News

The University of Botswana (UB) has taken a significant step in promoting research transparency and innovation by hosting the OSCAR 2.0 Workshop on the 20th of May 2025. The event, part of the European Commission-funded OSCAR 2.0 Open Science initiative, aimed at developing strategies, platforms and policies for implementing Open Science at both institutional and national levels.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Enterprise, Dr Doreen Ramogola-Masire, emphasised the importance of democratising data. She called for UB and Botswana to lead in formulating Open Science policies, stressing the life-changing potential of equal access to information.

Principal Investigator for OSCAR 2.0 and UB Senior Lecturer in Computer Science, Dr Audrey Masizana, described Open Science as a movement rooted in transparency, collaboration and accessibility. She highlighted the project’s focus on supporting sustainable Open Science practices in Sub-Saharan Africa, using Botswana and Zambia as case studies.

External expert Dr Joseph Mwelwa, Founder of Joint Minds Consult, underscored data’s role in driving both research and economic development. He urged the creation of national strategies and infrastructure while identifying cultural resistance, legal hurdles and lack of incentives as key barriers to implementation.

UB’s Dr Alfred Muntanga and Mr Olebile Bolobilwe from Office of Research and Development, spoke on the need for investment in infrastructure, capacity building and alignment of institutional research policies with Open Science standards. Mr Bolobilwe also highlighted UB’s ongoing efforts through open access journals, annual reports and the UniPOD platform, along with a community-first approach to research dissemination.

In his closing remarks, UB Deputy Vice Chancellor for Teaching and Learning, Professor Richard Tabulawa, described knowledge as a non-rival commodity and reaffirmed UB’s commitment to making research widely accessible to foster innovation and economic growth.

The workshop follows a 2024 visit by a UB delegation to Amsterdam as part of the OSCAR 2.0 programme and marks a key milestone in the university’s mission to align with global research best practices and support national development through Open Science.