SHARED: On the verge of "Coming Out"
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SHARED (Scientists for Health And REsearch for Development) is an
initiative of scientists and implementers to improve transparency in
the field of Research for International Health with a focus in Devel-
oping Countries (DCs). The SHARED Web-site offers a database-driven
communication system. The engine behind it is an interactive database
containing information on recent and currently ongoing Research proj-
ects in the field of International Health. More and more Implementa-
tion and Development projects relevant to Health in DCs are included
in the database. The site also provides links to, and general infor-
mation about health-related organisations and initiatives.
The added value of SHARED over traditional approaches is that indi-
viduals can enter their own data to the database and that organisa-
tions or "Focal Points" in particular countries can obtain free ac-
cess to their own domain in SHARED to update 'their' projects. The
state-of-the-art technology now allows fully decentralised management
of the data in SHARED with appropriate measures for quality assurance
of the data. An expanding network of Focal Points in Organisations
and Countries is the organisational backbone of SHARED. Everyone is
invited to contact SHARED and to enter data.
The SHARED system has reached the level at which we feel comfortable
with launching the SHARED database in the public domain of the WWW
and have it announced widely for the use by other partners. The ad-
dress of the site for 1999 is:
SHARED goes global
During the first half of January 1999 SHARED started a marketing and
Public Relations campaign. The goal is to bring the SHARED project,
philosophy, and Web-site to the awareness of the Public. SHARED is
now ready to be used on a larger scale, by adding information to, and
consulting of the database. SHARED will be presented at various con-
ferences, among which the MIM African Malaria Conference (Durban,
South Africa., 14-19 March 1999) and the 20th African Health Sciences
Congress (Accra, Ghana on 19-23 April 1999).
Current status of the SHARED database
The SHARED database contains only a batch of almost 800 projects
(mainly EC-funded projects and projects from two initial partner
countries: South Africa and The Netherlands). However, as many of
these projects are multi-national by nature, even in this embryonic
stage, a large number of countries and organisations are represented
in the database (see below).
Some statistics of SHARED
Number of projects: 784
Number of countries represented*: 123
Number of institutions represented*: 1095
Number of scientists represented*: 1902
Number of Funding bodies represented*: 92
*=with minimally one project
A brief report of the latest SHARED activities
Sensitisation in Uganda
The Child Health and Development Center (CHDC) of the Makerere Uni-
versity in Kampala, Uganda had organised a so-called SHARED Sensiti-
sation Meeting on the 4th of August 1998.The purpose of this meeting
was to discuss and decide upon the future collaboration between
SHARED and Ugandese Institutes. Twenty officials were present, repre-
senting 13 different organisations. After a critical and open discus-
sion it was decided that all institutes present would collaborate
with the SHARED initiative. An Uganda National Focal Point (NFP)
would be set up at the Child Health and Development Center (Makerere
University). A Steering Committee (with representatives of 6 differ-
ent organisations) will be formed to guide the dynamic role of the
NFP. A full report of the meeting can be obtained from John Baptist
Lwanga <JB@CHDC.uu.imul.com>
Focal Point-training
A SHARED Workshop for all SHARED partners was organised in the office
of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) in Den
Haag, The Netherlands on 18 to 20 November 1998. During the workshop
14 people, from 10 different institutions in 9 different countries
were present. The objectives of the meeting were the following:
* To train a representative from every SHARED partner-institute in
using the SHARED tools (every SHARED partner is responsible for a
part of the SHARED database);
* To enhance co-operation and acquaintance among all active SHARED-
users, i.e. the database-managers from all SHARED partner-insti-
tutes;
* To receive feedback from experienced computer-users about the
SHARED Web-site: quality of the data, lay-out, user-friendliness;
* To synchronise the SHARED partners concerning the practical aspects
of SHARED, i.e. what is needed to set up a functional Focal Point
and what do we offer to the public.
The participants concluded that the Workshop was a big success. This
group should become active as a core group from which the SHARED net-
work of Focal Points could develop further to reach global coverage.
A detailed report of the Workshop objectives, methods and outcome can
be obtained from Jan van 't Land <land@nwo.nl>
--
Dieter Neuvians
mailto:neuvians@harare.iafrica.com
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