RSAfrica26 Conference Program
1st Research Software Africa Conference
All times in this program are displayed in South African Standard Time (SAST) / UTC +2.
Program
Day 1 – Tuesday 25 August
Day 1 Welcome and Keynote
| Time | Length | Presentation | Presenter(s) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09:00–09:30 | 30 min | Day 1 Welcoming Session | Conference Organisers | Welcoming |
| 09:30–10:00 | 30 min | The only way to play the game is to change the rules; the RSSE Africa journey | Anelda van der Walt and Peter van Heusden | Keynote |
Day 1 Workshop 1
| Time | Length | Presentation | Presenter(s) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00–11:30 | 90 min | Beyond Interoperability: Hands-On Federated ML for Research Data Curation Infrastructure | Arnab Mukherjee | Workshop |
Session 1: Community Building in Action
| Time | Length | Presentation | Presenter(s) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11:45–12:05 | 20 min | The RCP Discovery Internship Program: Building a Global Innovation Lab for Research Software | Rowland Mosbergen | Presentation |
| 12:05–12:25 | 20 min | Building Africa’s Research Software Talent Pipeline Through Community Leadership | Ugwu Nnamdi Emmanuel | Presentation |
| 12:25–12:40 | 15 min | From Contributor to Maintainer: Growing Community‑Led Open Source Research Software in Africa | Fuad ALIPHATIC Adegoke | Demo/Showcase |
| 12:40–13:00 | 20 min | Community Is Infrastructure Too: Building Research Software Capacity Through Bioinformatics Training in Africa | Chioma B. Oselu | Presentation |
Presentation Details
Welcoming. Title: Day 1 Welcoming Session
Presenter Name: Conference Organisers
Keynote. Title: The only way to play the game is to change the rules; the RSSE Africa journey
Presenter Name: Anelda van der Walt and Peter van Heusden
Abstract: This keynote reflects on the history of RSSE Africa, what the community has built, and the lessons learned from what worked, what did not, and why. It considers how research software communities in Africa can move from short-term activity to long-term impact through sustainable research software practices and software-creating communities. Looking ahead, the talk argues that visibility, advocacy, and diplomacy will be at least as important in the trajectory of African research software as the technical activity of writing code, especially as research software becomes increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.
Workshop. Title: Beyond Interoperability: Hands-On Federated ML for Research Data Curation Infrastructure
Presenter Name: Arnab Mukherjee
Bio: Arnab Mukherjee is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the SAFE Evidence Lab at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences focused on developing trustworthy, reproducible AI for health research. He earned a PhD in Computer Science with a specialization in Machine Learning from the University of Kansas. His work spans federated AI, machine learning systems, evidence generation, and large-scale biomedical data analysis. He leads the development of scalable ML and LLM pipelines, contributing to formal problem formulation, simulation design, evaluation frameworks, and automated evidence extraction. His research emphasizes open, interoperable, and reproducible machine learning infrastructure that enables transparent and reliable scientific discovery. Looking forward, he aims to advance federated AI systems and open-science platforms that improve the rigor, scalability, and real-world impact of biomedical and clinical research.
Abstract: Interoperability—the ability of systems to securely exchange, interpret, and use data without human intervention—has become a foundation of modern research data curation infrastructure. Yet interoperability alone does not establish whether data from different sites encode equivalent underlying phenomena. When clinical data exhibits a distributional shift across institutions, models trained at one site may fail silently at another. Confident but wrong is the worst possible failure mode, particularly when models are deployed across organizations. This is the foundational curation challenge this workshop addresses. Research software without borders requires not just that data can cross institutional lines, but that what the data means can be trusted on the other side. Site-level measurement heterogeneity determines whether data generated across diverse sources can be meaningfully compared, interpreted, and trusted as part of a shared research infrastructure. We complement interoperability-focused approaches by developing methods to identify and quantify site-level heterogeneity before data and models are integrated, thereby distinguishing true underlying variation from measurement-induced differences and establishing a more reliable foundation for curation in cross-site federated research. This workshop translates that framework into practice. Participants will engage in hands-on Python exercises using conformal prediction under simulated site-level heterogeneity, working directly with federated ML tools designed for research data curation pipelines. Attendees will leave with reusable code, a conceptual framework for distinguishing distributional shift from measurement-induced heterogeneity, and practical uncertainty quantification tools they can deploy within their own cross-institutional curation infrastructure.
Presentation. Title: The RCP Discovery Internship Program: Building a Global Innovation Lab for Research Software
Presenter Name: Rowland Mosbergen
Bio: Rowland is a strategic leader in digital research infrastructure with 25+ years’ experience translating HPC, AI, data and cloud technologies into scalable research and industry services used by global communities. Known for building partnerships across researchers, national infrastructure providers and technology teams to deliver high-impact digital capability, Rowland provides strategic direction, inclusive leadership and scalable programs that accelerate research adoption and demonstrate measurable impact.
Rowland co-founded RSAA, RSAfrica, and RS Latin America, and established Equersa, the umbrella organisation supporting all three regional conferences. He also serves on the steering committee of the RSE Australia New Zealand Association.
Abstract: The RCP Discovery Internship Program at WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research) presents a novel model for advancing research software through a globally distributed, fully online internship framework. Since its launch in July 2021, the program has engaged over 300 interns from six continents across 14 intakes, while proving that research software complexity can be addressed efficiently with minimal resources while reducing risk and maximising efficiency and effectiveness.
This presentation describes how the program functions as an innovation lab for interns: recruiting intentionally multi-disciplinary teams, embedding DEI principles, and deploying a “best effort” mentorship philosophy that prioritises critical thinking, adaptability, and tolerance for ambiguity over rigid deliverables.
We outline the operational strategies that enable a single supervisor to manage cohorts of up to 40 interns simultaneously, including structured documentation practices, Individual Learning Plans, Technical Diaries, asynchronous feedback mechanisms, with a focus on guided autonomy.
We also showcase how this program has innovated for researchers, highlighting three key outcomes: Bioconductor package compliance, streamlined flow cytometry workflows via automated file merging, and the REDMANE research data ecosystem that is now available as a demo.
We also highlight how this program has created a new effective methodology for tackling complex software projects that moves from proof-of-concept through to handover, deliberately surfacing complexity early rather than deferring it.
Presentation. Title: Building Africa’s Research Software Talent Pipeline Through Community Leadership
Presenter Name: Ugwu Nnamdi Emmanuel
Bio: Ugwu Nnamdi Emmanuel is a software engineer and community builder passionate about expanding access to technology across Africa. His journey started with limited exposure, but over time, he has grown into someone who now creates opportunities for others to get started.
As Regional Executor for Africa at Black Python Devs, he has supported hundreds of students and early-career developers across countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, and South Africa, helping them find direction in tech and research software.
He has organized workshops, led to sponsor students to attend conferences like PyCon Nigeria, and continues to build spaces where people can learn, grow, and belong.
His work is driven by a simple idea: when people are given access and support, they don’t just learn, they go on to create impact.
Abstract: In many parts of Africa, people don’t start their journey into research software because they saw a clear path. They start because someone showed them what was possible.
This talk is rooted in that reality.
I’ll be sharing my journey of building and supporting tech communities across Africa. Spaces where people move from having little or no exposure to actually contributing, learning, and growing in research software. Through initiatives like community workshops, conference sponsorships, and mentorship, I have seen firsthand what happens when access meets opportunity.
But I’ll also be honest about the challenges: unstable internet, limited resources, low awareness, and the difficulty of sustaining engagement after the excitement of a single event fades.
This session is not about perfect systems. It’s about what has worked, what hasn’t, and what we’re still figuring out.
At its core, this talk connects to “Research Software Without Borders” by showing that building global research ecosystems starts with local communities, with people helping people, one step at a time.
Demo/Showcase. Title: From Contributor to Maintainer: Growing Community‑Led Open Source Research Software in Africa
Presenter Name: Fuad ALIPHATIC Adegoke
Bio: Fuad Adegoke is a systems and software engineer based in Lagos, Nigeria, with a focus on open‑source development, research software, and developer communities in West Africa. He has contributed to and maintained multiple open‑source projects, including tools and platforms that support learning, experimentation, and data‑driven work. His experience spans across web applications, and blockchain infrastructure, with a strong emphasis on documentation, community onboarding, and mentoring career driven students. Fuad is passionate about making research software more accessible and community‑owned, particularly in environments where infrastructure, funding, and institutional support are limited.
Abstract: Behind every sustainable research software project is not just code, but a healthy community. In this session, I will share my journey from a student who started as a contributor to maintainer of open-source projects, and what that experience has taught me about building African, community‑led research software.
I’ll unpack the practical side of “community building” that often gets glossed over: how we design onboarding that welcomes first‑time contributors, how we structure issues so students can pick up real work, and how we use documentation, code review, and mentorship to turn casual contributors into long‑term collaborators. I’ll also talk honestly about challenges, burnout, conflict, stagnation, and the small governance practices that helped us stay inclusive, transparent, and resilient over time.
Rather than focusing on a single project, this talk will highlight reusable patterns that RSEs, researchers, and student leaders can adapt to their own contexts across Africa. If you are trying to turn a one‑person project into a community‑owned research tool, this session is designed to give you concrete steps, not just encouragement.
Presentation. Title: Community Is Infrastructure Too: Building Research Software Capacity Through Bioinformatics Training in Africa
Presenter Name: Chioma B. Oselu
Bio: Chioma Oselu is a PhD researcher in Bioinformatics at Covenant University, Nigeria, with research focused on equitable disease risk prediction, reproducible genomic workflows, and research software for underrepresented populations. She is a L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Laureate for Sub-Saharan Africa and currently serves as President of ISCB Student Council Regional Student Group-Nigeria.
Chioma has trained and mentored over 800 students and researchers through bioinformatics and computational biology workshops, webinars, course design and curriculum development. She has contributed to capacity-building efforts through platforms including Bioconductor, Outreachy, Wellcome Connecting Science, ISCB-SC RSG-Nigeria, African Bioinformatics Institute (ABI) and university-led computational biology initiatives. Through her research, mentorship, and talks, she supports a more transparent and inclusive future for precision medicine, especially for underrepresented populations.
Abstract: When we talk about research infrastructure, we often imagine machines: servers, clusters, cloud platforms, workflow systems. and pipelines. These are important, but in many African bioinformatics spaces, the first infrastructure a learner meets is not a machine. It is a person who helps them understand the error message, read the documentation, find the missing file and try again. This talk reflects on community as a core layer of research software infrastructure. Drawing from my experience supporting bioinformatics training and capacity-building across Africa through community-led webinars, mentorship programmes, practical workshops, curriculum development, and learner support systems, I will explore how people, beyond platforms, sustain research software practice. These experiences include work with ISCB-SC Regional Student Group Nigeria, Bioconductor BugSigDB, Outreachy, Wellcome Connecting Science training, African Bioinformatics Institute (ABI) activities, and computational biology curriculum development.
Using bioinformatics as a case study, the talk will examine how training can move beyond “run this command” into reproducible research software practice. In many training settings, learners are introduced to tools but are not always supported to understand documentation, manage file structures, troubleshoot errors, version their work, organise outputs, or explain their workflows clearly. Yet these are the everyday practices that determine whether research software is reused, trusted, maintained or abandoned.
The central argument is that sustainable research software capacity is not built by tools alone. It also depends on mentoring structures, peer support, documentation habits, local leadership and communities that remain useful after formal workshops end. In resource-limited settings, these human systems often determine whether learners move from passive software users to confident practitioners who can adapt tools to their own research questions.
This presentation will share practical lessons for designing inclusive training programmes, reducing entry barriers for early-career researchers, supporting learners with different levels of prior exposure, and building community structures that strengthen research software use across institutions and regions. It will also reflect on how African research software communities can treat mentorship, peer learning, and local coordination as serious infrastructure for scientific progress. If we want research software to cross borders, then our communities must cross borders too: across institutions, countries, disciplines, and levels of experience. Because in the end, software may run the analysis, but community keeps the work alive.
Day 2 – Wednesday 26 August
Day 2 Announcements & Keynote
| Time | Length | Presentation | Presenter(s) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09:00–09:30 | 30 min | Day 2 Welcoming Session | Conference Organisers | Welcoming |
| 09:30–10:00 | 30 min | Day 2 Opening Plenary Address | TBC | Keynote |
Session 2A: AI & Emerging Tools
| Time | Length | Presentation | Presenter(s) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:15–10:35 | 20 min | Doing Science in the Age of AI, when the system isn’t built for you | Seun Olufemi | Presentation |
| 10:35–10:55 | 20 min | Failure Prediction in AI Agent Pipelines: A Shift Toward More Reliable Research Automation | Faith Sodipe | Presentation |
| 10:55–11:15 | 20 min | Governing Artificial Intelligence in Research Software Engineering | Samuel Simango | Presentation |
| 11:15–11:35 | 20 min | Developing AI Guidelines for Infrastructure-as-a-Service Platforms | Binjamin Barsch | Presentation |
| 11:35–11:50 | 15 min | A demonstration of an interpretive approach to machine learning with Orange Data Mining | Dr Alette Schoon | Demo/Showcase |
Session 2B: Machine Learning Pipelines & Data Curation
Presentation Details
Welcoming. Title: Day 2 Welcoming Session
Presenter Name: Conference Organisers
Keynote. Title: Day 2 Opening Plenary Address
Presenter Name: TBC
Abstract: TBC
Presentation. Title: Doing Science in the Age of AI, when the system isn’t built for you
Presenter Name: Seun Olufemi
Bio: Seun Olufemi is a Public Health researcher who specializes in digital skilling for the Open Science (OS) community of practice. He organizes training, workshops, and mentorship programs for early-career OS researchers at the Bioinformatics Outreach Nigeria. Seun is an Open Life Science Resident Fellow, PREreview Champion, ASAPbio Fellow, and an IGDORE Sweden Scholar.
Abstract: Science is often described as a global and borderless enterprise, yet for many researchers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), participation remains constrained by limited access to infrastructure, research software, training, and knowledge systems. Drawing on experiences from a bioinformatics and open science community in Nigeria, this presentation explores how these systemic barriers shape the way research software is accessed, used, and sustained in resource-limited settings.
With the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI), new opportunities are emerging to lower barriers to research practice. AI-enabled tools are increasingly supporting literature access, code generation, data analysis, and self-directed learning—offering alternative pathways for researchers who lack formal training or institutional support. However, these benefits are unevenly distributed and depend heavily on access to stable internet, compute resources, and inclusive datasets. Without deliberate efforts, AI risks reinforcing existing inequities in research software ecosystems.
This talk positions AI as part of a broader research software landscape and argues that achieving “research software without borders” requires more than tool adoption. It highlights the need for open, community-driven infrastructure, inclusive training models, and equitable access to knowledge. By sharing practical lessons and lived experiences, this presentation contributes to ongoing conversations on building sustainable, accessible, and community-led research software ecosystems across Africa.
Here is the full article: https://doi.org/10.54900/69s4r-kd236
Presentation. Title: Failure Prediction in AI Agent Pipelines: A Shift Toward More Reliable Research Automation
Presenter Name: Faith Sodipe
Bio: Faith is an experienced backend software engineer with years of experience building distributed systems, data pipelines, and AI-integrated platforms. He works at the intersection of practical engineering and emerging technology, designing systems that are reliable, scalable, and built to last.
Beyond his day job, Faith mentors developers through Codebar and the Women Coding Community, and is an active contributor to the wider tech community through speaking and writing. His current work explores how AI agents behave under real-world conditions, particularly how to anticipate and handle failure before it becomes a problem.
He believes that well-engineered software, clearly communicated, is one of the most powerful tools for closing gaps between disciplines, between regions, and between those who build technology and those who benefit from it.
Abstract: AI agents are showing up everywhere in research software, summarising literature, running experiments, orchestrating data workflows. And for good reason. They reduce toil, speed up iteration, and make complex automation feel almost effortless.
But anyone who has run an AI agent pipeline in production knows the uncomfortable truth: they fail in ways that are surprisingly hard to anticipate, and even harder to debug after the fact. Unlike traditional software, where a broken function throws an exception and points you to a line number, AI agent failures tend to be quiet. A tool call returns something plausible but wrong. A multi-step pipeline drifts off course three steps in. An agent confidently completes a task it fundamentally misunderstood. By the time you notice, the damage is already downstream.
This talk explores what failure in AI agent pipelines actually looks like in practice, not the textbook definitions, but the messy, real-world patterns that emerge when you put these systems under pressure. We’ll look at how to categorise agent failures across planning, tool use, and context management, and more importantly, how to build systems that can see failure coming before it lands.
Drawing on patterns from production engineering and emerging research in agent reliability, we’ll walk through practical approaches to failure prediction: designing observable pipelines, building lightweight failure classifiers, and instrumenting agent behaviour in ways that make anomalies visible early. The goal is not to build agents that never fail, that’s not realistic. The goal is to build research software that fails gracefully, recovers intelligently, and gives you enough signal to intervene when it matters.
This session is for engineers and researchers who are either already running AI agents in their workflows or actively evaluating whether to. You don’t need to be an ML researcher to follow along . If you care about reliability, reproducibility, and building software that holds up under real conditions, this is for you.
Presentation. Title: Governing Artificial Intelligence in Research Software Engineering
Presenter Name: Samuel Simango
Bio: Samuel Simango is the Senior Manager: Academic Support Services at the Rhodes University Library. In this role he leads the Library’s activities which support the University’s teaching and learning, research as well as community engagement initiatives. He is also the Deputy Chairperson of Rhodes University’s Human Research Ethics Committee. In this role he has been instrumental in aligning the HREC’s governance documents and practices with Research Data Management principles as well as the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence in research. Samuel’s area of specialisation is in the conceptualisation and implementation of Research Data Management systems – particularly insofar as this relates to the integration of lifecycle models, governance frameworks, technological solutions and services.
Abstract: The deployment of Generative Artificial Intelligence tools such as Large Language Models (LLMs) within Research Software Engineering (RSE) significantly accelerates scientific software production. Recent empirical evaluations of AI-assisted Research Software Engineering demonstrate a rapid acceleration in AI-driven scientific code generation. While contemporary RSE research optimises these tools for software maturity, institutional policies routinely fail to address the systemic data privacy risks which this introduces. Using cloud-based AI tools introduces severe data governance vulnerabilities, particularly regarding compliance with data protection laws.
As AI tools become ubiquitous in academia, higher education institutions face an urgent need to ensure responsible research integrity. However, a significant gap exists between high-level ethical policies and practical software development. While many institutional strategies rely on a priori assumptions that governance documents alone suffice, true accountability requires technical oversight.
This presentation addresses this critical regulatory gap by introducing an actionable Institutional AI-RSE Policy Compliance Checklist. This checklist serves as a practical, step-by-step governance tool tailored for South African research facilities, enabling administrators and researchers to systematically mitigate legal risks without stifling technological innovation. Attendees will learn how to deploy this administrative tool to establish a clear, auditable link between institutional data protection mandates and daily research software engineering practices.
Specifically, this session details how the compliance checklist operationalises a four-pillared policy framework:
Governance and Tool Vetting: Vetting AI vendor terms to enforce Zero Data Retention and compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
Data Tiering and Risk Classification: Mapping research data types - from public repositories to critical POPIA special personal information - to permissible AI processing environments.
Input Sanitisation and Prompt Hygiene: Executing protocols to eliminate direct identifiers, metadata, and connection strings from code.
Local Infrastructure Activation: Setting policy criteria that mandate a transition to offline, air-gapped open-source LLMs hosted on-premises.
Presentation. Title: Developing AI Guidelines for Infrastructure-as-a-Service Platforms
Presenter Name: Binjamin Barsch
Bio: Mr Binjamin (pronounced Bin-ya-meen) Barsch is the lead software engineer at the Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC), which forms part of the CSIR. He has engineering degrees from Stellenbosch and UCT. He has worked in the fields of electronic engineering, data science, and software engineering. His current role at the CHPC focuses on the design and development of software systems and infrastructure. In addition to his technical roles, he actively contributes to training initiatives, such as teaching data science and robotics.
In his spare time he tries to prevent his son and daughter from kitchen “experiments”!
LinkedIn Profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/binjamin-barsch-43036216a/
Abstract: The rapid adoption of AI assistants, coding copilots, and autonomous agents is transforming how research software and infrastructure platforms are developed and operated. While these tools improve productivity, they also introduce new operational, security, and governance challenges for both AI users and infrastructure providers.
This presentation explores the growing need for practical AI usage guidelines within Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), cloud, HPC, and research computing environments. The talk discusses the shared responsibility model required for responsible AI adoption, focusing on guardrails for users interacting with AI tools, as well as protective controls implemented by infrastructure providers themselves.
Using examples from real-world DevOps and cyberinfrastructure environments, the session will highlight risks such as credential exposure, unsafe automation, infrastructure modification, and excessive system access. The presentation will also examine why traditional IT and software governance approaches are often insufficient for AI-enabled workflows.
Participants will gain an understanding of the operational risks associated with AI-assisted infrastructure management, explore practical governance and guardrail approaches, and learn how AI usage guidelines can support responsible innovation while protecting critical research infrastructure and services.
Demo/Showcase. Title: A demonstration of an interpretive approach to machine learning with Orange Data Mining
Presenter Name: Dr Alette Schoon
Bio: Alette Schoon is a senior lecturer at the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University. She runs DigiMethods Africa, a project that empowers Media and Communications researchers to learn digital and computational methods .
Abstract: In this 10 minute demo I model a quali-quantitative interpretive approach to using machine learning for making sense of patterns in a dataset. I use the open source visual programming software Orange Data Mining, developed by the University of Llubjana, to show how one might explain machine-learning-generated clusters. I demonstrate how to combine unsupervised and supervised methods to set such cluster data as the target for a subsequent classification model. Then I visualise the contribution of each feature to this classification. In doing so I model the process of making sense of the influence of different features in constituting these machine-generated clusters. In this way I follow Birhane (2021) in demonstrating the importance of relational and interpretive approaches to machine learning as part of a critical decolonial engagement with computational tools that resists their typical application for predictions.
Demo/Showcase. Title: Cleantweet: Pushing the Boundaries of NLP and Datamining for AI Access in Africa.
Presenter Name: Lare Adeola
Bio: Lare Adeola is a Computer Science Researcher whose research focuses on three themes: Health, Sustainability and Development. He is a BASE Fellow and winner of the Santander Bank Enterprise Award.
Abstract: cleantweet is a python library used for manipulating textual data fetched from API. It helps in creating downstream natural language processing tasks from cleaning and feature extraction to data analysis, diagrams, text summarization, text classification etc.
The purpose of cleantweet is to create a NLP tool for africans that can be used for NLP tasks and consequently in building local and regional Large Language Models.
Presentation. Title: The eLwazi (DSI) Platform: AI-Assisted Data Harmonization and Metadata Curation for Multi-Site Health Research in Africa
Presenter Name: Lyndon Zass
Bio: Lyndon Zass is a University of Cape Town-based geneticist and data specialist whose work bridges human genetics, public health, and bioinformatics to advance phenotype standardisation and genomic medicine across the African research landscape. Lyndon Zass serves as a Project Manager African Genomics Data Hub (AfriGen-D). In addition, he plays a substantial role in the eLwazi Open Data Science Platform (ODSP) as a Project Co ordinator and co chair of the eLwazi Data Support Work Package.
Abstract: The Data Science for Health Discovery and Innovation in Africa (DS-I Africa) consortium generates diverse health data spanning genomics, epidemiology, climate, clinical studies, and public health across African research hubs. However, effective cross-project collaboration faces major barriers: inconsistent metadata standards limit dataset discovery, heterogeneous data collection practices prevent variable alignment across sites, divergent access policies and institutional reluctance restrict data sharing, and dispersed teams have difficulty providing remote harmonization support with limited familiarity with AI-assisted platforms. We aimed to develop AI-assisted data harmonization infrastructure that enables interoperability across DS-I Africa, providing researchers with accessible tools for data discovery, metadata standardization, and variable harmonization while maintaining data sovereignty and adhering to international standards. As part of the eLwazi Open Data Science Platform, we implemented a REDCap-based Metadata Catalogue and an AI-assisted Data Harmonization Tool. The catalogue serves as a central repository with secure access controls, standardized templates, and API synchronization to a public interface. The harmonization tool integrates locally hosted and SaaS Large Language Models to accelerate variable alignment and ontology mapping through intelligent suggestions. The Catalogue currently aggregates metadata from projects across multiple African countries, extending beyond the DS-I Africa consortium to include initiatives like Data Science Without Borders. It provides searchable access to demographic, health, omic, medical imaging, and geospatial data. The AI-assisted harmonization tool has been deployed with successful multi-hub pilots and is available on GitHub with Docker deployment, demonstrating significant acceleration in the mapping process. The eLwazi Data Harmonization Tool and Metadata Catalogue demonstrate a scalable, replicable model for federated African health research infrastructure. By integrating AI-assisted mapping with public facing metadata catalogue, the platform enables researchers across the DS-I Africa consortium to collaborate effectively while maintaining data sovereignty. The platform addresses critical gaps in regional health data science capacity and provides a framework that other regional health research consortia can adopt to maximize the value of their collective data resources.
Presentation. Title: REDMANE: A Lightweight Ecosystem for Research Data Management Across Organisations and Diverse Data Types
Presenter Name: Rowland Mosbergen
Bio: Rowland is a strategic leader in digital research infrastructure with 25+ years’ experience translating HPC, AI, data and cloud technologies into scalable research and industry services used by global communities. Known for building partnerships across researchers, national infrastructure providers and technology teams to deliver high-impact digital capability, Rowland provides strategic direction, inclusive leadership and scalable programs that accelerate research adoption and demonstrate measurable impact.
Rowland co-founded RSAA, RSAfrica, and RS Latin America, and established Equersa, the umbrella organisation supporting all three regional conferences. He also serves on the steering committee of the RSE Australia New Zealand Association.
Abstract: Managing research data in multi-organisational, multi-omics environments is increasingly complex yet most existing systems are built for institutions, not researchers. REDMANE (REsearch Data Management & ANalysis Environment) is a lightweight, researcher-focused ecosystem that addresses this critical gap and may be ideal for universities and research institutes in Africa.
Designed with input from over 40 interns and research staff across clinical, molecular, and data science disciplines, REDMANE replicates the usability of modern library systems for research data. It will combine a flexible data registry with ingestion tools that deliver immediate value to researchers by simplifying curation, improving discoverability, and enabling long-term data retrieval across institutions.
Crucially, REDMANE highlights the growing need for international standards to support interoperability between these data portals. To unlock the full potential of federated research ecosystems, we must co-develop shared frameworks for authentication and authorisation, mapping unique identifiers between ssytems and making it easier to maintain and develop ecosystems that are fit-for-purpose. REDMANE is built with this future in mind, enabling researchers to plug into a broader, evolving network of interoperable tools and services.
Unlike platform-centric tools, REDMANE is domain-agnostic and scalable - capable of supporting legacy and incoming datasets in projects in the biomedical space. Its modular architecture supports diverse data portals (e.g., Omero, cBioPortal), enabling researchers to keep large datasets locally while cataloguing and accessing them via a shared metadata layer.
This architecture should also support other domains including Digital Humanities Arts and Social Sciences.
By aligning technical capability with real researcher needs, REDMANE demonstrates that uptake, not just delivery, is the key to sustainable RDM. This talk will present REDMANE’s design, use cases, and early implementation feedback, and invite collaboration to grow its open-source, community-driven future.
Demo/Showcase. Title: R-Universe: Building Open Ecosystems for Research Software in R
Presenter Name: Yanina Bellini Saibene
Bio: Yanina Bellini Saibene is Community Manager at rOpenSci, where she works on initiatives related to open science, research software sustainability, and strengthening technical communities in Latin America. She coordinates the rOpenSci Champions Program for Latin America and collaborates on localization, mentorship, and community infrastructure projects within the R ecosystem. Her work focuses on reducing barriers to access research software tools and promoting open and collaborative practices in research. She actively contributes to training and support spaces for research software developers and maintainers.
Abstract: R-universe is an open platform that expands the possibilities for distributing, discovering, and documenting R packages, offering a modern and flexible alternative for research software communities. In this talk, I will introduce what R-Universe is, how its infrastructure works, and how individuals and organizations can use it to build their own package repositories and software ecosystems.
The presentation will demonstrate how to create a personal or organizational “universe” directly from GitHub repositories, automating package building, documentation, and continuous publishing workflows. I will also explore the tools automatically generated by the platform, including specialized search engines, documentation websites, package feeds, APIs, and discovery systems that improve the visibility and reuse of research software.
Beyond the technical aspects, the talk will discuss how R-Universe supports key Research Software Engineering and open science practices, including software sustainability, accessibility, reproducibility, decentralized distribution, and community-driven infrastructure. I will share examples from communities and projects in Latin America, along with reflections on how these tools can strengthen regional research software ecosystems.
This session is aimed at package developers, maintainers, and anyone interested in open infrastructure for reproducible science. No prior experience with R-Universe is required.
Presentation. Title: The African Genomics Medicine Portal (AGMP): A Web Portal dedicated to African-ancestry genomics information
Presenter Name: Kais Ghedira
Bio: Professor Kais Ghedira is an Associate Professor in Bioinformatics and Head of the Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Biomathematics and Biostatistics (BIMS-lab) at the Institut Pasteur de Tunis, where he also leads the High-Performance Computing (HPC) cluster committee and serves as Group Leader at the African Bioinformatics Institute (ABI). He obtained his PhD in Bioinformatics from the Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte and his Habilitation to Direct Research (HDR) in 2020. His research focuses on multi-omics data integration, functional genomics, infectious diseases, precision medicine and computational biology. He is Principal Investigator (PI) of several major national and international projects, including GARN, AfriGenD, MetaCoV2, and MetaBact and has also contributed to initiatives such as Genome Tunisia and PHINDaccess (H2020). He played a key role in SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance in Tunisia. Prof. Ghedira has authored more of 80 high-impact publications in highly ranked journals.
Abstract: Genomics data are ever-increasing across the globe, for which knowledge extracted from this data is typically converged across numerous resources, with different scopes. Retrieving regionally specific information from these existing resources presents a significant challenge for knowledge retrieval and application. To overcome such challenges, the African Genomic Medicine Portal (AGMP), a database containing metadata on genomic medicine studies conducted on African-ancestry populations, was previously established. Since its initial launch, the platform has introduced numerous updates to its curation pipelines and technical implementation, including the update of data sources, the standardisation of existing fields using ontologies, the addition of new curation fields, and more. The metadata in AGMP is curated from well-established databases in the field and are limited to genomic variants associated with disease aetiology or treatment in the context of African-ancestry populations. Here, we present updates in the field of genomics medicine research in African-ancestry populations, as reflected by newly curated content within the Portal. Over 17,470 variants relevant to populations of African-ancestry, mapped to 6,270 genes, covering 1,579 phenotypes, 48 drug treatments, and 1,194 studies were retrieved. Access to data in the portal is facilitated by a combination of an SQLite SQL data storage engine, a Python–Django web framework as an intermediate back-end and an interactive web technology front-end user interface. A Bootstrap framework along with open source JavaScript Libraries and custom CSS are used. The AGMP serves as a dedicated resource for accessing African-specific genomic information relevant to health research, enabling queries through variants, genes, diseases and drugs. The portal, along with its technical documentation, implementation code, and curated content, is publicly available at https://agmp.afrigen-d.org/.
Demo/Showcase. Title: Alleviating Food Crisis Through Price Visibility
Presenter Name: Mfonobong Emmanuel Uyah & Oluwapelumi Blessing Odetayo
Bio: Mfonobong Emmanuel Uyah - Tech founder, The Price Marketplace
Oluwapelumi Blessing Odetayo - Co-founder, The Price Marketplace
Abstract: The Price Marketplace is a platform that collects, aggregates, and displays food prices across Nigeria, creating an intelligence later for consumers and a data infrastructure for supply chain players in the food industry.
We are exploring how access to price information can significantly alter purchase choices, impact impulse buying, and move markets generally.
This 10-minute product demo will showcase our product and our approach to reducing the usage barrier for price submissions and retrieval by locals.
Presentation. Title: The African Genomics Data Hub: increasing accessibility of African genomic data
Presenter Name: Lyndon Zass
Bio: Lyndon Zass is a University of Cape Town-based geneticist and data specialist whose work bridges human genetics, public health, and bioinformatics to advance phenotype standardisation and genomic medicine across the African research landscape. Lyndon Zass serves as a Project Manager African Genomics Data Hub (AfriGen-D). In addition, he plays a substantial role in the eLwazi Open Data Science Platform (ODSP) as a Project Co ordinator and co chair of the eLwazi Data Support Work Package.
Abstract: African data are underrepresented and data that do exist are not easy to find due to superficial annotation. The African Genomics Data Hub Data (AfriGen-D) is a new project which is maintaining and further developing H3ABioNet resources to ensure that the African data that do exist are findable and available in an accessible format for different users. The hub provides a set of related resources for African genomics research that are globally applicable. These resources aim to fill gaps in international efforts and improve the processing and analysis of African data. AGDH encourages and facilitates the submission of multi-omics African data to public repositories and will provide a African data catalogue to enable searching of metadata for African datasets stored locally and in public databases. AGDH complements resources such as gnoMAD and serves data in the African Genomic Variation Database that are not available otherwise (due to data sharing limitations). Data include African population-level allele frequencies at a more granular level than currently exists. Further information on clinically actionable variants that have been identified or verified in African populations are served from the African Genomic Medicine Portal (AGMP: https://agmp.h3abionet.org/). AfriGen-D will extract and curate additional African genotype-phenotype data from literature and public databases to include in the AGMP. Additional H3ABioNet tools that are transitioning to AfriGen-D include the H3Africa imputation service and an African reference graph and pangenome for variant calling. Together, these resources provide African data in a more accessible form and a tool suite to analyze and interpret the data.
Day 3 – Thursday 27 August
Day 3 Welcome and Track Announcements
| Time | Length | Presentation | Presenter(s) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09:00–09:10 | 10 min | Day 3 Joint Welcoming Session | Conference Organisers | Welcoming |
Session 3A: Reproducibility, FAIR, and Open Research
| Time | Length | Presentation | Presenter(s) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09:10–09:30 | 20 min | Building Reproducible Genomic Analysis Pipelines for Enterococcus Surveillance in Resource-Constrained Research Environments | Bill Clinton Aglomasa | Presentation |
| 09:30–09:50 | 20 min | Open Source Is Infrastructure: Why We Must Treat It That Way | Gertrude Abagale | Presentation |
| 09:50–10:10 | 20 min | Open Science and Reproducibility: Strengthening Research Practices in Africa | Precious Onyewuchi | Presentation |
| 10:10–10:25 | 15 min | Automating AMR Surveillance; A Resource-Efficient Pipeline for Genomic Discovery in Kenya | Ogoti Duncan Mogire & University of Kabianga / American Society for Microbiology (ASM) | Demo/Showcase |
| 10:25–10:40 | 15 min | Stellar: An Offline-First Humanities Research Workbench for Citation, Qualitative Analysis, and Knowledge Graphs | Midori Tamura | Demo/Showcase |
Session 3B: Community, Collaboration, and Access
| Time | Length | Presentation | Presenter(s) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:55–11:15 | 20 min | I Didn’t Know I Could: Barriers to Research for Adults in Underrepresented Communities and the Organisations Already Closing the Gap | Olushola Ogunkelu | Presentation |
| 11:15–11:35 | 20 min | No Lab, No Lecture Hall: Teaching Research Software Beyond the Institution | Adejumo Adefisayo | Presentation |
| 11:35–11:55 | 20 min | Meta-valuation: A Self-Referential Mechanism for Valuing Diverse Research Contributions | Dr Cooper Smout | Presentation |
| 11:55–12:15 | 20 min | On Building a Sustainable Research Software and HPC Training Pipeline in West Africa | JAMES AFFUL | Presentation |
Session 3C: Data, Demos, and Local Applications
| Time | Length | Presentation | Presenter(s) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12:30–12:45 | 15 min | Building Standardised Phenotype Data Collection Toolkits for African Research | Katherine Elizabeth Johnston | Demo/Showcase |
| 12:45–13:00 | 15 min | Create Mobile Data Collection Applications | Benson Muite | Demo/Showcase |
Presentation Details
Welcoming. Title: Day 3 Joint Welcoming Session
Presenter Name: Conference Organisers
Presentation. Title: Building Reproducible Genomic Analysis Pipelines for Enterococcus Surveillance in Resource-Constrained Research Environments
Presenter Name: Bill Clinton Aglomasa
Bio: Bill Aglomasa is a PhD candidate in Medical Microbiology in Ghana, working at the intersection of antimicrobial resistance research, bioinformatics, and research software development within a One-Health framework. His research focuses on the molecular epidemiology of Enterococcus species using whole-genome sequencing to study population structure, antimicrobial resistance, and plasmid diversity.
He develops reproducible bioinformatics workflows using Linux and Python for genomic data analysis, including pangenome analysis, comparative genomics, and metadata harmonization. His current work also integrates machine learning approaches for plasmid typing from short-read sequencing data, with a focus on improving genomic surveillance in resource-constrained environments. His broader interests include reproducible research practices, sustainable computational genomics, and building accessible research software workflows that support capacity development across resource-limited settings.
Abstract: Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is increasingly central to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance and bacterial epidemiology. However, transforming raw sequencing data into reproducible and scalable analyses remains challenging in many resource-constrained research environments due to limited computational infrastructure, fragmented workflows, and inconsistent access to training and high-performance computing resources.
This presentation describes the development of a reproducible bioinformatics pipeline for Enterococcus genomic surveillance in Ghana using Linux- and Python-based research software practices. The pipeline integrates short-read WGS processing, automated metadata organization, comparative genomics, and pangenome analysis using both locally generated and publicly available datasets. It is designed to support scalable characterization of AMR determinants, population structure, and plasmid diversity within a One-Health framework.
A key component of this work is the integration of a machine learning-based approach for plasmid typing from short-read sequencing data, aimed at improving genomic interpretation in settings where long-read sequencing is not routinely available. The workflow is implemented using accessible consumer-grade computing infrastructure, demonstrating that robust and reproducible genomic analyses can be achieved without reliance on high-performance computing systems.
The presentation highlights practical lessons in workflow design, including reproducibility, portability, automation, metadata harmonization, and sustainable software practices. By sharing experiences from Ghana, this work demonstrates how research software can be designed to be both locally feasible and globally reusable, contributing to equitable access to computational genomics tools and strengthening bioinformatics capacity across Africa and other resource-limited settings.
Presentation. Title: Open Source Is Infrastructure: Why We Must Treat It That Way
Presenter Name: Gertrude Abagale
Bio: Gertrude Abagale is a cybersecurity and infrastructure professional working at the intersection of software engineering, cloud systems, open source, and community building. She is currently pursuing an MSc Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and frequently speaks at tech events to educate and inspire others about security and development.
Beyond her professional work, Gertrude actively contributes to the Python and open source ecosystem through mentorship, speaking, and community organizing. She serve as a board council member of Black Python Devs, helping Black people in the Python community access and leverage opportunities to grow communities. She serves as a Sprint Co-Lead at Everything Open Source and led an open source sprint at Python Asia 2026. She also volunteers with PyLadies Ghana, Python Ghana, AWS Accra User Group, and WiMLDS Accra, supporting inclusive access to technology and open collaboration.
Abstract: Open Source powers the technology ecosystem and the systems we build every day, from APIs and payment platforms to AI models and cloud infrastructure. Yet most of it is maintained by individuals with little to no institutional support. This talk is for anyone in the digital economy who relies on Open Source but rarely thinks about its sustainability, security, or governance. Through real-world examples, I will show why treating Open Source as “free” poses real risks and what we can do differently.
Presentation. Title: Open Science and Reproducibility: Strengthening Research Practices in Africa
Presenter Name: Precious Onyewuchi
Bio: Precious Onyewuchi is an SSI Fellow (2026) and an open source community manager focused on open science communities and educating others on open science best practices.
Her background is in community building, with experience in teaching technical concepts. Precious has spent much of her career educating and advocating for open source practices.
Right now, as an SSI Fellow and contributor to projects like The Turing Way, she focuses on exploring reproducibility in research, with her SSI topic specifically highlighting reproducibility in AI.
Her work with the Data Science Without Borders (DSWB) project gives her insight into what the African continent needs to build strong and sustainable research and data practices. The project focuses on strengthening data practices in Africa, particularly in relation to health practitioners.
Abstract: Reproducibility is an important aspect of research, especially within continents like Africa, which include a large number of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Practicing reproducible research enables researchers to save costs, time, and avoid duplication of effort, allowing resources to be used more efficiently and judiciously.
While the Global North has been able to innovate and scale research more rapidly, in the Global South there is a growing shift from being primarily consumers of research to becoming creators. However, this transition is still gradual. One way to accelerate it is by adopting open research practices—“as open as possible, as closed as necessary”—to improve transparency, collaboration, and the speed of innovation.
My talk will highlight what reproducibility is, its benefits, and how researchers can implement reproducible practices in their work. It will also include practical resources and case studies to help illustrate these concepts.
In addition, I will emphasize that the lack of reproducibility is a global research challenge, not an African-specific problem. This framing is important to avoid localizing the issue, while still highlighting how reproducible practices can significantly benefit African research contexts if implemented effectively. Comparisons will also be drawn with progress made in other regions and continents.
The talk will reference materials from The Turing Way (https://book.the-turing-way.org/) and insights from Dr. Reina Camacho Toro’s work/talk on open science diplomacy in the LATAM context at the DSWB May External Webinar (https://zenodo.org/records/20376717).
Demo/Showcase. Title: Automating AMR Surveillance; A Resource-Efficient Pipeline for Genomic Discovery in Kenya
Presenter Name: Ogoti Duncan Mogire & University of Kabianga / American Society for Microbiology (ASM)
Bio: Ogoti Duncan Mogire is a Research Scientist and the ASM Young Ambassador to Kenya. With a background in Microbiology and a recent distinction in Bioinformatics from Wellcome Connecting Science, his work focuses on viral immunogenetics and antimicrobial resistance. As the founder of the One Health AMR Community Initiative, he specializes in bridging high-level molecular research with grassroots community impact. Duncan is currently a fellow of the ASM Future Leaders Mentorship Program and an active advocate for diagnostic equity in the Global South.
Abstract: In resource-limited settings, the gap between raw genomic data and actionable public health policy is often widened by a lack of accessible, automated workflows. This demonstration showcases a reproducible bioinformatics pipeline developed to identify Antimicrobial Resistance markers within the Kenyan research ecosystem.
Leveraging open-source Linux/Bash scripting and R-based visualization, this showcase demonstrates how research software can be used to do more with less. The presenter will walk through a live workflow, from processing raw sequence reads to generating diagnostic-ready reports, that has been utilized to support the One Health AMR Community Initiative. By focusing on FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) software practices, this session illustrates how African researchers can lead genomic surveillance efforts without relying on expensive, proprietary platforms. The presentation will also touch upon the socio-behavioral impact of this software, highlighting how technical outputs were translated to reach over 1,000,000 citizens through community advocacy.
Demo/Showcase. Title: Stellar: An Offline-First Humanities Research Workbench for Citation, Qualitative Analysis, and Knowledge Graphs
Presenter Name: Midori Tamura
Bio: I am, or Midori Tamura is the developer of Stellar, a free, MIT-licensed desktop research tool for humanities graduate students. I also research Japanese Foreign Ministry perceptions of South African opposition politics in the 1980s, using declassified Japanese diplomatic archives and SAHA holdings.
And I am Tokyo Gakugei University Senior High School student.
Abstract: Stellar is a free, fully offline, local-first desktop research tool for humanities graduate students. It is designed for researchers who need dependable workflows for reading, note-taking, citation management, qualitative analysis, and writing without depending on the cloud. Released under the MIT License, Stellar combines reference management, citation-linked notes, qualitative coding, knowledge-graph exploration, and Word/PDF export in a single environment. It targets real research practice in contexts where connectivity is unstable, budgets are limited, privacy matters, and software must remain useful on the researcher’s own machine.
This 10-minute demo presents Stellar through an end-to-end humanities workflow. Starting from a small source collection, I show how users organise references, create notes that preserve citation context, code excerpts for qualitative analysis, connect sources and concepts through a knowledge graph, and export outputs for writing and supervision. I also highlight Stellar’s Afrikaans interface as a practical example of multilingual research software design.
The session argues that offline-first research software is not only a technical architecture but also a contribution to equitable access, data sovereignty, and sustainable scholarly workflows. Rather than focusing on speculative futures, the demo shows how an open, reusable tool can support everyday humanities research right now. Attendees will leave with a concrete example of how local-first design can reduce conflicts, improve provenance, and broaden access for early-career researchers and institutions with limited resources.
Presentation. Title: I Didn’t Know I Could: Barriers to Research for Adults in Underrepresented Communities and the Organisations Already Closing the Gap
Presenter Name: Olushola Ogunkelu
Bio: Olushola Ogunkelu is a computer science student, independent researcher, and tech educator based in Lagos, Nigeria. She is the founder of the Coding Clubhouse, a community education initiative teaching foundational programming to children in underrepresented areas of Nigeria. She has delivered over 309 hours of one-on-one technical instruction through Preply, contributed documentation to open source projects including Chisel3 and the Galaxy Project, and mentored open source contributors through Outreachy. She is a Carpentries helper and an active participant in the Open Life Science community. Her research interest is in tech education pedagogy and equitable access to research for adults in underrepresented communities. she is submitting it as proof that the barriers she describes are real, and crossable.
Abstract: For many adults in underrepresented communities across the Global South, research is something that happens elsewhere. It happens in universities they did not attend, in institutions they are not affiliated with, and in languages and formats that were not designed with them in mind. The result is not a lack of curiosity or capability. It is a gap in access, visibility, and permission.
This talk examines four specific barriers that keep capable, observant, and motivated people from entering research: not knowing how to frame everyday work and observations as research; having no researcher in their immediate community to model the path; believing research requires a PhD or institutional affiliation; and not knowing where to publish or share findings openly once they exist.
These are not abstract barriers. They are drawn from lived experience as a self-directed researcher and educator in Lagos, Nigeria, navigating these exact walls without institutional support.
But this talk is not only about the problem. It gives direct credit to the organisations already doing the work to close these gaps, including Open Life Science, Outreachy, The Carpentries, and others building community-led, open, and accessible pathways into research for people who were never told they belonged there.
The session ends with an honest reflection and an open invitation: what would it look like if every community had one person who had crossed that threshold and came back to show others the way?
Presentation. Title: No Lab, No Lecture Hall: Teaching Research Software Beyond the Institution
Presenter Name: Adejumo Adefisayo
Bio: Adefisayo Adejumo is a London-based software engineer with experience in fintech and regtech and a background in secondary school teaching across the UK and Nigeria. She holds an MSc in Software Engineering and Management with Distinction from Kingston University. She mentors at Codebar and Code Your Future, speaks at conferences including DevFest and JSMonthly, and builds at the intersection of engineering and education. This talk draws directly on both sides of that experience.
Abstract: Most research software training assumes an institution. A department. A computing cluster. A cohort of students who already know why they are there. But the researchers and community members who most need software skills are often the ones furthest from that infrastructure. They work in under-resourced universities, community organisations, or disciplines where “just take a programming course” is not a realistic option.
This talk draws on experience teaching in secondary schools in the UK and Nigeria, mentoring at Codebar and Code Your Future, and building a behavioural learning platform grounded in educational psychology research. It asks a simple question: what do spaces that have always taught without institutional support know about skill-building that formal RSE programmes are still trying to figure out?
The answer is not a new curriculum. It is a different relationship with the learner. Community education models have spent decades solving problems that research software training is only beginning to name. How do you teach people who have competing demands on their time? How do you reach people who do not identify as technical? How do you make a skill feel relevant before asking someone to invest in learning it?
This talk offers three transferable principles from community teaching practice, illustrated with real examples. RSE trainers and community organisers can apply them immediately, whether they are running a workshop at a regional university, a coding club with no budget, or a peer learning group with no institutional home.
Community programmes are not a stepping stone to real RSE training. They are a model for it.
Presentation. Title: Meta-valuation: A Self-Referential Mechanism for Valuing Diverse Research Contributions
Presenter Name: Dr Cooper Smout
Bio: Dr. Cooper Smout is a designer, neuroscientist, and open science entrepreneur working at the intersection of collective intelligence, participatory governance, and cultural change. With a background in architecture and a PhD in the neuroscience of consciousness, he left academia to found Free Our Knowledge, a collective action platform for open research, and Open Heart & Mind (OHM), a nonprofit organisation developing open-source tools to empower communities. His current work focuses on meta-valuation, a participatory evaluation framework that generates transparent, interoperable value metrics to support fair recognition and reward, decentralised coordination, and collective governance across research and commons-oriented ecosystems.
Abstract: Research communities face a structural challenge: existing recognition systems reward outputs over process, fail to recognise diverse contribution types — including research software — and create misaligned incentives that undermine the very collaboration they depend on. Meta-valuation is a self-referential mechanism designed to address this, placing the full scope of contributions — including evaluations themselves — on a common scale, so that research software and other undervalued contributions can be given fair recognition and reward.
In this talk, I’ll introduce the mechanism and present findings from recent experiments, including a live pilot at RSAA25 — where participants valued diverse conference contributions in real-time — and a more recent deployment at OHM Gathering 2025, where the mechanism coordinated and recognised contributions across a three-day in-person event. Collectively, these experiments demonstrate the mechanism’s capacity to value diverse contribution types — labour, capital, and ideas — and break down barriers between regions, institutions, disciplines, and communities, while remaining accessible to the diverse stakeholders who use it. I’ll also preview a next-generation valuation model inspired by these experiments, building on observed data patterns to improve value prediction while reducing reviewer burden — a critical barrier to broader adoption.
Next, I’ll present theory on how the mechanism can address collective action problems in academia, helping communities transition to a more equitable, sustainable, and community-led research ecosystem. Communities who adopt the same, interoperable value dimensions can both coordinate activity and recognise the same contribution across contexts, creating a structural incentive for contributors to make their outputs openly available: sharing becomes the locally rational choice because it enables more recognition across contexts. Furthermore, the mechanism can recognise its own implementation and development, seeding a virtuous cycle of continuous improvement in which the valuation process becomes progressively more efficient. Together, these properties suggest that Open Science principles — such as openness, reliability, and replicability — may emerge naturally from the mechanism architecture alone, without need for external coercion. Rather, Open Science becomes the rational choice: as the most valuable form of contribution, it gets recognised and rewarded accordingly, aligning individual incentives with the common good.
Presentation. Title: On Building a Sustainable Research Software and HPC Training Pipeline in West Africa
Presenter Name: JAMES AFFUL
Bio: James Afful is a Mechanical Engineering PhD candidate and Graduate Research Assistant at Iowa State University, specializing in High-Performance Computing (HPC) applications, computational fluid dynamics, and physics-aware machine learning. A licensed Professional Engineer (PE) and member of the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE), he is deeply committed to democratizing technical education and scientific computing. As a co-founder and organizer for the Center for Computational Research and Education (CCRE), James spearheads international training initiatives designed to bridge the human capital and computational literacy gap in West Africa. He acts as a bridge connecting global HPC resources with emerging scientific talents, designing reproducible workflows that empower the next generation of African research software engineers.
Abstract: High-Performance Computing (HPC) and scalable research software workflows are foundational to modern advancements in engineering, climate modeling, machine learning, and the physical sciences. However, structured, cohort-based HPC training opportunities remain limited in West Africa, creating a critical skills gap despite the emergence of local hardware infrastructure. This presentation introduces the Center for Computational Research and Education (CCRE) pilot initiative: a structured, repeatable, hybrid six-week training program designed to build sustainable computational capacity among advanced students and researchers in Ghana and the broader region.
The program bridges the gap between hardware availability and human capital through a dual-phase pedagogical model. Phase 1 delivers an intensive, hands-on bootcamp covering Linux shell fundamentals, cluster architecture, batch scheduling systems (SLURM/PBS), and parallel programming essentials (MPI/OpenMP). Phase 2 transitions participants from passive learning to active application through mentored group research projects utilizing real HPC cluster resources. Project domains include computational fluid dynamics (CFD), structural finite-element analysis, and climate modeling. Crucially, the program culminates in a mini-symposium requiring participants to produce transparent research outputs, including documented GitHub repositories and conference-ready abstracts or posters.
By analyzing the deployment, assessment strategies, and infrastructure partnerships of this inaugural cohort, this presentation outlines a scalable blueprint for regional scientific enablement. We discuss the challenges of cross-institutional resource allocation, the efficacy of pre-program vetting via automated assessments, and our “train-the-trainer” model designed to transform program alumni into future mentors, ultimately fostering an equitable, self-sustaining regional research software ecosystem.
Demo/Showcase. Title: Building Standardised Phenotype Data Collection Toolkits for African Research
Presenter Name: Katherine Elizabeth Johnston
Bio: Now a Senior Data Architect in the Computational Biology Division (CBIO) at UCT, Cape Town, Katherine began her career as a Clinical Research Data Manager in HIV/AIDS and TB and transitioned to the field of bioinformatics when she joined the University of Cape Town in 2017. As a member of a number of research grants, namely H3Africa, H3ABioNet, DS-I Africa, eLwazi (Open Data Science Platform), BRIDGE Network and AfriGen-D (African Genomics Data Hub) she leads working groups and projects focused on health data management, applying FAIR principles, standardisation and harmonisation. In addition, she administers the REDCap instance used by all the above grants at CBIO and is a member of the Steering Committee for REDCap Africa building a community of users and software administrators on the continent. She has a passion for developing tools for data collectors on the ground whilst promoting and implementing meticulous, quality data management processes wherever she is.
Abstract: Published paper: https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/6693323
Modern biomedical research is characterised by its high-throughput and interdisciplinary nature. Multi-project and consortium-based collaborations requiring meaningful analysis of multiple heterogeneous phenotypic datasets have become the norm; however, such analysis remains a challenge in many regions across the world. An increasing number of data harmonisation efforts are being undertaken by multi-study collaborations through either prospective standardised phenotype data collection or retrospective phenotype harmonisation. The Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) consortium aimed to facilitate phenotype standardisation by promoting the use of existing data collection standards, adapting existing data collection standards for appropriate use in low- and middle-income regions such as Africa, and developing novel data collection standards where relevant gaps were identified. These data collection kits built in REDCap (a secure web application for building and managing online surveys and databases), facilitate phenotype standardisation and harmonisation not only in Africa but also across the larger research community. In keeping with the inclusive methods originally employed to build and validate these toolkits for use in the African context, AfriGen-D is taking forward their complete translation into commonly used African languages for swift uptake and adoption in diverse countries across the continent and globe.
Demo/Showcase. Title: Create Mobile Data Collection Applications
Presenter Name: Benson Muite
Bio: Software developer and Carpentries instructor.
Abstract: Researchers often need to collect data. Often, data collection applications are deployed on mobile phones and tablets as they are easy to transport, have many sensors and can integrate with other sensors and can combine both the data acquisition and data entry processes.
Developing mobile phone applications can be challenging and LambdaNative is a free and open source framework that makes this easier. This talk describes the creation of Carpentries tutorial materials that enable one to create Android data collection applications. It is possible to start from a template application and modify it using continuous integration tools on GitHub, GitLab or Sourcehut - this lowers the barrier to development as only a web browser and internet access are required to create a data collection application.
Day 3 Welcome and Track Announcements
| Time | Length | Presentation | Presenter(s) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09:00–09:10 | 10 min | Day 3 Joint Welcoming Session | Conference Organisers | Welcoming |
AI Sustainability Day Panel 1
| Time | Length | Presentation | Presenter(s) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09:10–10:10 | 60 min | AI Sustainability Day panel session 1 - Ethics of Using AI | Maryblessing Okolie | Panel |
AI Sustainability Day Panel 2
| Time | Length | Presentation | Presenter(s) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:25–11:25 | 60 min | AI Sustainability Day panel session 2 - Environmental Impact of AI | Wachiou Ibrahim | Panel |
AI Sustainability Day Panel 3
| Time | Length | Presentation | Presenter(s) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11:40–12:40 | 60 min | AI Sustainability Day panel session 3 - Hallucination, Bias and Long Term Sustainability | Tosan Okome | Panel |
Presentation Details
Welcoming. Title: Day 3 Joint Welcoming Session
Presenter Name: Conference Organisers
Panel. Title: AI Sustainability Day panel session 1 - Ethics of Using AI
Presenter Name: Maryblessing Okolie
Abstract: AI has been called “African Intelligence” because of the outsourcing of data labelling to Africa. But we need to encompass AI sustainability more broadly - including green computing considerations as well as potential copyright violations that may present legal challenges. This extends beyond ethics alone. The AI Sustainability Day aims to challenge the assumption that AI is universally beneficial with no drawbacks. We want to push back against this narrative to enable more informed decision-making. The Ethics of Using AI panel aims to challenge the assumption that AI is universally beneficial with no drawbacks from an ethical or moral point of view.
Panel. Title: AI Sustainability Day panel session 2 - Environmental Impact of AI
Presenter Name: Wachiou Ibrahim
Abstract: AI data centers have been in the news in multiple countries - but what about across Africa? What has the impact been on people who live near data centers? The Environmental Impact of AI panel aims to challenge the assumption that AI is universally beneficial with minimal drawbacks from an environmental point of view.
Panel. Title: AI Sustainability Day panel session 3 - Hallucination, Bias and Long Term Sustainability
Presenter Name: Tosan Okome
Abstract: AI has traditionally been trained on data that ignores the African context. This provides challenges when using AI and expecting it to understand the African context. The Hallucination, Bias and Long term sustainability panel aims to challenge the assumption that AI is universally beneficial with minimal tweaks for the African context and make suggestions on how this can be improved.
Day 4 – Friday 28 August
Day 4 Morning Kick-off
| Time | Length | Presentation | Presenter(s) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09:00–09:10 | 10 min | Day 4 Welcoming Session | Conference Organisers | Welcoming |
Session 4A: Skills, Career Paths, and Fellowships
| Time | Length | Presentation | Presenter(s) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09:10–10:00 | 50 min | The SSI Fellowship Without Borders: What Would Work, and What Would Not | Oscar Seip (SSI/University of Manchester) & Deborah Udoh (EMBL) & Anelda van der Walt (University of Cape Town) | Panel |
| 10:00–10:10 | 10 min | Wrong Search, Right Career: Rethinking How We Attract Research Infrastructure Engineers | Ijeoma Ezika | Presentation |
| 10:10–10:20 | 10 min | Training the Trainers: Community-Led Bioinformatics Training with Bioconductor Across Africa | Laurah Nyasita Ondari | Presentation |
| 10:20–10:30 | 10 min | Got a Data Challenge? There’s a Global Community for That: An Introduction to the Research Data Alliance (RDA) | Trish Radotic | Presentation |
Session 4B: Low-Resource Workflow Adaptations
| Time | Length | Presentation | Presenter(s) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:45–10:55 | 10 min | Bridging the Gap: Practical Approaches to Reproducible Bioinformatics Workflows in Low-Resource Settings | Lilian Oluchi Nwagbara | Presentation |
Session 4C: Workshop
| Time | Length | Presentation | Presenter(s) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11:30–13:00 | 90 min | Meta-valuation Across Borders: A Cross-Community Experiment in Valuing Diverse Research Contributions | Dr Cooper Smout | Workshop |
Closing Debrief and Celebration
| Time | Length | Presentation | Presenter(s) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13:00–13:30 | 30 min | Volunteer Debrief & Conference Creation Taskforce | Conference Organisers | Workshop |
Presentation Details
Welcoming. Title: Day 4 Welcoming Session
Presenter Name: Conference Organisers
Panel. Title: The SSI Fellowship Without Borders: What Would Work, and What Would Not
Presenter Name: Oscar Seip (SSI/University of Manchester) & Deborah Udoh (EMBL) & Anelda van der Walt (University of Cape Town)
Bio: Oscar Seip is a Research Community Manager at the Software Sustainability Institute (University of Manchester), where he manages the Fellowship Programme.
Deborah Udoh is a 2025 SSI Fellow, and a Scientific Community Manager at EMBL, a research software engineer, and a nurse-midwife.
Anelda van der Walt is Senior eResearch Analyst at the University of Cape Town eResearch and Director of Talarify, with over a decade of experience building research software communities and capacity across Africa.
Abstract: For over a decade, the Software Sustainability Institute (SSI) Fellowship Programme has worked to improve and promote good computational practice across all research disciplines, while supporting the people who do this important work. It encourages its Fellows to be ambassadors for good practice in their own domains, fields, and areas of work, both in the UK and abroad.
The model is increasingly recognised and adopted within the UK research software community as an effective way to build capacity and community. This raises a question: which elements of the model could work outside the UK, and how — and which could not?
The panel begins by introducing the SSI Fellowship Programme and its history. In conversation with SSI staff, Fellows, and close collaborators, it then explores which elements of the model might travel to different local contexts across Africa, and which would not. Drawing on the Fellows’ lived experiences, the discussion considers how regional priorities, languages, knowledge systems, data sovereignty, and resource realities across the African continent would reshape such a programme.
Ultimately, the session shares lessons learned from the SSI Fellowship and offers a starting point for communities to consider what they might take from it, what they would do differently, and what the Fellowship has to learn from them. Audience members are invited to bring their own regional context into the discussion.
Presentation. Title: Wrong Search, Right Career: Rethinking How We Attract Research Infrastructure Engineers
Presenter Name: Ijeoma Ezika
Bio: Ijeoma Ezika is a Senior Research Infrastructure Engineer at the University of Southampton, supporting HPC and research computing infrastructure across disciplines. She holds a PhD in electrical and electronics engineering and is a Royal Academy of Engineering and TechWomen Fellow. Prior to her current role, she lectured and conducted engineering education research in Nigeria, funded by a Royal Academy of Engineering’s Engineering Skills Where They Are Most Needed grant.
At Southampton, she led the institutional deployment of Open OnDemand, recognised as a finalist in the Making it Happen category at the Vice-Chancellor’s Awards. Her work spans HPC systems administration, infrastructure deployment, monitoring, and researcher support across the University.
Abstract: Research Infrastructure Engineering is a growing profession that plays a central role in enabling research, yet it remains poorly visible as a deliberate career destination — even among doctoral researchers who have spent years developing directly relevant skills. A snapshot of job sites globally reveals the same role advertised under at least nine different titles across UK universities: HPC Systems Administrator, Research Operations Engineer, HPC Cloud Engineer, HPC DevOps Engineer, Research IT Platform Engineer, HPC and Research Data Systems Engineer, Research Computing Systems Engineer, Research Infrastructure Developer, and HPC and AI Infrastructure Engineer. One institution noted explicitly that their advertised title was “for advertising purposes only” — the appointed candidate would hold a different title entirely. Without a consistent name, a qualified candidate has no reliable search term to start with.
While some community scaffolding exists — UKRI’s Digital Research Infrastructure programme being one example — Research Infrastructure Engineering has not yet developed the shared professional identity that Research Software Engineering has built over more than a decade: a common name, dedicated conferences, national associations, and active career outreach. The field is consequently filled largely through accidental discovery rather than deliberate career choice.
This has practical consequences. Engineers who arrive from a research background bring a specific kind of insight to infrastructure work — the ability to identify systemic access barriers from the inside. This perspective has demonstrable impact: in one case study presented here, it informed the deployment of a browser-based HPC access platform now serving hundreds of users at a UK institution, and a documentation overhaul that addressed long-standing assumptions of prior knowledge that were quietly excluding less experienced researchers.
This talk presents the evidence, situates it within what the literature tells us about RSE career entry points, and opens a conversation about what it would take to make research infrastructure careers genuinely findable.
Presentation. Title: Training the Trainers: Community-Led Bioinformatics Training with Bioconductor Across Africa
Presenter Name: Laurah Nyasita Ondari
Bio: Laurah Ondari is a bioinformatician based at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) at the ILRI campus in Nairobi, Kenya, where her work focuses on genomics, transcriptomics, and reproducible bioinformatics workflows. She holds an MSc in Bioinformatics and a BSc in Medical Biochemistry.
She contributes to the Bioconductor community through social media and community engagement support, helping expand the reach of Bioconductor training activities across Africa. Laurah is also an Open Source Manager with OSPO Now under the Data Science Without Borders initiative, where she supports open science and research software activities across the continent.
Alongside this, she is a co-founder of the Bioinformatics Hub of Kenya Initiative (BHKi), a volunteer-run community supporting mentorship, peer learning, and bioinformatics capacity development. She also serves as a mentor and governance committee member with Open Life Science (OLS).
Abstract: Community-led training, local instructor development, and open educational resources are increasingly important for sustaining computational research capacity and reproducible analysis practices in under-resourced settings. Through Bioconductor, an open-source research software ecosystem for biological data analysis, training activities across Africa have focused not only on introducing researchers to bioinformatics workflows but also on supporting local teaching capacity and creating pathways for continued skills development. Although high-throughput sequencing technologies are increasingly used across Africa, access to structured and advanced bioinformatics training remains limited, restricting the adoption of reproducible genomic analysis workflows across many institutions.
Through a Chan Zuckerberg Initiative-funded project, Bioconductor expanded coordinated bioinformatics training activities across East and West Africa in 2025. Three intensive in-person workshops were delivered in Nairobi (Kenya), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), and Abomey-Calavi (Benin), training 83 researchers from universities, national research institutes, and biotechnology organisations.
The workshops provided hands-on training in R, reproducible research practices, SummarizedExperiment, and bulk RNA-seq analysis using DESeq2. Training combined structured instruction with practical exercises and concluded with a “Bring-Your-Own-Data” day, where participants applied newly acquired skills directly to their own datasets. Evaluations across the workshops showed strong improvements in R proficiency, high satisfaction with the training, and strong interest in future Bioconductor activities. In Benin, French-language instructional support and translated materials improved accessibility within a multilingual research environment. Alongside participant training, six African researchers completed Carpentries instructor certification, strengthening local capacity to sustain future training activities.
Participants across all workshop sites expressed strong interest in advanced topics including single-cell transcriptomics, population genomics and GWAS, metagenomics, CRISPR applications, multi-omics integration, and workflow management. To begin addressing this need, Bioconductor delivered an introductory seminar on the Bioconductor ecosystem for researchers and RSEs across Africa, alongside a microbiome analysis seminar series introducing participants to microbiome data science using Bioconductor tools and reproducible analysis practices. Bioconductor also began developing a specialised training roadmap for 2026–2027, including online seminars, advanced workshops co-designed with regional partners, and clearer pathways linking introductory and advanced training.
These approaches may also be useful for similar capacity-building efforts in other regions where access to advanced bioinformatics and research software training remains limited.
Presentation. Title: Got a Data Challenge? There’s a Global Community for That: An Introduction to the Research Data Alliance (RDA)
Presenter Name: Trish Radotic
Bio: Trish Radotic is the Regional Community Manager for Oceania and East Asia with the Australian Research Data Commons, based at the Curtin Institute for Data Science at Curtin University, Western Australia.
She brings more than 20 years of experience across information technology, marketing, international business, and community engagement.
Trish holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting and Finance, an MBA in Marketing and International Business, and a Graduate Diploma in Software Programming. Through her work with the Research Data Alliance, she supports international open research communities and initiatives that advance the sharing and reuse of research data across disciplines, technologies, and borders.
Her interests include open research, AI, and fostering global collaboration through community connection and knowledge sharing.
Abstract: The Research Data Alliance (RDA) is a global, community-driven organisation bringing together researchers, technologists, data professionals, and infrastructure providers to solve research data challenges collaboratively across disciplines and borders. This lightning talk provides a practical introduction to the RDA ecosystem - how to join, find your community, contribute to existing Interest and Working Groups, and even start a new group around a shared data challenge or emerging topic. Attendees will gain a clear understanding of how open, international collaboration within the RDA can help transform local research data problems into globally supported community solutions.
Presentation. Title: Bridging the Gap: Practical Approaches to Reproducible Bioinformatics Workflows in Low-Resource Settings
Presenter Name: Lilian Oluchi Nwagbara
Bio: Lilian Oluchi Nwagbara is a biomedical science and bioinformatics professional from Enugu, Nigeria. She has hands‑on experience in molecular biology techniques, genomic data analysis, and computational workflows. Lilian has worked as a Research Associate at CompChem Hub and the Floret Center for Advanced Genomics & Bioinformatics Research, supporting variant analysis, workflow troubleshooting, and training delivery. Skilled in tools such as Galaxy, Nextflow, and MEGA, she has applied them in real‑world projects to improve accessibility and reliability of bioinformatics pipelines. Beyond research, she has contributed to national data quality initiatives and facilitated digital literacy training. Passionate about scientific communication and community engagement, Lilian is committed to advancing bioinformatics research across Africa.
Abstract: In bioinformatics, reproducibility often assumes access to high-performance computing, stable internet connectivity, and uninterrupted power supply. Yet for many researchers in African contexts, these assumptions rarely hold. Consequently, this assumption creates a critical barrier: workflows that are technically sound in theory but impractical across low-resource settings. This talk draws on first-hand experience working on genomic datasets in Nigeria to show how reproducibility can still be achieved despite these constraints through three strategies: containerized workflows, cloud-based platforms, and offline tools.
First, containerized workflows with Nextflow and Apptainer or Docker efficiently manage code and dependencies, ensuring portability and reliability even in the face of connectivity challenges. Second, web- and cloud-platforms like Galaxy create collaborative, user-friendly environments that enable researchers to run complex pipelines without requiring powerful local hardware. Third, workflow execution can be augmented by incorporating offline tools like MEGA, ensuring progress even in bandwidth-restricted settings.
Comparing these strategies shifts the focus of bioinformatics research reproducibility from resource availability to intentional workflow design and tool choice. Moving beyond assumptions of high-resource research settings, this talk highlights practical techniques for reproducibility which attendees can apply to their unique research environments, proving that reliable science can be conducted anywhere. This perspective directly aligns with the RSAfrica26 theme, “Research Software Without Borders.”
Workshop. Title: Meta-valuation Across Borders: A Cross-Community Experiment in Valuing Diverse Research Contributions
Presenter Name: Dr Cooper Smout
Bio: Dr. Cooper Smout is a designer, neuroscientist, and open science entrepreneur working at the intersection of collective intelligence, participatory governance, and cultural change. With a background in architecture and a PhD in the neuroscience of consciousness, he left academia to found Free Our Knowledge, a collective action platform for open research, and Open Heart & Mind (OHM), a nonprofit organisation developing open-source tools to empower communities. His current work focuses on meta-valuation, a participatory evaluation framework that generates transparent, interoperable value metrics to support fair recognition and reward, decentralised coordination, and collective governance across research and commons-oriented ecosystems.
Abstract: In this workshop we’ll explore meta-valuation, a novel mechanism for valuing diverse research contributions, and provide a proof-of-concept for its capacity to foster coordination and incentivise cross-border collaboration through interoperable value metrics. Its key innovation is a self-referential evaluation process, in which any contribution — including evaluations themselves — can be valued in relative terms, placing diverse research contributions on a common scale and aligning incentives toward the common good.
At RSAA25, we conducted a live pilot test that produced relative valuations for diverse conference contributions in real-time, spanning presentations, financial sponsorship, facilitation, and behind-the-scenes efforts. Since then, a full deployment at OHM Gathering 2025 demonstrated the mechanism’s capacity to coordinate and recognise contributions across a multi-day community event. Together, these experiments demonstrate in principle that the same mechanism can value all forms of contribution — labour, capital, and ideas — through interoperable metrics tied to collective values. We now aim to take the next step: demonstrating interoperability in practice across a pair of workshops at RSAA26 and RSAfrica26.
Each workshop will begin with a brief introduction to the mechanism and key findings. Participants will then nominate and approve contributions for review via a web-app interface, before collectively valuing contributions using a simple pairwise choice between randomly assigned contributions. The app will aggregate these votes into a relative value for each contribution and a total for each contributor. Crucially, both workshops will include local contributions — such as presentations — and global contributions — such as the common website infrastructure — enabling comparison and exploration of the mechanism’s interoperability across contexts. This will demonstrate a key property not yet evidenced: that recognition metrics can accumulate across communities who adopt the same evaluation dimensions, incentivising contributors to make their outputs openly available.
We’ll close by celebrating the key contributors our data suggests made each conference happen, and reflecting on the process and results. Following both workshops, we will compare datasets, analyse findings, and aim to publish as a proof of concept for cross-community interoperability, with credit given to all contributors through the same mechanism explored within.
Workshop. Title: Volunteer Debrief & Conference Creation Taskforce
Presenter Name: Conference Organisers
Abstract: An interactive, workshop-like debrief session designed to reflect on the process of creating the first Research Software Africa conference. Organisers and attendees will exchange feedback on structural layouts, session design, and operational details, while establishing transparent onboarding pathways to encourage new volunteers and organizers to join the committee for the following year.