It is imperative to build open science capabilities in MENA | 12 January 2023

"Universities and higher education institutions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are starting to join the open science movement, recognising its potential to enhance the accessibility, inclusivity and sustainability of higher education systems and research communities. But there are many challenges. An indication of interest in open science in the region was the registration of more than 1,000 delegates – in person and virtually – for the first ever Forum for Open Research in MENA (FORM) gathering held in Egypt last year. Open science topics will be discussed again at the second FORM forum, which will be held in the United Arab Emirates in October 2023, and at the International Conference on E-Science and Open Science in Dubai from 20-21 December 2023. University World News interviewed higher education experts to get their views on the significance of having a vision for open science, and the challenges facing open science in the MENA region along with ways to deal with it. Open research status Out of 22 Arab states, only 12 countries have open access publishers including Iraq (85), Egypt (70), Algeria (28), Morocco (28), Saudi Arabia (18), Qatar (12), Syria (11) United Arab Emirates (9), Oman (7), Yemen (6), Tunisia (5) and Libya (5), according to the Directory of Open Access Journals. Nabil Ksibi is an engagement lead for ORCID – a global non-profit that connects research and researchers – specialising in the Middle East and Africa. He said: “Adopting open research good practices would help a lot in making research activities in the MENA region FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable), which are also important principles to consider in order to move forward with the whole schoolroom ecosystem. “The MENA region, however, is still very young in terms of open research adoption,” Ksibi told University World News. “We are still missing huge knowledge on how the open infrastructure is working and how institutions can work together with open calls in between systems (machine to machine connections).”..."