Open Science: Welcome to the amazing universe of accessibility, transparency, reusability & interoperability

 

The concept of Open Science is indeed a fascinating one. Open Science makes your research results available to everyone interested. Imagine Jack designs and creates a pen (blue, red & black), which he puts on the market. Everybody has a material to write with if they want to scribble down something. Now, let's say John, a technology enthusiast and creator, comes up with an idea to create a pen that actually writes all the rainbow colors in one ink, just imagine!

 

Now John has an amazing idea based on Jack’s idea but he stumbles into an obstacle, he attempts to reproduce what Jack has done but he does not know how to. John then spends a lot of time researching how to design a pen. But, what if there was a simpler way for John to actually implement his ideas with all the resources he requires at his convenience, and with more ease and comfort? This is where open science comes in.

 

 

 

According to the Gathering for Open Science Hardware (GOSH), “science hardware encompasses the tools and machinery we use for scientific endeavors (for example, a microscope or environmental sensor). Open Science Hardware refers to science hardware that is open source (open source refers to something people can modify and share because its design is publicly accessible) or free to use, change, study or distribute. By making science hardware open, more people can have access to the tools we use to do science.” What this simply means is that, Open Science allows the professional or amateur to access and use, adapt, study or distribute tools, designs, blueprints, etc

 

If designs, blueprints, research data, etc are open sourced, anyone can find, use, change and redistribute them. What this means is that, if Jack’s pen is open sourced, every information involving the creation and distribution of the pen is accessible, and can also be used to create other types of pens.

 

 

 

 

Africa Open Science Hardware (AfricaOSH) is a community that seeks to create a set of actions and conversations in Open Science Hardware (OSH), among African actors, and the international community. We want to help create an Africa where the concept of Open Science is widely known, understood, appreciated and practised. AfricaOSH aims to provide the best platform in Africa where African innovators, makers, etc. can showcase their innovations and ideas, and to make it easy for collaborations and meeting potential investors.