2021eResearchReport - Flipbook - Page 13
the perceptions and attitudes of the users,
African scientists.”
The platform will hold data from across
the continent: this can be either directly
hosted on the eLwazi platform or held
locally at the individual research sites
with just the metadata on the platform.
But eLwazi is much more than just a
repository: it will also contain a set of
software tools and workflows which the
researchers can draw on to run their
analysis on the data.
Ethics and legislation, as well as
perceptions, around data sharing can
be quite complex. eLwazi works on the
principle that African scientists should
have the choice of where their data is
stored and analysed. Where access to
data is not open, eLwazi will facilitate the
application and authentication process for
access.
“eLwazi will be an inspirational
example of Africa’s scientific renaissance;
providing an enabling environment
for analysis of biomedical data on the
continent and promoting local innovation,”
says Mulder. “Our ability to provide
research facilities to international
standards but relevant to the local
context, is what ensures the sustainability
of this platform. This approach has been
successfully implemented internationally
and we will work with these experts to
deliver an African-led solution.”
“eLwazi will be an inspirational example
of Africa’s scientific renaissance; providing
an enabling environment for analysis
of biomedical data on the continent and
promoting local innovation”
~ Professor Nicola Mulder
Head of Computational
Biology Division at UCT.
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Supporting research
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