On February 18th, 2026, we held an insightful session with Mohamad Mostafa on how DataCite is advancing Open Science and boosting research visibility across Africa, with a use case presented by Ahmed Siyad (CEO, SomaliREN). The session was moderated by Harold Bowa.
Slides are available at https://africarxiv.ubuntunet.net/handle/1/10749
The session recording will be uploaded in due course.
We had scheduled this webinar in December, but it was rescheduled due to Zoom downtime on the original day. Now join us and learn how persistent identifiers (PIDs) and open metadata can transform the discoverability and impact of African research. Mohamad Mostafa will provide an overview of DataCite’s global community and services with practical use cases from across Africa, while Ahmed Siyad will highlight SomaliREN’s experience implementing open research infrastructure.
DataCite is a global community of research organizations united by a shared mission: to ensure research outputs and resources are openly accessible and well-connected.
This session offers insights for repository managers, researchers, librarians, research support teams, and anyone committed to strengthening Open Science practices across the continent.
Speaker Profiles
Mohamad Mostafa (DataCite)
Mohamad supports institutions and communities around the world in adopting open research practices and values through DataCite membership, services, and activities. He also serves as a member of the UNESCO Working Group on Open Science Infrastructures. With over a decade of experience in scholarly publishing, Mohamad has focused extensively on Open Access for journals and books. He contributed to launching the ORCID Arabic interface and served as a volunteer Crossref Ambassador, actively advocating for open research infrastructure.
Ahmed Siyad, CEO of SomaliREN
Ahmed Siyad is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Somali Research & Education Network (SomaliREN), leading its efforts to build digital infrastructure and connectivity for higher education and research in Somalia, with extensive experience in telecom and network development. One of SomaliREN’s recent successful initiatives is the establishment of the Somali Open Research & Education Repository – SORER, a national platform designed to promote open access, enhance the visibility of Somali research, and strengthen collaboration among higher education and research institutions.
This webinar series is co-organized by UbuntuNet Alliance and Access 2 Perspectives and supported by Invest in Open Infrastructure (IOI Fund).