Promoting Cross-Community Collaborations: AREN's Partnership with FORM
The African Reproducibility Network (AREN) has been actively building bridges between the African research community and open science (OS) initiatives worldwide. A key partnership this year has been with the Forum for Open Research in the Middle East and North Africa (FORM).
Since the beginning of 2024, AREN has collaborated with FORM on several fronts. Lamis Yahia Mohamed Elkheir, AREN's representative in FORM, has participated in various community engagement activities organised by FORM. Her involvement emphasizes two of AREN's core objectives: elevating marginalised voices in global open science discussions and promoting localization of open science strategies to meet specific regional needs.Image Credit: FORM
Regional Roundatble Discussion at FORM's 3rd Annual Conference
A particularly notable collaboration was her participation as a panellist in the special session convened by FORM at the 10th Science Summit, taking place alongside the 79th UN General Assembly in New York. This session facilitated crucial dialogues on advancing open science policies and practices in the Arab States. Lamis shared valuable insights and experiences from the African research community, highlighting the importance of cross-community collaborations in fostering a more equitable global research ecosystem. She also featured at FORM’s 3rd Annual Forum, hosted in partnership with the Qatar National Library, where she presented on “Harnessing Open Science for Transformative Impact: AREN's Multifaceted Approach to Advancing Research Across Africa”. The presentation explored AREN’s efforts in bridging the gaps in open science advocacy and adoption across Africa through training and community building. She was also joined by other prominent speakers during the conference’s Regional Advancements roundtable discussion.
This productive partnership has fostered valuable knowledge exchange and collaboration between the African and Arab research communities. We can expect AREN and FORM to continue working together to promote open science practices and build a more inclusive global research landscape.
