar Barry, CEO, WACREN
Rapporteur: Abdullahi Bihi Hussein

10:30-10:50

Building and Strengthen National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) in Africa through Intra-African Collaborations
Benjamin ESHUN

10:50-11:10 Mapping the research collaboration networks in computer science: The case of central, eastern and southern African Countries.
Charles MARWA
11:10-11:30

Forging Meaningful Synergies between NRENs and CSPs - The Case of Uganda’s NREN (RENU)
Isaac KASANA

11:30:11:50

MoRENet as a Platform for Intra-country Collaboration in Research and Education: Evidence Based on Analyses of Usage Patterns and Network Data Flows
Lourino CHEMANE

11:50-12:10

Reorganizing for Efficiency: Framework for National Education and Research Stakeholders Collaboration
Magreth MUSHI

12:10-12:30

Technical Capacity Building and the Growth of an NREN - Case Study: RENU since 2014
Nicholas MBONIMPA

12:30-13:30  Lunch and Exhibition
13:30-15:30

Session 2: Libraries, Access to Information and Research and Collaboration
Chairperson: TBC
Rapporteur:

13:30-13:50

A Pilot Survey on Institutional Enablers and Barriers Affecting the Evolving Role of Librarians in African Higher Educational Institutions
Pamela ABBOTT

13:50-14:10

Open Access, Open Science, Open Data: Who will benefit?  A user profile
Margareth GFRERER

14:10-14:30

Without data, science is merely an opinion: the African Open Science Platform project
Ina SMITH

14:30:14:50

NRENs, library consortia and government: Helical Nexus for democratising access to scholarship in Zimbabwe
Collence Takaingenhamo CHISITA

14:50:15:10

Research driven Innovation: A collaborative approach for developing countries’ research Uptake
Moses ISMAIL

15:10:15:30

Developments in regional SADC Cyberinfrastructure to support Collaboration,Open Data and Open Science
Tshiamo MOTSHEGWA

15:30-16:00  Health Break
16:00-17:20

Session 3: Projects for Intra-African Collaboration
Chairperson:
Rapporteur:

16:00-16:20

The Sci-GaIA project: final results, lessons learnt and opportunities for the African Communities of Practice
Roberto BARBERA

16:20-16:40

AfriNIC updates for improved engagement with the REN community
James CHIRWA

16:40:17:00

Peoples-uni: public health capacity building through online education
HELLER, Richard

17:00-17:20

ICANN: Securing the DNS and the KSK rollover
Yaovi Atohoun

19:00-21:00 Conference Dinner
 

Day 2: Friday 3th November 2017

Time Activity
08:00-10:20

Parallel Session 4a: Tools and e-Infrastructure required for Intra-African Collaboration
Chairperson:
Rapportuer:

08:00-08:20

Facilitating content distribution in Sub-Saharan Africa through Software-Defined Exchange Points
Julio IBARRA

08:20-08:40

Governance model for Educational Roaming (eduroam) in African research institutions
 Lloyd SSENTONGO

08:40-09:00

Digital Tools for Collaborative Research
 Innocent MAPANGA

09:00-09:20

The NEAAR Collaboration: Supporting low-cost perfSONAR deployments for end-to-end performance monitoring
Edward MOYNIHAN

09:20-09-40

Blockchain technology: Facilitating collaborative research via intellectual property sharing
Thabiso MPOFU

09:40-10:00

Developing A Virtual Computing Lab for REN Community
 Martin NJAU

10:00-10:20

Utilizing Virtual Learning and a Virtual GIS Computer Laboratory in Spatial Sciences Learning for the Expanded Open Distance Education at Mzuzu University
Donnex CHILONGA

10:20-10:50 Health Break
08:00-10:20

Parallel Session 4b: Tracking and Contributing to Intra-African Collaboration in Research and Education
Chairperson: TBC
Rapporteur:

08:00-08:20

Cross-continent collaboration for advanced research
Ognjen PRNJAT

08:20-08:40

Collaboration in academia: Motives, forms and impacts on scientific productivity
Namatié TRAORÉ

08:40-09:00

Growing a data-ready continent: Every contribution counts
Anelda VAN DER WALT

09:00-09:20

The case for IoT applications in Africa
Marco ZENNARO

09:20-09:40

Promoting Collaborative Research among State Universities in Zimbabwe through Identity Federation and Researcher Information Management
Robert SHONIWA

09:40-10:00

Research Metrics: Does it matter in the African scholarship and collaboration?
Joseph KAVULYA

10:00-10:20

Developing Effective Public Awareness Communication Strategy to Stimulate the Role of NRENs in Intra- African Collaboration Strategies

Prof Wilson OKAKA
10:20-10:50 Health break and Exhibition
10:50-11:50

Session 5: Roundtable Discussion on the role of NRENs in enabling Intra-African collaboration in research and education
Chairperson:
Rapportuer:
Panellists: TBC

11:50-12:30

Closing Plenary
Director of Ceremonies: Hastings Ndebvu

11:50-12:10

Concluding Presentation on the Ethiopia and general regional and international collaboration

TBC

12:10-12:20

Closing remarks from CEO of EthERNet
Zelalem ASSEFA

12:20-12:30

Concluding remarks from CEO of UbuntuNet Alliance
Dr Pascal HOBA

19:00-22:00 Meet and Greet Cocktail