1. SASSCAL, Regional Secretariat
Sponsored by
The SASSCAL Open Access Data Centre (OADC) – A regional data, information and knowledge hub
Jörg HELMSCHROT
SASSCAL, Regional Secretariat
Data Initiatives in Africa—Opportunities and Challenges for Research and Sustainable Development
12/13 April 2017, Grenoble, France

2. Regional Challenges

3. What is SASSCAL
“SASSCAL* is the REGIONAL driver for innovation and knowledge exchange to enhance adaptive land use and sustainable economic development in a highly vulnerable region of Southern Africa under global change conditions.”
* SASSCAL is a joint initiative of Angola, Botswana, Germany, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia.

4. SASSCAL Pillars of Operations

5. SASSCAL Research Themes
SASSCAL manages 88 research projects in 5 research themes generating data, products and services

6. OADC: Approach

7. Open Access Data Centre: Functions
making data, information and knowledge generated through SASSCAL research freely available for further scientific use and support mutual data exchange with relevant authorities, agencies and organizations;
generating, compiling, analysing and processing relevant data on climate, water cycle, soil, biodiversity, ecosystem goods and services, land use-related energy demographic and other socio-economic parameters for user-oriented decision support;
providing an platform and infrastructure for collaborating initiatives/programmes (e.g. SPACES, CLIENT, Miombo Network);
facilitating, analysing and implementing regional models and modelling results.

8. OADC: User-oriented Approach

9. OADC: Regional Sharing Approach
National Level
Gathering and compilation of existing and newly generated data (e.g. national soil and forest maps) from SASSCAL research and institutional partners
Regional Level
Data aggregation and management (incl. storage, QC, harmonisation)
Data and product integration to generate data, information and knowledge of regional relevance
Distribution of regionally integrated data products, tools and services to the end-users in research and decision making

10. OADC: Workflow
Linking national and regional data generation for regional and national clients

11. OADC: Data Products

12. OADC: Services I Tools I Outreach
Services/Tools/Instruments: SASSCAL IS, WeatherNet,
Plant Photo Guide, ObservationNet, BIOTABase, RainApp,
Outreach: website, newsletter, fact sheets

13. OADC: Outreach
Newsletter
Fact Sheets
more to come …

14. Thank you for your attention!
Jörg HELMSCHROT