D4 1... · Table 1: Intended Audience of D4.1......................................................................................................................... 14 Table 2

iMENTORS SEVENTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME

Call (part) identifier: FP7-INFRASTRUCTURES-2012-1 Project full title: E-INFRASTRUCTURE MONITORING, EVALUATION AND TRACKING SUPPORT SYSTEM Project Acronym: iMENTORS Grant agreement for: Coordination and support action Project Number: 313203

D4.1 Dissemination Plan

Deliverable Id : D4.1

Deliverable Name : D4.1 Dissemination Plan Status : Final

Dissemination Level : PU

Due date of deliverable : M2 Actual submission date : M3

Work Package : WP 4 Organisation name of lead

contractor for this deliverable : Gov2u

Author(s): Athina Vrakatseli, Eirini Souri Partner(s) contributing : Louis Papaemmanuel

Abstract: D4.1 Dissemination Plan: The dissemination plan will assist the project by defining communication goals, objectives and strategies with specified timelines, allocating responsibilities, providing a clear modus operandi, facilitating timely response to changed conditions and deviations from plans, establishing a basis for evaluation, identifying risks and taking remedial steps to solve problems.

iMENTORS is a project co- funded by the European Commission’s DG CONNECT under the 7th Framework Programme. www.iMENTORS.eu Copyright by the iMENTORS Consortium

http://www.imentors.eu/

D4.1 Dissemination Plan July 27, 2012

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History Version Date Modification reason Modified by

0.1 12.06.2012 Initial draft Eirini Souri

0.2 11.07.2012 Version 2 Athina Vrakatseli

16.07.2012 Comments Louis Papaemmanuel

0.3 20.07.2012 Version 3 Athina Vrakatseli

0.8 26.07.2012 Quality check Louis Papaemmanuel

1.0 27.07.2012 Deliverable ready to be submitted to the European Commission


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Table of contents

HISTORY .......................................................................................................................... 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................ 3

LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................... 5

LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................ 6

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................... 7

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................... 8

1 INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS THIS DELIVERABLE? ........................................................ 12

1.1 THE PROJECT: IMENTORS........................................................................................... 12

1.2 THE WORK PACKAGE (SUBSET OF THE PROJECT) ............................................................... 13

1.3 THE DELIVERABLE (SCOPE, OBJECTIVES, METHODOLOGY) ................................................... 13

1.4 4. RELATION TO OTHER WP4 DELIVERABLES AND INTENDED AUDIENCE ................................ 13

2 SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS: WHAT IS THE ENVIRONMENT OF IMENTORS? ................... 15

2.1 MACRO-ENVIRONMENT ............................................................................................... 15

2.2 STAKEHOLDER IDENTIFICATION AND ANALYSIS ................................................................. 18

2.3 MICROENVIRONMENT ................................................................................................. 26

2.3.1 INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS .................................................................................. 26

2.3.2 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES ................................................................................... 27

2.3.3 RELATION OF WP4 TO OTHER WPS........................................................................... 28

2.4 SWOT ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................ 29

2.4.1 WHAT IS THE ADDED VALUE OF THE PROJECT? ............................................................. 31

2.4.2 INCENTIVES: WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME? .......................................................................... 32

3 DISSEMINATION STRATEGY .................................................................................... 35

3.1 DISSEMINATION OBJECTIVES......................................................................................... 35

3.2 HOW IS IMENTORS GOING TO REACH STAKEHOLDERS? ................................................... 38

3.2.1 PROCESS ............................................................................................................... 38

3.2.2 DISSEMINATION PHASES .......................................................................................... 39

3.2.3 STEPS OF STAKEHOLDERS’ ENGAGEMENT .................................................................... 40

3.2.4 PRINCIPLES OF STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT (STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL) ................... 40

3.2.5 TOOLS .................................................................................................................. 41

3.2.6 STAKEHOLDERS ADVISORY BOARD ............................................................................. 45

4 ACTIONS ................................................................................................................ 47

4.1 ACTIONS TO ACHIEVE THE DISSEMINATION OBJECTIVES ...................................................... 48


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4.2 ACTIONS TO REACH STAKEHOLDERS ................................................................................ 56

5 MEASUREMENT OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES .......... 69

6 CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................... 73

A. APPENDIX A –QUALITY MANAGEMENT ................................................................... 74

B. APPENDIX B- HOLDING PAGE.................................................................................. 75

C. APPENDIX C- PROJECT LOGO .................................................................................. 76

D. APPENDIX D- TEMPLATES ....................................................................................... 77

E. APPENDIX E: POSTER .............................................................................................. 79

F. APPENDIX F- FACTSHEET ........................................................................................ 80

G. APPENDIX G: PRESENTATION ................................................................................. 81

H. APPENDIX H- WEBSITE ........................................................................................... 82

I. APPENDIX I- STAKEHOLDERS LIST ........................................................................... 83

J. APPENDIX J– SUMMARY OF MEDIA AND EVENTS GUIDELINES ............................... 106


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List of figures

Figure 1: Internal communication mechanisms ...................................................................... 27

Figure 2: Project management structure ................................................................................ 27

Figure 3: WP 4 - Dissemination Objectives.............................................................................. 35

Figure 4: Process from Vision to Action .................................................................................. 38

Figure 5: Process for developing action plans ......................................................................... 38

Figure 6: Action planning process ........................................................................................... 39

Figure 7: What, to Whom, by Whom, How, Monitor .............................................................. 47


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List of tables Table 1: Intended Audience of D4.1......................................................................................................................... 14

Table 2: Summary of the priority stakeholder groups of iMENTORS ....................................................................... 25

Table 3: Participants of WP4- Person- Months per participant ............................................................................... 27

Table 4: Milestones of WP4 ..................................................................................................................................... 28

Table 5: Key benefits for stakeholders ..................................................................................................................... 34

Table 6: Dissemination tools and reasons behind their choice ................................................................................ 43

Table 7: Dissemination objectives and tools to achieve them ................................................................................. 45

Table 8: Objectives- Tools- Goals- When- Who........................................................................................................ 55

Table 9: Actions for each stakeholder group, objectives, goals, how, when, who and impact ................................ 68

Table 10: Priority stakeholders: Measurements- How to assess the impact ........................................................... 71


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List of abbreviations

Acronym/ Abbreviation Explanation

AIDS Acquired immune deficiency syndrome AMCOST African Ministerial Council on Science and Technology ARAPKE African Regional Action Plan on the Knowledge Economy ASNs Autonomous Systems Numbers AU African Union CPA Consolidated Plan of Action D Deliverable (of the project) DG Directorate-General DG CONNECT European Commission Directorate General for Communications Networks,

Content and Technology DoW Description of Work (of the project) DSV Department of Computer and System Sciences of Stockholm University EC European Commission EFTA European Free Trade Association

e-IRG e-infrastructures Reflection Group ESFRI European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures EU European Union FP7 Seventh Framework Programme Gov2u Government To You HEIs Higher Education Institutes HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus ICT Information and Communication Technology ICT4D ICT for Development i.e. That is ISP Internet Service Provider IT Information Technology M Month (of the project) MDG Millennium Development Goal NEPAD New Partnership for Africa’s Development NGO Non-Governmental organization NOC Network Operations Centre NRENs National academic and research networks PDF Portable Document Format PEST analysis Political, Economic, Social, and Technological analysis PRD Programme Director PU Public view RENs Research and Education Networks RRENs Regional Research and Education Networks SAB Stakeholders Advisory Board SIDA Swedish International Development Cooperation SMEs Small and Medium Enterprises S&T Science and Technology Spider Swedish Program for ICT in Developing Regions SU Stockholm University SWOT analysis Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis T Task (of the project) UN United Nations UNECA The United Economic Commission for Africa USAID The United States Agency for International Development WP Work Package

http://www.google.gr/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CFsQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FEuropean_Free_Trade_Association&ei=UWISUP2gMJGK4gTjz4GwAQ&usg=AFQjCNG2DbBbt6fknAChDMP2A1EcDZN4GQ&sig2=MURNJcL561xP19PYoH58bg


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Executive Summary The overall objective of iMENTORS is to enhance the coherence and effectiveness of international actors involved in e-infrastructures development projects and initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa, based on the results and recommendations of previous studies and reports.

The purpose of the dissemination plan is to assist the project by defining communication goals, objectives and strategies with specified timelines, allocating responsibilities, providing a clear modus operandi, facilitating timely response to changed conditions and deviations from plans, establishing a basis for evaluation, identifying risks and taking remedial steps to solve problems.

D4.1 is split in five parts: 1) Introduction, 2) Situational Analysis, 3) Dissemination Strategy, 4) Actions and 5) Measurement of the effectiveness of the dissemination activities.

This is a deliverable of WP4: Dissemination and Sustainability. Among the main objectives of WP4 is to build and maintain a strong stakeholders’ ecosystem around the iMENTORS project, to ensure the long-term viability of the project and to improve the development of e-infrastructures in Sub- Saharan Africa. The initial draft was created by Gov2u, which is the leader of WP4, which was sent to the project coordinator and to Stockholm University (SU) for comments. The final version was finalised by incorporating the comments and suggestions in the deliverable. The information included in this deliverable is interrelated with all WP4 deliverables. The intended audience of this deliverable are the iMENTORS partners, the stakeholders and the European Commission (EC).

Setting the operational context of iMENTORS is key to harmonize the iMENTORS dissemination strategy with the project’s environment. E-infrastructures are composed of an environment where research resources (hardware, software and content) can be readily shared and accessed wherever this is necessary to promote better and more effective research and a driver for social and economic well-being. Sub-Saharan Africa has witnessed dramatic growth in ICT access since the mid-1990s. But whilst, today Africa is the fastest growing region for e-infrastructure development, the lack of accurate knowledge on past and on-going e-infrastructure projects in the region creates uncertainties in international cooperation, which are reportedly the single-largest perceived barrier among providers, virtual research communities, and the yet-to be-engaged (please see section 2.2).

Stakeholders are the strategic groupings with a legitimate interest in the developments and outcomes of the project and are identified and analysed in section 2.3:

Group Categories

Citizens General public

Independent users, IT engineers, Students, Researchers, Teachers and other Individuals

Funders and Policy Makers

Policy makers in government ministries and Regulators- Managers of professional associations, centres of excellence, trade unions, chambers of commerce, etc.

Donors, Grants providers and Development partners, Representatives from international and national development cooperation agencies

Governmental and Intergovernmental organisations and other Institutional bodies


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Research and Education Networks and Researchers

Broader (Global), National, Regional Research and Education Networks (RENs)

Scientists, Researchers, Deans, Directors, Lecturers, Students and Managers from universities and the higher education sector.

University leaders: Vice Chancellors and Deputy Vice Chancellors; Rectors and Vice Rectors; Presidents and Vice Presidents, Networks, Associations, Centers, Heads of research labs and computing centres, Institutes of further education, Secondary schools, Primary schools

Other ICT and e-infrastructure Development Programmes and Initiatives including ICT project managers

Managers and Administrators of e-Health, e-Government, e-Learning, and e-Capacity Building programmes

NGOs and Non for profit groups of civil society, Libraries, Museums, Archives, Cultural institutions

Enterprise and Industry

Industry stakeholders, Private sector: Telecommunication companies, Internet Service providers, Associations administrating Internet Exchange Points

Media- Opinion leaders

Online and offline

Drawing on the context and environmental analysis of iMENTORS, the project’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis) are defined (please see section 2.5). The consortium’s long experience in their respective fields, with a very comprehensive network of colleagues working in ICT and research networks is deemed as a considerable internal strength. Additionally, the project has developed a sound strategy for recruiting new users and has defined clear objectives for next phase (building) and beyond. Limited resources and the fact that long-term funding remains to be secured are amongst the main internal weaknesses. Interest from stakeholders and European Union’s and stakeholders’ support are key external opportunities. On the other side, the stakeholders’ lack of enthusiasm or willingness to co-operate across disciplines/ funders/ nations and lack of trust are among the external threats.

The project’s sustainable competitive advantage (added value) in relation the identified strategic groupings which constitutes iMENTORS’ drive to success is explained in section 2.5.1. iMENTORS is the ONLY interactive e-infrastructure mapping project of its kind, with the ambition to cover all e-infrastructures in a region as wide as Sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, it is the only platform which aims at providing such policy support and networking functions to users in order to improve the coordination of international cooperation and project planning in this field.


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The dissemination objectives are the precise statements or aims of purpose, which define where the project intends to be at some specific time in the future:

• Understand/Build: Build a community of interest around the project, raise awareness and visibility, build trust, promote mutual understanding of the benefits that iMENTORS will bring between beneficiaries and other stakeholders

• Connect/Develop/Participate/Engage/Interact: Stakeholders’ engagement, participation, motivation and interaction

• Sustain: Creating/Maintaining a consistent and distinctive identity, a favorable reputation and a strong stakeholder ecosystem, which will be an important aspect of gaining competitive advantage beyond the lifecycle of the project.

Section 3.2 explains the procedures and the strategy to follow in order to reach the stakeholders (the different dissemination phases, the processes, tools, and the steps of stakeholders’ engagement as well as the principles of stakeholder engagement). Based on the experience of the consortium as a whole, several tools have been tested and retained as efficient in achieving the dissemination objectives; this knowledge is shared by other similar projects in the field (see table 6 for a summary of the reasons behind their choice):

• Project Website: contact forms, blog, online feedback mechanisms, Google analytics • Press releases • E-Newsletters • Offline Media • Social media: Facebook, Twitter, SlideShare, and LinkedIn • Databases/ Mailing lists • Internal communications tools (e-mail, Redmine, Skype, meetings, real-time remote

conferences) Please see also section 2.4.1 • Logo and Templates (logo, templates for word, ppt, deliverables, press releases) • Presentations to third party events • Promotional Materials (including factsheet, posters, leaflets, PowerPoint presentations,

value stories, among other material) • Participation at Events and Conferences • Academic publications • Channels established by the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)and by other similar

projects (including workshops, cross-referencing other websites, distributing promotional material, among other activities)

• Organization of events and workshops • Direct marketing (emails) • Project partner networks and dissemination channels • Research and User satisfaction questionnaires • Incentives for stakeholders: messages addressed to stakeholders which formulate the key

benefits of using the platform in a simple yet effective jargon. • Guidelines and Events list • Deliverables. (Please refer to table 7 for dissemination objectives and tools to achieve them)


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The dissemination plan is developed with consideration and reference to the overarching objectives and goals set. This deliverable outlines and explains all the dissemination actions to be executed within WP4, including their goals in relation to each stakeholder, their purpose and description (WHAT), the members of staff in charge of executing each task (WHOM), and through which means those actions are to be carried out (HOW). Additionally, this deliverable outlines the methods to measure each of the tasks identified below together with the specific outcome of each action and of each targeted audience. Table 8 sets specific goals to achieve the dissemination objectives, including the tools, dates and people responsible. Table 9 explains the actions to be carried out for each stakeholder group, including the goals and objectives of each task, their methodology, their timing, the individuals involved and their expected impact.

It is very important to monitor progress and results in conducting the tasks defined since we need to measure the impact and progress towards targets. A clear distinction is made between monitoring visibility and monitoring success (to view the indicators and the targets list: please refer to tables 9 and 10). Success is about what partners think iMENTORS stakeholders would want to see, thus adding on the extra benefits.

Communicating progress and sharing best practices is done via the dissemination plan. The dissemination plan will be revised, should circumstances require it.


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1 Introduction: What is this deliverable?

After giving a small description of iMENTORS and of the work package, this section defines the scope and methodology of the deliverable. Finally, the relation of the deliverable to other deliverables is explained, with a brief paragraph to describe its intended audience.

1.1 The project: iMENTORS

The overall objective of the project is to enhance the coherence and effectiveness of international actors involved in e- infrastructures development projects and initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa, based on the results and recommendations of previous studies and reports.

The project will:

• Provide policy support by identifying and monitoring all on-going e-infrastructure projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, and perform benchmarking, impact assessments

• Enhance aid coordination and collaboration by providing insight on e-infrastructure development projects and through the platform’s collaborative features (knowledge sharing) for development of new e-infrastructure development projects

• Promote of e-infrastructures of common interest to Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa through extensive dissemination activities (workshops, conferences, communication)

Specific objectives:

1. Build: Create a virtual observatory, acting as one-stop-shop data warehouse providing up-to-date information on all e-infrastructure related development programmes and initiatives of the past five years in Sub-Saharan Africa to enhance the effectiveness and coherence of national and EU research policies and international cooperation in the field of research infrastructures: a. Identify and collect informational assets (data and sources): Identify and connect with

key stakeholders, Gather and analyze relevance of all past and ongoing e-infrastructure development and ICT projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, Populate the virtual observatory

b. Create the virtual observatory (platform), User interface Decision support system. 2. Develop a community of practice for support to policy development and programme

implementation by creating a social hub facilitating interaction and knowledge sharing, to improve collaboration among different stakeholder groups, and offer them opportunity to create synergies and plan future projects. a. Launch a space for Collaboration b. Position iMENTORS as the knowledge broker c. Decision support to policy development enabling users to produce queries across

several online databases, and to evaluate e-infrastructure proposals from multiple perspectives in a structured manner.

3. Sustain: Build and maintain a strong stakeholder ecosystem around the iMENTORS project, which will ensure long-term viability of the project and will enhance the development of e-infrastructure in Sub- Saharan Africa. a. Community awareness b. Standardization of practice c. Political and Institutional support.


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iMENTORS is a project funded by the European Commission’s DG CONNECT under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

For more information visit: www.iMENTORS.eu

1.2 The Work package (subset of the project)

The project will be implemented through four interrelated Work Packages (subset of the project): • WP1: Project Management will ensure the correct and timely execution of the project • WP2: Ecosystem identification and establishment activities that generate the ecosystem

including stakeholders, data gathering, editorial, entry of data and validation • WP3: Platform customization and integration includes integration of the geospatial

semantically enabled platform with a decision support system and ontology enhancement

• WP4: Dissemination and Sustainability includes activities such as workshops, conferences, training, newsletters and overall stakeholder engagement for sustainability.

This is a deliverable of WP4: Dissemination and Sustainability. The overall objective of WP4 is to build and maintain a strong stakeholders’ ecosystem around the iMENTORS project, which will ensure long-term viability of the project and will enhance the development of e-infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa.

1.3 The Deliverable (scope, objectives, methodology)

The purpose of this document is to outline iMENTORS’ dissemination plan. The dissemination plan is an action plan that aims to promote the project and to ensure the active engagement of the e-infrastructure stakeholder community across the EU, Africa and internationally.

D4.1 is split in five parts: 1) Introduction, 2) Situational Analysis, 3) Dissemination Strategy, 4) Actions, and 5) Measurement of the effectiveness of the dissemination activities.

The initial draft was created by Gov2u, which is the leader of WP4. The initial draft was sent to the project coordinator and to Stockholm University to comment. The final version resulted after incorporating their comments/suggestions to the deliverable.

A Quality Management table was also created to describe the process used to ensure the quality of the deliverable (see Appendix A).

This plan will be updated on a twelve month basis, to improve the strategies and to keep track of the dissemination actions carried out to offer visibility to the project.

1.4 4. Relation to other WP4 deliverables and intended audience

Information included in this deliverable is interrelated with all WP4 deliverables:

• D4.2 Dissemination plan updated, (M15): Following up on this deliverable, this report will assess the efforts of the consortium in carrying out the dissemination communication activities throughout the entire first reporting period, in view to improve the strategies



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and to keep track of the dissemination actions designed to ensure the high visibility of the project. It will include the list of individuals forming the Stakeholders Advisory Board, and outline all actions related to the creation of the dissemination tools. Lastly, the document will outline and evaluate all efforts undertaken in the framework of implementation. Specifically, it will report on the project's presence in international conferences, the results of the first regional workshop, list all links with other initiatives and the training and capacity building activities.

• D4.3 Initial sustainability definitions and action plan, (M15) and D4.5 Final dissemination and sustainability report, (M30): These documents will assess the WP4 efforts in carrying out the dissemination communication activities, outline the sustainability action plan and will evaluate the success of the sustainability strategy.

• D4.4 First report on user engagement and satisfaction, (M15) and D4.6 Second report on user engagement and satisfaction (M30): Based on the stakeholder groups identified in this report and on the related activities, these deliverables will provide an assessment of all user engagement activities, evaluate overall user satisfaction and outline all testing, quality assurance and support activities undertaken throughout the first reporting period.

Intended audience of this document:

Group of readers Reasons for reading

iMENTORS partners Firstly, to be provided with the plan on dissemination as well as their responsibilities regarding the implementation of dissemination activities and their timeline. Secondly, to be informed about the dissemination activities realized so far in accordance with WP4 objectives and tasks, and the dissemination activities planned for the future (M3-M15).

iMENTORS stakeholders To be informed about the dissemination activities performed within this reporting period and widen their knowledge on the iMENTORS dissemination steps and plan. Since this report is a public deliverable, partners aim to raise awareness about the project and announce the project’s future plans and goals as well as further develop a vibrant community of interest; to share knowledge, information and best practices that can be adopted and utilized in similar initiatives.

The European Commission (EC)

To inform the Project Officer, the reviewers and other interested stakeholders from the EC, about project’s dissemination plan, progress so far and anticipated activities regarding dissemination for the following period of the project.

Table 1: Intended Audience of D4.1


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2 Situational Analysis: What is the environment of iMENTORS?

The present section sets the context, which iMENTORS operates in. The aim is to build a dissemination strategy synchronized with the project’s environment. After briefly describing the external and internal environments, the document provides the description and typology of the project’s stakeholders (groupings with legitimate interest on the project). In this framework, this section will draw the project’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis). Finally, this section outlines the project’s sustainable competitive advantage in relation to each identified strategic groupings, which will drive it to success.

Research is the systematic and objective identification, collection, analysis, and dissemination of information for the purpose of assisting management in decision making related to the identification and solution of problems and opportunities.

The steps followed to produce this deliverable are:

• Identification of the research question • Literature review (online and offline: studies, articles, news, conferences etc.) • Specifying the research purpose • Research design • Data collection, and management • Use of data: analysis, interpretation • Reporting. Since research is an on-going process in the project, prior to each deliverable, research will need to be conducted. For more details on stakeholder research, please refer to section 2.3. For the final dissemination reports, further research will be conducted to include a comprehensive PEST analysis (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological analysis), to describe a framework of macro-environmental factors that iMENTORS has to take into consideration.

2.1 Macro-environment

Macro-environment or external environment is shaped based on a variety of external factors that manifest on a large (or macro) scale. These are typically economic, social, political or technological phenomena that are summarized below, based on the literature review.

• Changing the way science is carried out: What are e-infrastructures?

E-infrastructures consist of combination of ICT-based resources and associated tools and services as diverse as the physical supply of backbone connectivity, single- or multi-purpose computing grids, data collection, data management and data analysis tools, supercomputers, online digital materials for research, visualisation and simulation instruments, online storage repositories, collaboration tools, tools for support in relation to methods or analysis, as well as remote access to research instruments and very large research facilities.

E-infrastructures are also the basis to create and access new software and applications in different fields of application of direct relevance for the welfare of civil society across the globe, such as e-Government, e-Learning or e-Health.


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E-infrastructures represent a new way of collaborating and sharing resources independently of the user’s geographical location, and are a key enabler for virtual global research communities and a driver for social and economic well-being.

Science and education communities around the world depend on e-infrastructures based on broadband connectivity, which has become a basic infrastructure of modern society, just like roads, electricity or water. For research communities, e-infrastructures make possible the sharing of powerful instruments and computational resources (hardware, software and content), remote access to massive datasets and research facilities, remote operation of research infrastructures and support of distributed infrastructures and use of digital platforms for research collaboration. Electronic or e-infrastructure is an environment where research resources can be readily shared and accessed to promote better and more effective research.

Developing regions stand to benefit in particular as broadband networks reduce the barriers of distance and location, allowing scientists to be ‘linked’ the world over, and allowing international access to valuable work and databases in developing countries for research on critical areas such as health, HIV/AIDS and environmental change, all highly relevant to the Millennium Development Goals. e-infrastructures are networked tools, data and resources that support a community of researchers, broadly including all those who participate in and benefit from research.

• Why Africa? From the digital divide to knowledge sharing

Sub-Saharan Africa has witnessed dramatic growth in ICT access since the mid-1990s. But whilst Africa, is the fastest growing region for e-infrastructure development, the lack of accurate knowledge on past and on-going e-infrastructure projects in the region creates uncertainties in international cooperation, which are reportedly the single-largest perceived barrier among providers, virtual research communities, and the yet-to be-engaged.

Thus, while new international submarine cables are bringing broadband fibre capacity to Africa and competition among providers is resulting in substantial tariff decreases, the continent is still lagging far behind in terms of developing stable deployment of broadband infrastructures as terrestrial backbones and corresponding applications and services are missing. Unlike in the EU where Internet was firstly adopted and spread through the national academic and research networks (NRENs)1, in Sub-Saharan countries this role was played by commercial ISPs. The low density in terrestrial communication lines combined with private ownership has made access to the Internet prohibitively expensive. Upon acknowledging the importance of providing sustainable, interoperable, efficient and accessible broadband infrastructures for open science as well as other applications in fields such as e-government, e-health and e-learning, the Broadband Commission has drawn attention to the need to make investments in e-infrastructure in developing regions a world-wide priority. 2

Crucially, in the absence of sufficient and comprehensive knowledge on past and on-going e-infrastructure projects in the region, there is little propensity for effective coordination. Consequently, resources are often wasted on double investments leading to duplication of

1 Towards Knowledge Societies: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001418/141843e.pdf

2 UN Broadband Commission for Digital Development, Working Group on Broadband and Science (WG-Sci), Final Report, October 2011, http://www.broadbandcommission.org/How/WorkingGroups/Documents/WG_Broadband_Science_Final_Report.pdf

http://www.google.gr/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CF0QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.un.org%2Fmillenniumgoals%2F&ei=x1ASUNzuFomb1AWIioHgDQ&usg=AFQjCNHtg_zwcQOPkgfl5pIJ1NrJYkSCOg&sig2=D3FlqqJ-1Zla8e8T0k8yyA

http://www.broadbandcommission.org/How/WorkingGroups/Documents/WG_Broadband_Science_Final_Report.pdf


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efforts and achieve only limited impact on socio economic development.3 In spite of the increasing availability of raw data, due to recent international commitments to aid transparency4, the absence of any single comprehensive repository to store and aggregate data makes it difficult for anyone to develop a comprehensive view on the direction, nature and scope of past and present investments in the region. This creates uncertainties around the funding of e-infrastructure projects and remains the single largest perceived barrier among providers and virtual research communities. 5 Furthermore, the sheer multitude of donors, instruments, governments and institutions which involve themselves in international financing activities, creates much confusion and limits the ability to plan, design and direct coherent policies.

The need for closer collaboration between different stakeholder groups has been hailed as critical to the firm foundation for expanded education and research networking both at donor panel at the “2010 EuroAfrica e-infrastructures Conference” and by the UN Broadband Commission, and urging the donor community and the implementing agencies to sit together and share notes and calling for a stronger involvement of Research and Education Networks (RENs). RENs act both as a motor and as a "test bed" for new technologies, for example in new networking protocols that will be implemented a few years later in the commercial networks.

Developing effective instruments to gather, aggregate and make sense of all the information related to e-infrastructure development projects in the Sub-Saharan Africa and establishing robust mechanisms to communicate, plan and coordinate e-infrastructure development projects and policies emerges as a vital necessity. Upon acknowledging this necessity, the participants at the donor panel of the 2010 EuroAfrica e-infrastructures conference, recommended proceeding with the development of web-based portals where up-to-date and reliable and comprehensive information on e-infrastructure initiatives can be found. Additionally, the members of the donor panel emphasized the need to establish professional dedicated “social networks” providing opportunities to meet and exchange information, in order to avoid duplication of efforts and foster synergies. This is precisely what iMENTORS is seeking to do.

• Why now: the policy context

Africa has recognised that Science and Technology and ICT are key vectors for bridging the scientific and digital divides, for reducing poverty and ensuring socio-economic development, for reaching the Millennium Development Goals.

The Africa Science and Technology (S&T) Consolidated Plan of Action (CPA) formulated by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the AU, the creation of the African Ministerial Council on Science and Technology (AMCOST), and the African Regional Action Plan on the Knowledge Economy (ARAPKE), are only some of recent examples of Africa’s determination to rely on S&T and ICT to achieve its growth and development objectives.

3 Report of the donor panel session of the 2010 Euro-Africa e-infrastructures Conference in Helsinki 4 Paris Declaration on Aid Transparency: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/11/41/34428351.pdf 5 European Commission, Information Society and Media (2010) eResearch2020 – The Role of e-infrastructures in the Creation of Global Virtual Research Communities

http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/11/41/34428351.pdf


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The timeliness of this project was confirmed by some of the recent occurrences that support the cooperation between Europe and Africa in the e-Infrastructures field: o The signature in October 2007 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, of the “EU-Africa Partnership

on Infrastructure” (“creating and sustaining regional infrastructure networks and services”) aiming at interconnecting the African continent (in transport, water, energy, and ICT), identifying EASSy (Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System) as a flagship project, and supported by the creation of the EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund

o The quick development of African National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) and of their interconnection, a momentum supported by the emerging African UbuntuNet Alliance. Therefore, this project arrives at the crucial time where NRENs are begging to consolidate, and grow.

o The launch of the EU-funded FEAST study, coordinated by the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), supported by Dante and the TERENA forum and aiming at providing the EC with recommendations concerning the implementation of a NREN backbone in Sub-Saharan Africa, and which led to AfricaConnect, a large scale initiative designed to support the development of NRENs in sub-Saharan Africa by interconnecting them with Europe’s GÉANT network and AXIS.6

e-infrastructures are rooted in the Capacities objective of the EU’s FP7 and inspired by the policy work carried out in the context of European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), e-Infrastructures Reflection Group (e-IRG) and the ERA. iMENTORS is a project co-funded by the European Commission’s DG CONNECT under the 7th Framework Programme.

Advanced communication networks are very important contributors for the Millennium Development Goals. In particular, e-infrastructures are key to global partnerships for development (Goal n. 8), peering research teams and enabling collaboration in any scientific domain, and affect directly target 8f ("In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications").

2.2 Stakeholder Identification and Analysis

This section will describe the most important stakeholders of iMENTORS; on many occasions these are also have referred to as strategic groupings, reference groups, target groups or priority stakeholder groups. Stakeholders are the strategic groupings with a legitimate interest in the developments and outcomes of the project meaning individuals or groups that are likely to affect or be affected by iMENTORS.

It is among the project’s primary objectives to identify and develop a sustainable ecosystem comprising strategic players in the e-infrastructures development area. Stakeholders have been so far identified through an extensive literature research (online and offline: studies, articles, news, conferences, etc.). Additionally, WP4 will:

• Provide an update to the stakeholder map, as well as outline the added value for each stakeholder (please see section 2.5.1, table 5)

6 Report of the donor panel session of the 2010 Euro-Africa e-infrastructures Conference in Helsinki

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/connect/index_en.htm

http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/understand_en.html

http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/understand_en.html


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• Conduct continuous surveys (every 3 months) on possible stakeholders and whether the objectives of IMENTORS successfully meet their needs

• Update the stakeholders’ list every 3 months

• Collect contact information on stakeholders, the questions asked and the issues raised in conferences, exhibitions, meetings, etc.

• Ensure a follow up after establishing contacts.

D4.4 First Report on User engagement and satisfaction will conduct further research in order to provide an initial assessment of all user engagement activities and evaluate overall user satisfaction.

The “who” element represents key information stakeholders that require information generated by the strategies to address their diverse needs (Please see Appendix I for an extended indicative stakeholder list):

• Broader (Global)National and Regional Research and Education Networks (RENs)

NREN is a specialized internet service provider dedicated to supporting the needs of the research and education communities within a country. It is usually distinguished by support for a high-speed backbone network, often offering dedicated channels for individual research projects. NRENs are usually the places where new Internet protocols and architectures are introduced before deployment within the Public Internet. NRENs are composed of a vast network of Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) and is tasked to facilitate affordable access to national and international information resources, as well as to advise, facilitate and coordinate education and research resource sharing, and to facilitate the enhancement of e-libraries, research databases, and e-learning capacity building.

Each NREN uses a Network Operations Centre (NOC) to operate and monitor a NREN’s network and associated services. NOCs are a vital element in delivering a mission-critical service, such as an NREN network, which entails handling an extensive range of services including physical infrastructure, network administration and network monitoring. Most NOCs have national coverage. They are responsible for national and international links, including those to other NRENs and to the Pan-Regional NREN Coordination Centres known as Regional Research and Education Networks, such as the Ubuntu Net Alliance or the Western and Central African Research and Education Network, as well to Internet exchange points and to the commercial Internet.

As the need for collaboration extends beyond national borders, NRENs, typically within the same geopolitical spheres, create regional overlays, the Regional Research and Education Networks (RRENs) which enable collaboration across national borders.

How are NRENs Funded? There are three main sources of NREN funding: Government, Donors and NREN member contributions. A long term business model that demonstrates operational sustainability of the NREN is critical to the securing of support from all funding agencies.

o Government funding is usually provided through one or more ministries, departments or other such bodies responsible for education, science, technology, telecommunications or research.


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o Donor funding includes funding from bi-lateral and multi-lateral development organization, public and private foundations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private industry. Government and donor funding is critical in the initial phase of establishing the NREN and acquiring the physical network. After the initial phase, funding is also required to continuously upgrade and extend the physical network and develop new services.

o Member fees, on the other hand, are critical for running and sustaining the NREN. These fees come in the form of annual contributions that include membership fees and payments for services such as national, regional and international access; training; and consulting.

NRENs and RRENs are among the primary stakeholders of the iMENTORS project. Because of these organizations’ strong dependence on external sources of funding, iMENTORS could become instrumental in facilitating the exchange of information about what infrastructure is already on ground and on how to better improve their access to broadband connectivity. Critically, the success of iMENTORS will depend on the project’s relationship with these organizations, since beyond the desk assessment carried out within the scope of the project by using the internet; it is those organizations which detain the majority of data needed to effectively map all e-infrastructures in the region.

Ultimately, without the cooperation of this stakeholder group, iMENTORS will not achieve the desired impact. In this framework, iMENTORS will need to convince the high-level representatives of National and Regional Research and Education Networks of the utility of the iMENTORS project regarding the advancement of e-infrastructures in Africa and beyond, in order to secure their strong involvement in the project and retrieve accurate project level data in each Sub-Saharan country.

• Other ICT and e-infrastructure Development Programmes and Initiatives including ICT project managers

To succeed the objective of positioning the platform as a knowledge broker in ICT infrastructures, iMENTORS will need to include project level data across the entire scope of ICT projects. To secure the cooperation of smaller projects, iMENTORS will need to lure project managers into sharing information about their projects, without the need to send invitations on an individual basis. A compelling way to achieve this is to convince project administrators that they can use iMENTORS to increase the visibility and impact of their projects by finding and connecting with other similar projects, and even seek alternative sources of funding in view to extend their sustainability. Similar projects can work together to share requirements and results between projects and in particular to benefit from the strengths and specialties of national and international initiatives.

• Scientists, Researchers, Deans, Directors, Lecturers, Students and Managers from universities and the higher education sector. University leaders: Vice Chancellors and Deputy Vice Chancellors; Rectors and Vice Rectors; Presidents and Vice Presidents, Networks, Associations, Centers, Heads of research labs and computing centres, Institutes of further education, Secondary schools, Primary schools


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Scientists and researchers are the users of e-infrastructures that iMENTORS will be mapping. Researchers need to know that we are here to enable them to peer and collaborate with counterparts in other countries and/or regions in research projects. They also need to know what resources are available through the network as well as other RENs globally. Open access to data is a crucial issue for remote and underdeveloped research communities with limited resources. Scientists’ efficiency and productivity can rise as they can access, use, reuse and trust the data they find. Cross-fertilization of ideas can produce new solutions, and promote greater understanding of complex problems.

While having much in common with researchers, professors and lecturers will also use the network for building e-learning platforms, collaborating with their peer subject experts in other institutions and countries and sourcing current knowledge to enrich their teaching. This group should be aware of the role of a high quality networking environment to their institution and also be aware of what we are doing to assist in this respect. Research and higher education institutions cannot complete their academic missions and their role as key actors in a knowledge society without a high-quality e-Infrastructure connected to the world.

Regional and national managers in education and research institutions and in public authorities in general should be informed of the benefits of e-Infrastructure and express their needs and requirements. Students, being heavy users of online content and social networks for learning and collaboration, are important both as end users and also as a pressure group in ensuring that their institutions prioritize resource allocation for adequate effective connectivity and content for learning.

RENs act as a motor as well as a "test bed" for new technologies. A stronger collaboration between RENs, governments, scientific and educational networks with the ICT sector research community could drive innovation. RENs are also moving "above" the network/e-infrastructures. They are starting to connect and engage with other public actors dealing with formal and informal education communities (public libraries or any other community anchor sector).

• Donors. Grants providers and Development partners/ Representatives from international and national development cooperation agencies

Development partners need to know the key purpose of iMENTORS; namely, improving the coordination of international cooperation in the field of e-infrastructures. This stakeholder group therefore includes all funding agencies which provide the financial means to improve pan-African connectivity to support research and education networking activities.

Critically, iMENTORS also depends on these funding agencies’ willingness to cooperate and share data on e-infrastructure development projects. The project will therefore ensure that it maintains its good relationship with the Development Partners to retrieve valuable information and by giving them the added value so that that they identify us as the knowledge broker.


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• Industry stakeholders/ Private sector: Telecommunication companies, Internet Service providers, Associations administrating Internet Exchange Points

The Private Sector (Business and Industry) is responsible for developing and expanding ICT infrastructure and providing ICT services and products. Private sector companies are highly involved in extending connectivity and they the ones carrying out the majority of investments in e-Infrastructures, therefore maintaining good relations with them is essential to get that valuable information and achieve our objectives. Internet Service providers, Telecommunication companies, Internet Exchange Points Associations are among the principal actors in this category of stakeholders. iMENTORS will offer to private users the opportunity to retrieve up-to-date information on all e-infrastructure development projects of the past 5 years in Sub-Saharan Africa without the need to activate their individual networks. The innovative power of industry and enterprise is harnessed by clear and efficient arrangements for exchange of data between private and public sectors, allowing appropriate returns to both.

At the same time, industry, including SMEs, is a potential user of e-Infrastructure services. Thus, the private sector should be made aware of available e-infrastructures. This needs to be communicated more effectively and mechanisms to encourage uptake by industry need to be put in place. The industry should collaborate with e-infrastructure providers for their mutual benefit. The access to e-infrastructures and the establishment of cooperation between scientists and industry is important to optimize the use of e-Infrastructures, as well as to maintain and improving the competitiveness of the industry.

Furthermore, industrial users could be part of relevant e-infrastructure projects and leverage the earlier experiments to create innovation. Cross-fertilisation between e-Infrastructures and commercial infrastructures should be encouraged to the great benefit of both industry and society. Clusters are powerful engines of economic development and drivers of innovation as they provide a fertile business environment for companies, especially SMEs, to collaborate with research institutions, suppliers, customers and competitors located in the same geographical area.

• NGOs and Non for profit groups of civil society

Other stakeholders are potential future users of NRENs in Sub-Saharan African Countries, such as:

o Libraries, Museums, Archives, Cultural institutions

o Hospitals (other than university hospitals)

iMENTORS can use the global networking infrastructure to create links with project implementers and ICT NGOs. Similar initiatives can work together to share requirements and results between projects and in particular to benefit from the strengths and specialties of national and international initiative.

NRENs work with Internet registries, such as AfriNic to secure Autonomous Systems Numbers (ASNs) and independent IP address space. AfriNic is the Regional Registry for Internet Number Resources serving the African Internet Community (a non-government and not-for-profit). ASNs help to uniquely identify academic institutions and NRENs and also enable the separation of academic from commercial traffic.


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• Governmental and Intergovernmental organizations and other Institutional bodies Government departments (national, regional, local)

The Southern African Development Countries (SADC), the African Union (AU), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Additionally, the members of the consortium will use their extensive network to engage with National Parliaments from Africa, as well as the appropriate National Ministries in charge of implement development and ICT programmes.

• Media- Opinion leaders

Media are not only stakeholders in the project but also the means to raise awareness about iMENTORS. Media serve as a goal and as a means simultaneously.

Media play a crucial role played in disseminating activities to a wider audience. At national level, iMENTORS will establish links with local media houses to maintain an informed community. The media should be involved when events are being held and when case studies are being showcased. Whenever possible, partnerships should be encouraged. iMENTORS should also establish partnerships with international media houses that reach specific as well as general audiences. The key messages will be refined as appropriate.

• Policy makers in government ministries and Regulators, Managers of professional associations, centres of excellence, trade unions, chambers of commerce, etc.

In their policy recommendations, prominent reports have emphasized the need to establish appropriate tools to enhance the coordination of e-infrastructure development policies and to reinforce the collaboration of the different stakeholder groups for the firm foundation for expanded education and research networking throughout the region. In this way, policy makers are able to make decisions based on solid evidence, and can monitor the impacts of these decisions.

Policy makers in Government Ministries determine policies and practices at national level. iMENTORS in all its activities should ensure that it engages-in collaboration with respective NRENs—the policy makers and ensures that they understand the role of research and education networking in national and regional development. This will help policy makers in government to consider allocation of funds to the higher learning institutions to enable them connect to the NREN infrastructure. Most importantly, policy makers can link up with international development partners through iMENTORS for financial support or information, thereby increasing our chances of success and sustainability.

Diversity is a dominant feature of scientific information. Achieving an interoperable data infrastructure in the midst of such heterogeneity is a significant challenge. None of the potential benefits of the scientific data wave will be harnessed unless- given the proper access rights- it is easy and cheap to access.

We should ensure that Global and Regional Economic bodies are aware of our activities and that they must see us as a significant partner and facilitator in their efforts in the ICT, and education and research sectors of Sub- Saharan Africa.


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• Managers and Administrators of e-Health, e-Government, e-Learning, and e-Capacity Building programmes

The capacity of e-infrastructures to enable collaboration, resources sharing and providing access to information have an instrumental effect in other areas of public interest not specifically related to e-science such as e-Government and e-Health.

Several projects provide low cost digital access for schools, hospitals and communities. Several areas can benefit from leveraging broadband infrastructures for different purposes instead of having several uncoordinated developments. Telemedicine, tele-health, on-line information on preventive health and support for self-management of chronic conditions has improved the health of population in rural areas. Broadband access allows e-Learning (distance education for citizens), “e-Capacity- Building” (scientific learning/training for teachers and professors) and “e-Innovation” (collaborations that would take open-innovation challenges into the field to address social problems of major importance).

• General public, Independent users, IT engineers, Students, Researchers, Teachers and other Individuals

Independent users can access and make creative use of the huge amount of data available. They can also contribute to the data store and enrich it. All the NRENs connect universities and research institutes. Nearly all may connect institutes of further education, as well as libraries and museums. In the EU/EFTA area, a majority of the NRENs are also allowed to connect secondary schools, primary schools, hospitals and government departments. The NRENs differ greatly in this respect: some are allowed to operate as national networks for a wide range of user segments in the non-commercial sector, whereas others are not mandated to do this. Moreover, e-infrastructures could be a gateway for global collaboration, enabling researchers, students, teachers and other staff in institutions across one continent to participate in joint projects with their peers in other parts of the world.

All stakeholders, from scientists to national authorities to the general public, should become aware of the critical importance of conserving and sharing reliable data. Therefore, the first task is simply to get the message out that scientific e-infrastructure is important to society. Scientific e-infrastructure foster and increase popular interest and trust in science. Citizens can be adequately educated and prepared to benefit from this abundance of information.

At the same time, as policy decisions might improve public confidence in the entire political process might rise. Citizens gain confidence in government, and political participation rises.

For a full list of identified stakeholders please consult Appendix I.

Due to the large amount of stakeholders to be addressed, priority stakeholder groups were created that will be given special attention. These groups are themselves affected by the operations of the project, but can equally affect the project, its operations and performance. They often have differing interests and are prone to put conflicting pressures on the project. Beyond their identification, recognizing and addressing their needs and interests enhances in turn the performance of the project and secures its continued acceptance. In this socio- economic view, the project’s goals and activities should be found legitimate and valued by all parties and is accountable to them. The report of the High Level Group on the future of


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scientific data 7, identified four beneficiaries from scientific infrastructures (citizens, funders and policy makers, researchers and enterprise and industry). To these groups we have added media so as to form the priority stakeholder groups of iMENTORS. The table below summarizes the priority stakeholder groups of iMENTORS:

iMENTORS Strategic groupings- Priority stakeholder groups

Group Categories

Citizens General public


Funders and Policy Makers Policy makers in government ministries and Regulators- Managers of professional associations, centres of excellence, trade unions, chambers of commerce, etc.



Research and Education Networks and Researchers

Broader (Global), National, Regional Research and Education Networks (RENs)

Scientists, Researchers, Deans, Directors, Lecturers, Students and Managers from universities and the higher education sector.





Enterprise and Industry Industry stakeholders, Private sector: Telecommunication companies, Internet Service providers, Associations administrating Internet Exchange Points

Media- Opinion leaders Online and offline

Table 2: Summary of the priority stakeholder groups of iMENTORS

7 Riding the wave: How Europe can gain from the rising tide of scientific data- Final report of the High Level Expert Group on Scientific Data, A submission to the European Commission, October 2010, http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/e-infrastructure/docs/hlg-sdi-report.pdf


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The consortium has already secured the written support of the following key organisations:

• Bilateral Donor Agencies: The Swedish International Development Agency, the National Democratic Institute

• Bodies and agencies of the European Union: the EC Directorate General for Development and Cooperation (has committed to support in a verbal agreement)

• Organisations supervising the development of Regional or National Research and Education Networks: the UbuntuNet Alliance and the Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe

The consortium has engaged in discussions with the following organisations and their support is pending:

• The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) • The Carnegie Corporation of New York • The West and Central African Research and Education Network • The United Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)

By drawing on its extensive network, the consortium will continue to put forward partnerships arrangements throughout the duration of the project to secure the involvement of all relevant stakeholders.

2.3 Microenvironment

Microenvironment or differently internal environment represents the internal project ties between project partners and the communication efforts for winning over the key and secondary players of the organisations and other entities participating in the project. Microenvironment comes in line with the partners’ strong belief in an effective internal communication between partners aiming to increase partners’ understanding of the project, to encourage their involvement, to create a sense that all partners are equally important to the project’s success, to improve morale and foster goodwill.

2.3.1 Internal Communications

The project’s internal communication is correlated with the project’s internal environment (as described in previous section). Ensuring a well-balanced progress for the project in terms of successfully engaging with stakeholders is vital for a fruitful outcome. Internal project communication provides a good information flow is the key to the project’s balanced progress.

Based on lessons learnt from previous initiatives it is a fact that an effective internal communication between partners encourages the enhancement of partners’ efforts for the project’s progress and eventually the project’s success. iMENTORS partners deploy a range of different mechanisms in order to ensure a good information flow among them. These mechanisms have been selected as the best means to assist partners to their daily work in engaging with stakeholders and successfully carry out targeted dissemination activities.

The Project’s internal communications mechanisms are depicted in the figure below and the following: Basic (extensive emailing, Skype communication, conference calls, regular calls, file transfer and regular phone calls), Redmine (project management web application) and face-to-face meetings and training sessions (for more information see section 3.2.3).


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Figure 1: Internal communication mechanisms

2.3.2 Roles and Responsibilities

The following figure depicts the iMENTORS project management structure:

Figure 2: Project management structure

Special attention should be paid on the Stakeholders Advisory Board., i.e. an external group of experts with different areas of relevance to the project, ranging from representatives of e-infrastructure projects and policy bodies to individual high-level experts. The consortium will select strategic individuals from its own network to form the Advisory Board.

These are the participants of WP4:

Participant number

Participant short name Person-months per participant

1 SU 16.00

2 Gov2u 18.75

Total 34.75

Table 3: Participants of WP4- Person- Months per participant

Face to Face

Redmine

Basic


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Gov2u is the leader of WP4.

The ultimate responsibility of each work package and of each activity constituting the various work packages is assigned by the various partners to the Work Package Leaders (responsible for coordinating contributions to their individual WP) and the Task Leaders (responsible for coordinating the tasks within their individual task within each WP), and will directly report to the PRD, for collating progress updates from the WP Leaders on project activities with respect to expected technical achievements, results, schedule.

The responsibilities for WP leaders consist of:

• Coordinating tasks and activities according to WP objectives • Setting up a project plan specific to the WP, covering work package management, quality

management and risk management • Ensuring the smooth running of the individual WP as well as co-ordination with other\

WPs • Monitoring progress with respect to goals, milestones, and adequacy of results • Reporting to the PRD of any possible deviations identified due to scheduling, unsuitability

or risks affecting the quality of project results and/or objectives • Coordinating task leaders.

More specifically, roles and responsibilities in WP4 as defined in the DOW are the following:

• Management of the dissemination activities (GOV2U) • Creation of the Stakeholders Advisory Board (GOV2U - SU) • Creation of the dissemination tools (GOV2U) • Implementation of dissemination activities (GOV2U - SU) • User Engagement and Satisfaction (GOV2U) • Sustainability Plan (GOV2U - SU).

The following table lists the milestones of WP4:

Milestone Delivery Date

Platform- Second version launched with decision support system M15

Third version launched with process for the elicitation of stakeholder preferences

M18

Decision support system is fully operational, data collection has been finalized

M24

The project is compete M30

Table 4: Milestones of WP4

2.3.3 Relation of WP4 to other WPs

Dissemination and sustainability strategies concern and have an impact on all the WPs of the project, which is why partners should ideally keep these in mind and align their work accordingly with the communication strategy. The help of all partners is also needed in order to communicate and disseminate the project and its results successfully, to manage stakeholders and to create a positive reputation for the project and the partners. All


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partners should be aware of the dissemination action plan and it should be reflected in everything partners do that is related to the project and its stakeholders.

More specifically, the creation of the stakeholders’ advisory board is directly linked to the tasks of WP2: identify the main actors and the sources of data, collecting and categorizing the date and validating and populating the virtual observatory. User engagement and satisfaction is linked to testing and quality assurance (WP3) and to editorial management (WP2).

2.4 SWOT Analysis

The present section sets the context iMENTORS operates in so as to harmonize the iMENTORS dissemination strategy with the project’s environment. This section briefly describes the external (macro) as well as the internal (micro) environments. In addition a description and typology of the project’s stakeholders (groupings with legitimate interest on the project) is provided. Based on this, the project’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis) are drawn. Finally, what drives iMENTORS to success with the identified strategic groupings, i.e. its sustainable competitive advantage (added value) is explained.

After setting the context iMENTORS operates in (internal and external including stakeholders), this section will summarize the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for iMENTORS in order to find what drives iMENTORS to success with the identified stakeholders (added value). The strengths and weaknesses are briefly mentioned here (especially those that have to do with marketing).

Setting the dissemination objectives objective should be done after the SWOT analysis has been performed. This would allow achievable goals or objectives to be set for IMENTORS.

• Strengths: characteristics of the team that give it an advantage over others

• Weaknesses: are characteristics that place the team at a disadvantage relative to others

• Opportunities: external chances to improve performance in the environment

• Threats: external elements in the environment that could jeopardise the success of IMENTORS

Summarizing Internal Strengths:

• All partners have long experience in their respective fields.

o Stockholm University (SU) is one of the largest, oldest and most prominent institutions of research and higher education in Sweden. Established in 1966, the Department of Computer and System Sciences (DSV) is the largest department, with 60 researchers, including ten professors, seven undergraduate, eight graduate programmes and sixty PhD students. DSV excels in almost all of the disciplines and areas defined by the needs of the iMENTORS project. DSV has a long tradition in international cooperation with institutions and organizations on all five continents, including coordination and active participation in EU projects. The Swedish Program for ICT in Developing Regions (Spider) is a resource center for ICT for Development (ICT4D), established in 2004 and administered by DSV. Spider functions like a node in a network of actors from academia, public sector, private sector, and civil society. Spider is primarily financed


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by the Swedish International Development Cooperation (SIDA), with complementary funding from Stockholm University.

o Government To You (Gov2u) is an NGO of international and European recognition with expertise in the field of e-Democracy. Its team comprises of experienced researchers and developers encompassing a wide variety of competences in technical development of software systems and in all fields of communication and dissemination activities. Gov2u has an extensive network of partners and collaborators from academia, civil society and public authorities from Europe, Africa, Asia and America. Moreover, Gov2u is a member of the PEP-NET, a European network of all stakeholders active in the field of e-Participation.

• Dissemination activities include detailed action planning, iteration cycles to collect feedback from all stakeholders, a collaborative culture with other WPs, systematic impact assessment and so on.

• There is a quality assurance process which includes all the activities that are used to direct, control, and coordinate quality.

• Reporting: All partners will compile quarterly reports which will be internal to the project, and will allow the PRD to prepare a project report highlighting progress made by each partner, risks and issues, resources used and financial status.

• WP4 leader will monitor the progress with respect to goals, milestones, and adequacy of results and set up a project plan specific to the WP, covering work package management, quality management and risk management.

• The project has strategy for recruiting new users.

• Communicating the goals and the added value of the project in simple yet powerful way, to rally support from key stakeholders (such as NRENs) and use it as a leverage to convince data brokers to share project information on e-infrastructure projects

• Sustainability: Project is currently in its initial phase, with clear objectives for next phase (building) and beyond.

Summarizing Internal Weaknesses:

• (Possibly) Limited resources allocated to WP4. The large response and high expectations from stakeholders might need more work than foreseen.

• Long-term funding has not been secured.

Summarizing External Opportunities:

• Dissemination is tailored and woven into communities of practice matching the specificities of the stakeholders (i.e. what’s in it for me?).

• Strong interest from stakeholders. • Benefiting the support of Regional and National Research and Education Networks to

acquire information on the major players, the projects and securing face to face meetings with major actors to secure data exchanges.

• Connecting with previously EU funded e-infrastructure mapping projects to retrieve data and feedback on data retrieving methodology


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• Leveraging the European Union’s institutional support to rally high level support from large funding agencies and retrieve data on e-infrastructures

• Quickly establishing iMENTORS as the knowledge broker through a powerful communication strategy and use our large amount of data as a leverage to convince remaining institutions to provide their data.

Summarizing External Threats:

• No crowdsourcing input from stakeholders. • Stakeholders concerned about the privacy of actors involved in e-infrastructure projects

which leads to sharing only limited or no information on projects etc. Lack of trust. • Donors will not allow connecting to their system /API. • Not enough media coverage. • Not many attendees in workshops, meetings. • Lack of willingness from stakeholders to co-operate across disciplines/ funders/ nations. • Not enough data experts. • Lack of coherent data description allowing re-use of data.

2.4.1 What is the added value of the project?

iMENTORS is the ONLY e-infrastructure mapping project to date, which has the ambition to cover all e-infrastructures in Sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, it is the only platform of its kind which aims at providing such policy support and networking functions to improve the coordination of international cooperation in this field. The aim is to help scientists, universities, research and education networks as well as policy-makers and international donors gain valuable insights on the gaps and progress made in the region and to enhance the coordination of international actors involved in ICT initiatives in this part of the world.

The project builds on the results of previous EU-funded projects and follows the conclusions of international conferences on the need to provide tools in support to policy development and programme implementations, by creating more networking opportunities between the various stakeholder groups involved in e-infrastructure developments. In this framework, the project seeks to involve those who have a direct stake in the development of e-infrastructures in the region in order to ensure that the proposed solution will rest on stakeholder input and feedback. Therefore the consortium has resonable expections that the project will be well received by the stakeholders community since it aims at addressing their needs and recommendations.

The key message to be communicated to stakeholders is the added value of iMENTORS.

Keywords: e-infrastructure, research infrastructure, collaboration, national /regional research and education networks, ICT, investments, donor community, access, global connectivity, interoperability, efficiency, sustainability

Overall Objective: Enhance the coherence and effectiveness of international actors involved in e-infrastructures development projects and initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa, based on the results and recommendations of previous studies and reports.


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2.4.2 Incentives: What’s in it for me?

How can we get researchers - or individuals- to contribute to the data set? Devising the right incentives is very important for the project. Only if the data infrastructure becomes representative of the work of all researchers will it be useful; and for that, many scientists and citizens will have to decide whether it is meaningful to share their data.

First of all, this will necessitate that stakeholders trust the system to preserve, protect and manage access to their data. Another incentive can be the perception of gain from others’ data. But for more valuable information, more direct incentives will be needed (career advancement that can lead to reputation, etc.).

Based on research, the table below summarizes the key benefits for stakeholders:

iMENTORS Strategic groupings- Priority stakeholder groups Benefits- WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?

Group Categories

Citizens General public • Stay up to date with latest developments and trends in the e-Infrastructures field

• Support the emergence of global virtual research communities and gain access to new working and organisational methods. Innovation and technology produced from tighter integration of ICT in the scientific process then translates into technology progress, jobs and wealth for the society at large

• Research infrastructures, e-Infrastructure and user requirements should evolve in tandem: opportunity for users to talk to e-Infrastructure providers

• Amateurs might contribute more easily to the scientific process and enrich it

• Can have access to and can make creative use of the huge amount of data available

• Appreciate the results and benefits arising from research and feel more confident in how their tax money is spent

• Find their own answers to important questions, based on real evidence

• Pass on knowledge and experience to others, and make a contribution to the knowledge society beyond their immediate circle and life-spans

• Understand the importance of scientific e-infrastructure to society.


• Access and make creative use of the huge amount of the open data available through external Applications

• Contribute to the data store and enrich it • Understand the importance of scientific e-

infrastructure to society. Funders and Policy Makers

Policy makers in government ministries and Regulators- Managers of professional associations, centres of

• Make evidence-based decisions • Coordination of e-infrastructure development policies • Achieving an interoperable data infrastructure • Understand the role of research and education

networking in national and regional development- consider allocation of funds to the higher learning


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excellence, trade unions, etc.

institutions to enable them connect to the NREN infrastructure.


• Rationalize their actions, avoid duplications of spending and streamline their efforts

• Eliminate unnecessary duplication of work • Identify priority areas, geographical gaps and organise

their policy agenda much more efficiently • Increase their visibility and enhance the sustainability

of their programmes • Get greater return on investment.


• Support the emergence of global virtual research communities and gain access to new working and organisational methods

• Share news, feedback and updates on e-infrastructure projects and examine key components of effective e-Infrastructures developments

• Support policy design and implementation, identify areas of gaps and priority, convergence of regulations and coordination

• Become aware of the critical importance of conserving and sharing reliable data produced during the scientific process.

Researchers Scientists, Researchers, Deans, Directors, Lecturers, Students and Managers from universities and the higher education sector.


• Meet with worldwide peers and participate in a community of experts in e-Infrastructure to exchange ideas, expertise and best practices, or discuss future challenges and priorities

• Find partners and opportunities to plan new e-infrastructure development projects

• Support the emergence of global virtual research communities and gain access to new working and organisational methods

• Share news, feedback and updates on e-infrastructure projects and examine key components of effective e-infrastructures developments

• Encourage new partnerships resource sharing and widen the availability of scientific data, aid discoveries that benefit society

• Help them access, share, store and process large amounts of data simply and quickly

• Allow scientists and their institutions to do better and innovative research in an efficient, scalable and collaborative manner

• Researchers in different domains can collaborate on the same data set, finding new insights

• Can use, re-use and combine data, increasing productivity: find correlations, draw inferences and trade ideas and information

• Researchers are rewarded, by enhanced professional reputation at the very least, for making their data available to others.

Broader (Global),National, Regional Research and

• Convergence in regulatory environment • Increase compatibility • Bringing communities together in order to improve


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Education Networks (RENs)

their mutual understanding and collaboration • Stronger collaboration between RENs, governments,

scientific and educational networks with the ICT sector research community could drive innovation

• Closer collaboration with users to better understand researchers’ requirements and the opportunities it can deliver to them


• Create links with similar initiatives and organisations and increase visibility and impact of individual projects

• Find alternative sources of funding, extend the sustainability of their projects

• Work together to share requirements and results between projects and in particular to benefit from the strengths and specialities of national and international initiative

• Producers of data benefit from opening it to broad access, and prefer to deposit their data with confidence in a reliable repository.


• Capabilities of e-infrastructures for enabling collaboration, resources sharing and providing access to information can have an effect in other areas of public interest not specifically related to science.


• Bringing communities together in order to improve their mutual understanding and collaboration

• Use the global networking infrastructure to create links with similar initiatives and organisations

• Pass on knowledge and experience to others, and make a contribution to the knowledge society

• Amateurs might contribute more easily to the scientific process and enrich it

• Can have access to and can make creative use of the huge amount of data available


Industry stakeholders- Private sector: Telecommunication companies, Internet Service providers

• Find partners and opportunities to plan new e-infrastructure development projects

• Share news, feedback and updates on e-infrastructure projects and examine key components of effective e-Infrastructures developments

• Use the best available information for Research and Development , increasing productivity

• Create new knowledge, markets and job opportunities • Provide a strong industrial and economic base for

European prosperity • Increase opportunities for mobility and knowledge

exchange. Media- Opinion leaders

Online and offline • Share news, feedback and updates on e-infrastructure projects and examine key components of effective e-Infrastructures developments

• Stay up to date with latest developments and trends in the e-Infrastructures field.

Table 5: Key benefits for stakeholders


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3 Dissemination Strategy

The dissemination strategy provides the goals for iMENTORS dissemination plans. Based on the overall iMENTORS goals and on the definition of the iMENTORS added value, its stakeholders and its relationship to the environment (please see previous section). The strategy describes where iMENTORS wants to go from here. This section includes the following sub sections:

• Dissemination Objectives • How is iMENTORS going to reach stakeholder? o Dissemination phases o Process o Tools o Steps of stakeholders’ engagement o Principles of stakeholder engagement.

3.1 Dissemination Objectives

The dissemination objectives are the precise statements or aims of purpose, which define where the project intends to be at some specific time in the future.

Figure 3: WP 4 - Dissemination Objectives

The objectives of WP4 as depicted in the figure above are the following:

• Understand/Build: o Make sure that a coherent community of interest is built around the project, raising

awareness about its goals, plans and future results. Ensuring this way that beneficiaries and other stakeholders appreciate the added value of iMENTORS.

o Promote mutual understanding of the added value of iMENTORS between stakeholders. Creating an understanding about the benefits of the initiative (added

Sustain

Connect- Develop-

Participate- Interact

Understand-Build


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value): WP4 will not only serve as a conduit for stakeholders to share progress on iMENTORS; but also as a vehicle allowing them to understand the benefits of the initiative. The added value consist a potential for differentiation, which is likely to be appreciated by stakeholders and therefore can be made explicit through communications and networking. The key issue here is to successfully communicate what iMENTORS will deliver for industry, funders, citizens and researchers and how they can capitalize on the added value of the project. Therefore WP4 aims to promote mutual understanding of the benefits that iMENTORS will bring between beneficiaries and other stakeholders; by successfully promoting the iMENTORS platform.

o At the same time, the dissemination actions of this project are aimed to raise awareness and visibility of the e-infrastructures activity towards wider audiences especially among the research communities from EU countries and international development aid agencies.

o Build trust: Trust should be promoted by opting for tailored and personalized messages, providing balanced information from different media outlets as well as tapping varying sources of information and finally by promoting dialogue and transparency in processes. Many of these issues involve trust. Data-intensive science operates at a distance and therefore requires trust.

• Connect/Develop/Participate/Engage/Interact: o Develop a community of practice for support to policy development and programme

implementation by creating a social hub facilitating interaction and knowledge sharing, to improve collaboration among different stakeholder groups, and offer them opportunity to create synergies and plan future projects.

o Initiate knowledge sharing and synergies among research communities, other e-infrastructure development projects and similar stakeholders: Mobilizing a community of well- informed stakeholders and collaborators assists the project on the practical, efficient and sustainable delivery of the iMENTORS platform; positioning the project as the knowledge broker in e-infrastructures area. Inter alia:

identify key contact persons and initiate contact promote best practice and information sharing identify common areas of work explore and define opportunities to collaborate.

o Stakeholders’ engagement, participation, motivation and interaction: Build a strong stakeholder ecosystem around the iMENTORS project. Iteration cycles to collect stakeholder feedback. Win commitment and accountability. What’s in it for them? By engaging key e-infrastructures stakeholders at the recipient country level, the project is projected to trigger debates on the relative effectiveness of donors and create the impetus to move to more effective coordination mechanisms. The platform will also push for stronger cooperation between the different e-infrastructures stakeholder groups, hence providing decisive support in their efforts to develop globally connected and interoperable e-infrastructures.

The stakeholders’ engagement approach objectives are to ensure:

project visibility among the target groups/ stakeholders of the project necessary attention, interest in the iMENTORS platform stakeholders’ participation to the iMENTORS platform activities


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collaboration of stakeholders to the project objectives and final results dissemination of the project and its results/ best practices/ lessons learnt among

all the interested stakeholders.

These objectives are essential to disseminate the project concept and results and to attract interest and necessary engagement of stakeholders. In addition to this, the sharing of knowledge and a good internal communication must be facilitated inside the Consortium to foster working efficiency and horizontal consistency of the project’s outputs.

o Build trust. Via vigorous interaction and engagement activities with stakeholders WP4 aims to ensure their continuous association with the developments of the project. WP4 aims in this way to achieve their active involvement and participation to the activities of the iMENTORS platform.

• Sustain: o Creating and maintaining a consistent and distinctive identity, a favorable

reputation and a strong stakeholder ecosystem, which will ensure long-term viability of the project and will enhance the development of e-infrastructure in Sub- Saharan Africa.

o The objective of sustainability is a central pillar of the iMENTORS platform, and the consortium will allocate a significant part of its activities to ensure that the project will be sustained well beyond the duration of the program. By engaging key e-infrastructures stakeholders at the recipient country level, the project is projected to trigger debates on the relative effectiveness of donors and create the impetus to move to more effective coordination mechanisms. Sustainability is going to find answers to the following questions: How can we be sure that the important information we collect will be usable and understandable in the future; in particular how can we find our information resources in the long term? How can we cover the costs and efforts required for sustainability? How can we decide what to preserve?

o Creating/ Maintaining a consistent and distinctive identity as well as a favorable reputation: The goal is to coordinate all communications so that the identity of the project is effectively and consistently communicated to stakeholders’ groups. A favorable reputation (estimation in which iMENTORS is held in the eyes of the community of stakeholders and the general public) hinges on building a publicly recognized name and/or standing based on merit, achievement and reliability - established over time as a result of consistent performance.

o The communication policy of the project is an essential vehicle in building and conveying a positive reputation, which will be an important aspect of gaining competitive advantage beyond the lifecycle of the project (acceptance/ sustainability). Such favorable reputation will result in much more successful crowdsourcing efforts from the public registered on iMENTORS.


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3.2 How is iMENTORS going to reach its stakeholders?

3.2.1 Process

The dissemination plan is the practical application of the dissemination strategies. It is also developed with consideration and in reference to the context (please refer to section 2) and the overarching vision and objectives set. The process from vision to action is depicted in the below figure:

Figure 4: Process from Vision to Action

The action plan is accompanied by clear prioritisation of tasks, roles and responsibilities of the people available (capacity) and planning, which includes regular monitoring of the impacts achieved and measuring progress towards tasks. Implementing the chosen options, i.e. taking action is vital after agreeing on an action plan. Timing is an important factor as well. Communicating progress and sharing best practices is done via the dissemination plan. The dissemination plan will be revised should circumstances require it. The process for developing action plans that WP4 will follow is illustrated in figure below:

Figure 5: Process for developing action plans

Action planning is a cyclical process and once WP4 has been through one cycle, it can start again. Of course, the process is not always so linear and stages will overlap as our objectives/goals might change as iMENTORS progresses. In that case, our plan will be revised as circumstances dictate as shown in the figure below:

Identify & Evaluate Implement Monitor Communicate Re-Evaluate RESULTS


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Figure 6: Action planning process

3.2.2 Dissemination Phases

The threefold approach has been identified as an effective way to maximize attention and achieve dissemination objectives. To effectively achieve the dissemination objectives WP4 introduces three phases for the whole dissemination process in which the goals of the aforementioned objectives. These phases correspond directly to WP4 objectives and the project’s milestones and are stated below:

1. Initial/ First Phase: This involves the project launch, the formation of the iMENTORS dissemination tools, the initial platform launch and creating of community of interest (M1- M6). These entail developing the project website and initial promotional materials, raising awareness about the project by announcing the project’s goals and plans and developing internet presence on social networks; announcing the initial platform’s launch among key stakeholders; and regular dissemination of the project developments (via available marketing tools).

2. Second Phase: This involves further dissemination of the iMENTORS platform and tools, engagement with key stakeholders to motivate their participation in the platform (M7- M20). These entail creating awareness of the iMENTORS platform and methodology among related stakeholders; motivate participation; creating awareness of developed tools among stakeholders; continue establishing contacts and relations with new stakeholders; initiate knowledge sharing among research communities and related projects.

3. Final/ Third Phase: This involves dissemination and exploitation of the project results (M21- M30). This includes presentation of the iMENTORS solution advantages and added value in high visibility events; motivate further participation, promote exchange of experiences and knowledge sharing with the wider scientific/ research community and related projects involved in the specific domain; identifying new targets for sustainability; spreading future sustainability plans; announcing and disseminating final results of the project.

Each of the above mentioned phases will be adjusted to the project’s lifetime based on project’s progress of work. Dissemination material and activities will be adapted according to needs and requirements of these phases. The dissemination process phases will be updated in the future deliverable D4.2 Dissemination Plan Updated, PU (M15).


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3.2.3 Steps of stakeholders’ engagement

The following steps of stakeholders’ engagement have been identified:

1. Creating awareness, Educating and generating momentum: Efficient and effective communication is the major and essential means to reach this first step. The stakeholders should be aware of the project and its purpose for successful adoption. If the interested parties do not know what to expect and when, why it is important and what is in it for them, resistance/lack of enthusiasm will be high and adoption low.

2. Building support, Targeted stakeholder outreach: Creating a receptive environment and preparing stakeholders for a new way of thinking. Observing whether the process is adopted or not. Although engaging the support of a number of different stakeholders is important, the project team chooses to focus the majority of outreach and adoption efforts on the group that would be most affected, i.e. development programmes. This can be done through a variety of methods, like face-to-face contact, group discussions, seminars/webinars etc.

3. The process in reality, Training: Focus on providing hands-on practical interaction with the platform. Focus on showing that the functionality described through communications and adoption phases is actually being delivered.

3.2.4 Principles of stakeholder engagement (strategic and operational)

Project partners should follow a clear and concise logic of engaging stakeholders, which entails the adoption of strategic and operational principles. The former refer to a higher level of understanding of stakeholder engagement. It involves identification of stakeholders’ significant issues and expectations.

• Significance: dealing with issues that are significant to the stakeholders and the aim of the project

• Efficiency: understanding of the concerns, views and expectations of the stakeholders • Feedback: responding as appropriate and in a clear manner.

The latter concerns the action of dealing with stakeholders, for example the stakeholder engagement plan (how will the project proceed with stakeholders’ contact, engagement and links establishment.).

• Communication: Open and effective communication, exchange of ideas. Recognize the importance of engaging at the most direct level and ensure the level is appropriate for the purpose. Maximize community and stakeholder opportunities to say what they want and to provide information and feedback.

• Transparency: Information and feedback process. Identify the objectives of the community and stakeholders. Clearly explain the established processes and ensure that communities and stakeholders understand the principal objectives. Clearly set out the process and provisions for two-way feedback.

• Cooperation: Working together for mutually beneficial outcomes. Recognize that adequate time and resources are needed by all. Comprehensively deal with the issues and seek stakeholder input into responses.

• Inclusiveness: Involving stakeholders in the process. Identify and, where possible, understand community and stakeholder issues, interests, aspirations and concerns to better define what matters most to the community. Prepare a consultation plan and


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tailor engagement strategies to meet the needs of community and/or stakeholder groups, their accessibility and information needs.

3.2.5 Tools

Based on the experience of project partners, several tools have proven to be efficient in increasing awareness, creating a wider community of interest and subsequently motivate stakeholders’ participation, i.e. in achieving the dissemination objectives. This knowledge is shared by other similar projects in the field.

The table below names the tools chosen and reasons behind this choice:

Tools-

What distribution channel is going to be used?

Objectives-

Why chose these tools?

Project Website: contact forms, blog, online feedback mechanisms, Google analytics

The expected goals of the website are interrelated with the overall objectives of WP4: the first few months the aim was to raise awareness of iMENTORS added value through the website and later, starting Month 6, the site will act as a collaborative environment (aim is to tailor marketing into communities of practice in order to motivate/ interact with necessary stakeholders, achieve their acceptance and establish sustainability of iMENTORS). Emails and reviews on the blog can serve as online feedback mechanisms that can have important implications for brand building, building trust, stakeholder acquisition and retention, platform development, user satisfaction and quality assurance.

Press releases

Awareness-raising. The more ways the stakeholders hear about iMENTORS, then the better chances are for achieving recognition, credibility and trust. Exposing target audience to iMENTORS and its added value as often as possible (frequency), in as many ways as possible, and as cost-effectively as possible. Useful to promote participation to the iMENTORS platform.

E- Newsletter Stakeholder participation/ motivation. Awareness-raising for iMENTORS developments/ latest news.

Offline Media Media serve as a goal and as a means simultaneously for awareness-raising for iMENTORS (see indicative list in section 2.3). Media play a crucial role played in disseminating activities to a wider audience. At national level, iMENTORS will establish links with local media houses to maintain an informed community. The media should be involved when events are being held and when case studies are being showcased. Where possible, partnerships should be encouraged. iMENTORS should also establish partnerships with international media houses that reach specific as well as general audiences. The key messages will be refined as appropriate.

Social media

Facebook, Twitter, SlideShare, LinkedIn.

Objectives for using social media: By sharing our status, ideas, presence, co-operational or technical issues, WP4 aims to achieve understanding and a positive attitude towards the project with all target stakeholder groups. Moreover, we encourage and facilitate discussions, feedback and stimulate interaction and engagement to the project.

Databases/ mailing lists

Stakeholder participation/ motivation. Useful for direct marketing. Research is important.

Internal communications tools

please see also section 2.4.1

Partners should be the first to identify with the iMENTORS vision and mission. WP4 should market the project to all partners. Then they can in turn market the project. • Basic: As basic communication means for information sharing, for the needs of the

daily work iMENTORS partners relay to extensive emailing, Skype communication (conference calls, regular calls, file transfer) and regular phone calls. More specifically Skype is a service that allows users to communicate with peers by voice, video, and


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instant messaging over the Internet. However Skype’s additional features include fast file transfer and videoconferencing, which have been identified as the most useful features for an effective internal project communication. The aforementioned means guarantee the immediacy that is necessary to tackle any possible issues that the partners may face and need the projects’ partners support and guidance.

• Redmine: To facilitate the best monitoring of dissemination activities and stakeholders’ engagement activities and any other related actions, iMENTORS has employed a project management web application, Redmine. This application serves as a virtual workspace that offers to project partners; a virtual project library per Work Package that contains all necessary documents (deliverables, reports, etc.); and a simple but effective management application allowing partners to report online, assign tasks, offer guidance and monitor the progress of work. The workspace was set up by Gov2u.

• Face to face: Last but not least Consortium face-to-face meetings and training sessions for partners have been scheduled by the Management and Dissemination team accordingly, on a regular basis in order to properly address the needs of guidance and support of the partners.

Logo- Templates A graphical identity must be insured to create a coherent and discernible identity. Thereof a project logo should be designed which includes the project’s acronym and official title. The project logo will be used in any deliverable, tool or material of iMENTORS. Templates for the iMENTORS products (press release, PowerPoint Presentations, deliverable, etc.) should be designed for the same reason in order to evoke a positive image and a favorable reputation.

Presentations to third party events

The active contribution of the project to external events, organised by other programmes and initiatives addressing cooperation between Europe and developing countries on ICT research.

Promotional Materials (factsheet, posters, leaflets, PowerPoint Presentations, value stories)

Tailor made materials can offer specific messages to specific groups. The first materials will be designed mostly for awareness raising purposes, in order to introduce the project to a broad audience, to motivate stakeholders and to show what iMENTORS will deliver. A common iMENTORS branding should be kept in the marketing materials with the intention of maintaining its distinctive identity. The dissemination material will be regularly updated to provide the latest version of the project status and objectives. A value story is a leaflet aiming to show the added value of the project to specific stakeholders. A successful value story should answer the following: What will iMENTORS do for me? What is in there for me? Why should I engage? What will I gain? How can I participate?

Participation at Events-Conferences

Awareness-raising via participation to external events. Carefully chosen events provide greater ability to offer tailored messages to specific groups. The project will actively participate in the concertation activities and meetings related with the e-infrastructures area. The objective is to optimise synergies between projects by providing input and receiving feedback from working groups addressing activities of common interest (e.g. from clusters and projects). Projects may offer advice and guidance and receiving information relating to 7th Framework programme implementation, standardisation, and policy and regulatory, EU Member States initiatives or relevant international initiative.

Publications

Explain iMENTORS goals and results. Target academia/ scientists that read them (ability for tailored messages to specific audiences). The choice of media and conferences is important. Awareness-raising.

Channels established by the FP7 and other similar projects (workshops, cross- referencing other websites,

The consortium will engage in activities designed to promote the platform as a standard for e-infrastructure development aid. Therefore, at a very early point in the project, the consortium will identify and establish links and create synergies with similar past and current EU funded project to maximize its impact. Channels established by the FP7 and other similar projects will be used for the dissemination activities, including common workshops and joined-up activities. Joint activities could include but are not limited to


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promotional material) cross-referencing other projects’ websites and distributing promotional material to other projects’ events.

Organization of events, workshops

The workshops will offer ideal opportunities to the project Consortium to gather direct feedback from the targeted groups, while ensuring that the services offered through the iMENTORS platform stay updated, and address the needs of the various stakeholders involved. Furthermore, the workshops will aim to identify strengths and drawbacks of the current cooperation between EU and developing countries research infrastructure, to capitalize on experiences and to identify possible future initiatives that stimulate networking of these infrastructures, and foster the emergence of new research infrastructures of mutual interest.

Direct marketing Stakeholder participation/ motivation. Direct marketing (direct contact, emails, and invitations) has more impact. Exposing target audience to iMENTORS and its added value.

Project partner networks and dissemination channels

The channels of communication between the project partners and other collaborators and similar organizations will be used for dissemination activities of the project. All project partners will use their networks and dissemination channels (websites, social network profiles of the organizations, e-newsletters, magazines, regular meetings with collaborators, etc.) to advertise the project. Partners should be the first to identify with the iMENTORS vision and mission. WP4 should market the project to all partners. Then they can in turn market the project. They will be the ‘ambassadors of commitment’ to external stakeholders. It is important at all times, whilst addressing the different perspectives of each individual stakeholder group, to maintain and profile a coherent identity of the project.

Research, User satisfaction questionnaires

Research is the systematic and objective identification, collection, analysis, and dissemination of information for the purpose of assisting management in decision making related to the identification and solution of problems and opportunities. Research is an on-going process. Before each deliverable, research will be conducted. For the final dissemination reports further research will be conducted as well as a PEST analysis, Political, Economic, Social, and Technological analysis describing a framework of macro-environmental factors that iMENTORS has to take into consideration. User satisfaction questionnaires will be created and posted online in order to assess how much the information provided through iMENTORS platform and its functionality matched the users’ expectations. A User Engagement and Satisfaction Report will be drawn up at the end of the project and will present the issues raised by end users, the level of engagement of the e-infrastructure stakeholders on the platform and their satisfaction with its functionality and content.

Incentives for stakeholders

What’s in it for me? Key messages

Build trust. Key, tailored and personalized messages are more effective (What’s in it for me?). Dominance of a targeted market niche. Considering the scope of the project, the diversity of the stakeholders impacted by the project, dissemination activities must be adapted to meet the needs of the project on one hand, and stakeholder expectations on the other. Thus, communications cannot be seen as ‘one-size-fits-all’. Dissemination/ Marketing and awareness-raising must be tailored and woven into communities of practice matching the specificities of the stakeholders. The messages we will get across will differ in form and contents according to the groups we are dealing with.

Guidelines, Events list

Maintain consistent- distinctive identity of iMENTORS. All partners should project a unified image of the project. Internal communications. The events list Includes indicative events from the fields of e-infrastructure, international cooperation, development, research and other issues related to the project for the current year. Assisting partners to target the external events to raise awareness and communicate tailored messages to the primary stakeholders.

Deliverables Build trust. Show results to EC and stakeholders. Explain objectives, strategies, action plan.

Table 6: Dissemination tools and reasons behind their choice


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The table below shows the tools used for each dissemination objective:

Dissemination Objectives Tools to achieve them

Understand/Build:

Awareness-raising about iMENTORS, Understanding of its benefits, Build trust

Website

Press releases

E- Newsletter

Social media


Internal communications tools (email, Redmine, Skype, meetings)

Identity (logo, templates)


Participation to Events-Conferences

Publications

Channels established by the FP7 and other similar projects

Organization of events / workshops

Direct marketing


Guidelines – Events list


Promotional material

Media

Deliverables

Connect/ Develop/ Participate/ Engage/ Interact

Develop a community of practice

Stakeholders’ participation, motivation, interaction

Knowledge sharing and synergies

Website

Press releases

E- Newsletter

Research

Social media


Internal communications tools (email, Redmine, Skype, meetings)






Media


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Direct marketing


Promotional material

Research- User satisfaction questionnaires


Sustain:

Creating/ maintaining a consistent and distinctive identity, a favourable reputation and a strong stakeholder ecosystem

Website



Media






Direct marketing


Incentives- Benefits

Table 7: Dissemination objectives and tools to achieve them

3.2.6 Stakeholders Advisory Board

To ensure that the project achieves high visibility and support, the consortium will create an external group of experts, ranging from representatives of e-infrastructure projects and policy bodies to individual high-level experts, which will form the Stakeholders Advisory Board (SAB). The Advisory Board will be comprised of carefully selected representatives of the following groups: Research and Academic Community, Regional RENs, Policy-Makers, Industry actors, Bilateral Donor Agencies, and e-infrastructure project representatives.

The Advisory Board will provide complementary quality assurance in the form of high-level reflections and guidance for the iMENTORS project, while increasing the probability that the implemented platform will be well-accepted and well-received by the e-infrastructures community and stakeholders. The consortium will also consult with the advisory board on issues relating to the specifications for the Virtual Observatory and the Decision-Support System to ensure that the platform serves their needs.

Additionally, the Advisory Board will validate the different use-case scenarios in the process of testing the platform. Some selected members of the Advisory Board will assist in dissemination activities by attending workshops and dissemination events which aim at increase visibility for the project, as their extensive networks may attract other organisations to participate in the project.

For the time being, the consortium has engaged in discussions with the following people and their support is pending:


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• Dr Francis F. Tusubira- Chief Executive Officer of UbuntuNet Alliance

• Honorable Dr. Margaret N. Nasha, Member and Speaker of the National Assembly of Botswana and Member of the Southern African Development Community.

The consortium is currently in discussion with additional individuals, but no formal offer has been made yet.


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4 Actions

WP4 has identified the dissemination actions in terms of what exactly has to be achieved, by whom, by which means, and how the return and success is going to be measured, together with the specific outcome of each action and of each targeted audience:

Figure 7: What, to Whom, by Whom, How, Monitor

This section includes the following sub sections:

• Actions to achieve the dissemination objectives • Actions to reach stakeholders.

WHAT - is the story/value proposition that needs to be told?

TO WHOM should this story be told?

BY WHOM should this be done?

HOW should this be done (what is needed for this)?

How will we MONITOR the outcome of these actions: What indicators do you want to use to monitor the effect and how will we measure it?

4.1 Actions to achieve the dissemination objectives

The table below describes specific goals set to achieve the dissemination objectives including the tools used, the dates and the partner that will execute them. The actions that have been completed are marked with the word “done”.

Dissemination Objectives Tools Goals When Who Understand- Build Project Website-

contact forms, blog, online feedback mechanisms, Google analytics

Create holding page before the creation of the site M1- Done Gov2u

Understand- Build Create site M2- Done Gov2u

Understand- Build Platform in operation M6 Gov2u - WP1, WP2, WP3

Connect- Develop- Participate- Engage - Interact

Second Version launched (with decision-support system)- 20% of all stakeholders are found on the platform.

M12 Gov2u - WP1, WP2, WP3


Third Version Launched (with process for the elicitation of stakeholder preferences)

M18 Gov2u - WP1, WP2,WP3


Decision Support system is fully operational, data collection has been finalized- 60% of stakeholders are on the platform

M24 Gov2u -WP1, WP2, WP3

Sustain Maintain and update the website with relevant information throughout the entire life-span of the project

On-going Gov2u


Online feedback mechanisms M1 contact us forms Gov2u


Google analytics M1- on-going Gov2u


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Understand- Build Advertise the site in all marketing materials and articles Include site in all marketing materials- On-going

Gov2u

Sustain The project informational website will be maintained at least one year after the end of the project

Sustain The Consortium will seek to sign a memorandum of understanding with donor agencies and foundation that will delegate a staff to publish information on iMENTORS or to automate the feed of the relevant information towards to the iMENTORS platform

To be decided

Understand- Build Press releases

About project: created and sent to national and international media, to all stakeholders and available online

M3 Gov2u

Understand- Build About Initial Platform: created and sent to national and international media, , to all stakeholders and available online

M6

Understand- Build About Second Version of site: created and sent to national and international media, to all stakeholders and available online

M15

Understand- Build About Third Version of site: created and sent to national and international media, to all stakeholders and available online

M18

Understand- Build Decision Support system is fully operational, data collection has been finalized: created and sent to national and international media, to all stakeholders and available online

M24

Sustain About project results: created and sent to national and international media, to all stakeholders and available online

M30


About 3 Regional Workshops First workshop to be decided, M18, M29


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Understand- Build E- Newsletter

Distributed via email to all our stakeholder lists and available online

Quarterly starting September 2012

Gov2u

Understand- Build Offline Media Create and update media list M2- Done

Update every 6 months

Gov2u

Understand- Build Sent them all press releases See Press releases

Understand- Build Sent them E- newsletter See newsletter section

Understand- Build Social media

Facebook, Twitter, SlideShare, LinkedIn, Wikipedia etc.

Create Facebook page M1- Done Gov2u


100 Likes before M15 M15

Understand- Build Create Twitter account M2- Done


150 followers before M15 M15

Understand- Build Create SlideShare M6

Understand- Build Create LinkedIn M4


50 contacts before M15 M15

Understand- Build Wikipedia M24

Understand- Build Project profiles on social networks will be with constantly updated with regular updates on the projects development, disseminate news and share best practices

On-going

Understand- Build Databases/ mailing lists

Create and update stakeholder lists M2- Done,

Update every 3

Gov2u


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months


Conduct continuous surveys about possible stakeholders M2,


Understand- Build 80% of e-infrastructures and ICT related projects over the past 5 years identified

M20 Gov2u, WP2, WP3


Collect contact information on stakeholders and questions asked and issues raised in conferences, exhibitions, meetings etc. - Follow up after establishing contacts

On-going- During events

Understand- Build Internal communications tools (email, Redmine, Skype, meetings, real-time remote conferences, etc.)- see also section 2.4.1

Redmine operational M1, used throughout the project

Gov2u


2 WP4 workshops before the end of the project To be defined


Project Management Board meeting on sustainability is due to take place immediately following the launching of the iMENTORS platform

M7

Understand- Build Logo- Templates (logo, templates for word, PowerPoint, deliverables, press releases)

Logo M1- Done Gov2u

Understand- Build Project word template (letterhead) M1- Done

Understand- Build Project report/ deliverable template M1- Done

Understand- Build Project press release template M1- Done

Understand- Build Project power point presentation template M1- Done

Understand- Build Project E-Newsletter template M1- Done

Connect- Develop- Participate- Presentations to At least 3 Face to face meetings before the end of the project Ongoing- starting Gov2u


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Engage - Interact third party events with various stakeholders from M6


At least 3 Face to face meetings with the Stakeholder Advisory Board

To be defined

Understand- Build Promotional Materials (factsheet, posters, leaflet, value stories PowerPoint presentations)

Factsheet M1, updated M3- Done

updated every 6 months

Gov2u

Understand- Build Poster M2- Done,

updated at least 1 more time

Understand- Build Leaflet M6

updated at least 1 more time

Understand- Build Presentation M2- Done,

customized before every meeting

Understand- Build


Value stories (one for each group) M15

Understand- Build All material available online As soon as they are created


Media toolkit To be decided


Giveaways during conferences To be decided


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Participation at Events-Conferences

Presentation at IST Africa in Tanzania (May 2012) M2 Gov2u


The project will be presented in 3 major international events and conferences which will be selected in consultation with the Advisory board

before the end of the project- to be decided


The consortium will select and participate in an International conference in Brussels in order to disseminate the final project results among EU e-infrastructure stakeholders and EU Policy-makers

M30

Understand- Build Publications

At least 3 Articles, papers before the end of the project before the end of the project

Gov2u

Understand- Build Channels established by the FP7 and other similar projects – initiatives (workshops, cross- referencing other websites, distribute promotional material etc.)

Create and update lists with all similar projects M2- Done,


Gov2u


Link 5 project proposals to past or existing projects for synergies and sustainable impact

M24


Cross-referencing other projects’ websites Starting M6- On-going


Sent direct email All project milestones


iMENTORS aims to submit iMENTORS as a good case related to e-Government on the e-Practice online community. Additionally each iMENTORS press release will also be submitted to e-Practice as a proposed news article. The iMENTORS organised events be submitted via e-Practice as a proposed event. Last but not least, iMENTORS project news

M6- on-going


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will be announced via the e-Practice blog

Understand- Build Disseminate news to DoWire groups on any given strategic occasion namely: the iMENTORS press releases, most important iMENTORS project news, iMENTORS events

M6- on-going

Sustain Organization of events / workshops

The consortium will organize 3 Regional Workshops for e-infrastructure stakeholders in three Sub Saharan African Countries in order to train key stakeholder organisations on usage of the collaborative space and its capabilities

First one to be decided, M18, and M29

Gov2u

Understand- Build Direct marketing (emails, telephone calls etc)

Email all stakeholders to register to the platform First By M15- on-going

Gov2u

Understand- Build Telephone calls after emails to those that have not registered First By M15- on-going


Reply to queries and expressions of Interest On-going

Understand- Build Project partner networks and dissemination channels

Link their website to iMENTORS M6 Gov2u

Understand- Build Milestones on the latest news of their websites Milestone

Understand- Build Present project to their stakeholders (face to face meeting, during events, via telephone etc.)

On-going



User satisfaction questionnaires will be created and posted online in order to assess how much the information provided through iMENTORS platform and its functionality matched the users’ expectations. Ready for D4.4 First Report on User engagement and satisfaction.

M15 Gov2u

Understand- Build Before each deliverable, research will be conducted. See also M2- Done


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Table 8: Objectives- Tools- Goals- When- Who

deliverables for D4.4., D4.6 M15, M30

Sustain For the final dissemination reports further research will be conducted as well as a PEST analysis, Political, Economic, Social, and Technological analysis describing a framework of macro-environmental factors that iMENTORS has to take into consideration.

M30


Incentives- benefits for stakeholders

Defined in this document- section 2.5.2. Provide the concept for all marketing material (value stories etc)

M2-

Updated for D4.2

Gov2u

Understand- Build Guidelines – Events list

Events guidelines M2- Done Gov2u

Understand- Build Media guidelines M2- Done

Understand- Build Events list M2- Done

Updated every 6 months

Understand- Build Deliverables D4.1 Dissemination Plan M2- Done Gov2u

Understand- Build D4.2 Dissemination Plan Updated M15 Gov2u

Sustain D4.3 Initial Sustainability definitions and action plan M15 Gov2u


D4.4 First Report on User engagement and satisfaction M15 Gov2u

Sustain D4.5 Final Dissemination and Sustainability Report M30 Gov2u


D4.6 Second Report on User engagement and satisfaction M30 Gov2u

4.2 Actions to reach stakeholders

The table below explains the actions for each stakeholder group including objectives, goals, how, when, who and impact. For more information on the strategies to reach stakeholders see section 3.2 (tools, steps of stakeholder engagement, principles of stakeholder engagement, etc.). For more information on the benefits for each stakeholder group please refer to section 2.5.2.

Group

Objective Goal

How- Tools When

Who

Impact

Citizens

Understand/ Build

Public has access to and can make creative use of the huge amount of data; it can also contribute to it and enrich it

Platform in operation M6

Gov2u

Citizens get a better awareness of and confidence in e-infrastructures and e-sciences, and can play an active role in evidence- based decision making and can question statements made in the media

Becomes aware of the project

Advertise the site in all marketing materials and articles On-going

Press releases All project milestones- please also see Table 8 for more details

e-Newsletter and material (sent via email, distributed during events, available online)

Please see Table 8 for more details


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User satisfaction Collect contact information on stakeholders and questions asked and issues raised in conferences, exhibitions, meetings etc. - Follow up after establishing contacts

On-going

User satisfaction questionnaires will be created and posted online in order to assess how much the information provided through iMENTORS platform and its functionality matched the users’ expectations

M15

D4.4 First Report on User engagement and satisfaction M15

D4.6 Second Report on User engagement and satisfaction M30

Get feedback from citizens

Online feedback mechanisms M1, on-going

Google analytics M1, on-going

Get them involved in social media

Create social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, SlideShare, LinkedIn, Wikipedia)

See table 8

Gov2u, SU Project profiles on social networks will be with constantly

updated On-going

Advertise social media on site and material

Get them involved At least 3 Face to face meetings before the end of the project with various stakeholders

On-going, starting from M6

Gov2u, SU


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M2- done

3 more before the end of the project, to be decided

Gov2u, SU


M30 Gov2u, SU

Sustain Sustain the data Maintain the site after project ends At least a year

Gov2u

Deliverables D4.3 Initial Sustainability definitions and action plan M15

D4.5 Final Dissemination and Sustainability Report M30

Funders and Policy Makers

Understand/ Build

Become aware of the project


Gov2u

Funders have a strategic view of the value of data produced

Policy decisions are evidence-based to bridge the gap between society and decision-making, and increase public confidence in political decisions

We avoid fragmentation of data and resources

Press releases All project milestones, please see Table 8

e- Newsletter and material (sent via email, distributed during events, available online)

See table 8

Incentives/ benefits for stakeholders

Defined in this document- section 2.5.2. Provide the concept for all marketing material (value stories, etc.)

M2-

Updated for D4.2

Have access to and make creative use of the huge amount of



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data, can contribute to it and enrich it

80% of e-infrastructures and ICT related projects over the

past 5 years identified

Conduct continuous surveys about possible stakeholders M20

All, WP2



On-going

Gov2u


M15



20% of all stakeholders are found on the platform

Second Version launched (with decision-support system) M12

Gov2u, SU




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Direct marketing: Email all stakeholders to register to the platform, Telephone calls after emails to those that have not registered, Reply to queries and expressions of Interest

First By M15, on-going

60% of stakeholders are on the platform

Decision Support system is fully operational, data collection has been finalized

M24





Please see table 8 for more details

Gov2u, SU Project profiles on social networks will be with constantly

updated On-going

Advertise social media on site and material On-going



Gov2u, SU


M2- done

3 more before the end of the project- to be decided

Gov2u, SU


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M30

Gov2u Sustain Sustain information:

publish information on iMENTORS or to automate the feed of the relevant information towards to the iMENTORS platform

The Consortium will seek to sign a memorandum of understanding with donor agencies and foundation that will delegate a staff

To be decided Gov2u

Training The consortium will organize 3 Regional Workshops for e-infrastructure stakeholders in three Sub Saharan African Countries in order to train key stakeholder organisations on usage of the collaborative space and its capabilities


Gov2u, SU


Gov2u


Researchers

Understand/

Build



Gov2u

Trustworthy information is useable now and for future generations

Progress in the efficiency of the scientific process, enabling collaboration between scientists





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Defined in this document- section 2.5.2. Provide the concept for all marketing material (value stories, etc.)

M2-done

Updated for D4.2

wherever they are

Have access to and make creative use of the huge amount of data, can contribute to it and enrich it.


Gov2u ,WP2

80% of stakeholders identified

Conduct continuous surveys about possible stakeholders M20

Gov2u, SU

, Wp2



On-going

Gov2u


M15






Project profiles on social networks will be with constantly updated

On-going


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Gov2u, SU

, Wp2



Gov2u





M24



Cross-referencing other projects’ websites Starting M6, On-going

Sent direct email All project milestones



Gov2u, SU


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M2- done


Gov2u, SU


M30 Gov2u, SU

Sustain Synergies and sustainable impact with other projects

Link 5 project proposals to past or existing projects M24

Gov2u, SU

Training The consortium will organize 3 Regional Workshops for e-infrastructure stakeholders in three Sub Saharan African Countries in order to train key stakeholder organisations on usage of the collaborative space and its capabilities


Gov2u, SU


Gov2u



Understand/ Build



Gov2u

Data form an infrastructure, and are an asset for future economy





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Defined in this document- section 2.5.2. Provide the concept for all marketing material (value stories etc.)

M2-

Updated for D4.2

Have access to and make creative use of the huge amount of data, can contribute to it and enrich it

Platform in operation M6 Gov2u

80% of stakeholders identified

Research M20



On-going

Gov2u


M15






Project profiles on social networks will be with constantly On-going


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updated




WP2



Gov2u





M24

WP2



Gov2u



Gov2u, SU


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M2- done


Gov2u, SU


M30 Gov2u, SU

Sustain Training The consortium will organize 3 Regional Workshops for e-infrastructure stakeholders in three Sub Saharan African Countries in order to train key stakeholder organisations on usage of the collaborative space and its capabilities


Gov2u, all


Gov2u


Media- O

pinion leaders

Understand/ Build



Gov2u

Better awareness of and confidence in e-infrastructures and e-sciences, and can play an active role in evidence- based decision making


Sent them E- newsletter Quarterly

Disseminate news to DoWire groups on any given strategic occasion namely: the iMENTORS press releases, most important iMENTORS project news, iMENTORS events

M6, on-going


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Interact with media At least 3 Face to face meetings before the end of the project with various stakeholders


Gov2u


M2- done

3 more before the end of the project, to be decided


M30

iMENTORS aims to submit iMENTORS as a good case related to e-Government on the e-Practice online community. Additionally each iMENTORS press release will also be submitted to e-Practice as a proposed news article. The iMENTORS organised events be submitted via e-Practice as a proposed event. Last but not least, iMENTORS project news will be announced via the e-Practice blog

M6, on-going

Learn about user satisfaction



Sustain Deliverables D4.3 Initial Sustainability definitions and action plan M15

Gov2u


Table 9: Actions for each stakeholder group, objectives, goals, how, when, who and impact

5 Measurement of the effectiveness of the dissemination activities

• Coordination: As mentioned previously at section 2.3.2., it is of foremost importance to provide guidance and support tailored to the partners needs in their efforts to engage with stakeholders and disseminate the project. Therefore, WP4 leader aims to guide, coordinate and support SU. Based on lessons learnt from previous initiatives, iMENTORS partners deploy a range of internal communications mechanisms in order to ensure a good information flow among them: Basic (extensive emailing, Skype communication, conference calls, regular calls, file transfer and regular phone calls), Redmine (project management web application) and face-to-face meetings and training sessions (for more information see section 2.4.1).

• Monitoring: The main limitation of the dissemination plan is the fact that it is generally considered difficult to measure the effectiveness of dissemination/ marketing activities. At the same time, reputation is a perceptual construct, and simple proxy measures of performance and so on are not sufficient to explain the subjective nature of reputation and the long period of its formation. Nevertheless, it is very important to monitor progress and results in conducting the tasks defined since we need to measure the impact and progress towards targets. A clear distinction should be made between monitoring visibility and monitoring success. Success is about what partners think iMENTORS stakeholders want to see, adding on the extra benefits.

Measuring the impact (how to measure, when and who): Visibility – impact- Indicator When Who Target

Number of contacts at a booth/event workshop (people visiting the booth, business cards, completing contact details forms created for this reason etc.)

Before each event contact details forms will be created that will also include feedback and questions. Depending on the number of participants on each event, the desired number of contacts to be collected will be defined before the event.

Questions from stakeholders should be answered by email 1 week to ten days after the event. Email with iMENTORS information should be sent to all contacts 1 week to ten days after the event. Measure how many people read the email and reply.

Gov2u is responsible for creating the forms. Gov2u defines the desired number of contacts to be collected from the event. Gov2u collects all the contact- feedback forms and Gov2u responsible to answer to all questions written down in the forms (help of partners might be needed). All partners should give the contact details collected from relevant events to Gov2u.

1/3 participants

Number of registers on platform

• Gov2u measures sites visits using Google analytics • Gov2u measures/ compares the registered users before and

after an event to see the growth rate.

Gov2u

½ contacts

Number of people registered to the newsletter

• Gov2u measures the people registered to the newsletter in general (every six months)

• Gov2u measures/ compares the registered users to the newsletter before and after an event to see the growth rate

• After sending the newsletter (quarterly) measure people registered to the site.

Gov2u Target for each operational dissemination phase to double the number.

Interest from stakeholders (emails, etc.)

Measure the amount of emails sent to the communication email:

• After a press release is sent • After an event • After a presentation in a conference After a speech • After a value story is sent • After a factsheet is send.

Gov2u Feedback from 1/5

Internet search Every six months to see to which websites iMENTORS is mentioned, hits, sites it is mentioned, ratings etc.

Gov2u


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Monitor media Every month to see how many times and to what kind of media iMENTORS is mentioned

Gov2u/ SU

Participation in social media Every month Gov2u Facebook: 100 Likes before M15, Twitter: 150 followers before M15, LinkedIn: 50 contacts before M15

Participation at regional workshops, international events, meetings. Training events, etc.

During each event Gov2u Define number of target audience before each event

Table 10: Priority stakeholders: Measurements- How to assess the impact


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Success will be measured with the following:

Indicator- Critical success factor When Who


M15 Gov2u

D4.4 First Report on User engagement and satisfaction M15 Gov2u

D4.6 Second Report on User engagement and satisfaction M30 Gov2u

Before each deliverable, research will be conducted M2- Done

M15, M30

Gov2u

For the final dissemination reports further research will be conducted as well as a PEST analysis, Political, Economic, Social, and Technological analysis describing a framework of macro-environmental factors that iMENTORS has to take into consideration

M30 Gov2u

Online feedback mechanisms: Contact form, blog M1- On-going Gov2u

Platform in operation M6 All

80% of stakeholders identified M20 WP2

20% of all stakeholders are found on the platform- Second Version launched (with decision-support system) M12 All

60% of stakeholders are on the platform- Decision Support system is fully operational, data collection has been finalized M24 All

Link 5 project proposals to past or existing projects for synergies and sustainable impact M24 All

Integration of platform through API with key donor agencies (DEVCO, SIDA, etc.) By M30 All

6 Conclusions

Communication and dissemination strategies concern and have impact on all the WPs of the project, which is why partners should ideally keep this in mind and align their work accordingly with the communication strategy. The help of all partners is also needed in order to communicate and disseminate the project and its results successfully to manage stakeholders and to create a positive reputation for the project and the partners.

D4.1 is an on-going document that aims at crystallising the necessary steps and effort required by all members of the consortium in order to bring iMENTORS value to its stakeholders. This first dissemination plan presented here will be assessed and updated on M15 to improve the strategies and keep track of the dissemination actions carried out till then to offer visibility to the project, raise awareness and create a community of interest.

The updated dissemination plan will assess the efforts of the consortium in carrying out the dissemination communication activities throughout the entire first reporting period, in view to improve the strategies and to keep track of the dissemination actions designed to ensure the high visibility of the project. It will include the list of individuals forming the Stakeholders Advisory Board, and outline all actions related to the creation of the dissemination tools. Lastly, the document will outline and evaluate all efforts undertaken in the framework of implementation. Specifically, it will report on the project's presence in international conferences, the results of the first regional workshop, list all links with other initiatives and the training and capacity building activities.


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A. Appendix A –Quality Management

Quality management describes the process used to ensure the quality of the deliverable. This includes for example, the steps within the compilation of the deliverable and the responsibilities within the process of creating the deliverable regarding to quality.

Deliverable Acceptance criteria Norm Process Priority

D 4.1 • Conform to iMENTORS template

Template issued by Gov2u

Check against template by Gov2u

High

• Language & Spelling

English (UK) Review by Gov2u, project coordinator, SU

High

• Consistency with description in TA

iMENTORS TA: mainly WP4 (objectives, tasks etc.)

Check by Gov2u High

• Contents is fit for purpose

iMENTORS TA: mainly WP4

Check by Gov2u, project coordinator, SU

High

• Contents is fit for use



High

• Commitment within WP4



High

• Delivered on time Planning for the WP


High


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B. Appendix B- Holding page

This is the project holding page created for the first month of the project before the website was ready:


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C. Appendix C- Project logo

This is the project logo:


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D. Appendix D- Templates

This is the deliverable template:

The word/letterhead template:


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The press release template:

The PowerPoint template:


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E. Appendix E: Poster


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F. Appendix F- Factsheet


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G. Appendix G: Presentation

This is the project presentation (will be updated regularly and customized before each meeting):


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H. Appendix H- Website

Screenshots from website homepage:


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I. Appendix I- Stakeholders List

1. Broader (Global) , National, Regional Research and Education Networks (RENs)

Please see in this table the licensed operators and other public companies for East and Souther Africa that are owners of the networks: http://www.ubuntunet.net/sites/ubuntunet.net/files/The%20policy%20and%20regulatory%20environment%20vis%20a%20vis%20RENactivities%20Draft%203.pdf

They include inter alia:

National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) in Sub-Saharan African Countries:

• Association of African Universities (Ghana) - www.aau.org • Eb@le (DRC) - D.R.Congo NREN www.ebale.cd • NREN of Cote d'Ivoire : RITER (http://www.riter.ci/)-WEBSITE NOT AVAILABLE • Ethiopian Education and Research Network– EthERNet -www.EthERNet.edu.et (Website

under construction) • Gabon Research and Education Network –GabonREN- http://gabonren.blogspot.gr/ • Ghanaian Academic and Research Network-GARNET - http://www.garnet.edu.gh/ • Kenya Education Network -KENET - www.kenet.or.ke • Malawi Research and Education Network – MAREN- www.maren.ac.mw • Mali Research and Education Network (MaliREN) - http://cactic-

mali.org/blogweb/index.php?/archives/8-Assemble-Constitutive-de-MaliRen.html#extended

• Mozambique Research and Education Network – MoRENet-www.morenet.mct.gov.mz • Namibia Research and Education Network (NAMREN) - [email protected], • Rwanda Education & Research Network -RwEdNet - [email protected] • Somali Research and Education Network -SomaliREN www.somaliren.org • Sudanese Universities Information Network -SUIN www.suin.edu.sd • Tertiary Education and Research network of South Africa – TENET-www.tenet.ac.za • Tanzania Education and Research Network - TERNET www.ternet.or.tz • Research and Education Network for Uganda – RENU- www.renu.ac.ug • Zambia Research and Education Network - ZAMREN [email protected] • Senegal Research and Education Network - SnRER –[email protected] • Nigerian Research and Education Network (ngREN) • RIC - Réseaux Interuniversitaire du Cameroun

Regional Research & Education Networks:

• UbuntuNet Alliance (RNREN) -- the Alliance of NRENs of East and Southern Africa- www.ubuntunet.net

• West and Central African Research & Education Network (WACREN) - http://www.wacren.net

European NRENs:

• DFN, Germany- www.dfn.de • GARR, Italy-www.garr.net • FCCN, Portulgal -www.fccn.pt • HEAnet, Ireland-www.heanet.ie • SURFnet, Netherlands-www.surfnet.nl

http://www.ubuntunet.net/sites/ubuntunet.net/files/The%20policy%20and%20regulatory%20environment%20vis%20a%20vis%20RENactivities%20Draft%203.pdf

http://www.ubuntunet.net/sites/ubuntunet.net/files/The%20policy%20and%20regulatory%20environment%20vis%20a%20vis%20RENactivities%20Draft%203.pdf

http://www.aau.org/

http://www.ebale.cd/

http://www.riter.ci/

http://www.riter.ci/)-WEBSITE

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=EthERNet&action=edit&redlink=1

http://www.ethernet.edu.et/

http://gabonren.blogspot.gr/

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=GARNET&action=edit&redlink=1

http://www.garnet.edu.gh/

http://www.kenet.or.ke/

http://www.maren.ac.mw/

http://www.morenet.mct.gov.mz/

mailto:[email protected]

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=RwEdNet&action=edit&redlink=1


http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SomaliREN&action=edit&redlink=1

http://www.somaliren.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SUIN

http://www.suin.edu.sd/

http://www.tenet.ac.za/

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=TERNET&action=edit&redlink=1

http://www.ternet.or.tz/

http://www.renu.ac.ug/

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ZAMREN&action=edit&redlink=1


http://www.ubuntunet.net/

http://www.wacren.net/

http://www.dfn.de/

http://www.garr.net/

http://www.fccn.pt/

http://www.heanet.ie/

http://www.surfnet.nl/


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• ACOnet, Austria -www.aco.net • Belnet, Belgium -www.belnet.be • BREN, Bulgaria -www.bren.bg • CARNet, Croatia-www.carnet.hr • CyNET, Cyprus-www.cynet.ac.cy • CESNET-Czech Republic-www.ces.net • EENet, Estonia-www.eenet.ee • RENATER, France-www.renater.fr • GRNET, Greece-www.grnet.gr • NIIF, Hungary-www.niif.hu • IUCC, Israel-www.iucc.ac.il • SigmaNet, Latvia-www.sigmanet.lv • LITNET, Lithuania-www.litnet.lt • RESTENA, Luxemobourg –Luxembourg-www.restena.lu • MARNet, Macedonia-dns.marnet.net.mk • University of Malta-www.um.edu.mt • MREN, Montenegro-www.mren.ac.me • NORDUnet, Nordic region (includes Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland)-

www.nordu.net • PSNC, Poland-www.man.poznan.pl • AARNIEC/RoEduNet, Romania-www.nren.ro • AMRES, Serbia-www.amres.ac.rs • SANET, Slovakia -www.sanet.sk • ARNES, Slovenia-www.arnes.si • RedIRIS, Spain-www.rediris.es • SWITCH, Switzerland-www.switch.ch • ULAKBIM, Turkey-www.ulakbim.gov.tr • JANET, UK-www.ja.net • TERENA, Holland-www.terena.org

Regional Research & Education Network in Europe (GEANT):

• DANTE, UK - www.dante.net, which manages the GEANT - Pan-European data network dedicated to the research and education community- Together with Europe's national research networks. GÉANT is the world-leading, high bandwidth pan-European backbone network. Directly connecting to GÉANT are the National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) that provide connectivity to 40 million users in over 8,000 institutions across 40 countries - www.geant.net

e-Infrastructures providers:

• Open Science Grid (OSG) - advances science through open distributed computing. The OSG is a multi-disciplinary partnership to federate local, regional, community and national cyberinfrastructures to meet the needs of research and academic communities at all scales.,- www.opensciencegrid.org

• Distributed European Infrastructure for Supercomputing Applications (DEISA)- supports pan-European research by providing and operating a distributed supercomputing environment all over Europe and aims at delivering a turnkey operational solution for a future European high-performance computing system. The DEISA infrastructure couples

http://www.aco.net/

http://www.belnet.be/

http://www.bren.bg/

http://www.carnet.hr/

http://www.cynet.ac.cy/

http://www.ces.net/

http://www.eenet.ee/EENet/EENet_en

http://www.renater.fr/

http://www.grnet.gr/

http://www.niif.hu/

http://www.iucc.ac.il/

http://www.sigmanet.lv/

http://www.litnet.lt/

http://www.restena.lu/

http://dns.marnet.net.mk/index-en.php

http://www.um.edu.mt/

http://www.mren.ac.me/

http://www.nordu.net/

http://www.man.poznan.pl/

http://www.nren.ro/

http://www.amres.ac.rs/

http://www.sanet.sk/

http://www.arnes.si/english/

http://www.rediris.es/index.php.en

http://www.switch.ch/

http://www.ulakbim.gov.tr/

http://www.ja.net/

http://www.terena.org/

http://www.dante.net/

http://www.opensciencegrid.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-performance_computing


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the eleven national supercomputing centres which form the DEISA consortium with a dedicated (mostly 10Gbit/s) network connection provided by GÉANT2 on the European level and the NRENs on the national level

Organizations that are related grid infrastructures, high performance computing infrastructures, international consortia, and certain project organizations that operate in the broad space of high throughput or high performance computing:

Please see this link for a list of active OSG Partners: https://www.opensciencegrid.org/bin/view/Management/OSGPartnerOrganizations

The National Grid Initiatives (NGIs):

NGIs are organisations set up by individual countries to manage the computing resources they provide to the European Grid Infrastructure (EGI). They represent the country's single point of contact for government, research communities and resource centres as regards ICT services for e-science. NGIs are the EGI main stakeholders, together with CERN- the European Organization for Nuclear Research – (www.cern.ch/) and EMBL.- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (www.embl.de)

Please follow this link to see the list of NGIs: http://www.egi.eu/about/ngis/index.html

NGI International Liaisons (NILs):

Working together with teams in EGI.eu, the NILs links the strategic non-operational activities taking place in their own NGIs , (e.g. outreach, marketing, communication, training, new community engagement) with the rest of the community.

Please follow this link to see the list of NGI International Liaisons for each country: http://www.egi.eu/about/ngis/NILs.html

Supercomputing community (PRACE)- PRACE is established as an international non-profit association with its seat in Brussels and is named ‘Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe aisbl’. It has 24 member countries (June 2012) whose representative organizations are creating a pan-European supercomputing infrastructure, providing access to computing and data management resources and services for large-scale scientific and engineering applications at the highest performance level-, http://www.prace-project.eu

The European Grid Infrastructure (EGI) links more than 18,000 researchers (and counting) to the distributed computing electronic resources (computing and storage) they need for their work. From huge international collaborations to small independent labs, scientists are accessing the software, services and tools EGI provides through a network of 350 resource centres across Europe (and beyond).

Cloud/Grid community (EGI, EU strategy for Cloud Computing), - http://www.egi.eu

Managers of African and European National Super Computing Centres :

• Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC) in Cape Town managed by the Meraka Institute of the CSIR- http://www.chpc.ac.za/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GEANT2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NREN

https://www.opensciencegrid.org/bin/view/Management/OSGPartnerOrganizations

http://www.cern.ch/

http://www.cern.ch/

http://www.cern.ch/

http://www.egi.eu/about/ngis/index.html

http://www.egi.eu/about/EGI.eu/index.html

http://www.egi.eu/about/ngis/index.html

http://www.egi.eu/about/ngis/NILs.html

http://www.prace-project.eu/

http://www.egi.eu/about/index.html

http://www.chpc.ac.za/


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• The Rechenzentrum Garching (RZG) -computing centre of the Max Planck Institute for Plasmaphysics (IPP), Germany http://www.rzg.mpg.de/misc/about_RZG

• The High Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS) of the University of Stuttgart • Leibniz Computing Centre of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (LRZ),

Germany - http://www.lrz.de/ • Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Spain-http://www.bsc.es/ • CINECA, Consortium of universities, Italy, http://www.cineca.it/ • CSC - IT Center for Science Ltd, Finland-http://www.csc.fi/English • European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), UK-

http://www.epcc.ed.ac.uk/ • Jülich Research Centre- http://www.fz-juelich.de/portal/EN/Home/home_node.html • Stichting Academisch Rekencentrum Amsterdam, Netherlands- https://www.sara.nl/ • Institute for Development and Resources in Intensive Scientific computing (IDRIS), France-

http://www.idris.fr/

2. Scientists, researchers, deans, directors, lecturers, students and managers from universities, Scientists, Researchers, Deans, Directors, Lecturers, Students and Managers from universities and the higher education sector. University leaders: Vice Chancellors and Deputy Vice Chancellors; Rectors and Vice Rectors; Presidents and Vice Presidents, Networks, Associations, Centers, Heads of research labs and computing centres, Institutes of further education, Secondary schools, Primary schools

Researchers are the users of the advanced networks that we are mapping. Researchers need to know that we are here to enable them to peer and collaborate with counterparts in other countries and/or regions in research projects. They also need to know what resources are available through the network as well as other RENs globally. Open access to data is a crucial issue for remote and underdeveloped research communities with limited resources. RENs act as a motor as well as a "test bed" for new technologies. A stronger collaboration between RENs, governments, scientific and educational networks with the ICT sector research community could drive innovation. RENs are also moving "above" the network/e-infrastructures. They are starting to connect and engage with other public actors dealing with formal and informal education communities (public libraries or any other community anchor sector).

The use of e-Infrastructures could help African research and higher education institutions promote the development of ICT in sectors as public administration, education or health aiming at speeding up the process of developing advanced economies contributing to the social and economic development.

International Associations:

• Educause (US) – non-profit association whose mission is to advance higher education through the use of information technology http://www.educause.edu/

• The Network Startup Resource Center at the University of Oregon, U.S.A (NSRC)- provide technical assistance to organizations setting up computer networks in developing areas for collaborative research, education and international partnerships. Over the past twenty years, the NSRC has worked with universities, research institutes, Internet Service Providers, non-governmental organizations, governmental and supranational agencies,

http://www.rzg.mpg.de/misc/about_RZG

http://www.lrz-muenchen.de/

http://www.lrz.de/

http://www.bsc.es/

http://www.cineca.it/

http://www.ecmwf.int/

http://www.epcc.ed.ac.uk/

http://www.fz-juelich.de/portal/EN/Home/home_node.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stichting_Academisch_Rekencentrum_Amsterdam

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands

https://www.sara.nl/

http://www.educause.edu/


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and industry to help develop networks and cyber-infrastructure resources in Africa,- http://nsrc.org/

• Eko-Konnect, Nigeria - a non-profit association aiming to coordinate and support network connectivity between the Mono/Polytechnics, Colleges of Education, Universities and Research Institutes in the Lagos area as part of wider efforts to establish ngREN, the national Nigerian research and education network.- http://eko-konnect.org.ng/content/about

• The Global Development Network (GDN), is a leading International Organization of developing and transition country researchers, policy and research institutes promoting the generation, sharing, and application to policy of multidisciplinary knowledge for the purpose of development http://cloud2.gdnet.org/cms.php?id=gdn_development_research

Higher Education Associations and Networks:

• The Association of Universities of the Francophonie (AUF), www.auf.org/

• The Association of African Universities (AAU) has been instrumental for the establishment and strengthening of the UbuntuNet Alliance and WACREN. Since the establishment of its Research and Education Networking Unit in 2006, the AAU acts as a focal point for ICT initiatives in higher education, providing resources on ICT policies for policy-makers and advocating access to adequate and affordable bandwidth for African research institution.- www.aau.org

• SARUA - Southern African Regional Universities Association - www.sarua.org/

• University Networks with significant presence in Africa

For more information please see the list here: http://www.foundation-partnership.org/media/pdfs/macarthur_netlist.pdf

Members of NRENs in Sub-Sharan African Countries:

See the members by accessing the page of each NREN in Africa that are mentioned above, at the first chapter. For example, for Malawi Research and Education Network – MAREN http://www.malico.mw/maren/

• University of Malawi • Bunda College • College of Medicine • Chancellor College • KCN - Lilongwe • KCN - Blantyre • Malawi Polytechnic • Mzuzu University • Lilongwe University of Science and Technology Department of Agricultural Research

Services

LLiSA Network (Living Labs in Southern Africa):

Please see the Living Lab Initiatives in Southern Africa on this page:

http://nsrc.org/

http://eko-konnect.org.ng/content/about

http://eko-konnect.org.ng/content/about

http://cloud2.gdnet.org/cms.php?id=gdn_development_research

http://www.auf.org/

http://www.sarua.org/

http://www.sarua.org/

http://www.foundation-partnership.org/media/pdfs/macarthur_netlist.pdf

http://www.foundation-partnership.org/media/pdfs/macarthur_netlist.pdf

http://www.malico.mw/maren/

http://www.unima.mw/

http://www.bunda.unima.mw/

http://www.medcol.mw/

http://www.chanco.unima.mw/

http://www.kcn.unima.mw/

http://www.kcn.unima.mw/

http://www.poly.ac.mw/

http://www.mzuni.ac.mw/


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http://llisa.meraka.org.za/index.php/Living_Labs_in_Southern_Africa

and more information about these living labs in the following report: http://www.ist-africa.org/home/files/Supporting_the_Evolution_of_Sustainable_Living_Labs_and_Living_Labs_Networks_in_Africa.pdf

European Research centres:

• The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)- http://www.csic.es/web/guest/presentacion

• Research Councils UK- http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/Pages/Home.aspx • National Center for Scientific Research, France-

http://www.cnrs.fr/en/aboutCNRS/overview.htm • French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission-

http://www.cea.fr/english_portal/cea • The National Research Council (CNR), Italy-

http://www.cnr.it/sitocnr/Englishversion/Englishversion.html • The Max Planck Society, Germany- http://www.mpg.de/183251/portrait • TNO, Netherlands-

http://www.tno.nl/content.cfm?context=overtno&content=overtnosub&laag1=30&item_id=98

• Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS) Belgium- http://www2.frs-fnrs.be/fr/decouvrir-le-fnrs/introduction.html

• Oxford e-Research Centre - www.oerc.ox.ac.uk/about

Other Bodies include inter alia:

• The African Network Operators Group (AfNOG) is a forum for the exchange of technical information, and aims to promote discussion of implementation issues that require community cooperation. The goal is for coordination and cooperation among network service providers to ensure the stability of service to end users.- www.afnog.org

• AfriNIC is a non-governmental and not-for-profit membership based organisation. Its main role is to serve Africa region as Regional Internet Registry (RIR), like the four other continents which have their own RIR- www.afrinic.org

The Africa & Arabia Regional Operation Centre (Africa ROC for short) has been created as a coordination and support point for all sites in the two Regions wanting to participate in the stimulating and challenging endeavor of creating a common Grid infrastructure to foster e-Science.- http://roc.africa-grid.org/

Student Associations and Unions in Sub-Saharan African Countries:

For further reference please see these links:

http://library.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/stuorg.html

http://www.aasu.org.gh/Highlights.htm

http://www.aasu.org.gh/Union.htm

http://llisa.meraka.org.za/index.php/Living_Labs_in_Southern_Africa

http://www.ist-africa.org/home/files/Supporting_the_Evolution_of_Sustainable_Living_Labs_and_Living_Labs_Networks_in_Africa.pdf



http://www.csic.es/web/guest/presentacion

http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/Pages/Home.aspx

http://www.cnrs.fr/en/aboutCNRS/overview.htm

http://www.cea.fr/english_portal/cea

http://www.cnr.it/sitocnr/Englishversion/Englishversion.html

http://www.mpg.de/183251/portrait



http://www2.frs-fnrs.be/fr/decouvrir-le-fnrs/introduction.html

http://www2.frs-fnrs.be/fr/decouvrir-le-fnrs/introduction.html

http://www.afnog.org/

http://www.afrinic.org/

http://roc.africa-grid.org/

http://library.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/stuorg.html

http://www.aasu.org.gh/Highlights.htm

http://www.aasu.org.gh/Union.htm


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3. Donors. Grants providers and Development partners- Representatives from international – national development cooperation agencies

International Donor Organizations and Foundations:

• the Ford Foundation- www.fordfoundation.org/regions/southern-africa • the United States African Development Foundation (USADF) - www.adf.gov • the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation- www.gatesfoundation.org • the Rockefeller Foundation-www.rockefellerfoundation.org • the Welcome Trust- www.wellcome.ac.uk • the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation- www.sloan.org • the Hewlett Foundation- www.hewlett.org • the MacArthur Foundation- www.macfound.org • the University of Iowa Foundation- www.uifoundation.org • Carnegie Corporation of New York- http://carnegie.org • The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation- www.mellon.org • the Markle Foundation- www.markle.org • Nuffic - the Netherlands organisation for international cooperation in higher education-

https://www.nuffic.nl/en/about-nuffic • CISCO Foundation

http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac48/about_cisco_cisco_foundation.html • IEEAF - Internet Education Equal Access Foundation - www.ieeaf.org • The United States African Development Foundation- www.adf.gov • Open Society Foundation - www.soros.org • OSISA - Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa - www.osisa.org • TWAS-http://twas.ictp.it/about/whats-twas

Bilateral Development Agencies:

• The Australian Aid Agency (AusAID)- www.ausaid.gov.au/ • the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC)- www.entwicklung.at/en • Belgium - Directorate-General for Development Co-operation (DGCD)- www.dgcd.be • Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) - www.acdi-cida.gc.ca • IDRC - International Development Research Centre, Canada - www.idrc.ca • Industry Canada - www.ic.gc.ca • Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA)- www.um.dk/en/ • Finnish International Development Agency (FINNIDA), http://global.finland.fi/Public • French Development Agency (AFD)- www.afd.fr • German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ)- www.giz.de/en • Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA)- www.jica.go.jp/english • Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)- www.mcc.gov • Netherlands Development Assistance (NEDA)- www.minbuza.nl/en • Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD)- www.norad.no/en • Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECI)- www.aecid.es/en/aecid • Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)- www.deza.admin.ch/en/Home • Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA)- www.sida.se/English • United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID)- www.dfid.gov.uk • United States Agency for International Development(USAID)- http://usaid.gov • Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID)- www.ausaid.gov.au

http://carnegie.org/

https://www.nuffic.nl/en/about-nuffic

http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac48/about_cisco_cisco_foundation.html

http://www.ieeaf.org/

http://www.adf.gov/

http://www.osisa.org/

http://www.osisa.org/

http://www.entwicklung.at/en

http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/

http://www.idrc.ca/index_en.html

http://www.idrc.ca/

http://www.ic.gc.ca/

http://global.finland.fi/Public

http://www.giz.de/en

http://www.norad.no/en

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_International_Development_Cooperation_Agency

http://www.sida.se/English

http://www.dfid.gov.uk/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Agency_for_International_Development

http://www.ausaid.gov.au/


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• Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO)- www.cto.int

Specialized agencies of the United Nations:

• International Telecommunication Union (ITU)- www.itu.int • Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) - www.fao.org • UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)- www.unido.org • World Health Organization (WHO)- www.who.int/en • International Labour Organization- www.ilo.org • International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)- http://www.ifad.org • World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)- www.wipo.int • United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)-

www.unesco.org/new/en/ • The World Bank Group agencies: • International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)-

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTABOUTUS/EXTIBRD/0,,menuPK:3046081~pagePK:64168427~piPK:64168435~theSitePK:3046012,00.htmlInternational Development Association (IDA)- www.worldbank.org/idaInternational Finance Corporation (IFC)- www1.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/corp_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/home

• Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)- www.miga.org

Research and Training Institutes of the United Nations:

• United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)- ww.unitar.or • United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)- www.unrisd.org/ • World Bank Institute: http://wbi.worldbank.org/wbi/

Programmes and Funds of the United Nations

• the UN Development Programme (UNDP), www.undp.org • the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) www.unfpa.org • the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)- www.unicef.org • United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)- http://unctad.org • United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)- www.uncdf.org/ • United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP) -www.un.org/partnerships • United Nations Volunteers (UNV) Programme – www.unv.org

Other United Nations Entities

• UN Broadband Commission for Digital Development - www.broadbandcommission.org • The UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women)-

www.unwomen.org • International Computing Centre (ICC)-www.unicc.org • Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) - www.unaids.org/en • United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) - www.unops.org • United Nations University (UNU)- http://unu.edu

http://www.ilo.org/

http://www.ifad.org/

http://www.unesco.org/

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTABOUTUS/EXTIBRD/0,,menuPK:3046081~pagePK:64168427~piPK:64168435~theSitePK:3046012,00.html



http://www.worldbank.org/ida

http://www1.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/corp_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/home

http://www.miga.org/

http://www.unitar.org/

http://www.unrisd.org/

http://www.unrisd.org/

http://www.unicef.org/

http://www.unctad.org/

http://unctad.org/

http://www.uncdf.org/

http://www.uncdf.org/

http://www.un.org/partnerships/

http://www.unicc.org/

http://www.unaids.org/

http://www.unops.org/

http://www.unu.edu/


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• The United Nations Development Group (UNDG)- www.undg.org • United Nations Information Technology Services (UNITeS) – www.unites.org

Multilateral Development Banks and International Financing Institution:

• African Development Bank (AfDB)- www.afdb.org/en • European Investment Bank (EIB) - www.eib.org • Global Fund to Fight AIDS the Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) -

www.theglobalfund.org/en • Islamic Development Bank- www.isdb.org • OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID)- www.ofid.org • Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC)- www.jbic.go.jp/en • Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, Germany (KfW)- www.kfw.de

African Sub-Regional Multilateral Development Banks:

• Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA)- www.dbsa.org • East African Development Bank, (EADB)- www.eadb.org/ • West African Development Bank (WADB)- www.boad.org/

Other Development Partners/Stakeholders

• NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NEPAD Agency)- http://www.nepad.org/ • The Infrastructure Consortium for Africa (ICA)- www.icafrica.org/en/ • The Board of Directors of the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund -

http://www.emergingafricafund.com/ • Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF)- www.ppiaf.org/ • EU-Africa Partnership on Infrastructures (Steering Committee, Executive Committee)

http://www.eu-africa-infrastructure-tf.net/about/governance/executive/index.htm • EU-Africa Partnership on Infrastructure -The Project Financiers Group (PFG)

http://www.eu-africa-infrastructure-tf.net/attachments/contact-list-pfg-members-june-2012.pdf

4. Industry stakeholders, Private sector: Telecommunication companies, Internet Service providers, Associations administrating Internet Exchange Points

Private sector stakeholders include inter alia:

• ZESCO (telecom company) • Internet Service Providers' Association (South A) - http://ispa.org.za/ • Datasphir Solutions Limited- http://www.datasphir.com/contact • Agile Learning Company, http://www.agilelearning.com/Company.aspx • Microsoft • Google • AmazonEC2 • Cisco Systems, Inc.- http://www.cisco.com/ • IBM-http://www.ibm.com/us/en/ • HP-http://www8.hp.com/us/en/home.html

http://www.undg.org/

http://www.eib.org/

http://www.jbic.go.jp/en

http://www.boad.org/

http://www.nepad.org/

http://www.emergingafricafund.com/

http://www.ppiaf.org/ppiaf/page/about-us/what-is-ppiaf

http://www.eu-africa-infrastructure-tf.net/about/governance/executive/index.htm

http://www.africa-union.org/root/AU/Conferences/2007/october/IE/EU/iE/ie.htm



http://ispa.org.za/

http://www.datasphir.com/contact

http://www.agilelearning.com/Company.aspx

http://www.cisco.com/

http://www.cisco.com/


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• T-Systems Solutions for Research GmbH, Germany-http://www.t-systems.com/tsip/en/763580/homepage/publicsector/researcheducation

• OMII-UK- http://www.omii.ac.uk/wiki/Mission • EPCC- http://www.epcc.ed.ac.uk/services/commercial/contact-us/ • Dark Fibre Africa - a subsidiary of Community Investment Ventures (Pty) Ltd.-

http://www.dfafrica.co.za/about_dfa.php • Ncomputing Inc provides virtual desktops in cloud infrastructures to governments and

non-government organizations in several African countries. The applications include education, training, health care and e-governance-www.ncomputing.com/company/overview

• Connectivity Providers in Sub Saharan Africa: see here and select only the providers of the Sub-Sharan Africa: http://nsrc.org/AFRICA/africa.html and the members of ISPA: http://ispa.org.za/membership/list-of-members/

• Current HiPEAC industry members- see the list here: http://www.hipeac.net/industry

Other private sector companies:

• ISPs and mobile network operators • Companies that provide Middleware, security services, Satellite technology • Companies that provide Solutions for data storage and management

• EU HPC (High Performance Computing (HPC) supply industry

• Grid/Cloud technology providers

• Grid/Cloud-based service providers (e.g. SaaS, RaaS, etc).

• Clusters. For a list please follow this link: http://www.clusterobservatory.eu/index.html#!view=organizations;mode=all;sort=name;uid=;id=

5. Policy makers in government ministries and Regulators- Managers of professional associations, centres of excellence, trade unions, chambers of commerce, etc.

Policy makers in Government Ministries determine policies and practices at national level. iMENTORS in all its activities must ensure that it engages – in collaboration with respective NRENs - the policy makers and ensures that they understand the role of research and education networking in national and regional development. This will help the policy makers in government to consider allocation of funds to the higher learning institutions to enable them connect to the NREN infrastructure. Most importantly the policy makers can link up iMENTORS with international development partners for financial support or information thereby increasing our chances of success and sustainability.

Foreign Affairs Ministries of donor countries:

• India - Ministry of External Affairs- http://meaindia.nic.in/ • Italy - Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Directorate General for Development Cooperation)

www.esteri.it/eng/foreignpol/coop/index.htm • Japan - Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) - www.mofa.go.jp • Luxembourg – Ministère des Finances - www.etat.lu/FI/

http://www.omii.ac.uk/wiki/Mission

http://www.dfafrica.co.za/about_dfa.php

http://www.ncomputing.com/

http://www.ncomputing.com/company/overview

http://nsrc.org/AFRICA/africa.html

http://ispa.org.za/membership/list-of-members/

http://www.hipeac.net/industry

http://www.clusterobservatory.eu/index.html#!view=organizations;mode=all;sort=name;uid=;id

http://www.clusterobservatory.eu/index.html#!view=organizations;mode=all;sort=name;uid=;id

http://www.esteri.it/eng/foreignpol/coop/index.htm

http://www.mofa.go.jp/

http://www.etat.lu/FI/


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• Netherlands- Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate General for International Co-operation (DGIS) - http://www.government.nl/ministries/bz/organisational-structure/directorates-general

• New Zealand - Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade- http://www.aid.govt.nz/home • Austria – Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs - www.bmaa.gv.at • Belgium- Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs- http://diplomatie.belgium.be/fr • Belgium -Federal Public Service Finance-http://minfin.fgov.be/portail2/en/index.htm • Denmark – Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs – www.um.dk • France - Ministry of Foreign Affairs –http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/ • German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ)

www.bmz.de

EU Member States Ministers responsible for Research

• Members of the EUROPEAN STRATEGY FORUM ON RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURES http://ec.europa.eu/research/infrastructures/pdf/esfri/membership/esfri_membership_july_2011.pdf#view=fit&pagemode=none

OECD-DAC's Working Party on Aid Effectiveness,

• the full list of members is available at the following address: http://www.oecd.org/document/7/0,3343,en_2649_3236398_43364487_1_1_1_1,00.html

Sub-Saharan African Ministries and authorities with final responsibility for the country’s policies towards research infrastructures

• Sub-Saharan African Countries ministries of Communications, Science and Technology, Energy, Transport, Higher Education and Scientific Research. For a list please refer to this link: http://africanbrains.net/african-government-ministries/

• Sub-Saharan African Ministries of Finance

The ministries supervise and monitor the finances of the country; co-ordinate international aid and are responsible for aid management

Parliaments and National Assemblies of the Sub-Saharan African Countries

The AU Commission- The Commission is the key organ playing a central role in the day-to-day management of the African Union. Among others, it represents the Union and defends its interests; elaborates draft common positions of the Union; prepares strategic plans and studies for the consideration of the Executive Council; elaborates, promotes, coordinates and harmonizes the programmes and policies of the Union with those of the RECs; ensures the mainstreaming of gender in all programmes and activities of the Union. - http://www.au.int/en/commission

Advisers on ICT policy in African countries

Governmental organizations that advise national governments on ICT sectoral policy:

The National Communications Secretariat (NCS), Kenya

http://www.aid.govt.nz/home

http://www.bmaa.gv.at/

http://www.bmz.de/

http://ec.europa.eu/research/infrastructures/pdf/esfri/membership/esfri_membership_july_2011.pdf#view=fit&pagemode=none


http://www.oecd.org/document/7/0,3343,en_2649_3236398_43364487_1_1_1_1,00.html

http://www.oecd.org/document/7/0,3343,en_2649_3236398_43364487_1_1_1_1,00.html

http://africanbrains.net/african-government-ministries/

http://www.au.int/en/commission


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Bodies and agencies of the European Union:

• European Commission Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology. (DG CONNECT)- http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/connect/mission/index_en.htm

• European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation'- http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?pg=dg

• European Commission Development and Cooperation Directorate General – EuropeAid- http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/who/index_en.htm

• European Commission, Directorate-General for Development and Relations with ACP States,.

• Delegation to the European Union to the African Union http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/african_union/index_en.htm

• European Union External Action Service- http://eeas.europa.eu/what_we_do/index_en.htm

5. Media- Opinion leaders

It has to be noted that media are not only stakeholders in the project but at the same time they are means to raise awareness about iMENTORS. Media serve as a goal and as a means simultaneously.

Media play a crucial role played in disseminating activities to a wider audience. At national level, iMENTORS will establish links with local media houses to maintain an informed community. The media should be involved when events are being held and when case studies are being showcased. Where possible, partnerships should be encouraged. iMENTORS should also establish partnerships with international media houses that reach specific as well as general audiences. The key messages will be refined as appropriate.

Pan-European media:

• research*eu results magazine - features highlights from the most exciting EU-funded research and development projects. http://cordis.europa.eu/news/research-eu/magazine_en.html

• CORDIS Express- a weekly briefing on what's new in European research and innovation. The service is designed to highlight the most significant recent developments, as reported on CORDIS, the European Commission's Research and Development Information Service. http://cordis.europa.eu/express/about_en.html

• CORDIS Wire -This service gives access to information sent by European innovation and research stakeholders- http://cordis.europa.eu/wire/index.cfm

• Research Review - Published every quarter, the Research Review acts as a forum for communicating success stories coming out of the EU's research framework programmes, while keeping researchers and the EU institutions up to date with what's happening politically on research- www.theparliament.com/pages/about

• Agence Europe - www.agenceurope.com/EN/index.html • Agoravox- www.agoravox.fr/spip.php?page=contact • cafebabel.com - www.cafebabel.co.uk • Caffè Europa- www.caffeeuropa.it

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/connect/mission/index_en.htm

http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/african_union/index_en.htm

http://eeas.europa.eu/what_we_do/index_en.htm

http://cordis.europa.eu/news/research-eu/magazine_en.html

http://cordis.europa.eu/news/research-eu/magazine_en.html

http://cordis.europa.eu/express/about_en.html

http://cordis.europa.eu/wire/index.cfm

http://www.agoravox.fr/spip.php?page=contact


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• DIPLOWEB.COM- www.diploweb.com • EUbusiness- www.eubusiness.com/aboutus • EUobserver.com - http://euobserver.com • Euractiv- www.euractiv.com • Euranet.eu- www.euranet.eu • Euro Corespondent- www.euro-correspondent.com • EuroReporter - www.euroreporter.eu • Euronews- www.euronews.net/ • Europe Today- http://europetodayonline.com • Europe’s World Journal - www.europesworld.eu • European Voice- www.europeanvoice.com

Europeanagenda.eu- www.europeanagenda.eu/contact • europenews.dk/-http://europenews.dk/en • EuropePlusNet - www.europeplusnet.com • Euros du Village- www.eurosduvillage.com • Eurotopics- www.eurotopics.net • Fenetreeurope.com- www.fenetreeurope.com • New Europe- www.neurope.eu • NewropMag- www.newropeans-magazine.org • Nouvelle Europe- www.nouvelle-europe.eu/presse.html • Orange-Magazine- www.orangelog.eu • Presseurope.eu - www.presseurop.eu/en • Toute l'Europe- www.touteleurope.eu • Transeuropa Journal -www.euroalter.com/journal • WAVE-International Youth Web Magazine - www.wavemagazine.net

International media and organizations’ Newsletters:

• Devex- International Development, Careers and News - http://www.devex.com/en/

• InfoDev Newsletter on the latest research, news, events and activities on a variety of ICT for Development topics- www.infodev.org/en/Page.About.html

• The Reality Check is the official newsletter of the Reality of Aid. It is designed to highlight current issues in aid regime written from a regional perspective but with global significance, edited in rotation by members from the different global regions. http://www.realityofaid.org/content/publications/parent/358/name/Reality-Check/id/359

• BetterAid's newsletter- (BetterAid is coordinated by the BetterAid Coordinating Group (BACG), which consists of 29 national and global networks and platforms working on aid and development effectiveness)- www.betteraid.org/en/newsletter.html

• STDev is designed as a gateway to information on science and technology within the United Nations system. It seeks to:provide access to information on activities in the area of science and technology for development (policies, programmes, projects, networking and partnership opportunities, publications available on-line, etc.) within the United Nations system, other multilateral and bilateral development institutions, NGOs, etc.; www.unctad.info/en/Science-and-Technology-for-Development---StDev/About-STDev/

• Capacity.org- A Gateway for capacity development- Building and expanding on the topics covered in the quarterly journals, the website is regularly updated with relevant case studies, research findings, reports and news and events. www.capacity.org/capacity/opencms/en/about

http://www.euro-correspondent.com/

http://www.europeanagenda.eu/contact/

http://www.eurosduvillage.com/

http://www.eurotopics.net/

http://www.neurope.eu/

http://www.newropeans-magazine.org/

http://www.touteleurope.eu/

http://www.devex.com/en/

http://www.realityofaid.org/content/publications/parent/358/name/Reality-Check/id/359

http://www.betteraid.org/en/newsletter.html

http://www.unctad.info/en/Science-and-Technology-for-Development---StDev/About-STDev/


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African News Agencies

• African News Agency - www.afrol.com • The Pan African News Agency -Panapress- www.panapress.com • Agence de Presse Africaine - www.apanews.net/index-eng.php • Newsfromafrica - www.newsfromafrica.org • Angola News -http://angolanews.com/ • The Angola Press Agency-(ANGOP)- www.portalangop.co.ao/ • ABP, Agence Benin Presse- www.abp.gouv.bj • Agence d'Information du Burkina - www.aib.bf/

International News Agencies

• Reuters Africa -http://af.reuters.com • Inter Press Service News Agency- IPS Africa- www.ipsnews.net/africa • BBC World Service Africa- www.bbc.co.uk/news/world/africa

Pan-African affairs media

• Africa Confidential - www.africa-confidential.com/news • AFRICA live - http://africa-live.de/ • Africa Renewal - www.un.org/en/africarenewal • AfricaLog.com- www.africalog.com • Afrik.com- www.afrik.com • ABN Digital- Africa Business News- www.abndigital.com • East African TV (EATV)- www.eatv.tv • Jeuneafrique.com- www.jeuneafrique.com • Mail & Guardian Online- www.mg.co.za • Paarl Post- www.paarlpost.com/ • SABC News- www.sabcnews.com • Sub-Saharan Informer- www.ssinformer.com • The Africa Channel - www.theafricachannel.com • UN Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) News- www.irinnews.org • AfricaNews- www.africanews.com • IZF- www.izf.net/upload/AFP/francais/special/afrique/AFP.php • Africa Intelligence - www.africaintelligence.com

Other media:

• TechTrendsng.com is the leading ICT blog in Nigeria providing quality information on ICT related issues.Contact [email protected] (http://twitter.com/techtrendsng)

• SADC TODAY is produced as a reference source of activities and opportunities in the Southern African Development Community, and a guide for decision-makers at all levels of national and regional development. SADC TODAY is published six times a year by the Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC) for the SADC Secretariat in Gaborone, Botswana - www.sardc.net/editorial/sadctoday/objective.asp

http://www.afrol.com/

http://www.newsfromafrica.org/

http://www.gouv.bj/presse/abp/

http://www.abp.gouv.bj/

http://www.aib.bf/

http://www.aib.bf/

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa

http://africa-live.de/

http://www.jeuneafrique.com/

http://www.theafricachannel.com/

http://www.irinnews.org/

http://www.africanews.com/


http://twitter.com/techtrendsng


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• The Courier is an ACP-EU development magazine published by the Development Directorate General of the European Commission, focusing on ACP-EU Development Cooperation- www.acp-eucourier.info/

• Africa Research Bulletin-the leading research service on Africa since 1964.Drawing on hundreds of reports from local press, websites and radio, as well as international organisations and news agencies, the Bulletin provides impartial summaries of, and extensive reports on, political and economic developments throughout the continent http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/%28ISSN%291467-6346/homepage/ProductInformation.html

• Africa Research Online-This blog is the online face of the Africa Research Bulletin,.- http://africaresearchonline.wordpress.com/about-africa-research-online/

More media from Africa can be found via this link: http://www.icilome.com/nouvelles/presseafrique.asp

6. Global and Regional economic bodies

Global and Regional Economic bodies are key. We should ensure that these bodies are aware of our activities and that they must see us as a significant partner and facilitator in their efforts in the ICT, and education and research sectors of Sub Saharan Africa.

Regional economic communities in Africa

• Arab Maghreb Union (UMA)- www.maghrebarabe.org/en • Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)- www.comesa.int • Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD)- www.africa-

union.org/root/au/RECs/cen_sad.htm • East African Community (EAC)- www.eac.int • Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS)- www.ceeac-eccas.org • Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC)- www.cemac.int • Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)- http://www.ecowas.int • Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)- http://www.igad.org • Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)- www.sadc.int • The West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA)-

www.uemoa.int/Pages/Home.aspx • Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries (ECGLC) - Telephone: 250-08525226 /

08500940 • Indian Ocean Commission (COI)- www.ioconline.org/fr.html

United Nations Regional Economic Commissions

• The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)- http://new.uneca.org • The Economic Commission for Europe (ECE)- www.unece.org

7. Other ICT and e-infrastructure Development Programmes- Initiatives

EU funded FP6 and FP7 or other initiatives:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACP-EU_Development_Cooperation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACP-EU_Development_Cooperation

http://www.acp-eucourier.info/

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/%28ISSN%291467-6346/homepage/ProductInformation.html

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/%28ISSN%291467-6346/homepage/ProductInformation.html

http://africaresearchonline.wordpress.com/about-africa-research-online/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Maghreb_Union

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Market_for_Eastern_and_Southern_Africa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_of_Sahel-Saharan_States

http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/RECs/cen_sad.htm

http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/RECs/cen_sad.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_African_Community

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Community_of_Central_African_States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Community_of_West_African_States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergovernmental_Authority_on_Development

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Africa_Development_Community

http://www.uemoa.int/Pages/Home.aspx

http://www.ioconline.org/fr.html

http://new.uneca.org/

http://www.unece.org/


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• The IST-Africa is a multi-stakeholder Initiative focused on; Supporting JEG8 Activities & Implementation of 8th Africa-EU Strategic Partnership, Skills Transfer to Support Research Capacity Building & STI Development in Africa and Community building to support EU-African Research Cooperation - http://www.ist-africa.org/home/

• The BELIEF-II project with the aim of supporting the goals of e-infrastructure projects to maximise synergies in specific application areas between research, scientific and industrial communities. The project provides a Digital Library with updated information on e-infrastructures related projects, initiatives and events (it ranges now on more than 80 projects, initiatives and organisations inside and outside Europe) http://belief-dl.researchinfrastructures.eu/)

• eNVENTORY targets the formation of the European e-infrastructures Observatory, a single entry- point data warehouse, capable of representing multiple primary and convoluted indicators and benchmarks, in order to assess e-infrastructures evolution and impact at regional and national level across the European Union and beyond. The project developed an Organization Mapping (http://www.enventory.eu/organisation-mapping.html), containing interactive maps with information about National Research & Education Networks National Grid Initiatives, Supercomputer Centers Coordinating Entities in 43 European Countries

• EuroAfrica-ICT.org initiative supports policy dialogues to strengthen cooperation on ICT research between Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa. The project developed a database of Research Institutes specializing in the ICT domain (http://euroafrica-ict.org/database-research-institutes/) to facilitate the contact between European research organisations and potential African partners undertaking collaborative projects.

• ERINA4Africa project created a Virtual Observatory of case studies and best practices related to the adoption of e-infrastructures in Africa the fields of e-Health, e-Government, and e-Learning. (http://www.erina4africa.eu/casestudy_search)

• PAERIP project develops an Inventory of Research Infrastructures in Europe and Africa (http://www.paerip.org/node/1)

• The CHAIN Project produced an interactive Knowledge base with information about world-wide Grid sites.- http://cordis.europa.eu/search/index.cfm?fuseaction=proj.document&PJ_RCN=11499751

• CAAST-Net provides a forum for coordinators of FP6- and FP7-funded projects which address the enhancement of European-African cross-border cooperation in research and development between a range of stakeholders and links to relevant EU-funded projects targeting Sub-Saharan-Africa (http://www.caastnet.org/xwiki/bin/view/SSA+Project+Network/#HAbouttheSubSaharanAfricaProjectNetwork)

• The European Portal on Research Infrastructures Database provides information on a large number of Research Infrastructures (RIs) of pan European interest in all fields of science. This information will be used to disseminate the project among the RIs listed in the database (http://www.riportal.eu/public/index.cfm?fuseaction=ri.search)

Other projects:

• AfricaConnect: The AfricaConnect project aims to establish a high-capacity Internet network for research and education in Southern and Eastern Africa to provide the region with a gateway to global research collaboration http://www.africaconnect.eu/

http://www.ist-africa.org/home/

http://belief-dl.researchinfrastructures.eu/

http://belief-dl.researchinfrastructures.eu/

http://www.enventory.eu/organisation-mapping.html

http://euroafrica-ict.org/database-research-institutes/

http://euroafrica-ict.org/database-research-institutes/

http://www.erina4africa.eu/casestudy_search

http://www.paerip.org/node/1

http://www.caastnet.org/xwiki/bin/view/SSA+Project+Network/#HAbouttheSubSaharanAfricaProjectNetwork

http://www.caastnet.org/xwiki/bin/view/SSA+Project+Network/#HAbouttheSubSaharanAfricaProjectNetwork

http://www.riportal.eu/public/index.cfm?fuseaction=ri.search

http://www.africaconnect.eu/


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• Regional Communications Infrastructure Program (RCIP) is helping to address the connectivity gap and to bring affordable high speed connectivity (terrestrial networks and of capacity purchase schemes) to as many as 25 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa http://www.worldbank.org/rcip

• Eastern African Submarine Cable System (EASSy): a partnership of about 20 African and international telecommunications operators, EASSy a submarine fiber-optic cable running 10,000 kilometers along the East coast of Africa, will connect 10 countries. http://www.eassy.org

• ERINA4Africa project created a Virtual Observatory of case studies and best practices related to the adoption of e-infrastructures in Africa the fields of e-Health, e-Government, and e-Learning. (http://www.erina4africa.eu/casestudy_search)

• PAERIP project develops an Inventory of Research Infrastructures in Europe and Africa (http://www.paerip.org/node/1)

• the African Internet Exchange System (AXIS)

• Guarantco - enhances local currency debt issuance by private, municipal and parastatal entities for infrastructure projects in lower income countries http://www.guarantco.com/

• Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA)

Indicative Initiatives: The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), Global Digital Opportunity Initiative (GDOI), etc.

e-infrastructure projects in Sub-Saharan Africa

• The PanAfrican e-Network project -is a cooperation between the Government of India and the African Union Commission and is thus an example of south-south cooperation The cooperation includes bilateral donations of equipment to several African countries and includes cooperation in all the key application areas discussed in this study, education, healthcare and governance.The network infrastructure is based on satellite links paid in the receiving end and could eventually be replaced by the emerging African terrestrial communication infrastructure. Within the program a number of PARAM supercomputers have been donated that will shortly be made available via the emerging African research and education network. http://www.panafricanenetwork.com/

• 6DEPLOY project The purpose of the 6DEPLOY project is to support the deployment of IPv6 in (i) e-Infrastructure environments, (ii) FP7 projects, (iii) developing countries (Africa, Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe), and (iv) industrial environments in Europe. Partners offer basic training to organisations in Europe and developing countries, and support real IPv6 deployments. - www.6deploy.org

FP7 Projects Focused on Cooperation with Sub-Saharan Africa can be found via this link:

http://www.ist-africa.org/home/default.asp?page=doc-by-id&docid=2868

Several projects with the objective to stimulate and foster the use of e-Science and Grids

• projects is EPIKH, which has the primary goal to reinforce the impact of e-Infrastructures in scientific research by defining and delivering stimulating programmes of educational

http://www.worldbank.org/rcip

http://www.eassy.org/

http://www.erina4africa.eu/casestudy_search

http://www.paerip.org/node/1

http://www.guarantco.com/

http://www.panafricanenetwork.com/

http://www.beliefproject.org/about-e-infrastructures/related-projects/6deploy-project

http://www.ist-africa.org/home/default.asp?page=doc-by-id&docid=2868

http://www.epikh.eu/


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events, including Grid Schools and High Performance Computing courses.- http://www.epikh.eu/

• Other projects: http://cordis.europa.eu/search/index.cfm?fuseaction=proj.advSearch&refine=DA3905C6537C9F8AE23C5EEFAB1C77C9

A list of e-Infrastructure Projects can be found via this link : http://www.beliefproject.org/about-e-infrastructures/list_related-projects

8. International organizations and fora for the coordination and interoperability of e-Infrastructures for global research communities

When speaking of virtual global research communities an important reference needs to be done to the standards, without which no connectivity nor interoperability would be possible.

• OGF-Europe is aimed at connecting and catalysing user groups from key sectors for Europe, with the aim of bringing into sharp focus best practices and ensuring that the standards work within OGF is catered to real-world user problems. To maximise outcomes, OGF-Europe co-ordinates an Industry Expert Group, or IEG for short, which is chartered with evaluating how the adoption of distributed computing is transforming enterprise IT in Europe. The focus of the IEG is part of a strategic process to make sure specific actions are driven by the need for cost effectiveness, lower environmental impact, on-demand facilities for final users & the virtualisation of resources. OGF-Europe’s Industry Expert Group (IEG) comprises a distinguished panel of experts recruited from the distributed computing community. http://www.ogfeurope.eu/StaticPage/Industry.aspx

• The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) produces globally-applicable standards for Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), including fixed, mobile, radio, converged, broadcast and internet technologies. ETSI is officially recognized by the European Union as a European Standards Organization. ETSI is a not-for-profit organization with more than 700 ETSI member organizations drawn from 62 countries across 5 continents world-wide.- http://www.etsi.org/WebSite/AboutETSI/AboutEtsi.aspx

9. E-Infrastructure experts:

• Esam M. Abulkhirat – Senior ICT Policy Officer, Department of Human Resources, Science and Technology (HRST), African Union Commission (AUC), Ethiopia

• Francesco Affinito – S&T Coordinator, Economic Development Unit, DG Development (DG DEV) & Relations with ACP States, European Commission (EC)

• Mbangwana Moses Atezah – Research Program Manager, Educational Research Network for West and Central Africa (ERNWCA), Mali

• Boubakar Barry – Coordinator, Research and Education Networking Unit, Association of African Universities (AAU), Networking Unit

• Sandro Bazzanella – Project Manager, ITU-EC, Switzerland • Emamgholi Behdad – Chief, Projects and Initiatives Department, ITU, Switzerland • Stephen Benians – Coordinator, BELIEF-II Project, Italy

http://www.epikh.eu/

http://cordis.europa.eu/search/index.cfm?fuseaction=proj.advSearch&refine=DA3905C6537C9F8AE23C5EEFAB1C77C9

http://cordis.europa.eu/search/index.cfm?fuseaction=proj.advSearch&refine=DA3905C6537C9F8AE23C5EEFAB1C77C9

http://www.beliefproject.org/about-e-infrastructures/list_related-projects

http://www.ogfeurope.eu/StaticPage/Industry.aspx

http://www.etsi.org/WebSite/AboutETSI/AboutEtsi.aspx


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• Fadila Boughanemi – Policy Officer in charge of S&T Cooperation with ACP Countries (DG Research), European Commission (EC)

• Andrew Cherry – Science & Technology Advisor, The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), the Africa Unit (CAAST-Net Coordinator & EuroAfrica-ICT Partner), UK

• Alessandro Damiani – Head of Unit D.1 (International dimension of the Framework programme), Directorate D (International Cooperation), DG Research, European Commission (EC)

• Dai Davies – General Manager, Dante (GEANT), UK • Harry de Backer – Policy Officer, EU delegation to the African Union in Ethiopia (DG

RELEX), European Commission (EC) • Thierry Devars – Policy Officer, International Relations Unit (DG INFSO), European

Commission • Leonardo Flores – Scientific Officer, GEANT & e-Infrastructures (DG INFSO), European

Commission • Gerti Foest – Project Manager, DFN, Germany • Konstantinos Glinos – Head of Unit, GEANT & e-Infrastructures (DG INFSO), European

Commission • Mohamed Hassan – Executive Director of TWAS, the Academy of Sciences for the

Developing World • Pascal Andoh Hoba – Head, Communications & Services Coordinator, Association of

African Universities (AAU), Kenya • John F. Kakule – Expert in charge of Education, Science and Technology, Information

Society, Health and Employment, ACP Secretariat, Brussels • Victor Kyalo – Deputy CEO, TCIP Program Manager, Kenya ICT Board (and TEAMS

Coordinator), Kenya • Leif Laaksonen – Chairman, e-IRG (e-Infrastructure Reflexion Group) (CSC), Finland • Jérôme Lebouc – Programme Manager, EuropeAid Cooperation Office, Centralised

Operations for ACP Countries, DG AIDCO, European Commission (EC) • Christine Leurquin – Vice-Chairperson, the Integral Satcom Initiative (ISI) ETP, Belgium • Iman Maaly – CEO of SUIN and Board Member of the UbuntuNet Alliance, Sudan • Moustapha Mamy Diaby – Senior Telecommunications Development Policy Officer,

Department for Infrastructure & Energy, African Union Commission (AUC) • Eduardo Sorribes Manzana – Policy Adviser, Economic Development, Infrastructure &

Communication Networks, Trade & Regional Integration (DG DEV), European Commission • Ousmane Moussa Tessa – West and Central African Research Education Network

(WACREN) Task Force, Niger • Margaret E Ngwira – Director, UbuntuNet Alliance, Malawi • Nnenna Nwakanma – Director of NNENNA.org and Chair of FOSSFA Council • Omo Oaiya – Datasphir Solutions Limited, Nigeria • Eric M.K. Osiakwan – Director, Internet Research, GISPA, Ghana • Jean-Louis Parmentier – COO, SEACOM, Mauritius • Björn Pehrson – Professor, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) (Coordinator, FEAST

Project), Sweden • Antti Peltomaki – Deputy Director General (DG INFSO), European Commission • Nii Narku Quaynor – Executive Director, The African Network Operators Group (AFNOG),

Ghana • Cathrin Stover – International Relations Manager, Dante (GEANT), UK • Simon Taylor – Researcher, Brunel University (Coordinator, ERINA4Africa Project), UK • Hannes Toivanen – Senior Research Scientist, VTT Organisations, Networks and

Innovation Systems, Finland


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• Francis F. Tusubira – CEO, the UbuntuNet Alliance, Uganda • Moctar Yedaly – Head of Telecommunications & Post, Department for Infrastructure &

Energy, African Union Commission (AUC)

Other institutions:

• The European Centre for Development Policy Management is an independent foundation which was established in 1986 in order to monitor and support development cooperation between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. ECDPM style's itself as a “think and do tank”. Its stated main goal is to broker effective partnerships between the European Union and the developing world, especially Africa. It aims to promote inclusive forms of development and cooperates with public and private sector organisations to better manage international relations. It also supports the reform of policies and institutions in both Europe and the developing world. http://www.ecdpm.org/

• EADI Working Group on Europe and Africa. EADI, the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes, is the leading European network in the field of development research and training. - http://www.eadi.org/working-groups.html

• GÉANT Expert Group (GEG) .The GEG is an independent group of experts appointed by the European Commission. They were tasked with articulating a 2020 vision for European research and education networking and identifying an action plan for realising this vision. http://www.geant.net/About_GEANT/GEANT_Expert_Group/Pages/GEANTExpertGroup.aspx

• ESFRI, the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures, is a strategic instrument to develop the scientific integration of Europe and to strengthen its international outreach. The mission of ESFRI is to support a coherent and strategy-led approach to policy-making on research infrastructures in Europe, and to facilitate multilateral initiatives leading to the better use and development of research infrastructures, at EU and international level. ESFRI’s delegates are nominated by the Research Ministers of the Member and Associate Countries, and include a representative of the European Commission. http://ec.europa.eu/research/infrastructures/pdf/esfri/membership/esfri_membership_july_2011.pdf#view=fit&pagemode=none

• ARTEMIS Industry Association is the association for R&D actors in Embedded Systems. The Industry Association represents an influential network of more than 200 members from all over Europe. The members of ARTEMIS Industry Association define the ARTEMIS Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) for Embedded Systems in Europe- http://www.artemis-ia.eu/

• European Organization for International Research Information (euroCRIS) is a not-for-profit organization, dedicated to the development of Research Information Systems and their interoperability.http://www.eurocris.org/Index.php?page=hometext&t=1

• Open Grid Forum (OGF) OGF, an internationally recognized networking organization, is the global forum in which people in research, business, and government work together to ensure that applied distributed computing-the key infrastructure for the knowledge based economy-is open and barrier free. http://www.gridforum.org/

• GLIF, the Global Lambda Integrated Facility, is an international virtual organization that promotes the paradigm of lambda networking. GLIF provides lambdas internationally as an integrated facility to support data-intensive scientific research, and supports middleware development for lambda networking. It brings together some of the world's premier

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union

http://www.ecdpm.org/

http://www.eadi.org/working-groups.html

http://www.geant.net/About_GEANT/GEANT_Expert_Group/Pages/GEANTExpertGroup.aspx

http://www.geant.net/About_GEANT/GEANT_Expert_Group/Pages/GEANTExpertGroup.aspx



http://www.artemis-ia.eu/

http://www.gridforum.org/


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networking engineers who are working together to develop an international infrastructure by identifying equipment, connection requirements, and necessary engineering functions and services.

• WorldWideScience.org is a global science gateway comprised of national and international scientific databases and portals. Currently, approximately 80 databases and portals from over 70 countries are searchable through WorldWideScience.org. http://worldwidescience.org/about.html

• The OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) http://www.oecd.org/department/0,2688,en_2649_33721_1_1_1_1_1,00.html

• The Africa, Middle East and Europe Desk at the OECD Development Centre conducts high-quality, independent research, analysing the economic and political issues at the heart of these regions’ future.

http://www.oecd.org/about/0,3347,en_2649_15162846_1_1_1_1_1,00.html

• The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) is an Africa-wide scientific organisation, with a view to honouring internationally renowned African scientists and also to encourage the development of the research and technology base throughout Africa. The membership has since then been extended to scientists from other continents. The AAS was founded in 1985 in Trieste, Italy with 33 scientists as the founding fellows. The membership has over the years grown tremendously and now stands at 209, covering 32 African countries and also includes 8 Foreign Fellows from Denmark, India, USA and Italy. http://www.aasciences.org/new/index.php

• EIROforum is a partnership between eight of Europe’s largest inter-governmental scientific research organisations that are responsible for infrastructures and laboratories: CERN, EFDA-JET, EMBL, ESA, ESO, ESRF, European XFEL and ILL. It is the mission of EIROforum to combine the resources, facilities and expertise of its member organisations to support European science in reaching its full potential. http://www.eiroforum.org/

• The e-Infrastructure Reflection Group was founded to define and recommend best practices for the pan-European electronic infrastructure efforts. It consists of official government delegates from all the EU countries. The e-IRG produces white papers, roadmaps and recommendations, and analyses the future foundations of the European Knowledge Society.http://www.e-irg.eu/

• AEGIS (Africa-Europe Group for Interdisciplinary Studies) was set up in 1991 in order to build upon the resources and the research potential available within Africanist institutions of the European Union. As the dynamics of contemporary change in Africa and the continent's response to globalisation are intimately linked, understanding the continent's evolution is the major academic and policy challenge AEGIS seeks to address. http://www.aegis-eu.org/index.php/why-aegis.html

• The PRACE RI is a pan-European infrastructure seated in Brussels and established as an international non-profit association of European government representative organizations responsible for High-Performance Computing resources and services for public research. http://prace-ri.eu/About-PRACE-RI

• RIPE (Réseaux IP Européens) is a collaborative forum open to all parties interested in wide area IP networks in Europe and beyond. http://www.ripe.net/ripe

• TERENA Mobility Task Force which aims to provide a forum for exchanging knowledge and for testing (new) mobile technologies; To explore middleware technologies to support network services, such as DNSsec; To promote common standards and procedures to increase security on network access; To influence vendors' initiatives to support the concept of federated network access; To liaise at the international level, with other

http://worldwidescience.org/about.html

http://www.oecd.org/department/0,2688,en_2649_33721_1_1_1_1_1,00.html

http://www.oecd.org/about/0,3347,en_2649_15162846_1_1_1_1_1,00.html

http://www.aasciences.org/new/index.php

http://www.eiroforum.org/

http://www.e-irg.eu/

http://www.aegis-eu.org/index.php/why-aegis.html

http://prace-ri.eu/About-PRACE-RI

http://www.ripe.net/ripe


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relevant project activities organisations and standardisation bodies, such as the Open Grid Forum (OGF), GN2/GN3, Internet2 and IETF, on mobility related activities; To co-ordinate and provide support to other TERENA activities and task forces and, more specifically, to continue to work in close cooperation with the Task Force on European Middleware Co-ordination and Collaboration (TF-EMC2) on common federated network resource access goals; - http://www.terena.org/activities/tf-mobility/

• TF-EMC2, the TERENA Task Force on European Middleware Coordination and Collaboration goal is to promote the development and deployment of open and interoperable middleware infrastructures among national and regional research and education networking organisations and academic and research institutions- http://www.terena.org/activities/tf-emc2/

• The International Grid Trust Federation is a body to establish common policies and guidelines between its Policy Management Authorities (PMAs) members and to ensure compliance to this Federation Document amongst the participating PMAs. The IGTF constituency consists of our three member PMAs: the APGridPMA covering Asia and the Pacific, the EUGridPMA covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and The Americas Grid PMA covering Latin America, the Carribean and North America. All registered members in each regional PMA are also members of the IGTF. These include identity providers, CAs, and their major Relying Parties, such as the international Grid Deployment and Infrastructure projects.- http://www.igtf.net/

• The European Policy Management Authority for Grid Authentication in e-Science (EUGridPMA) is a body to establish requirements and best practices for grid identity providers to enable a common trust domain applicable to authentication of end-entities in inter-organisational access to distributed resources. As its main activity the EUGridPMA coordinates a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for use with Grid authentication middleware. The EUGridPMA itself does not provide identity assertions, but instead asserts that the certificates issued by the Accredited Authorities meet or exceed the relevant guidelines. http://www.eugridpma.org/

• REFEDS mission is to be the voice that articulates the mutual needs of research and education identity federations worldwide. The group represents the requirements of research and education in the ever-growing space of access and identity management, working with and influencing the direction of organisations such as Kantara, OIX and Identity Commons on behalf of our participants. https://refeds.org/

• Kantara Initiative is a robust and open focal point for collaboration to address the issues across the identity community: Interoperability and Compliance Testing; Identity Assurance; Policy and Legal Issues; Privacy; Ownership and Liability; UX and Usability; Cross-Community Coordination and Collaboration; Education and Outreach; Market Research; Use Cases and Requirements; Harmonization; and Tool Development.- http://kantarainitiative.org/wordpress/about/

• The Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) project is a global collaboration linking grid infrastructures and computer centres worldwide. It provideo global computing resource to store, distribute and analyse the 15 Petabytes (15 million Gigabytes) of data annually generated by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN on the Franco-Swiss border. The infrastructure built by integrating thousands of computers and storage systems in hundreds of data centres worldwide enables a collaborative computing environment on a scale never seen before. WLCG serves a community of more than 8,000 physicists around the world with near real-time access to LHC data, and the power to process it. http://lcg-archive.web.cern.ch/lcg-archive/public/

http://www.terena.org/activities/tf-mobility/

http://www.terena.org/activities/tf-emc2/

http://www.apgridpma.org/

https://www.eugridpma.org/

http://www.tagpma.org/

http://www.tagpma.org/

http://www.eugridpma.org/

http://kantarainitiative.org/

http://openidentityexchange.org/

http://www.identitycommons.net/

https://refeds.org/

http://kantarainitiative.org/wordpress/about/

http://public.web.cern.ch/public/en/LHC/LHC-en.html

http://www.cern.ch/

http://lcg-archive.web.cern.ch/lcg-archive/public/

http://lcg-archive.web.cern.ch/lcg-archive/public/


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• The European Commission (EC) and African Union Commission (AUC) established an EC – AUC Living Labs Task Force for Africa to develop an implementation strategy to support the rollout of Living Labs across Africa. Task Force members include the EC and AUC as Co-Chairs, the LLiSA Network and University of Botswana representing Southern Africa, IST-Africa National Partners representing North Africa (MCIT, Egypt), Central Africa (ANTIC, Cameroon), East Africa (COSTECH, Tanzania and UNCST, Uganda) and West Africa (MESUCURRS, Senegal), IIMC (Ireland) with its extensive African and European networks and experience, ENoLL (to share international experience from its members), the World Bank and Embassy of Finland in South Africa

• The Group of Senior Officials on Global Research Infrastructures (GSO). For further information about this please follow this link: http://www.paerip.org/sites/www.paerip.org/files/Gonzalo_Leon.pdf

http://www.paerip.org/sites/www.paerip.org/files/Gonzalo_Leon.pdf


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J. Appendix J– Summary of Media and Events Guidelines

All the documents regarding guidelines are internal and will be available at the iMENTORS website- collaborative environment.

Rules for performing particular WP 4 activities

The following Generic Rules have been designed by for performing particular WP 4 activities, specific guidelines on performing these activities will be given in the following sections:

• Gov2u is responsible for coordinating the whole dissemination process and keeping partners informed;

• Promotional materials, articles, press releases and newsletters shall be previously internally reviewed by the consortium before sending for publication;

• In tasks related promotional materials Gov2u will be the leader partner, but also support from SU will be needed. Mainly when the project will be finishing and particular outputs will be described in the promotional materials, contribution of particular WP leaders will be expected.

• SU is responsible with the translation of the press release that will be submitted to the media in Sweden.

• SU will be responsible for translation of promotional materials if they wish to have it available in their own official language.

• SU will report to Gov2u the project coverage in media from their country (printed articles/audiovisual announcements about the project) following the press releases submitting.

• All presentations at events shall be made on the template created for this purpose. The partners should read the notes for each page of this template.

• Organizing events like workshops, presentations within conferences shall be previously announced and accepted by the whole consortium;

• In case of organizing press conferences, a list of participants should be circulated. This will help us to update the contact list with media.

• Before and after the project has been presented at events, some brief information will be published on the project informational website site and presentations and any accompanying publications will be downloadable from the website.

• All events shall be accompanied by promotional materials distributed to event’s participants and/or posters (put in relevant places to attract the wider audience).

• In the case of presentation of the project at events, feedback from audience may be collected. This feedback could be useful as a measuring instrument for the exploitation plan and for providing valuable information on project’s general reception as well as some “commercial” feedback for the future.

• Partners should collaborate to produce research papers that will be published in scientific journals.

• The public deliverables will be published on the project informational website after they are approved by the European Commission.

• All dissemination activities shall be always reported to Gov2u beforehand.


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The following table explains the responsibilities for event:

Actions Responsible Date

Informational- general

Gather information on possible event

Given partner 6 months before event

Decide meeting objectives All 6-3 months before event

Event details (time, day)

Decide date, time and location All 6 months before event

Reserve room Gov2u 6-3 months before event

Press release Press release preparation Gov2u 5 days before sending

Press release sent All 1 month before event

Site Information on latest news Gov2u month of event

Create event Gov2u 6-3 months before event

Receive and upload agenda- minutes

Gov2u as soon as they are ready

Upload relevant documents Gov2u 2-1 months before event

Material Decide on dissemination material (which to be used and if new

need to be created)

Gov2u

6 months before event

Decide if giveaways will be distributed

Gov2u 6 months before event

Attendees Estimation of people attending All 2-1 months before event

Send invitations All 2-1 months before event

Agenda Create agenda All 2 months before event

Speakers Decide the number of speakers All 3-2 months before event

Decide who will speak All 3- 2 months before event

Decide on the content of the presentations

All 2-1 months before event

Partners Inform partners Gov2u 3- 2 months before event

Realization Arrange for coffee Given partner 1 month before event

Event

Feedback Feedback during event All

Report on feedback/ Minutes Gov2u 7 days after event

Risks Identify risks All 6 months before event


iMENTORS is a project co- funded by the European Commission’s DG CONNECT under the 7th Framework Programme.

www.iMENTORS.eu Copyright by the iMENTORS Consortium
