Internet Village · Open Science Initiative · The Gambia

Open Science Vision 2030

A practical, priority-driven action plan for The Gambia — mapping 8 foundational Open Science priorities into a year-by-year roadmap for Government, Universities, Civil Society, NGOs & Private Sector.

8 Priority Areas 6-Year Roadmap Multi-Stakeholder SDG-Aligned

The Bottom Line

The immediate priorities for Open Science in The Gambia are foundational, not advanced: Governance + Infrastructure + Access + Skills. If these are addressed first, the country can move from "data exists but is underused" → "data drives innovation, policy & transparency."

Phase 1: Foundation — 2025

Emergency priorities — governance, portals, legal frameworks

Filter by Actor

Showing 8 of 8 priority pillars for 2025

Open Data Ecosystem

⚡ Urgent

Build a functional national open data portal with standardized, machine-readable formats across all ministries.

GovernmentMoICDE

Launch national open data portal (mocde.gov.gm)

Mandate CSV/API publication across 5 pilot ministries

Adopt open metadata standards

Policy, Licensing & Legal Frameworks

⚡ Urgent

Establish clear open licensing, data governance laws, and Creative Commons adoption across institutions.

GovernmentMoJUniversities

Finalize National Data Policy

Adopt Creative Commons licensing framework

Publish Open Science legal guidance

Research Governance & Coordination

⚡ Urgent

Operationalize the National Research Policy and create a central coordinating body linking research to policy.

GovernmentUniversitiesNGOs

Establish National Open Science Coordination Unit

Operationalize National Research Policy

Map existing research outputs and gaps

Digital & Data Infrastructure

⚡ Urgent

Expand broadband, cloud infrastructure, and digitize public records to create a robust digital science foundation.

GovernmentPURAPrivate Sector

Map infrastructure gaps across 7 regions

Pilot cloud storage for 3 government ministries

Digitize 10,000+ public records

Open Access Publishing

Mandate open access for publicly funded research and create a national repository for papers and datasets.

UniversitiesMRCNGOs

Launch Gambia National Repository (GNR)

Mandate open access for all government-funded research

Partner with AfricArXiv and OpenDOAR

Human Capacity & Culture

Train researchers in data management, open science workflows, and build incentive structures for knowledge sharing.

UniversitiesNGOsCivil Society

Launch Open Science 101 training for 200 researchers

Introduce RDM modules in 3 universities

Create national open science champions network

Data Quality, RDM & FAIR Principles

Introduce research data management standards and ensure all datasets are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.

UniversitiesGovernmentNGOs

Publish national RDM standards guide

Pilot FAIR assessment in 3 research institutions

Train 100 data stewards

Funding & Incentives

Create dedicated Open Science funding streams, public-private partnerships, and tie funding to openness requirements.

GovernmentPrivate SectorCivil Society

Establish Open Science Fund (seed: GMD 5M)

Map donor landscape for open science funding

Launch first open science call for proposals

SDG Alignment

SDG 4

Quality Education

SDG 9

Innovation & Infrastructure

SDG 16

Peace & Strong Institutions

SDG 17

Partnerships for Goals

Key Stakeholder Roles

Government

Policy, legal frameworks, funding mandates, open data portals

Universities & HEIs

Research governance, OA publishing, capacity building, curricula

Civil Society & NGOs

Advocacy, community training, grassroots data collection, accountability

Private Sector

Infrastructure investment, data partnerships, innovation funding

Join the Open Science Movement

Submit your research, access open datasets, and collaborate with researchers across The Gambia through the Internet Village Open Science Library.

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Internet Village · The Gambia · West Africa