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INFORMATION CAN CHANGE PEOPLE'S LIVES

INASP the Quiet Achiever, Facilitates Access to Web of Science® for Researchers in Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda

 

Philadelphia, PA, USA-London, UK - June 17, 2005 — The staff working on the Programme for the Enhancement of Research Information, a programme of INASP (the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications) face one of the most challenging tasks in the information industry today. Their job is to maximise the opportunities for researchers in developing countries by providing access to world-class information resources. The agreement giving Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania access to Web of Science® is the latest in an impressive list of success stories for INASP, but they prefer to keep out of the spotlight.

INASP was established in 1992 by the International Council for Science (ICSU) to improve access to information and knowledge through a commitment to capacity building in emerging and developing countries.

This small organisation manages a network of around 3,000+ partners comprised of individuals, groups and organisations from across the globe, all brought together behind a common goal, to find ways to support research progress in developing countries.

A Mountain to Climb
“The partnerships are diverse and the challenges immense,” says Sarah Durrant, Senior Programme Manager. “Colleagues in-country often struggle with a lack of basic infrastructure such as workstations and crucially, bandwidth. Since these are the world’s poorest countries, there is also often a lack of money with which to invest in resources and training, and sometimes a lack of political will at government level to support libraries, tertiary learning and research. It is only relatively recently that governments have started to fully appreciate the fundamental connection between knowledge and development. INASP is committed to supporting colleagues in less-developed countries as they enhance local, national and regional knowledge and capacity for sustainable development.”

Quiet Achievers
Despite the many challenges, researchers and librarians in developing countries have been able to achieve some notable successes. Researchers within Makarere University (a leading institute in Uganda) and institutes in Malawi, have used improved access to information resources to help lobby for improved bandwidth and ICT equipment for their libraries. Colleagues within institutes in several countries (Kenya, Zimbabwe, Malawi to name 3) who previously had very little or no budget for information resources, have used programs like PERI to prove to their Vice Chancellors and other policy-makers that electronic information resources are relevant, available and (due to discounts from publishers) affordable. Budgets in such countries are small by Western standards but in an encouraging number of cases are improving. Moreover, institutes are increasingly forming themselves into consortia to help budgets go further.

Changing People’s Lives
Almost all modern research is highly collaborative and programs like PERI (as well as HINARI, AGORA, eIFL), connect researchers in developing countries to the wider international research community, decreasing their sense of isolation and enhancing their own research endeavors.

“Researchers in developing countries have a great deal to gain from, and to offer to, their counterparts in the West,” explained Sarah. “Programmes such as PERI, HINARI, AGORA and eIFL help researchers maximise these opportunities. A failure to invest in research will hinder knowledge growth within these countries and that will have a negative impact in critical areas such as prevention of disease, food production, sanitation, water, environment, transport, communications etc”.

Increased knowledge and learning within developing countries increases local capacities and has the potential to reduce local dependency upon the advances made in richer countries that are typically very expensive to acquire. A stronger knowledge base prevents the economic advantage from patents, applications and useful results being lost to richer, more developed countries.

Kofi Annan has spoken of how "the unbalanced distribution of scientific activity generates serious problems not only for the scientific community in the developing countries, but for development itself. It accelerates the disparity between advanced and developing countries, creating social and economic difficulties at both national and international levels.” (Kofi Annan, A Challenge to the World's Scientists, Science 2003 March 7; 299: 1485)

INASP’s latest success
“Web of Science® and Journal Citation Reports® are sophisticated and extremely useful tools for researchers and information professionals. The fact that these tools are now available on a country-wide basis means colleagues in several developing countries can better inform, gauge and plan their research,” said Sarah.

“This is an important agreement for Thomson Scientific,” said Keith MacGregor Executive Vice President, Academic and Government markets, Thomson Scientific. “You cannot underestimate the role of quality research tools such as the Web of Science in helping researchers in developing countries to connect with — and contribute to — international research efforts.”

“We hope to work with INASP to make our information solutions available in more countries in Africa and other parts of the world,” added Keith.

About INASP
The mission of INASP (the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications) is to enable worldwide access to information and knowledge with particular emphasis on the needs of developing and transitional countries. Established by the International Council for Science in 1992, INASP is a charity that works with partners and networks around the world to encourage the creation and production of information, to promote sustainable and equitable access to information, to foster collaboration and networking and to strengthen local capacities to manage and use information and knowledge. For more information, please visit http://www.inasp.info/.

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